Here was Australia’s Voodoo Child, born in Darwin but raised in Adelaide, chopping up the English bowlers with mostly the middle but also the edge of his bat, quite literally. All while picking up all the pieces of England’s weary attack and creating a bold new island at the top of Australia’s batting order alongside his city mate Travis Head.
As they tried to soak in and try to fathom what Test cricket really is, what it really can be or what it really has become. Amidst the utter pandemonium of what turned out to be Australia’s fastest-scoring innings that went for 60 overs or more in their Test history. It did feel like an existential dilemma at times as Weatherald and Travis Head first got the home team off to a flyer, scoring at over run-a-ball for large parts of their opening partnership. Yes, this is the version of Test cricket that England have tried to popularise over the last few years. But Australia seemed to be the ones giving the struggling visitors a dose of their own medicine. But they were being helped along extensively by some rather ordinary bowling from the English as the pink ball went soft and the pitch continued to bake under the harsh Brisbane sun. Even while the English fast bowlers continued to get boiled in the humidity, their tops nearly see-through from sweat as they toiled away in the unforgiving conditions.
They had England where they wanted them. Down on energy, their fuel tanks quickly nearing empty, and their bodies being dragged across the Gabba outfield. The road ahead seemed very straightforward. Dig in and bat through the night session, and then wear down the English further under the sun on the third day to bat them out of the game. Before unleashing Mitchell Starc with the new pink cherry under the lights.
To fully understand England’s overall lack of penetration and bizarre tactics with the ball, except a couple of spells from Jofra Archer, and Australia’s borderline kamikaze batting strategy that cost them some of their momentum, would be akin to getting your head around that other ultimate Hendrix epic, Purple Haze. A song that seemed to be well ahead of its time even if it never quite made sense as to why that was the case.
