BRISBANE, (Reuters) – Alastair Cook led England to a clutchful of records and the unlikeliest of opening test draws yesterday but most importantly served Australia notice that the Ashes will not be surrendered without an almighty struggle.
Facing a huge first innings deficit, England looked destined to add to a dismal record of four defeats in their last five Brisbane tests — they were saved by the weather in the other — and 10 reverses there in 18 matches.
Instead, they finished the contest having struck an important psychological blow with Cook carrying his bat unbeaten on 235 and consigning the previously dominant Australians to nearly two days of hard labour under the Brisbane sun.
Both Cook’s second innings partners, captain Andrew Strauss (110) and Jonathan Trott (135 not out), piled in with centuries of their own in an extraordinary score of 517-1 declared.
Australia closed out a fairly meaningless final session on 107-1 with their own skipper Ricky Ponting unbeaten on 51 but the moral if not actual victory was surely England’s.
Cook and Trott’s second innings partnership of 329 was the highest stand by Englishmen in an Australian series for the Ashes, arguably cricket’s hardest fought and certainly its longest enduring international rivalry dating back to 1882.
Their tally eclipsed England’s previous best set by the Edwardian batting masters Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes in 1911-12.
Cook, whose place at the head of the England batting order had been called into question by the British media at the start of their tour, also surpassed the great Don Bradman as the top scorer at Brisbane’s famous Gabba ground.
Comprehensive defeats to kick off the last two Ashes tours at the Gabba have set the tone for disastrous tours — they were whitewashed 5-0 in their previous visit four years ago — and this looked set to go the same way when Australia took a first innings lead of 221 on Saturday.
But rather than fold, they struck back hard against an Australian team who have slipped to fifth in the test rankings.
“To score 200 against Australia in Australia is a great effort,” said a glowing Cook after his 10-1/2-hour knock.
“When you’re so far behind you have to bat a lot of overs to get back into. It’s been a great couple of days.”
The fact that it happened at the Gabba, where England have not enjoyed victory for 24 years, was not lost on Strauss. “Everyone talks about the Brisbane test and how important it is,” said Strauss “At the end of day three it wasn’t looking good for us, (so) to come back in the match and draw it, we’ve got a lot of belief that we can go on and win this series.”
Australia, who will have to win the series to reclaim the Ashes, reacted by calling up two more pacemen for the next test in Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris to boost the bowling corps.
Main strike bowler Mitchell Johnson did wretchedly and could well lose his place after being put in the shade by the supposedly struggling Peter Siddle who took a first innings hat-trick. Johnson finished wicketless at the cost of 170 runs. “Am I disappointed we didn’t win the game?,” said Ponting. “We gave ourselves the best chance possible to win and we weren’t good enough in the last couple of days.”
SPARSE CROWD
Cook and Trott completely dominated the first two sessions of the final day in front of a sparse crowd where England supporters were more numerous and much louder.
Their disciplined partnership on a pitch that offered little to the bowlers bettered the 307 Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin accumulated to put Australia firmly in charge on Saturday.
The “Barmy Army” of England were at their noisiest just before lunch when Cook clipped the ball behind square to become the fourth England player to score an Ashes double century in Australia.
Australia’s bowlers continued to struggle in the baking sunshine with the one cast-iron chance they had of separating the England batsman before lunch spilled in the slips by Michael Clarke, another of several dropped catches by the hosts.
The second of the five tests begins in Adelaide on Friday but Strauss wisely declined to crow after Brisbane’s turnaround. “The only victories that count are on the pitch,” he said.
Scoreboard
England first innings 260
(I. Bell 76, A. Cook 67; P. Siddle 6-54)
Australia first innings 481 (M. Hussey 195, B. Haddin 136, S. Katich 50; S. Finn 6-125)
England second innings (overnight 309-1)
A. Strauss st Haddin b North 110
A. Cook not out 235
J. Trott not out 135
Extras (b-17, lb-4, w-10, nb-6) 37
Total (for one wicket, declared, 152 overs) 17
Fall of wicket: 1-188
Did not bat: K. Pietersen, P. Collingwood, I. Bell, M. Prior, S. Broad, G. Swann, J. Anderson, S. Finn.
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 32-8-82-0 (w-1 nb-3), Siddle 24-4-90-0 (w-2 nb-3), North 19-3-47-1, Johnson 27-5-104-0 (w-5), Doherty 35-5-107-0, Watson 15-2-66-0 (w-2).
Australia second innings
S. Watson not out 0
S. Katich c Strauss b Broad 4
R. Ponting not out 6
Extras (w-1) 1
Total (for one wicket, seven overs) 11
Fall of wicket: 1-5
To bat: M.Clarke, M. Hussey, M. North, B. Haddin, M. Johnson, B. Hilfenhaus, P. Siddle, X. Doherty.
Bowling (to date): Anderson 4-2-6-0, Broad 3-0-5-1 (w-1)
