By Joe Aston
Consider the Australian cricket unit that destroyed England in the home Ashes of 2013-14. Repeatedly, they were five wickets down for not many, and repeatedly, the score was salvaged by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin with the support of a wagging tail. History will log it as an epic wipeout of England, but no thanks to our top and middle order. At the Gabba 6-132 transformed to 295 all out; 5-143 in Perth became 385; 6-122 in Melbourne metamorphosed to 204; and 5-97 at the SCG ended at 326.
That chronic underperformance was possible to ignore when Mitchell Johnson had the English cowering in the sheds, and taking a wicket every 30.5 deliveries, 37 in total, at a cost of 13.97 runs. The series of his life – but you only get one of them.
At the time, head coach Darren Lehmann made no secret that the batting was a disaster wrapped in a triumph – and made a point of expressing his satisfaction with the batting this last summer against India, where in four Tests, Australia made more than 500 in three first digs, and 408 in the other.
But now Australia are in England and back where they were. Chris Rogers has consistently made runs. But other than his huge partnership with Steve Smith on a pitch that resembled Bond Street at Lord's, who else has? Partnerships have been non-existent. And anybody who has tried to grind out an innings has done so watching a procession of teammates come and go at the other end. Dave Warner has put runs on the board. Adam Voges and captain Michael Clarke have certainly not. Mitch Marsh's batting is technically as poor as the man he replaced, Shane Watson. Peter Nevill is finding his feet, but deserves a chance. But then you're in the tail.
Mitch Johnson has no runs to play with.Credit: Reuters
But what are the alternatives? Shaun Marsh is in good first-class form, but his wafting blade is hardly an assuring prospect on a seaming deck.
The bowling has been poor too – like in Cardiff, horribly inconsistent. But even that would be manageable if the top order was pulling its weight. Perennially being six wickets down for 100 runs, or thereabouts, simply cannot continue.
Remember also that Edgbaston has less in common with Lord's than it does with the Colosseum in its heyday. The crowd here roars in a truly formidable unison belying the relative gentility of cricket in this country. Yes, the comfort of a home crowd is always an underrated advantage in any sporting event. But I've been to multiple Tests at every Australian venue and never seen a throng as witty and daunting as this. When England's batters were putting the Australian attack to the sword late on the first day, the sheer horsepower of the spectators was clearly affecting them. When Alastair Cook described the Birmingham hoi polloi as like a 12th player in the home side, he seriously wasn't kidding.