1st Test, Day 3: Australian attack looking thin (I Chappell) (23 November 1998)

23 November 1998

1st Test, Day 3: Australian attack looking thin (I Chappell)

By Ian Chappell

WHILE England have shown at the Gabba that they are still prone to making major mental errors, Australia will now be convinced that they are harder to beat than at any time during the last decade.

There were times when Glenn McGrath was out of the attack that the Australian bowling looked decidedly thin as the two left-handers, Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe, showed flashes of brilliance tinged with great determination to repel their opponents.

The only other Australian bowler to make his mark was Michael Kasprowicz, who began to improve from the moment he found a way to achieve success when the ball is not swinging away from the right-hander.

The burly Queenslander learnt a lot about his trade at Edgbaston when an injury put Jason Gillespie out of the first Test in 1997 and he continued to make progress by taking five wickets at Bangalore in a match-winning effort. There are times when Mark Taylor does not show much faith in Kasprowicz, but I think he has now moved ahead of Damien Fleming in the pecking order.

The only encouraging thing for Stuart MacGill was the way the Englishmen failed to put away his bad balls. If the batsmen persist in mis-timing full tosses and pushing away long hops then he will be effective on some of the more helpful pitches in the series.

The way Taylor was quick to seize upon an opportunity provided by England's tactics may have also provided an insight into his plans for spinners until Shane Warne returns from injury.

Realising that England had selected two off-spinners to capitalise on Alan Mullally's footmarks outside the right-handers' off stump, Taylor countered by using Mark Waugh at the Stanley Street End. Waugh's wicket could be considered a bonus but it also may lead to him doing more bowling in the series.

MacGill's only wicket was another bonus, resulting from a major mental error by Alec Stewart. That made it two huge mental errors by England so far (Mullally's mind blank which stopped Steve Waugh being run out was the first).

Having bowled well at times and then batted with great determination, England have shown they come close to matching Australia in those facets of the game.

However, they still have a lot of catching up to do in the area of fielding, athleticism and mental alertness. Unless there is a major improvement in these aspects of their play, the determined efforts elsewhere will be wasted.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)