that, in your opinion, he has not played very well after all. That does little to foster good relations and it is best to move on.
Bell makes a typically pretty 61, but manages to miss a gun-barrel straight half-volley that hits his off stump. Again, it is the sort of lapse that he can arguably get away with here, but is precisely the sort of misjudgement that can cost his side a Test match. Strauss declares on 288/8 and, with 8 overs left in the day, is hopeful of taking a South Australian wicket or two, but they breeze to 26 for no wicket at the close of play.
I am thankful to read that the second proposed strike by BBC journalists has been called off before heading out for dinner with Hugh Morris, managing director of England Cricket, at a delightful restaurant almost under the bridge over the River Torrens. Last time I was here Geoffrey Boycott was at an adjoining table; it is altogether quieter this evening.
DAY 10: 12 November 2010
I wake up to a brilliant interview on the BBC website by errant Pakistani cricketer Zulqarnain Haider who has been speaking to BBC sports editor David Bond. Haider describes in much more detail the threat he received in Dubai and, tellingly, that he had not felt confident enough in the integrity of the tour management to inform them of what had happened, or what he proposed to do. He says he is making a stand – and we must applaud his bravery. What will he be able to tell the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit I wonder? If he can give them names and facts, he will be doing cricket a massive service.
This is an important day for England’s bowlers as we in the media continue to debate their dispersal or otherwise ahead of the First Test. Here at the ground, it is cold and dark enough for the floodlights to be switched on. From where I am sitting they make an infuriating and quite intrusive buzz. I suppose when the ground is full you can’t hear it. Disappointingly, despite the conditions, the ball does not swing much. Getting the ball to swing is such an important part of England’s armoury – Anderson’s ability to swing the ball in particular is going to play a huge part in the Ashes campaign. But the Kookaburra ball, with its flatter, wider seam, does not have the same rudder-like properties that make the Duke ball we use at home so much more swing-friendly
I remember asking Anderson at Trent Bridge last summer, after he had destroyed Pakistan, what would happen in Australia if the ball didn’t swing. Is there a plan B? He told me that his plan B is the ball not swinging and that he would have to depend on accuracy and some reverse swing instead. Reverse swing is usually achieved when the pitch and outfield are dry and abrasive and is a skill that has developed quickly in recent years. Anderson can have his awful days when he is terribly expensive and frustratingly he hadn’t, until the series against Pakistan last summer, made the jump up to someone who was utterly dependable, but on this tour, when the ball won’t always swing, he should still bowl accurately, probing away, changing pace waiting for the ball to reverse swing when he will come back into his own again. Of course someone like him has got it made, swinging the new ball in the orthodox manner then going away and fielding in the outfield for a while, then coming back when the ball starts to reverse; so he’s got two weapons.
Largely because the art of reverse swing bowling is still something of an enigma and it is thought can be assisted by illegally scratching the ball, there is often a good deal of suspicion about the whole subject. But it is such an asset when there is nothing else to help a bowler on an unresponsive pitch that reverse swing has become a vital asset. Ironically, England’s best tutor was the Australian coach, Troy Cooley, who has now returned to the Australian set-up. England’s coach on this tour is another Aussie David Saker, who will undoubtedly be keen to put one over his still better known predecessor – even if they are both Australians. There is so much freedom of movement for coaches these days that patriotism really doesn’t come into it. Indeed, it is rare to find a national coach who originates from the country he is now employed by. I must say, I can’t see any problem with it at all.
Today Anderson was bowling the line of last summer and it is too straight here, so he is picked off through the leg side. It will be something for him and Saker to work on. Broad didn’t bowl much and I think the pick of the lot was again Finn. He ran in well and combined hostility with his usual accuracy. He only picked up two wickets to Anderson’s three and Swann’s four, but deserved better than that.
Callum Ferguson is a name we might encounter later in the Ashes if Australia need to replace their old guard. He certainly plays some shots, but gave his wicket away on 35 when he tried to pull Finn and was caught at mid-on. We will see him again in Hobart.
With the floodlights doing their best to illuminate the gloom, wickets tumble and South Australia are bundled out for 221, giving England a lead of 67. It is a good effort, but leaves under-scrutiny Cook exposed; he faces the prospect of a no-win innings in tricky conditions. With Strauss in glorious form at the other end, Cook carefully claws his way to 37 not out, and with it the opportunity to go on and enjoy the final morning.
Meanwhile, word reaches me of trouble at home. My dog Bracken (a Springer spaniel) has raided the chicken run, not, it must be said, for the first time, and Emma is terribly distressed by what was waiting for her when she returned home. Somehow it is entirely my fault – as I knew it would be. Since I am 12,000 miles away, I hadn’t actually contrived to leave the gate open, but I am guilty of employing the man who had put the gate up in the first place. It will be the boiler next – I know it.
DAY 11: 13 November 2010
It is another chilly and overcast morning, meaning the floodlights are buzzing away again, and will be for most of the day; in fact the day’s play will be curtailed by bad light. Although it is disappointing that the prospect of an exciting run chase is ruined, England have every reason to celebrate because Cook makes a century. It is a battling effort in stark contrast to Strauss who hits four sixes in his 102 before deliberately giving his wicket away. It is such an important innings as far as Cook’s confidence is concerned and that of the whole team. I suspect Cook would have opened at Brisbane even had he not made a decent score in the warm-up matches, but it would have been an inescapable talking point. The only realistic option would be for Trott to open, Bell to move to number three and Morgan to come into the team at number six; quite an upheaval and certainly something England could do without.
Cook is not one of the most graceful left-handers, the majority of whom seem to have an elegance all of their own. I’m not sure why, it would seem to be purely a matter of aesthetics. Cook’s bat is often crooked, with the blade turned to the leg side and he plants his front foot on the line of off stump and plays around it, which helps to explain his low scores. But he is a fighter. South Australia’s attack buckles under the weight of the onslaught from Strauss, and 156 runs are added before the captain declares, setting the home team 308 to win in 65 overs. A long break for rain ruins that, and after Trott and Collingwood take outstanding catches off Anderson, the umpires decide the light has deteriorated sufficiently to bring proceedings to an early close.
Has it been enough of a run out for the bowlers to take the Brisbane option? Broad and Swann certainly look as if they could be trusted in a Test match tomorrow. Finn is coming on but not yet one hundred per cent, while I reckon Anderson is at about eighty per cent. Given the team that has been chosen here, everything is geared to playing the back-up attack in Hobart.
A final run along the riverbank and I watch as a Singapore Airlines flight comes in over the ground. It is the flight that will bring Emma here in five weeks’ time. It seems an age away. I haven’t been here a fortnight yet, but already a lot seems to have happened in this phoney war. All, that is, except shedding the pounds. How depressing.
DAY 12: 14 November 2010
A frustrating travel day. There are no direct flights between Adelaide and Hobart, so we all scatter to the four winds. There are at least three different travel agencies handling the media travel on this tour and I am essentially doing my own thing, which gives one a certain independence.
