Running Towards the Danger

SP on the light and shade of Bazball, Boland, who opens and CA's losses

Notwithstanding the singular brilliance of a match-winning, prime time, 69-ball Travis Head tonne, there was something unsettling about how it all went down for England on Saturday.

After day one in Perth – a setting built to intimidate with its sharp skies and sun, where the performer Amyrah extended her final vibrato on the Australian anthem, where The Big Dos was seen shadow boxing in response, where commentators fulfill contractual obligations to critique the visiting team’s lengths or angled bats after three minutes of play, which later melts into afternoon packages of Gilly’s tonne as the opposition unsuccessfully swats flies in real time… – just four sessions later, England had Australia on the ropes.