The finish yesterday rivaled almost anything that was thrown up four years ago but as the performance as a whole is assessed, there can be no doubt that England got away with a result that was ultimately earned, but not deserved.
In every aspect of the game the Australians were better. In the first innings England had seven scores of 30 or more but failed to convert any of these starts into three figures. Even more frustrating was the manner in which these foundations crumbled, as so many batsmen gifted their wickets away after working so hard to wrest the initiative from Australia. A loose shot from Cook, Strauss's failure to lower his gloves and Pieterson's arrogant sweep. Bopara had already had a narrow escape from a Johnson slower ball before falling victim to a second, Flintoff yet again chopped on playing away from his body and Prior attempted an expansive drive when he needed to ensure he was there at the start of play on day 2.
By contrast, Australia converted four centuries, while Michael Clark fell only 17 runs short. They were exemplified to my mind by Simon Katich, a man who endured a torrid time on his last Ashes tour but has converted himself into a quality opening batsman, never being lured into playing outside of his limits. There were no gifts from these batsmen until quick runs were needed to hasten the declaration. Each innings was distinct from the others, ranging from the finesse of Ponting to Haddin's brute force. It was the perfect example of how this great game is one for the individual as well as the team.
Of even more concern is how the mindset didn't seem to change in many as England tried to save the game. Cook, Bopara and Swann were all out LBW playing across the line and although some could argue that Bopara got a poor decision and Swann had stuck about, a straight bat would have meant there was no need for the excuses. Pieterson had already survived one close LBW shout to a Hilfenhaus inswinger before shouldering arms to a straight delivery and the captain slashed at a wide one after already losing an early fifth day wicket. It could be argued that some of these are technical issues but to my mind these are mental and no amount of net time over the next three days will change that. Strauss needs to ensure that the application matches the undoubted talent there is throughout the England batting order.
As far as the bowling is concerned it was the lack of imagination that was most upsetting, in particular from the seamers. If the ball is not swinging then you try cutters, go around the wicket, vary the pace, but very few of these options were tried and certainly rarely stuck with. These are international players who seemed to think that the pitch and the conditions owed them something. In truth, you have to make the pitch work for you and that was forgotten as England wandered listlessly through the Australian innings.
However, although England were undoubtedly at fault for the position that Collingwood, and the bottom order dug them out of it was impossible to not be impressed by the Australians. As a team they were clearly well prepared with seperate plans for each English batsman but it was two individuals who really caught my eye. Both Brad Haddin and Nathan Hauritz were heavily questioned in many parts of the media before a ball had been bowled but they both delivered. Hauritz took as many wickets on his own as the entire England attack, comfortably outbowling both Panesar and Swann and Haddin delievered a blistering assault to take the game well out of England's hands. Both these men may not be as good as the men they replaced, but Gilchrist and Warne would arguably both walk into an All Time World XI. There are a lot of players who are not as those two, but this doesn't make them bad players or weak links and England will have received a rude awakening.
Ultimately then it was the English characteristics of grit, determination and sheer bloody-mindedness that saved the game, but there will be some searching questions asked before the squad is announced later today. I would expect Panesar to drop out with Harmison rivalling Onions for the 4th seamer slot. I hope they stick with Onions, the man in posession. Although Harmison has taken wickets against Yorkshire this week, Onions was only denied that chance in virtue of being in the Cardiff squad. He also took wickets for the Lions and should be the man to replace the second seamer and I hope England back him, select and give him some confidence on a ground which already holds fond memories for him.
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