Alex Massie Alex Massie

517/1

The first thing to be said of a test in which a side batting third can score 517/1 is that the wicket was not fit for test match cricket. The second is that, for once, this did not matter. Hilarity trumped common sense. None of us, not being present for the Melbourne test in 1912, can recall the 323 run stand shared by Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes but, somewhat sadly, that’s now been wiped from the record books by Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott.

Actually, the wicket was worse than even 517/1 suggests. The teams combined for a score of 624/2 in the second innings. That’s a Sri Lankan level of blandness and were it not for the novelty of the matter, right-thinking cricket supporters would be annoyed that a once-fascinating test match was ruined by the Gabba wicket.

The novelty matters, however and in the end just about saved the contest even if one cannot escape the suspicion that England may have batted Australia into selecting a better team for round two in Adelaide. I also suppose it’s churlish to point out, again, that Trott shouldn’t be playing for England and that Cook’s technical problems will return sooner rather than later? He’s in the side for the next 18 months anyway.

Although England have evidently established a psychological bridgehead, the notion persists that there’s still little between these sides. Michael Vaughan said last night that if England had made 350 in their first innings they might have won the game. Perhaps. But they didn’t and nor did it require great Australian bowling to dismiss them.

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