CRICKET TEST SERIES: IT LOOKS as if Andrew Flintoff plc is in the business of securing exclusive rights to the creation of iconic Ashes images. There is 2005, of course, with Brett Lee ("that's one-all you Aussie bastard"), the Trafalgar Square drunk, and the latest, at Lord's, where a fifth wicket prompted a spread-arm pose as if delivering the coda to a Broadway showstopper. Afterwards he confessed to milking the crowd "a bit".
We do not of course talk about the images from 2006-7, which generally consisted of a consoling handshake from Ricky Ponting, airbrushed as they are from memory. But he is savvy is Fred, a commercial dream who sits on dressing-room balconies with his caffeine drink prominent and, in those heady days when he scored centuries, raised his bat with handle upwards, the clearer to see the sponsors. Expect soon wicket celebrations by the boundary boards advertising his deodorant.
First he has to get on the field. There were rumours at Lord’s that the image of him on bended knee might indeed be the final one of a thundering Test career; that his knee had finally had enough of the pounding it received in that memorable, sustained burst in which the ground seemed to shiver in seismic recoil.
Yet once more there are reassuring noises that because of the intensive attention given to his rogue joint and the use of a compression machine at night, not only will he be able to take the field in today’s third Test but the experience of the back-to-back matches that preceded have given grounds for optimism that, with management, he will be able to survive this and Headingley as well, with another break before a Test-match swansong at The Oval.
It is important for England that he plays here of all places, and not just because of the pivotal nature of the match. Cricketers respond to environments in which they have excelled in the past, and here Flintoff has been supreme, his runs four years ago and the manner in which he scored them, and his brilliant over to Justin Langer and Ponting helping to set up the narrowest win in Ashes history.
If Lord’s is the cathedral of English cricket, then Edgbaston, raucous to the rafters, is the showground where nuns, Elvis impersonators, and Vikings have their say. It cannot be pleasant for visiting teams.
This, of course, is where England can play themselves to within sight of a series win, or where Australia can begin the fightback. It is a rarity to find England ahead after two matches and the last occasion, in 1997, when they won at Edgbaston and drew at Lord’s was followed by successive losses of 268 runs, an innings and 61 runs and 264 runs. So it would pay not to get complacent.
But Australia find themselves in challenging times, a team disrupted by the poor performances of key players and sidetracked by a few off-field distractions. Now Ponting, the coach and the selectors must balance the books and come up with a unit that will offer cover for all circumstances while not weakening the side.
Principal to this has been Mitchell Johnson, whose bowling has been dire. But given it would be un-Australian to show a weakness by not backing Johnson, he is not likely to drop Johnson or even change the team at all.
England have fewer selection issues. Ian Bell will bat at four, and will be under more scrutiny than ever, and there was no chance they would have wanted two spinners, with Monty Panesar being released. So the only brain-teaser is whether to stick with Graham Onions, or reintroduce Steve Harmison.
Once more the pitch suggests it will be the turf-kissers, those who can probe a fuller length, who ought to flourish. Harmison will make an appearance, possibly at Headingley if the conditions favour seam, but for now the status quo looks like pertaining.
GuardianService
