For an Ashes tour that has been fraught with uncertainty and disruption, the first Test at the Gabba was, in many ways, a fitting and, at times, shambolic series opener.
From England’s batting collapses and signs that bodies and minds were, despite all protestations, somewhat underdone through to the technical issues that plagued the broadcast, the events that culminated in Australia’s crushing nine-wicket victory in less that four days were not exactly surprising.
It should be no great shock that some of Australia’s batters, who have at least had some Sheffield Shield matches under their belt, were more comfortable facing the red ball in familiar conditions.
The torrential rain that soaked the southeast Queensland coast before the Test may have disrupted the practise matches for both sides, but those days of preparation were always going to be more important for a touring side trying to acclimatise.
Nor is it astonishing that Australia’s fast bowlers would nail their lengths early on a pitch where the bounce means batters can judiciously leave anything a fraction short; their experience at the Gabba was evident.
Both sides had question marks hovering over their batting lineups but at least Australia had some answers, particularly in the aggressive stroke-making of Travis Head, a man whose self-confessed inconsistency has prevented him from truly owning his place in the middle-order.
There was also little to surprise in England’s batting performance, although the second innings capitulation was both more alarming and disappointing than that in the first outing.
We already knew Joe Root was likely to be England’s most reliable batter and Dawid Malan more suited to Australian conditions than perhaps any other and their second innings partnership provided England’s most hopeful period; closing in on their respective centuries, the new ball still ten overs away, and the indentations and cracks on the pitch suggesting that even a modest fourth innings target might prove tricky for Australia to chase.
The overall fragility of England’s batting has been evident over the past few years as they struggled to nail down a consistent and sturdy top order; combined with the lack of preparation, their first innings collapse in the face of an outstanding fast bowling attack on the first day was always a distinctly possible outcome.
And perhaps too much was expected of Ben Stokes in the excitement of his inclusion in the squad; the site of him hobbling after jarring his knee and yet continuing to bowl was a concern, both for his future contribution to the series and for the enormous burden he carries as official England talisman.
Jack Leach was always likely to be a risk in Australia and, although Root defended his selection for the first Test and pointed to his own decision to set attacking fields for the left-arm spinner as a major reason Leach was taken down so decisively, Australia’s batters will not fear him if he does play another Test.
Ultimately Australia did what they so often do; their quicks were generally outstanding, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were consistent and threatening, Mitchell Starc exploded on occasion with wicket-taking balls and Cameron Green repaid the faith shown in his all-round skills with a bowling performance much improved from last year’s series against India.
The inability of Lyon to crack the 400-wicket mark had loomed large over over this Test, as it had almost a year earlier at the Gabba against India, but once he dismissed Malan in the second innings you could see his relief and the nagging worry leave him as the monkey leapt off his back and scampered into the stands to get a better view of the next three wickets that would follow.
But if none of these happenings were particularly surprising, what do they say about the rest of the series?
Whatever transpires on the field, one hopes the technical difficulties that plagued the Gabba broadcast won’t be repeated for the remainder of the series.
The breakdown of equipment and the inability to rectify issues quickly was perhaps the least surprising aspect of the first Test.
For months Cricket Australia ignored the warnings of the risks associated with starting the series in Brisbane, with border closures and restrictions forcing Fox Sports to provide a world feed with what was essentially a skeleton crew, including a number of technicians who were not Test cricket specialists, operating under restriction of movement that made problem solving incredibly difficult.
They downplayed the same warnings about Perth, too, until they were forced to acknowledge what was frustratingly obvious to anyone with even a basic understanding of the outside broadcast industry; hopefully lessons have been learned.
Back on the field there may well be personnel changes forced upon Australia, with David Warner clearly suffering from the bruised rib that kept him off the field and Josh Hazlewood needing careful management - although the extent of his niggles is somewhat unclear.
While there has been speculation that the pink ball may suit England, particularly if one or both of Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad play, that does little to mitigate their issues with the bat; they may be better with one Test under their belt and there were signs Haseeb Hameed might turn starts into more substantial scores, but Zac Crawley’s form in the nets looks even better compared to some of his teammates’ in the middle and, if Jos Buttler has another poor showing with the bat, Jonny Bairstow may be preferred.
But no magical insight is needed to see that this Australia team, while not as seemingly invincible as some previous sides, is better prepared and naturally more comfortable in their own backyard; the England team as a whole and each individual player will have to perform at their very best to get back into this series.
