adminWell, cricket took us to the brink of that wonderful kind of madness again on Sunday at Trent Bridge.
Australia were coming from further back than they had at Edgbaston and they got almost as close.
They had started the day needing 137 runs to win with only four wickets remaining.
They still needed 80 when they lost their ninth wicket. But the deficit came down and down and down.
A few minutes after lunch, they were within 15 runs of victory and one of the most famous triumphs in even their rich Test history.
And then Brad Haddin, flashing at a wide ball from the brilliant Jimmy Anderson, nicked it to Matt Prior and, after the not-out decision was reviewed, it was all over.
Sitting at home on Sydney’s North Shore, watching on television into the Australian night, a disconsolate Lee sent a tweet.
“Where’s Freddie?” Lee wrote. “I need a hug.”
Most of the spectators in the ground needed a hug by then too. It had been a nail-biting, nerve-shredding denouement. And what a start to this Ashes series. A first Test that could barely have been any better.
A Test that shattered world records, that swung one way then another and which featured one of the most bizarre umpiring decisions ever made.
And a Test that means anticipation for the second Test, which starts at Lord’s on Thursday, will be running at fever pitch.
A Test that suggested this Ashes series is going to surpass even some of its recent predecessors for drama, quality and controversy.
How strange it seems now to think that Australia arrived at Trent Bridge last week as the objects of ridicule and disdain.
It was going to be good fun humiliating the Aussies, everyone said.
They were imploding before they even got to Nottingham. Irascible batsman David Warner was suspended for trying to punch Joe Root in a Birmingham bar.
Coach Micky Arthur was sacked a fortnight before the start of Ashes and replaced by a bloke who goes by the nickname “Boof”. Ten tests against Australia in the next six months and the 10-0 predictions of several pundits seemed utterly reasonable.
There is a different view of this Australia team now. It may still have considerable shortcomings, but courage under pressure is not one of them.
Twice Australia dragged themselves back into this match with thrilling 10th-wicket partnerships.
In the first innings, it was a scintillating 98 from Test debutant Ashton Agar and his world record 10th-wicket partnership with Phil Hughes that captivated the crowd. — The Mirror.
Online Reporter