When Steve Harmison smashed[1] a delivery into Ricky Ponting’s face, it was, for me, the start of the summer – and an indication that England weren’t going to be bullied. The following is an extract from the book Ashes Victory, which gives some insight into what happened (you’ll remember that no England fielder went up to Ponting to ask of his health..etc)
challenge, [Ponting] attempted to hook Harmison, missed and felt blood dripping down his cheek after the metal grille of his helmet cut into his cheek. Play was delayed for five minutes while Ponting received treatment. England’s captain and fielders looked on from a distance, another signal that they were going to play this Ashes series tough. Ponting later criticised England’s lack of one of the game’s common courtesies and claimed it motivated him.
Simon Jones remembers: ‘No one wants to see a player hurt but they weren’t going to get any sympathy from us. We were there to do a job. It was about controlled aggression, not going over the top.’
Andrew Strauss admits to feeling conflicting emotions. Langer, after all, was a friend and colleague from their time together at Middlesex. ‘We wanted to let Australia know that they wouldn’t be able to bully us. We wanted to hit the ground running and really show them that we meant business and that our quick bowlers were going to cause them problems. Looking back on it now, though, I think we probably got a bit carried away with that. You know, if a guy gets hit, regardless of the situation, you should probably go up and see if they’re all right. But I think that first session, walking out there that morning and the sort of roar that went up in the Long Room as we walked through and realising the enormity of what lay ahead put us on edge a little bit more than we’d normally be.
‘It’s a tricky one. Langer’s a good mate of mine and I get on very well with him on and off the pitch, but that first morning, the first hour, it was all about setting the tone for the rest of the series. We were very keen to get under their skin and maybe that thing about being mates went out of the window for a session or so. I remember when Ponting got hit and we were just leaving him to it, Langer said to me: “This really is a war out here, isn’t it? You’re not even going up and seeing if he’s all right.” And no one said a word.’
Whatever the protocol, Ponting was dismissed soon after, with Kevin Pietersen’s drop in the gully counting for nothing as the………
[1] The first feedback I received – first and only, in fact! – at Cricinfo was from a Vietnamese expat, who took great offence at my use of the word “smashing.” He said it was an utterly inappropriate word for the gentleman’s game – or sentiments to the effect of. I’m still using it – how else can you describe a ball which causes blood to spill from a batsman’s face?
I was sitting in a crap wine bar in Auckland (Sky dish on the blink) for the first session of the first test. I had to beg the owner to put the cricket on as they had booked some reject girl from New Zealand Idol to sing country music. Everyone in the wine bar was facing her except me. I had my back to her watching the TV. Ponting got smashed. I screamed with joy. The poor girl with the banjo thought I was a nutjob but I didn’t care. It was game on!
Of course they weren’t going check on Ponting. First Blood was drawn and the battleground had been marked. The nerdy kids had learned Karate in the school holidays and were taking on the bullies. It was THE moment when we knew we had a chance. The time for consolation would come (and did) when we won at Edgbaston, but then, at that moment, it was pure and simple warfare, and I bloody loved it.
It makes me laugh this sort of stuff. Don’t get me wrong I think England did nothing wrong in that situation, nothing at all. For years, Australia were heavily lambasted for showing a similar attitude out on the field. For sledging, showing no remorse, playing tough intimidating cricket. Ugly Australians!!!!
England do it and all of a sudden it is fantastic cricket!!!!!! And they are right it is fantastic cricket, tough and uncompromising!!
Australia were highly praised in this series for their “sportsmanship”, and “attitude” in the games. As an Australian watching at home, I know I was constantly annoyed with our players smiling and seemingly happy while the england players bullied them around the field.
What do we want? An Australian team that wins, or one that loses with a smile on their face?? I know very well which one I want – the one we have had for the last 10 years!!!
It is showed throughout cricket history that the tough cricketers are the ones that succeed. AB’s attitude on the ‘89 tour helped turn Australia around, the England team this year, the mid ’70s Australians, the ’80s Windies. Played tough hard uncompromising cricket.
More of this sort of stuff please and less of the stuffy old school cricket writers who think it should be a “gentleman’s” game!!! Someone should make these guys face a cricket ball coming at them at 150 miles an hour and see how their attitudes change!!!
Battle ground? …err… Excuse me; this is professional sport, not war. For better or for worse, I am “one of those stuffy old school cricket writers who think it should be a “gentleman’s†game”. And I’m sorry but I have never “screamed with joy” when I’ve seen some one bleeding on field, I go more like “ouch” or “oh…that must have hurt” or “Aaahh…that doesn’t look good”.
It’s not like you can’t have a competitive, cut through contest between bat and ball and one team and another and not be show a level of courtesy and decency at the same time. And how the likes of Flintoff reacted later in the series is a proof to that fact. Going up to have a chat with an injured player is not about keeping up with centuries old traditions, it’s about basic manners, showing respect for follow professionals, fellow human beings.
England can blanket their actions on that morning with whatever justification they deem please to, call it being “tough and uncompromising” or whatever, but I know what I would have wanted to see ideally.
Yes it is professional sport, with much at stake. And just like the first ruck, scrum or line-out in a hard fought game of rugby that first session was all about exerting physical and mental dominance. Was I revelling in a player being injured? of course not. Was I ecstatic about a pace attack capable of exerting dominance? you betcha.
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