Diplomatic Giles denies he has points to prove
Player reaction from the second day of the second Ashes Test at Edgbaston
Steven Lynch at Edgbaston
05-Aug-2005
![]() |
![]()
|
"Well, I think I'm better than that," he deadpanned during an impressively
diplomatic display. "I did point to my wife a couple of times, because
I've had a lot of support from her recently."
Giles admitted that it was comforting to be performing in front of his home crowd at
Edgbaston. "After a tricky week, if ever I want to bowl anywhere
it's on my home wicket in front of my home crowd. I didn't think I had
anything to prove - there's enough pressure anyway, playing for your
country, so you don't need any extra. I don't come out saying things to
the press just to wind myself up. I'm just happy that having done my
preparation I've come out and done well today."
He started from the Pavilion end, but soon changed round
to the City end, where Shane Warne has been camped all match. "There is a
bit more at that end - as Warnie's just shown [by dismissing Andrew
Strauss just before the close]. He's used to bowling amazing balls." So
was it a special moment dismissing Warne himself? "Well, he's got me out a
few times, so I was due!"
And what might England's game-plan be? "There are three days to play,
there's a lot of hard cricket to come. But I think it will turn, the rough
will get rougher, and yet this wicket also goes through periods of being
helpful for the seamers, which should be good for us. But we stuck to our
plans today: to go in 125 ahead, we've have taken that. I suppose we could
do with being 300-350 ahead, but nothing's been discussed yet. It's going
to be tricky. I've got a big part to play in this match, so I need to keep
focussed."
Justin Langer, Australia's hero with a gritty 82, also reckoned that
England ended the day in the box seat. "They have definitely got their
nose in front," he said, "but this Australian team is up for challenges,
and it will be a sensational Test win from here if we do it. Whatever
we're set, we'll back ourselves to get it."
Just like at Lord's, Langer was hit at the start of his innings, when
Steve Harmison clanged him on the helmet in the first over. "My old coach
used to say that he liked it if I got hit early on, as I get a bit sharper
afterwards. I'm not sure if it helps, actually, but it certainly sharpens
you up."
Unlike at Lord's, this time the England close fielders remembered to ask
the batsman if he was all right. "Yes, they were very polite. The spirit's
been really good so far, and I'm sure it'll go on like that."
A later blow, when he was hit near the heart by Harmison, was actually
more of a problem: "It just winded me - it was a bit embarrassing, because
I could hardly breathe. The bruise doesn't hurt much now, though."
Langer's long vigil - 275 minutes and 154 balls - was functional rather
than flamboyant. "Yes, it'll hardly enhance my reputation as an elegant
strokemaker, as I've been trying to do for two or three years," he grinned
ruefully. "But the team needed an innings like that. Ricky Ponting played
brilliantly, and I thought Michael Clarke's footwork was outstanding. But
it's very hard work batting - trying to score freely out of that rough is
hard, as Ashley Giles proved."
Like Giles, Langer has had his moments with the media and the crowd in the
past, famously criticising the Barmy Army during the last Ashes series
Down Under. He wouldn't be drawn on that this time, but he did say that he
realised what Giles had been through: "I can appreciate how he felt last
week. He's probably verbalising what a lot of sportsmen think sometimes.
He's done a great job for England recently."
Indeed, Langer waxed lyrical about the whole England team: "They set
in-out fields, so good shots you only to tend to get a single for. That's
the way they play, and they've done it brilliantly for 12 to 18 months
now."
So what sort of total would the Aussies ideally like to chase? Langer
grinned again. "Well, we're already 125 behind - about 150? You saw how
Warnie was turning it at the end ... That ball hopefully will have worried
England, not just for this game but the whole of the series. The more
Shane Warne demons we can get into the England dressing-room, the better."
Steven Lynch is deputy editor of the Wisden Group