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This was a day that felt like being transported back in time, by a full year no less, to an innocent age when Test cricket was still a game of patience. Seldom had a respectable Australian first innings of five for 311, marked by a chanceless Usman Khawaja century and the sight of Steve Smith running his full gamut of anxious tics before succumbing for 16, seemed so discordantly retro.
“Boring, boring Aussies,” came the chant from the Hollies Stand. Yes, the tormentors were about 20 pints in, and yes, it was a touch harsh on a team who expertly nullified England’s threat, but the verdict contained a kernel of truth. For the reality is that any side can suffer by comparison with the free-wheeling abandon that England have made their stock in trade. After the exhilarating indulgence encouraged by Stokes, Australia’s response unfolded like a stubborn, low-level hangover.
And yet the impression of caution was not solely of their opponents’ making. The Australian cricket psyche tends to be rooted in a certain snarl, in a readiness to resort to whatever it takes to win. When, during the 4-0 series win in England in 1989, Robin Smith had the cheek to ask for a glass of water at Trent Bridge, Allan Border shot back: “No.
When Rod Marsh died last year, Thomson lamented that Australian cricket had lost its characters, that the environment was sterile and robotic compared to the heights of Seventies success. It was a change he struggled to comprehend.
Cummins, so far, has been supremely unmoved by any carping from the sidelines. And why should he be otherwise? His team are the world Test champions and, by the official rankings, he has the world’s top three batsmen at his disposal. It might not have looked like it when Marnus Labuschagne, the No 1, edged to Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck, but the captain has also instilled some of the obduracy of old.
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