Waugh struck down by inspiration

Twenty-four hours can be a bloody long time in sport. Gee I'm glad I didn't give the poms an enormous bake for their performance on day one of the Test.

Unlike many others I thought the general had made a decision based on logic; it was merely his army that couldn't get the business done. You never know when an individual or a group can turn around their fortune and make a pig's ear into something slightly trendy.

Nasser Hussain is an intense man who takes the efforts of his team seriously. He takes responsibility for others, not just his own results. Unlike David Gower, who often put a smiley face and a nonchalant grin on the grim scores of a Test match, Nasser wears his heart and soul on his sleeve. That is not to say that Gower didn't care about the progress of his team, he just showed it in a less obvious way. Nasser does not leave room for doubt or speculation as to how he feels. He cares deeply.

For these reasons he will not have slept so well on Thursday. The Ashes campaign, so long in the planning, so tortuous in preparation and so preciously held, had been ripped from his grasp on the first day. The relentless Australians had blasted his bowlers, and the casualty numbers were psychologically and physically mounting. Speculation was rife that the visitors could be chasing 700 before stumps on the second evening. The situation was bleak but still England expected every man to do his best.

A day on and the man will be feeling somewhat relieved. Often when a team is on the bones of their backside, when morale is low and the end is nigh, an individual can inspire a resurrection. Crucifixion looked a luxury compared with what England faced when they fronted on Friday with Matthew Hayden in full cry and a batting order to follow boasting a No7 averaging a tad under 60.

The pitch was harder, a mite faster and certainly true. The Queensland sun was belting down and the fans had turned up to see their local hero head for Bradman's Test best for the Gabba of 226 and his and their all-time individual best of 334, against England in 1930. Steve Waugh had recently compared Hayden to the Knight so why would the Banana-benders (Queenslanders) doubt that history was in the making?

Enter the inspiration. Andy Caddick did not have a good opening day. He looked tentative and perhaps intimidated by the aggression of the batsmen. He was bowling on the Piccadilly line, holding a ticket for the Bakerloo and finding the concept of a good length as hard to comprehend as rap music. The Australians perceive him as a soft touch, a man who can be easily put off his game, and they may have found some justification on Thursday. They could do no such thing yesterday.

His opening over was desultory, his body language poor after the first ball, which Hayden lofted just wide of cover. With elbows akimbo he stood mid-pitch and gestured hopelessness, frustration, and most likely a repeat of Thursday's mediocrity.

He then proceeded to bowl unchanged from the Vulture Street end, apart from a one-over rest, through to lunch and beyond as the home team lost eight for 128 to be all out for several hundred less than had appeared likely a minute past start time.

Caddick bowled with aggression that all England's bowlers lacked on day one, cracking through some steepling bouncers, one of which gloved Hayden to produce the breakthrough.

Steve Waugh was also gloved avoiding a rib snapper, and the short-leg gully had been perfectly placed to receive the offering. Not only is the wicket of the enemy's general important, but the manner of planning and execution sends a message to the opposing troops that if the leader can be intimidated then so can the rank and file.

Waugh's scratchy seven runs in more than an hour was more a tribute to the vastly improved accuracy and delivery by Hoggard, White and Caddick than the batsman's shortcomings. Nevertheless, Waugh's innings will have stirred the Aussie selectors in their comfy chairs.

Caddick's final figures do not make flattering reading as he has to bear the burden of Thursday's tawdriness and his contribution to an opening salvo that was as dramatically flat as yesterday's effort was heroic.

Of course, that begs the question as to why his initial effort (and those of his cohorts) was so poor. Let's put it down to nerves and move on. After all, you can't change what happened but you can take the lessons into the rest of this Test and the next four.

England needed some inspiration and it came from the bowlers, led by Caddick. The batsmen saw the vincibility of the world champions and played with wonderful confidence. It was a day that England can reflect on with satisfaction. But they are still a long way behind and must remain in a forthright frame of mind. A lot can happen in 24 hours of a Test match.