England Lose Their Head

GH sees Australia prevail after two days of chaos

No country has lost more Test matches than England. To give them credit, they keep finding new ways. The old, desperate, backs-to-the-wall, fingernails-on-the-window-ledge defeat is a thing of the past; the new, expansive, good-for-cricket, morally-victorious loss is now de rigueur. But even by this standard, England’s surrender in Perth will go down as a disaster.

At lunch today, the First Test was firmly in England’s grip. By tea, it had been dumped in Australia’s lap. England gave up nine wickets for 105 in a 118-ball session, as though trying to win the Ashes on net run rate. We’d been promised Bazball with brains this summer; here, however, was a newly-lobotomised version.

They think it’s all over….it is now

Enter Travis Head, in the scenario for which he is almost tailored - a smallish total, licence to attack, pace on the ball. With the Test in the offing last week, his state coach Ryan Harris was interviewed. Yes, Travis was conscious he hadn’t made runs for a while. No, he was fine, just working on a few little things in the nets. It sounded like the description of someone pottering at home doing a few odd jobs. With a similarly laconic and unfussy air, Head now biffed and boffed to a thirty-five-ball half-century, and the job was virtually done.