CRICKET:England have heard ad nauseam about the Australian who always walks, but yesterday they suffered at the hands of the Australian who doesn't. Forget Adam Gilchrist, the moral hero of his cricketing age - kindly pay homage to Michael Hussey, the flint-hearted accountant who reckons that life balances out in the end.
Hussey has every right to stand at the crease when he has edged it, and so he did. Australia were 53 short of victory, with five wickets left, when James Anderson's outswinger found a faint edge. In the bedlam, umpire Daryl Harper did not pick it, and Hussey, 19 at the time, remained to make an unbeaten 46 and hit the winning runs.
Hussey has proved himself to be a redoubtable player, a one-day finisher in the Michael Bevan mould. England had an opportunity to beat Australia for the first time this winter, but however much Paul Nixon chivvied away at Hussey from behind the stumps, this one had gone. "I'm not a walker," Hussey said,unapologetically.
England bowled tigerishly in defence of an inadequate 155, but in the end they still lost. They lost, though, with pride intact.
Jon Lewis took four wickets, his best return for England, and should have booked his passage to the World Cup. But as uplifting as Lewis' return may prove, the real excitement came with the form of Anderson.
For two successive matches, he has swung the white ball when both old and new, swung it both ways, and swung it at pace. That is a rare skill. He is bowling with zest and even daring to say boo to the occasional goose. It has been a thrilling rebirth.
Anderson also took two steepling catches at deep square leg, as Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden in turn failed to hook Lewis high into Vulture Street. Both shots were contemptuous - a small total being chased down in machismo fashion - and, for once, Australia paid the price.
Australia are vulnerable in day-nighters at the Gabba, having lost seven of 11 before this. Add this to the absence of their captain, Ricky Ponting, who had taken a mid-season holiday (when the Professional Cricketers' Association gets to hear about that, England might struggle to raise a team in August) and their vulnerability increased.
Ponting's replacement was Brad Hodge, who duly made nought. He tried to turn an Anderson outswinger to leg and was caught by Jamie Dalrymple at backward point. Andrew Symonds bludgeoned a square drive at Lewis, attempted another and was caught at the wicket. Michael Clarke fell the same way after a well-crafted 36, and when Anderson had Cameron White lbw on the back leg, Australia were 108 for six.
Andrew Flintoff captained as aggressively as he had all winter and sensibly gambled on winning the game within 40 overs with his four pace bowlers. He bowled gamely himself, but he and Chris Tremlett failed to find the same cutting edge. He briefly limped off the field in mid-innings. England's impetus came from Mal Loye, whose 36 at a run-a-ball on his one-day debut has identified him as a World Cup wild card. He hit Brett Lee for six with his trademark crouching slog sweep and greeted his first two balls from Glenn McGrath (who bowled Ed Joyce for five) with legside boundaries.
After such a promising start it all went awry, apart from brief ripostes from Flintoff and Dalrymple. The lowest point came with the run out of Ian Bell, who played Mitchell Johnson to backward point where White fielded scruffily. Paul Collingwood knew a single was on but Bell was ball watching, and White gently rolled the ball into the stumps from prone as if checking the bias on a snooker table.
Bell, in the meanwhile, had sashayed back and forth so often that he should follow Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash into Strictly Come Dancing. Australia laughed and the TV replays were played late into the night. When it comes to dancing, at least, he looks a natural.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND INNINGS
A J Strauss c Hodge b McGrath 18
M B Joyce c Hayden b Bracken 36
I R Bell run out 10
E C Joyce c Gilchrist b McGrath 5
P D Collingwood c Gilchrist b McGrath 0
A Flintoff c Hodge b Lee 27
P A Nixon c Hayden b Lee 9
J W M Dalrymple c Johnson b White 31
C T Tremlett c Gilchrist b Bracken 8
J Lewis c & b Bracken 1
J M Anderson not out 4
Extras lb3 w3 pens 0 6
Total (42 overs) ... 155
Fall: 1-52 2-56 3-70 4-70 5-71 6-93 7-118 8-141 9-145.
Bowling: Lee 10 0 53 2 Bracken 9 0 24 3 McGrath 8 1 24 3 Johnson 8 1 32 0 Symonds 5 1 14 0 White 2 1 5 1.
AUSTRALIA INNINGS
A C Gilchrist c Anderson b Lewis 8
M L Hayden c Anderson b Lewis 19
B J Hodge c Dalrymple b Anderson 0
M J Clarke c Nixon b Lewis 36
A Symonds c Nixon b Lewis 4
M E K Hussey not out 46
C L White lbw b Anderson 5
B Lee not out 20
Extras lb5 w9 nb4 pens 0 18
Total 6 wkts (38.4 overs) ... 156
Fall: 1-26 2-30 3-35 4-48 5-93 6-108
Did Not Bat: N W Bracken, M G Johnson, G D McGrath.
Bowling: Lewis 10 2 36 4 Anderson 10 3 29 2 Flintoff 9.4 0 45 0 Tremlett 9 0 41 0.
Australia beat England by 4 wkts
