m guessin no one made it to the post office by 9am this morning
curse collingwood n his determination his rallying of the tail – hows one to live without sleep. this winter cricket things not easy. when collingwood fell there wasnt all that long to go and one got the sense his incredible work wouldnt go unrewarded. of course panesar n anderson would hold on – panesars collingwoods batting buddy afterall.
throughout the match england had two figures. flintoff for brief moments earlier on in australias innings. collingwood. the figures were individual – they attracted vague satellites and the collingwood force was strongly residual in the final partnership of the match. it was less a partnership than a continuation of collingwood – an effective afterimage. a poltergeist. australia had glimmers of figures from time to time as they bowled but nothing really took over. warno was expected to mark the game but after some promising moments fell short. he tired too easily. too easily absorbed by the pitch. (the pitch endlessly talked up as a vicious competitor n treated warily by commentators all match also remained soft n kind – absorbed violence generally offered little venom.) in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 in 05 gillespie had his bowling mojo taken from him by an as yet unexplained force. yesterday johnson seemed to be battling the same alien. batting australia was massive – the ripples from these partnerships will carry them a long way through this series. to this point the australian batting line up is undoubtedly a people whereas the english is one man. the australian attack is a people but a small beaverish one. the english is barely one man. yet the test match is reduced to nothing. there is little more lovely than a non test – the test with no result. the series starts again at lords on thursday. from the non test to the lords test – the test that ceases to exist to the test that belongs to the lord. its difficult to know what kinds of distances seperate them vast differences or intricacies. sophia gardens is some way from lords
clues to the actual extent of this measurement may be found by counting the number of times we ricky ponting anxiously spit on our hands n rub them together
i know nothin butll keep dancin
flintoff takes the new ball n this pop song soars. ricky pontings (weve) been wanting it more than even flintoff the new ball speeds off his (our) bat. deteriorated balls been lovin the deteriorated pitch. the balls deteriorated evenly there is no reverse. even long ago when this ball was new (an early chorus) there was little sign of the swing. the new ball will enter into a new relationship with the atmosphere. the flintoff-new ball cluster v ponting v katich folds through the glorious cosmos n becomes flintoff v the world. what happens next will be decisive for all future formations all clustresll keep grain. a change up later in the pop song i know nothin butll keep dancin
theres nothing i hate more than a huddle. england love them everyday in everyway. theres nothing that expresses less about a team as a functioning unit. prescribed moment of bonding. england though are working another display of comraderie towards a similar level of hateful absurdity. today mcgrath bowled a delivery to flintoff that ripped back and beat the inside edge of his bat – cut im in half. collingwood came down the wkt and the two batsmen touched gloves. gideon haighs been counting englands glove touches – cook had 4 before hed even scored a run.
two great moments of commentary
1. today i listened to the radio. at one point okeeffe described flintoff as follows : eye like a dead fish
hes as strong as an ox
thats why they call him rhino
turns out okeeffe was actually referencing darren gough who when asked why his nicknames rhino said because im strong as an ox.
makes for an interesting series of substitutions and combinations in the signifying chain. dead fish…flintoff-ox-rhino-gough-flintoff…dead strong, dead eye, fish-ox-rhino, flintough-goff-flintough-goff
2. i think it was jonathan agnew who painted a portrait of justin langer standing at third slip :
arms crossed and his legs crossed
the kind of thoughful stance
a man adopts when hes dropped
a couple of catches
in the early hours haydos and symmo took a boat out on the bay looking to catch something to throw on the barbie for a late team breakfast. as they stared at the water and scrutinised the currents they reflected upon what they had done. waiting for the bites they knew would come they were not strangers to remorse. as soon as a big one is landed though theyll forget these less certain feelings and theyll want nothing more than to complete the increasingly savage whitewash.
the saddest most frightening thing for england (and cricket generally given how great freddie should be) is they way in which flintoff is taking on, more and more each day the series continues, the aspect of nasser hussein. lucky it was only a 3 day test.
rudi koertzen is statuesque.
hours now after the end of the test match and im struggling to readjust to life outside the adelaide oval. theres still damp laundry in the machine that i must have put on this morning though i dont remember it. the dishes haven’t been done since day 1. i want that feeling of euphoria at the end of a great test match to last forever. i haven’t eaten & there is no food in the flat but food isnt much of a necessity in comparison to test cricket.
there’s a negative presence in the england squad and he will certainly be dropped my fear is that its too late today the negativity was already festering & spreading in the adelaide heat
flintoffs face as he ran in to bowl his final few overs of the match was devastatingly sad to behold. he was in all sorts of pain ankle and heart busting himself to keep his head up and carry his team boldly onward in a situation where boldness was as scarce as water.
heavy ball
balls a culmination
postmatch interviews by s odonnell
losing
if e keeps working hard and gives it is best if e
keeps working hard in the nets
ll take some encouragement from the 2nd innings
have to get into the game nothing
that hard work cant fix n dennis lillee
triumphant
its a pleasing start for us a
good performance for the team
he put his hand up n got the job done
for the team good job from day 1
done lads
the figure of hayden walking onto the pitch with the bat raised above his head one hand grasping the handle of the bat the other the toe, stretching his shoulders. an immense and stirring image to lead up to the first delivery of the 2006/7 ashes series.
but hayden proved insignificant. the day started off frenetically as rhythms, forms and settled periods of control were sought. harmison was bowling vicious lengths but along aberrant lines. langer was the first to find control and despite not quite finding perfect touch he owned the game for the first session. hayden disappeared completely with the score on 70 odd, a wkt which did nothing other than allow another immense figure to begin his challenge to langer’s supremacy. though flintoff’s celebration was powerful there was a sense that the roar was nothing but histrionics – flintoff himself appeared acutely aware that hayden was insignificant. flintoff v langer was the great epic narrative truly sprouting from the carefully tended soil of the gabba. it could have been decisive. as it turned out flintoff got his man but it was too late and flintoff’s efforts were too solitary. flintoff v australia. the wkt came too early for langer to claim any epic status for his innings. the way he batted today had a bitterness to it rarely seen. great batsman he is he badly wants to be achilles – i get the sense he’s building to a big finish to his career, something absolutely spectacular, there’s some careful diabolical plotting going on in justin’s sage head.
the rest of the day belonged to australia and ponting. controlled, patient, superbly executed, loving batting. dreary bowling. ashley giles becomes more boring with each test wkt he takes. england rarely appealed. before taking the new ball flintoff let the shadow from the grandstand grow until it was crossing the pitch at exactly the point the ball would be leaving his hand. flintoff understands light and shade and how it effects the ability to pick up the ball but was unable to find the precise lines and lengths he was hitting earlier in the day. the second new ball seemed innocuous.
Flintoff’s name resonates somehow with the whole Ashes idea – flint, fire, fire out, flint off, left with the ashes, he’s left with the ashes, he’s gone and taken the ashes away with him… only one man can stop him now. EL REY (of hope) WARNO – and he will need the help of a certain volatile muttering.