England snatch draw from the jaws of defeat

By Tom Mallows:

I suspect many England fans woke up on Monday morning thinking the events of the previous evening were some sort of perverse dream. The sight of Monty Panesar fending off the Australian pace attack is certainly something you only envisage in a deep slumber. But the reality will start to kick in when we get ready to do it all over again at Lord’s on Thursday still, crucially, on level terms.

However, whatever celebrations there were in the Cardiff sunshine should be forgotten quickly, make no mistake England got away with it at the Swalec Stadium. A whole session was lost on Saturday to rain, more than enough time for the Aussies to skittle through the England order, that they came so close even with the lost overs illustrates how poor England were in their second innings. As Strauss said after the game, tail-enders Jimmy Anderson and Panesar, magnificent as they were, should never have been put in that position after the rest of the line up, bar Graeme Swann and the superb Paul Collingwood, crumbled in the face of Aussie aggression.

With the ball, despite a flat and lifeless pitch, Strauss’ men appeared to capitulate as Brad Haddin and Marcus North piled on the runs. Too many wandering eyes looked to the heavens waiting for the gathering clouds to force them off the field and put them out of their misery. But as one frustrated fan wrote on a banner: ‘only cowards wait for rain’.

A contributing factor to the success of 2005 was the vociferous backing from the public. Early on Sunday afternoon much of that public were threatening to turn on their side, angry at their apparent lack of fight. But as the overs ticked by and the England tail end dug in the crowd became more and more involved in the game, holding their breath as each ball was bowled and breathing huge sighs of relief as each delivery was blocked. When Ricky Ponting shook hands with Anderson to signal the end of the game the huge cheer that erupted was reminiscent of Edgbaston or Trent Bridge during that famous series five years ago.

I think it was crucial that England avoided defeat going to the Lord’s test, especially given their poor record against the old enemy at the home of cricket. But while there is plenty of scope for improvement the manner of their great escape should give them some crucial momentum and help to re-capture the spirit of 2005.

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