The First Day
Again I will assume my reader knows the close of play score; has read of the final, final session that deprived England of pole position; the questionable decision not to use a night watchman; and the failure of James Vince and Mark Stoneman to make meaningful scores.
I will now make my own observations on the day.
Firstly the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). It’s changed a lot since I was last here in 2007. In the endless rivalry with Melbourne they too have created a sporting complex with the Allianz stadium – shortly to be knocked down – playing both codes of rugby, Aussie Rules and soccer adjacent to it, in fact so adjacent that some of our group actually thought they entered into the SCG.
I was in a massive stand – the Victor Trumper – not unlike the KIA one at the Oval. This suffered the design fault of many a modern stadium: the concourse was insufficiently wide to accommodate the food and drink outlets, footfall and toilets.
The view from the first row of the upper level was great … having water cascading on you from the roof not so.
So much for Sydneysiders berating Melbourne’s rubbishy micro-climate as after a downpour it warmed up in the afternoon.
Happily the two old fashioned stands – the Ladies and Members – are listed. Both are splendid examples of colonial architecture almost entirely in green. I compared these to the massive stand opposite with its garish advertising hoarding colours. The crowd (45,000) was full. All 3 days were sold out.
The Australian press is chauvinistic and like no better than to indulge in the national sport of Pom-bashing. An honourable exception is Gideon Haigh, who in the Australian praised James Anderson, who in the last Test became the highest wicket taker of any speedster, overtaking Courtney Walsh.
I liked his comment that, whilst Australia has rebuilt its pace attack, these past few years English bowling consists of Anderson, Broad, TBA, A.N. Other and ‘Subject to the Crown Prosecution Service’.
I’m hearing that the wives and partners, who treat all this as a jolly, are disruptive.
Okay, it’s a long tour but supposing you don’t have a partner, or what if he is gay? For me, it’s one reason why the resolve and commitment are absent.
Joe Root is overburdened with captaincy: does he need to look after his young baby too … and have a partner no doubt texting away with the latest gossip as well?