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Authors: Michael Clarke
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and I was proud of the boys.
The bowlers are very stiff and sore now. We’ve bowled something like 140 overs and tried everything we could think of to take wickets. The boys worked their backsides off, but didn’t have a lot of luck.
Reverse swing and Swann’s spin are going to be big factors in the second innings, but I think if we can restrict England’s lead to somewhere between 290 and 315, we’ll have a target we can chase down.
Saturday 13 July. Nottingham.
What a day – again! Another hot day, both in the weather and under our collars. Keeping cool is the constant challenge, both physically and metaphorically.
We were desperate to clean up England’s last four wickets, both to limit the number of runs we would be chasing and to get the best of batting conditions on a pitch that is showing signs of wear, but still playing well enough.
The bowlers were exceedingly tired after how hard they’d worked yesterday, so the start was a bit ropy. The coaches and I talked about bowling with discipline, and they started a bit loosely. Then, a couple of overs in, Shane Watson and I moved away from each other in slips, each expecting the other to go for the ball, when Stuart Broad nicked one off James Pattinson. We’ve done so much slips catching practice that this was disappointing, but sometimes the ball flies into that exact centre point between you, so you each want to leave it for the other. Anyway, it was no excuse. I thought it was Watto’s catch, and Watto thought it was my catch, and we were both feeling apologetic.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay too dearly. Our pacemen finished off the England innings before lunch, and we were left with 311 to win – pretty much within the band I was looking for when we arrived at the ground today. We’re good enough to get these runs, and the pitch, while difficult, is not a nightmare by any means.
As we became used to in India on these dry, abrasive pitches, scoring is easiest against the new ball. It was essential for Watto and Chris Rogers to build a firm foundation and put a high price on their wickets. After a play and miss at James Anderson’s first ball, Watto played extremely well. I think it surprised some people that he went about his job patiently and methodically, when they might have expected him to go out and have a blast. It was a mature start. We expected no less from Chris, who was rock-steady again, providing a great example. They both got a few fours away early, but when things tightened up, they had the maturity to fight their way through the tough patches. Anderson tried to cramp Chris from around the wicket, but he was good enough to get through that period and won a small victory when Anderson was taken off, quite expensive, without a breakthrough.
Swann was brought on to bowl in the first over after lunch. As expected, he was going to wheel away from one end while Cook rotated his pace bowlers at the other. Or at least Anderson and Broad – Finn seems to have fallen out of favour for the moment.
Shane and Chris kept going, and in the dressing room we had a quiet feeling that we could do this. Swann was getting some turn, but it was slow off the deck and it wasn’t jumping. The odd one was keeping low, but the dangerous ball that can pop up and off the glove or the shoulder of the bat wasn’t in evidence. The slowness of the wicket meant that when Swann did drop short, he was quite hittable, and Chris and Shane both cashed in with some good pulls and cuts, and Shane put him away with one big sweep shot from outside off stump. Otherwise, the boys were watchful and looked to play straight.
As the afternoon session wore on, the ball wasn’t swinging and the English fielding started to get a bit sloppy. This was what we wanted: for them to start questioning whether they were going to get a wicket. Shifts in pressure are subtle, but all-important. Of course you feel pressure as a batting team chasing a big total – 311 will be a record
The bowlers are very stiff and sore now. We’ve bowled something like 140 overs and tried everything we could think of to take wickets. The boys worked their backsides off, but didn’t have a lot of luck.
Reverse swing and Swann’s spin are going to be big factors in the second innings, but I think if we can restrict England’s lead to somewhere between 290 and 315, we’ll have a target we can chase down.
Saturday 13 July. Nottingham.
What a day – again! Another hot day, both in the weather and under our collars. Keeping cool is the constant challenge, both physically and metaphorically.
We were desperate to clean up England’s last four wickets, both to limit the number of runs we would be chasing and to get the best of batting conditions on a pitch that is showing signs of wear, but still playing well enough.
The bowlers were exceedingly tired after how hard they’d worked yesterday, so the start was a bit ropy. The coaches and I talked about bowling with discipline, and they started a bit loosely. Then, a couple of overs in, Shane Watson and I moved away from each other in slips, each expecting the other to go for the ball, when Stuart Broad nicked one off James Pattinson. We’ve done so much slips catching practice that this was disappointing, but sometimes the ball flies into that exact centre point between you, so you each want to leave it for the other. Anyway, it was no excuse. I thought it was Watto’s catch, and Watto thought it was my catch, and we were both feeling apologetic.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay too dearly. Our pacemen finished off the England innings before lunch, and we were left with 311 to win – pretty much within the band I was looking for when we arrived at the ground today. We’re good enough to get these runs, and the pitch, while difficult, is not a nightmare by any means.
As we became used to in India on these dry, abrasive pitches, scoring is easiest against the new ball. It was essential for Watto and Chris Rogers to build a firm foundation and put a high price on their wickets. After a play and miss at James Anderson’s first ball, Watto played extremely well. I think it surprised some people that he went about his job patiently and methodically, when they might have expected him to go out and have a blast. It was a mature start. We expected no less from Chris, who was rock-steady again, providing a great example. They both got a few fours away early, but when things tightened up, they had the maturity to fight their way through the tough patches. Anderson tried to cramp Chris from around the wicket, but he was good enough to get through that period and won a small victory when Anderson was taken off, quite expensive, without a breakthrough.
Swann was brought on to bowl in the first over after lunch. As expected, he was going to wheel away from one end while Cook rotated his pace bowlers at the other. Or at least Anderson and Broad – Finn seems to have fallen out of favour for the moment.
Shane and Chris kept going, and in the dressing room we had a quiet feeling that we could do this. Swann was getting some turn, but it was slow off the deck and it wasn’t jumping. The odd one was keeping low, but the dangerous ball that can pop up and off the glove or the shoulder of the bat wasn’t in evidence. The slowness of the wicket meant that when Swann did drop short, he was quite hittable, and Chris and Shane both cashed in with some good pulls and cuts, and Shane put him away with one big sweep shot from outside off stump. Otherwise, the boys were watchful and looked to play straight.
As the afternoon session wore on, the ball wasn’t swinging and the English fielding started to get a bit sloppy. This was what we wanted: for them to start questioning whether they were going to get a wicket. Shifts in pressure are subtle, but all-important. Of course you feel pressure as a batting team chasing a big total – 311 will be a record
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