Journalism of Courage
In a fitting finish to Australia regaining the Ashes,it was Mitchell Johnson steaming in with the wind at his back who took the wicket which ended Englands three-series hold on the urn. Johnson wasnt considered to be in good enough form for the last Ashes tour,when England completed a 3-0 win at home in August.
Back on Australian soil,he terrorised the England batsmen,taking 23 wickets to help Australia secure its most coveted prize with two matches to spare. After a barren stretch of nine Tests without a win,including seven defeats in India and England,Michael Clarkes Australians have now won three back-to-back and are starting to talk about a 5-0 sweep. We got em back,so its a fantastic feeling, Clarke said of the Ashes after his side completed a 150-run win in Perth on Tuesday. That was the smallest winning margin in three comprehensive wins.
Batting show at Perth
The batsmen came to the fore in Perth,where Steve Smiths 111 and Brad Haddins fourth consecutive half century revived Australias first innings,and where David Warner 112 and Shane Watson 103 added hundreds in the second. Australia had seven centuries in the series before England posted one 8211; from two-Test allrounder Ben Stokes when the game was already slipping away.
Stokes resumed Tuesday on 72,with England at 251/5,and scored a defiant 120 before getting an under-edge to an attempted sweep off Nathan Lyon and was well caught behind by Haddin. His dismissal just after lunch triggered the tailend collapse and England was all out for 353 chasing an improbable 504 for victory.
Johnson took the last wicket,No. 11 Jimmy Anderson,to finish with 4/78 for the innings. Lyon returned 3/70,the pair wrapping up the five wickets Australia needed on the last day. We went through what Englands going through now not long ago in the UK, Clarke said. We had a tough time of it in the UK and copped a lot of criticism,but we also had a lot of support. For those people who have stuck by us,thank you!
England captain Alastair Cook,who like Clarke was playing his 100th Test,said his team was outplayed. We knew how tough it is coming to Australia to play. Youve got to be at the top of your game and we havent been there, Cook said. And theyve been very ruthless and never let us back into any game when they got ahead of us.
Stokes went in with England reeling at 121/4 on day four and shared partnerships of 99 with Ian Bell 60,76 with Matt Prior 26 and 40 with Tim Bresnan to delay the inevitable. He batted for almost 4 hours,facing 195 balls and hitting a six and 18 fours in his first Test century,frustrating Australias bowlers in the opening session.
The ball was hitting the cracks in the pitch and deviating at angles but Australias bowlers could not produce the cluster of wickets they were expecting,taking only the wicket of Prior,who was caught behind off Johnson. The first-session defiance raised Englands hopes of hanging on for a draw to keep the Ashes alive,but Englands tailend batsmen including a hobbled Stuart Broad,who was unbeaten on 2 provided little resistance.
The remaining two Tests are in Melbourne starting December 26 and then Sydney. I know everyones hurting now. Its an incredibly tough place to be, Cook said,predicting thered be inquests after such a lopsided loss.
Every time we got a partnership going or a few wickets with the ball,Australia always responded better than what we could deal with, he said. You have to give a lot of credit to how Australia played in those circumstances and throughout the three games. Theyve been very ruthless with us. When they had a sniff,theyd taken their chances. And when they had us down,they kept us down.
Brief scores: England 251 amp; 353 B Stokes 120,I Bell 60; M Johnson 4/78,N Lyon 3/70 v Australia 385 amp; 369/6 decl. D Warner 112,S Watson 103,C Rogers 54
SHREK,force behind the turnaround
Australias dramatic turnaround has largely been attributed to the man they call Shrek. Darren Lehmann has been the instigator of a reinvigoration of Australia in just six months,since stepping into the hot seat vacated by the sudden sacking of Mickey Arthur.
The 43-year-old has always been credited with a razor-sharp cricket mind. He saw enough during the July-August series in England to detect weaknesses in the England batsmen which he sought to exploit in the back-to-back series. Lehmann raised eyebrows when he observed towards the back-end of the last series: Weve shown some cracks in their batting which is exciting for us as a bowling unit. Has the momentum shifted? I think it has but only time will tell.
They were to prove prescient words as Lehmann got down to work devising plans for each English batsman. These were implemented to devastating effect by Johnson,Harris and Siddle. Australia stymied skipper Cooks scoring shots on the leg side,while Pietersen was forced into errors by the nagging consistency of Siddle. Bells favoured late cut to third man,his chief scoring area in the English series,was dried up. AFP
