McGrath's reality check for the fantasists

Australia 492 & 111-2 England 325

Unless they astonish themselves and the rest of us, England are neither emotionally nor technically capable of the long rearguard action they will need to save the First Test. They have recovered some of the pride that deserted them on the first day. After that débâcle, no one thought the game had a chance of reaching the fifth day.

But it is evidence of distorted values that finishing 167 runs behind Australia on first innings is regarded as an achievement of a kind. In truth, the top five batsmen played well, but none of them went on to make the hundred that was required to nag away at Australia.

As it is, the Australians had 30 overs to bat again at the end of the third day and increased their lead to 278 with eight wickets in hand. Towards the end of the day Ricky Ponting fenced anxiously at a sharply rising ball from Andrew Caddick and gave a catch to first slip. As he left he gave the pitch a dirty look, but his bowlers will love it. Steve Waugh no doubt knows already that no Test team have scored more than 226 in the fourth innings to win a Test at the Gabba.

It was a hot morning in Brisbane, in the low thirties Centigrade and every time you looked at the cracks in the pitch they seemed to have grown wider. But Shane Warne had said the evening before that he expected the wicket to remain easy until tea. That augured well for England's recovery, which had begun when Australia lost eight wickets for 128 runs on day two and were all out for 492.

This was a wretched disappointment to the cheerleaders in the papers here who were confidently expecting a score near 700 and an easy innings win inside five days: the ritual humiliation of English cricketers is a national pastime.

Yet, Caddick and Ashley Giles showed they could play. And when they batted, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher showed enough flair and judgement to surprise and interest Australia's bowlers. Yesterday morning Trescothick and Butcher made their entrance with the score on 158 for 1 – a sound foundation for a successful recovery. All they had to do was to stay in, at least for the 33 overs before the second new ball would be due.

The flaw in that argument was Glenn McGrath. The great Australian is a fast-medium bowler now and he had not done as well as he can at the start of England's innings. Yesterday morning, however, he pitched the ball up and with the first ball of the seventh over of the day Butcher drove freely down the wrong line and was caught in the gully for 54.

He and Trescothick had put on 121 and they had demonstrated the virtues of a policy of positive resistance. Both chased Warne and were never in awe of McGrath. Michael Vaughan had shown him no respect at all.

Nasser Hussain was soon off the mark, but the irritation caused by Butcher's early exit turned to chagrin when Trescothick angled the face of the bat and edged the last ball of McGrath's over to second slip. He had already twice straight-driven McGrath to the boundary and then he had been cut off at 72, approaching his prime. Now Hussain and John Crawley were together with 121 still needed to save the follow on, and each had something to prove.

Hussain's decision to put Australia in to bat after winning the toss might prove to be the defining moment of his captaincy. He was accused of being afraid, but he is not that sort. Hussain also studied local history and that shows the Test captains who win the toss regularly put their opponents in at the Gabba, but not on a wicket such as this, surely.

The best explanation is that he was gambling on shaking the Australian top order early in the series. Once Simon Jones was injured all bets were off. Hussain was a loser, and the upshot was that he owed the team a big innings.

He had the luck he needed; a chance was missed at silly point when he was 12, and on 18 he appeared to have been caught off his glove, but Rudi Koertzen, the umpire, thought not. Unlike his colleagues, Hussain dared to hook and the partnership began to prosper. The score had reached 251 for 3 when the new ball became due. Hussain dealt curtly with Jason Gillespie, bringing up his 50 with a six over long leg.

But Gillespie, who had been treated for the strained calf that prevented him bowling the day before, was moving smoothly towards top speed. A fast, lifting ball did for Hussain, who gave a thick edge to the keeper. He made 51: useful, but not enough to have redeemed him.

Crawley looked nervous at first. Australians believe he cannot play McGrath, and he did survive an early ugly, flat-footed heave. But as he settled he became more confident and stylish, scoring at a stately pace. The single that took him to 49 saved the follow on.

Crawley had had to prove that he was worthy of the vacancy left by Graham Thorpe and he had done himself no favours on the tour so far. He has worked hard at improving his game though, oddly, he refuses to explain how ("It's for me to know," he says) but it must have as much to do with his head as his feet. By the end of the innings he was deliberately skying the ball over the slips with the panache of a confident, in-form batsman.

The problem was that his partners came and went, finally leaving him stranded on 69. Warne had said that the Australians are confident that they can break open England's middle order and they did just that. Alec Stewart was bowled off an edge while trying to disengage his bat; Craig White looked fine until he left a ball that clipped the top of his middle and off stumps. Giles gave an easy catch to the keeper and the truncated tail (Jones could not bat, of course) made a minimal contribution. The last six wickets fell for 58 runs, and that marked the end of England's bold recovery.

Caddick took two early wickets in Australia's second innings but Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn steered them into calm water.

When the day was done Crawley said England would need to restrict Australia to no more than 100 more runs. But England were already in the death throes in Brisbane – mainly by their own doing.

First Test scoreboard

England won toss

Australia – First Innings
J L Langer c Stewart b Jones 32
M L Hayden c Stewart b Caddick 197
R T Ponting b Giles 123
D R Martyn c Trescothick b White 26
S R Waugh c Crawley b Caddick 7
D S Lehmann c Butcher b Giles 30
A C Gilchrist c Giles b White 0
S K Warne c Butcher b Caddick 57
A J Bichel lbw b Giles 0
J N Gillespie not out 0
G D McGrath lbw b Giles 0
Extras (b1, lb11, w1, nb7) 20
Total (581 min, 130.2 overs) 492

Fall:1-67 (Langer), 2-339 (Ponting), 3-378 (Hayden), 4-399 (Martyn), 5-408 (Waugh), 6-415 (Gilchrist), 7-478 (Lehmann), 8-478 (Bichel), 9-492 (Warne), 10-492 (McGrath).

Bowling: Caddick 35-9-108-3 (nb1) (6-1-24-0 3-0-20-0 3-0-10-0 3-0-15-0 15-7-23-2 4-0-16-0 1-1-0-1), Hoggard 30-4-122-0 (nb1, w1) (6-0-26-0 2-0-9-0 5-0-17-0 5-2-21-0 9-2-29-0 3-0-20-0), Jones 7-0-32-1 (one spell), White 27-4-105-2 (nb5) (1-0-9-0 5-0-20-0 5-0-21-0 5-3-17-0 7-1-14-2 4-0-24-0), Giles 29.2-3-101-4 (20-3-77-0 4-0-10-1 1-0-7-0 4.2-0-7-3), Butcher 2-0-12-0 (one spell).

Progress: First day: 50 in 53 min, 11.3 overs. 100 in 105 min, 21.3 overs. Lunch 125-1 (Hayden 61, Ponting 24) 25 overs. 150 in 159 min, 33.1 overs. 200 in 202 min, 44.2 overs. Tea 233-1 (Hayden 110, Ponting 82) 55 overs. 250 in 254 min, 58.2 overs. 300 in 294 min, 69 overs. New ball 82 overs, 346-2. 350 in 366 min, 85.2 overs. Second day: 400 in 452 min, 103.3 overs. Lunch 429-6 (Lehmann 16, Warne 10) 115 overs. 450 in 520 min, 117.5 overs. Innings closed 1.55pm.

Hayden 50: 112 min, 70 balls, 7 fours. 100: 194 min, 125 balls, 13 fours. 150: 292 min, 203 balls, 20 fours, 1 six.

Ponting 50: 129 min, 96 balls, 5 fours, 1 six. 100: 193 min, 158 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes.

Warne 50: 76 min, 48 balls, 8 fours.

England – First Innings
M E Trescothick c Ponting b McGrath 72
M P Vaughan c Gilchrist b McGrath 33
M A Butcher c Hayden b McGrath 54
N Hussain c Gilchrist b Gillespie 51
J P Crawley not out 69
A J Stewart b Gillespie 0
C White b McGrath 12
A F Giles c Gilchrist b Bichel 13
A R Caddick c Ponting b Bichel 0
M J Hoggard c Hayden b Warne 4
S P Jones absent hurt
Extras (b2, lb8, nb7) 17
Total (451 min, 106.5 overs) 325

Fall: 1-49 (Vaughan), 2-170 (Butcher), 3-171 (Trescothick), 4-268 (Hussain), 5-270 (Stewart), 6-283 (White), 7-308 (Giles), 8-308 (Caddick), 9-325 (Hoggard).

Bowling: McGrath 30-9-87-4 (nb1) (4-1-23-0 5-0-19-1 7-3-15-0 6-0-19-2 8-5-11-1), Gillespie 18-4-51-2 (3-1-5-0 7-2-11-0 6-1-24-2 2-0-11-0), Bichel 23-4-74-2 (nb6) (6-1-20-0 4-0-17-0 1-0-3-0 5-1-20-0 7-2-14-2), Warne 26.5-4-87-1 (1-0-2-0 9-2-39-0 3-1-5-0 10-0-30-0 3.5-1-11-1), Waugh 4-2-5-0, Lehmann 5-0-11-0 (one spell each).

Progress: Second day: Tea 34-0 (Trescothick 6, Vaughan 24) 9 overs. 50 in 54 min, 12.5 overs. 100 in 113 min, 26.1 overs. 150 in 171 min, 41.5 overs. Close 158-1 (Trescothick 63, Butcher 51) 47 overs. Third day: 200 in 273 min, 65 overs. Lunch 243-3 (Hussain 36, Crawley 33) 76 overs. 250 in 325 min, 79.2 overs. New ball 80 overs, 252-3. 300 in 412 min, 98.1 overs. Innings closed 2.58pm, delayed tea taken.

Trescothick 50: 142 min, 97 balls, 8 fours, 1 six.

Butcher 50: 120 min, 96 balls, 4 fours.

Hussain 50: 136 min, 107 balls, 4 fours, 1 six.

Crawley 50: 180 min, 120 balls, 5 fours.

Australia – Second Innings
J L Langer c Stewart b Caddick 22
M L Hayden not out 40
R T Ponting c Trescothick b Caddick 3
D R Martyn not out 40
Extras (lb3, nb3) 6
Total (for 2, 135 min, 30 overs) 111

Fall: 1-30 (Langer), 2-39 (Ponting).

Bowling: Caddick 10-0-42-2 (nb2) (one spell), Hoggard 11-2-26-0 (6-2-15-0 5-0-11-0), White 4-0-26-0 (nb1), Giles 5-0-14-0 (one spell each).

Progress: Third day: 50 in 67 min, 13.2 overs. 100 in 117 min, 24.5 overs.

Umpires: S A Bucknor, R E Koertzen. TV Replay Umpire: S J A Taufel. Referee: Wasim Raja.