Whether it is true or not that Michael Clarke made a last-minute decision to call ‘heads’ at Lord’s, the early signs in this series are that the toss of the coin will be vital
Daniel Brettig at Lord's19-Jul-2015Blink and you missed it. Mitchell Johnson’s dismissal of Jos Buttler, first ball after tea, took place so swiftly that Australia’s benchwarmers were not even present on the boundary, leaving the XI wondering where they were. By the time Johnson pinned Moeen Ali four balls later, the drinks running had resumed, but there really was little need for refreshment. On a pitch supposedly as flat as a Welsh cake, England lasted all of 37 overs.For an Australian side that had struggled so much on their past two visits to Lord’s, this was a breakthrough to savour. Of this team only Michael Clarke had won a Test match at the home of cricket, and a result to pull Australia level with a now quaking England allows all of them to think about the possibility of an Ashes series win away: none in the squad have experienced that.The recent tale of Australian cricket in St John’s Wood can be summarised by that of Johnson himself. In 2005 he watched on television as Ricky Ponting’s team hustled through England in the misleading first Test of a series that would turn violently the other way. In 2009 he was befuddled by the slope and lost in a mess of thoughts that helped Andrew Strauss’ England run all over him. In 2013 he was not even here, left out for fear of a repeat.But in 2015 Johnson showed the value of maturity and the importance of hunger, driving through the crease and dismantling England with a display as fierce as it was intelligent. Match figures of 6 for 80 will not put him on the honour board, but as a winner here he will not mind the omission. Plenty of others have reason for delight also, from the prolific Steven Smith and the metronomic Josh Hazlewood, to the two Ashes debutants Peter Nevill (more catches than any other gloveman on his Ashes debut) and Mitchell Marsh (three key wickets and 39 full-blooded runs). At the home of the game, they looked at home.All appeared to benefit from the advantage of first-innings runs behind them. On the second day, Johnson spoke about the inherent advantage he felt in bowling with a strong block of first-innings runs behind him. Not only did he feel more able to attack, but that the opposing batsmen were inhibited by the pressure of the scoreboard and also their own physical fatigue, something exacerbated by every hour they were compelled to spend in the field. In recent times both England and Australia have proven much the stronger when starting with the bat.Under these two captains, nine of the past 12 Ashes Tests have been won by the team batting first. It is a statistic that transcends pitches, overhead conditions and even continents – four of Australia’s five wins in 2013-14 were achieved by batting first, just as all three of England’s in the preceding series a few months before. This time around England’s command of the field in Cardiff was reversed utterly at Lord’s, seemingly turning on the flick of the coin.Australia’s sense that batting first will deliver them their best chance of victory is enhanced by other recent examples. In 2014 they defeated South Africa in the two Tests where they did so, and were well beaten in the one where they did not. Similarly, Pakistan were able to steal a march on Clarke’s team in the Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Pressured by the weight of runs piled up by Younis Khan among others, the Australians succumbed meekly. Clarke argued that whatever a side was asked to do first, they had to do it well.”I know it looks like in these two Test matches, but I think whatever you do first you’ve got to do well. I’ve always spoken about the first innings of a Test match being important,” he said. “Whether you bat first or second, you want to go as deep as you can. Especially on wickets that, if they start out reasonably flat, then you know they’re going to deteriorate as the game goes on. So day four and day five is always harder to bat.”I know it’s hard for me to say that because you look at the two results of the games and if you win the toss, it looks like you win the game. But I think we could’ve batted better in our first innings in Cardiff and I’m sure England would say they would’ve liked to have batted better in their first innings here.”But now that England have committed to a style of game more expansive than stilted, they too look more vulnerable when chasing the game, as much because they will try to chase it rather than simply try to take it as deep as possible. The volley of angry shots the top order attempted to fire off on the second evening spoke of a desire to counterpunch, and it is far simpler to do this from the blank slate position allowed on day one of a Test than to do so with the knowledge that your opponents have put 400 or more in the bank.Australia and England are at different stages of their development of course, and for Clarke’s team the tag of “Dad’s Army” is one they have accepted with a combination of pride and amusement rather than rancour. Duly experienced, they can thus be expected to take advantage of first strike at the batting crease more effectively than England, helped by the fact that in Chris Rogers (medical report pending), David Warner and Smith they have much the better and more durable top three than Alastair Cook’s team.However it is also fair to conclude that a younger England team should be more capable of learning to shift between the gears of attack and defence in time, whereas the team of Clarke and the coach Darren Lehmann will be more heavily wedded to winning matches from the front. It is for that reason that while the tourists can celebrate their Lord’s success fulsomely, they should not allow it to have them thinking this series can be swiftly decided with a couple more swift knockouts in Birmingham and Nottingham.It was said that Clarke changed his call at the coin toss from his habitual “tails” to a speculative “heads”, and was relieved to see it falls his way. Clarke has denied he had always called tails, stressing he has been something more of a swinging voter on these matters. Whatever the truth of the matter, his call went a long way towards deciding the result. Another twist in the Ashes may only be as far away as the next toss of the coin.