Weatherald strikes a Hendrix chord on another wild day of Test cricket
The first thing Jake Weatherald did soon after receiving his Baggy Green in Perth was inscribe the letters "JH" on his left glove. It was an ode to one of his inspirations in life, the late, great Jimi Hendrix. And the southpaw was very excited about picking the correct glove to do it to further honour the left-handed genius of Hendrix.
And after a mixed start to his Test career in Perth, the left-handed opener ended up making quite the impression against the pink ball at the Gabba on Friday. So much so that he finished the day as the highest run-scorer for Australia with a swashbuckling 78-ball 72.
Here was Australia's @I0$, born in Darwin but raised in Adelaide, @I1$ 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.
It was manic. It was chaotic. It was breathtaking. It was edge of your seat entertainment. It felt like what it must have been to be at a Hendrix concert. Probably the best compliment for how Weatherald orchestrated a sensational assault on the English bowlers and set up what should have been a dominance-establishing platform.
It's another Hendrix classic though that might be a bit more apt to the overall theme and tenor to proceedings on another awe-inspiring day of Test cricket in this Ashes series. For, it's safe to say that a majority of those who filled up the colour-coordinated expanses of the Gabba on Friday must have felt like they were sitting @I2$.
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.
It wasn't Australia's ultra aggressive batting though that left you wondering about how differently the sausage is made these days with regards to Test cricket. That came more through the period where Australia threatened to release their stranglehold on the Test match.
Starting with when Cameron Green decided to respond to England's non-threatening short-pitched ploy by exposing his stumps repeatedly and trying to access the vacant spaces on the off-side. Though he succeeded on a couple of occasions, it was a sudden shift to frantic energy that seemed fraught with great danger. Especially at a time when Green and his captain Steve Smith were rattling along at a rapid clip by playing percentage cricket.
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.
What teams in Australia's position have done historically to completely shut the door on the opposition. Like what South Africa did as recently as two weeks ago against India in Guwahati.
Instead, Green decided to break free and in the process unintentionally undid the shackles that they had thrust on the English. More so when Steve Smith was caught spectacularly by Will Jacks in the same over as Green being cleaned up by Brydon Carse with the towering right-hander ending up literally off the pitch.
It didn't mean that the Australians put their shutters down either, with Alex Carey walking out and making the most of his charmed life, dropped twice already, with a counterattack of sorts to help Australia finish the day ahead but not in as dominant a position as they could have been in.
It was a day when Australia did a lot right, and England did a lot wrong but both teams had moments which they won and lost to somehow keep the Test still alive. That is, if England are able to skittle out the last four Australian wickets quickly enough on Saturday afternoon.
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, @I3$. 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.
And like that bluesy number with its haunting off notes, it's probably best to leave the true essence of what we witnessed on Friday at the Gabba to the artists' interpretation. Something Weatherald would surely agree with.
