England players must show courage in third Test on 'deck of death'

ENGLAND has been welcomed this week to the "deck of death". It is part of the pre-Perth Test ritual. Scare stories about the pitch abound.

"WELCOME, ladies, gentlemen and Poms, to the deck of death." The tweet, sent by a local cricket writer, is part of the pre-Perth Test ritual. Scare stories about the pitch abound.

It is a pleasant stroll to the WACA Ground across the botanical gardens from the Fraser Suites, where the England team are staying. Ponds. Lillies. Quaint wooden bridges. Nothing to prepare you for the ferocity of the cricket.

Perth has been booming these past few years, as its natural minerals have been exported and as they have attracted the interest of foreign investment. It lends the place a more multicultural feel than any other Australian city, and a confidence too. A confidence that, this week, feeds into the Test match.

The Ashes, so close that Michael Clarke can touch them, are possibly a few days' cricket away from returning. The locals feel that it would be fitting to do it here.

They are proud of their pitch; its pace and bounce that lend the cricket a distinctive note. What other pitch in the game has had a whole book written about it? Clay, baked hard under a harsh sun, produces pace and bounce like no other.

It is a reminder of the varied challenges that Australian surfaces provide, a further reason why a tour to Australia remains one of the most interesting undertakings and why you need the broadest range of skills to succeed. The ability to adapt quickly, Andy Flower, the England team director, said this week, is what separates international players from the rest.

In a Sheffield Shield match this season between Western Australia and South Australia, Mitchell Johnson sent a ball into the sightscreen at the northern end of the Waca ground on the second bounce, rekindling memories of Dennis Lillee in the WACA Ground's heyday. Since, scalding summer temperatures - predicted to reach the early 40Cs this weekend - have baked the surface hard, so that Matt Page, the groundsman whose first Test pitch this is, has predicted a fast one, even by local standards.

It presents peculiar challenges for all types, particularly batsmen from abroad, who must adjust quickly or perish. Don't: defend a short of a length ball that will go over the stumps; try to force off the back foot with a vertical blade; lunge forward; take on the hook right at the start of your innings; allow spinners to settle. Do: cut hard; transfer weight forward; attack spinners; play horizontal bat shots; take advantage when you get in.

This was Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, the day before the match, on batting at the WACA: "How you start is so important. If you make a mistake early on, it tends to be costly, but once you get in the bounce is so true, and the outfield is so fast, that it is one of the best places in the world to bat."

Alastair Cook, who scored a hundred here two tours ago, agreed. "The first half-hour is the most difficult and adjusting to the bounce is crucial, but then it can be a fantastic place to bat," the England captain said. "A lot of dismissals here are caught slips and gully, and that tells you there is a danger in certain shots early on."

Justin Langer, Mike Hussey and Chris Rogers spoke at length this week about batting here and the message was the same: the Waca is the best and the hardest place to bat. "It is all about your start," Rogers said. "Know your limitations and be sharp early on."

Those who leave the ball well, Hussey said, are more likely to prosper. English pitches do not encourage batsmen to leave off a good length, one reason why English players have struggled here.

However, Hussey reminded us, it is not always straightforward for bowlers, either. It is a place for pace rather than spin, but only if the bowlers do not get carried away. Johnson has a strike-rate of 33 here and Curtly Ambrose's strike-rate was an incredible wicket every 26 balls, compared with Shane Warne's strike-rate of 77, at, statistically, his worst Australian ground. The danger is that England's seam bowlers will be encouraged by their own batsmen to give some bouncers back. The bouncer should be used sparingly, to push batsmen back into their crease.

Spinners have little margin for error, given the lack of spin and the true bounce, but they do have the advantage of a strong cross-breeze, which has helped off spinners in particular here. Vic Marks, the former Somerset off spinner, was a successful overseas recruit for Western Australia.

The Fremantle Doctor, as the local breeze is called, tends to blow in during the afternoon, and when it arrives with strength it is important to have a balanced attack. A captain needs bowlers who are prepared to toil into the wind, the best suited being off spinners and away-swing bowlers who can use its direction, coming from 2 o'clock as the into-the-wind bowlers are running in, to good effect.

And Clarke's tactics? A return to the kind of fields that were employed in the first Test at the Gabba. Lots of catchers are needed in the arc between wicketkeeper and gully; fewer of the "funky" positions that characterised their strategy on a much slower Adelaide pitch in the second Test. Keep the catchers in, even when runs are flowing. Courage, from batsmen, bowlers and captains alike, is required.

The Times