When Australia toured England in 2001 they won the first Test at Edgbaston by an innings and 118 runs and came to Lord’s for the second Test full of confidence, aggression and the swagger of hard men who reveled in the prospect of a fight they were sure she would win.
They were a formidable sight as they marched down the steps from the first floor of the pavilion to the Long Room, where the English establishment in their bacon-and-egg ties, Savile Row suits, and sense of superiority awaited them .
There was no cordoned off corridor, as there is now, to give players a clear path to the doors leading from the pavilion to the outfield, but Australia captain Steve Waugh didn’t slow down as he led his players through the heart of enemy area.
His features were taut and gritty, and he made it clear that he considered himself in hostile territory. He snapped at anyone who unintentionally got in his way and the MCC members silently parted before him as Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and the rest of that great Australian side marched out to put England to the sword again. to fight.
More than 20 years later, some things have changed and others have not. Outside Lord’s, on St John’s Wood Road, a long line of people lined up for the cricket in the early hours of the morning and another long line of people in the opposite direction for the Regent’s Park Mosque to celebrate Eid.
When Australia toured England in 2001 they won the First Test at Edgbaston by an innings and 118 runs and came to Lord’s full of confidence, aggression and swagger for the Second Test.
This time, as the Australians walked down the stairs from their dressing room and through the doors into the Long Room, they weren’t exuding the seething hostility
However, Steve Smith’s side still managed to sideline England on a difficult day for the hosts
The MCC arranged for Eid prayers to take place in the multi-faith room below the Long Room and Moeen Ali, left out of England due to an injury to his spinning finger, was among those in attendance.
Upstairs, the atmosphere in the Long Room was still full of anticipation for the first day of the second game of another Ashes series. England winning the toss and choosing to field on an overcast day filled with the promise of swing was met with loud cheers.
As England cricket reeled from the criminal record handed to him the previous day by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, which accused him of being racist, sexist and elitist, vibrant, modern portraits of Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan can be seen at the walls hang in the Long Room, but corners of old England like this are in the firing line.
This time, as the Australians walked down the stairs from their dressing room and through the doors into the Long Room, beneath the portrait of Alec Stewart hanging above them, they did not exude the seething animosity that had erupted from the being of Waugh’s side. .
It’s still a strange environment for Pat Cummins and his team. They walked past a large canvas depicting The Founders of I Zingari, a traveling team founded in 1845. Spencer Ponsonby-Fane, a man with impossibly bushy sideburns, the Earl of Bessborough and John Loraine Baldwin looking down on them.
They passed an oil painting called The Scorer, which showed William Davies of Brighton, dressed in a waistcoat and wicker boater, sitting at a desk as he scribbled notes on his scorecard with a quill pen, bolstered by what appears to be a bottle of cognac on the table in front.
However, Cummins didn’t grunt like Waugh had. The Long Room greeted him and his team with polite applause and responded in kind with a fixed smile and a few nods of appreciation and thanks. Behind him, David Warner laughed and joked with Travis Head.
They looked extremely relaxed. It was an omen.
This is a friendlier, more personable Australian side than that team that crushed England 22 years ago and Cummins is a leader who exudes dignity and grace as well as the steel that enabled him to anchor the ninth wicket partnership with Nathan Lyon who took the first test for Australia last week at Edgbaston.
But if they’re not already considered a great Australian side, they’re polishing their reputation with each week they’re in England, starting with beating India at The Oval earlier this month to win the World Test Championship.
The atmosphere in the Long Room was still full of anticipation for the first day of the second game of another Ashes series
England winning the toss and choosing to field on an overcast day filled with the promise of swing was met with loud cheers
They found a way to win at Edgbaston without any of their three leading batsmen – Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Warner – scoring as England captain Ben Stokes threw it all at them with the team’s aggressive, dynamic form of cricket .
And on Wednesday at Lord’s, Australia was just imperious. Despite all the justified excitement over England’s style of play since Brendon McCullum and Stokes took over, Australia knocked them aside on the first day of a game England are afraid to lose if they are to have any realistic hope of winning The Ashes back this year . summer.
Sure, their batsmen rode their luck. They played and missed a lot. England also dropped catches again. But if they were lucky, they took full advantage. There were times, especially when Labuschagne and Smith were about to embark on a third-wicket century partnership, when it felt like they were irrevocably taking the game out of England.
Smith was almost back to his brilliant best. You didn’t have to be an engineering student to see that from the first ball he faced, an attempted yorker he swung out to turn into a push for three to halfway, the former Australia skipper brought a very different energy to his team brought. performance compared to the way he had played at Birmingham.
Australia found a way to win at Edgbaston without any of their three leading batsmen – Smith (above), Labuschagne and Warner – making a remarkable run
On Wednesday at Lord’s, Australia were just imperious – they beat England aside
Australia gave England some hope as they lost Head and Cameron Green (centre) to rush shots as they tried to attack Joe Root late in the final session
He played with all his old confidence and verve and hyperactivity. He berated himself after practically every ball as he always does but there was intent and belief in everything he did and although he was called out for pushing a Stuart Broad ball back he missed his bat a mile and was given a reprieve . at review.
Australia gave England some hope when they lost Head and Cameron Green to rush shots as they tried to attack Joe Root late in the final session, but this was still a sobering day for England and their bowlers.
Until now, some may have underestimated this Australian team. Some may have damned them with faint praise. Some may have wondered why Stokes felt the need to upset them with England’s attacking batting strategy, but Wednesday was the day Australia showed how good they can be.
As Smith walked back through the Long Room last night, undefeated at 85, he marched past all those paintings so reminiscent of old England and listened to the applause of the MCC members ringing in his ears as dusk fell and history unfolded. threatened to repeat.