Michael Clarke revives Ashes hopes with commanding century

SOMEWHERE if any Australian batsman was going to score a century in this Ashes series it was always going to be the captain, Michael Clarke.

Ashes

SOMEWHERE if any Australian batsman was going to score a century in this Ashes series it was always going to be the captain, Michael Clarke.

And so it was today as he batted Australia into a commanding position on the first day of the Old Trafford Test.

Save for the fact that yet another thoroughly modern Decision Referral System controversy hung over the occasion, this was something of an old-fashioned day of Ashes cricket for Australia, one that revived memories of the glory days. For the first time in this year’s series, it was the strains of Waltzing Matilda echoing around the ground not Rule Britannia.

At stumps, Australia was 3-303 after winning the toss, with Clarke unbeaten on 125 – his first Test century in Manchester - and Steve Smith, though beaten again and again, arguably out twice and definitely out once but somehow not given, still there on 70.

Just how good a day this was for the Australians is reflected by the comparative positions of their 1997 and 1993 counterparts were in at the end of the first day in their Old Trafford Tests, with Allan Border’s side 5-242 heading for a 179 runs victory and Mark Taylor’s team 7-224 on its way to a commanding 268 runs win.

Clarke’s century, the 24th of his career – moving him to equal sixth alongside Greg Chappell on the list of Australian century-makers – was arguably the most valuable he has ever scored. Certainly it was the most sorely needed of captain’s knocks, with Australia 2-0 down in the series and needing to win here to keep the series alive.

Defeat would be unthinkable because it would draw Clarke’s team level with the 1888 side that lost seven in a row – the worst losing streak in Australian cricket history.

But, the potentially painful history aside, this was as psychologically important an innings as Clarke has played during his two years as captain.

“Massive,” replied opener Chris Rogers when asked to rate the significance of Clarke’s century. “He's such a key person in our batting side. If he scores runs it makes it easier on everyone else around him. We need him scoring runs. A lot of the other guys are still learning their game in many respects. For him to score big runs for us is massive for us."

Australia would need to work awfully hard to lose this match now after Clarke and Smith, who ironically both came into this Test with back complaints, did all the heavy lifting in an unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 174 runs that seemed to break the spirit of the England bowlers.

They came together at a critical juncture, with the dismissal of 35-year-old opener Rogers just 16 runs short of his maiden Test century, plumb lbw to Graeme Swann, leaving the side poised neatly between success and failure at 3-129.

Australians are still getting their heads around what sort of batsmen Rogers is, which is not surprising given that he has scored half of his 20,000 first class runs – a milestone he brought up in this innings – in England. But if they had formed any serious impressions, it was of him as a grafter. Today he showed another side his game.

“Every now and again those days happen,” he said. “And for me I think I wanted to show people that I can play an innings like that. I’m not just a guy who will try to ear up time. So I felt a lot better today and had a positive mindset and fortunately it worked.”

Still, his departure represented a perilous moment for Australia. A couple more wickets at that juncture might have triggered the all-too-familiar middle-order collapse.

It almost happened. Indeed, so confident were England that they had Smith lbw to Graeme Swann for a duck and then caught behind off James Anderson on 18 that they wasted both their referrals in backing their judgements. Both times, it must be said, they had reason to be confident.

But having used up both of their referrals, they weren’t able to call for a review when Stuart Broad had him absolutely plumb lbw on 24. How New Zealand umpire Tony Hill ruled not out only he would know, because replays showed the ball would have hit halfway up middle stump.

Broad, denied what would have been his 200th Test wicket, held his head in both hands, unable to believe his ill-fortune. Perhaps now cricket’s ultimate prat would have a better appreciation of how the Australians felt at Trent Bridge when they had him clearly caught in the slips but with no referrals left when Aleem Dar, like Hill today, somehow missed what everyone else saw. What goes around.

Not that the DRS was entirely Australia’s friend on the day, with Usman Khawaja being given out caught behind off Swan on one when there was no evidence from Hot Spot or ultra slo-mo or the stump microphone audio that confirmed Khawaja had indeed feathered a catch.

Even Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, appealing to the masses, tweeted that it was the worst cricketing decision he had ever seen while Sportsbet in Australia refunded all bets placed on Khawaja.

What to do with the DRS has become Test cricket’s most pressing problem although, to be fair, it’s how the technology is being interpreted and used that is creating controversy not the technology itself.

England’s bowlers wilted in the oppressive heat with Broad, typically, spiting the dummy about the deteriorating state of the bowlers’ footmarks on the delivery crease, even taking it upon himself to summon the groundstaff onto the field to fix the problem to his satisfaction. Somehow, hard as they worked, they never could meet his exacting standards.

Even the usually impeccable Mr Anderson was made to look ragged. At no stage was he able to really get the ball swinging, natural or reverse, and interestingly he spaced out his 21 unsuccessful over six separate spells. He tried to summon up one last effort when the new ball was taken towards the end of the day but his first delivery with it was contemptuously pulled by Smith to the mid-on boundary.

Smith had came to the wicket to resounding boos, a humorous case of mistaken identity from England fans who thought he was bad boy David Warner, but he departed to resounding cheers, at least from the Australians in the crowd, after playing an invaluable if lucky supporting role to his captain.

Heaven knows what  Warner made of their unbroken partnership. An opening batsmen for his entire Test career, Warner now has to carve out a new career for himself in the middle order and so it was an entirely new and nerve-wracking experience for him to have to sit for 219 minutes in the shed thinking that he was just one ball away from having to go out to bat.

As it happened, he wasn’t needed but he could very well be needed on day two as Australia tries to push on towards that 650 runs target Clarke nominated in his Test-eve press conference.