Ian Chappell on the Ashes; Test 1, Day 4 (24 November 1998)

24 November 1998

Ian Chappell on the Ashes; Test 1, Day 4

Ian Chappell

THE combination of Glenn McGrath and Michael Slater, by playing at their aggressive best, gave Australia an opportunity for victory in the first Test at the Gabba.

McGrath blasted through the bottom half of the England batting order and then Slater launched a savage assault on the bowling, which quickly had the opposition on the defensive.

McGrath began the charge by showing up the deficiencies in this England tail. He seemed a little rusty in his early spells, but the sight of the tail-enders brought a marked improvement as he bowled England out in the first session of the fourth day.

Aggressive as always, he went after the tail-enders, bouncing out fellow fast bowlers Dominic Cork, Alan Mullally and Angus Fraser and then out-thinking Darren Gough.

His marathon stint brought him six wickets and gained a substantial lead for his team. By slicing through the England line-up on the fourth morning McGrath had revived Australian hopes of a victory.

These hopes were raised even further when Slater commenced the innings as though he was double-parked on Vulture Street and did not have the money to pay a fine. The situation was perfect for Slater; he had a licence to play his shots and an aggressive bowler operating for England.

As so often happens when a batsman attacks a wicket-taking bowler, the response is to display even more aggression, and Gough's figures suffered. Drives, cuts and one glorious hook shot flowed from Slater's bat and the normally sedate Justin Langer joined in the run picnic.

By scoring at such a furious rate so early in the innings, Australia sent out the message that they were chasing victory. Often this causes the opposition to think about the fact that when there is a winner, there has to be a loser and this can lead to trouble.

Slater's scintillating innings provided Taylor with the added advantage of making a declaration on the fourth evening, to set England the mammoth task of scoring 348.

Because England did not punish Stuart MacGill's loose deliveries in the first innings he was encouraged to think his leg-spin and googlies could be a factor on the final day.

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