True test of character for England awaits

I know that this is supposed to be a blog about my MBA adventure, but I had to post this, as England, after declaring their first innings closed at 6-551 in Adelaide, having OZ at 3-70 in their first innings reply at one stage before OZ recovered to post 513, then entering Day 5 with a 91-run lead and nine wickets in hand, have well and truly had an epic batting collapse to get rolled for 120-something (a lead of 157), which the OZ achieved for the loss of 4 wickets. Someone has to post about this, and it may as well be me.

It's truly crushing for England to lose a Test that you could say they dominated throughout on the final day. It was a heroic effort to set the pace after having won the toss, but they were undone on the final morning. Tests are ultimately five day affairs, not four. After being sent out to field and chasing leather for two days as Lee, McGrath and Warne were thrashed on a benign pitch, and end up 6-551 in arrears as England declared their first innings closed, then to be reduced to 3-70 early on the third day, you would've said OZ had two chances here - Buckley's and None. From Day 3 I felt that a win was a very remote chance, and even more so after England negotiated their way (pretty easily I thought) to 1-59 at the close of Day 4, 91 runs ahead. At that point, England had won Days 1, 2 and 3, with honours being shared on Day 4. Still, they went in with a 91-run lead and nine wickets in hand.

There's a saying in Latin which goes like this: "Carpe Diem". This means "Seize The Day". It was featured in Good Will Hunting, and it's about grabbing the moment. This is what OZ have been good at over the last decade or so - seizing the moment, sensing that hesitation and fear in the opposition. You have to play well for five days as there are no easy victories. There's no team which is better at absorbing punishment, being on its knees, and getting up and back on its feet to land a knockout blow. And once that hesitation, that fear, is scented, the OZ tails go up and they all come at you as hard as they can, physically AND mentally.

I was reading an article in the Guardian about a similar match that I remembered watching at Old Trafford against Pakistan:

The fear. The Australians have seen it before in the eyes of England's batsmen. And they weren't even playing them at the time.

It was June 2001 and Australia had recently arrived in the country when England reached tea on the last day of the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford two wickets down and odds on to achieve the draw that would give them their fifth successive series win and a handy pre-Ashes pep-up. They duly lost eight wickets in a session and with it the game. Steve Waugh chuckled knowingly. A couple of months later Australia handed out another Ashes thrashing.

England's mistake in Manchester was to play for a draw before they needed to. Pakistan had begun the day worrying about defeat, but instead sensed the hesitation and went in for the kill, unburdened by any thought of defeat. It was a lesson learned the harsh way.

Or so we thought. Then, this morning, Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell poked and prodded their way to 10 runs off the first 10 overs. Unlike Old Trafford, England had next to no chance of winning this game at the start of the day. But they could not have chosen a clearer way of signalling their worries to Australia than this. Back then, Pakistan attacked with Waqar Younis and Saqlain Mushtaq; now, Australia moved in with Brett Lee and Shane Warne. Then, as now, England propped forward and kept an anxious eye on the clock. Grim stuff and utterly self-defeating.

From the Guardian

Sit back against a team like OZ and you will lose, even from a position of strength. Because the OZ aren't beaten until the end of play on Day 5.

It's a shame that the England collapse was precipitated by a dodgy call from Bucknor, giving Strauss out caught after he charged Warne out of his crease and was given out caught having missed the ball. But the collapse that followed - the Bell runout from ballwatching, the KP sweep facing his first ball from Warne, the Flintoff swish outside off stump after five consecutive deliveries in that same area, the needless prod by Geraint Jones after having earlier fluked an edge through the slips, all these are clear examples of brain explosions and lack of composure when it really, really counted. Collingwood alone stood firm, though he was lucky to be not given LBW by Bucknor when he was plumb, and I felt though he kept his wicket safe with a heroic, Boycottesque rearguard, he did little to either take runs or shield the tail - he constantly took singles at the first ball of the over and then leave the tailenders to face Lee, Warne or McGrath at the other end. James Anderson also deserves credit for hanging around for at least 10 overs for his 1 off 26.

The OZ were the opposite. The players that were written off on Day 2 (including by me) raised their games in times of need. In this match, these guys came through the clutch for us:

- Ponting - this guy really does know how to Carpe Diem
- Clarke - wasn't even supposed to play this Test but batted us to a position of safety
- Warne - after conceding his worst ever figures on Saturday he bounced back and bowled 2 sessions unchanged and created all manner of confusion and panic in the England batting
- Lee - after I wrote him off and said he was the most overrated Test bowler ever, comes up with his best spell this year, and bowled a marathon 13 over spell
- McGrath - after being written off again he provided some strong support to Warne and Lee
Clarke

Series isn't decided yet of course, but England will do well to recover from such a defeat. But it's now their chance to show what they're made of, to bounce back like Warne and McGrath did. Do they have the mental strength? This is what a tour to OZ is all about - no easy matches, no favours given.

But all is not lost, I feel. England need to win two and draw one. But it's going to be a true test of character now. This Test was hard fought bar the last day. England will need to regroup, get their focus back in the 10 days between now and the WACA Test, and really re-examine themselves. This is what touring in OZ is all about - no letup. It's a true Test series in every sense of the word, where you get physically and mentally tested.

Despite the win, there are still deficiencies in the Baggy Greens, which were highlighted in the first four days. Our bowling in Brisbane and Adelaide was not that convincing if you think about it (fifth day aside). The gap between the teams from a talent and physical point of view is not that great if you think about it - OZ are ranked #1, England are #2. England have some special players that they can rally around, some hard nuts - Hoggard, Collingwood and Freddie. In times like these you don't turn to your glamour players, you turn to the hard nuts with the good temperament.

England need to go back and think about what was different between their performance on the first four days and the fifth. The difference, I think, was in the "top two inches" - the mind.

The OZ were on the ropes for 4 days, brought to their knees, got back up and rebounded. Time for England to do the same and show us what they're made of, and put up a good showing at the WACA for the full five days, and get their tour back on track.