Losing the first Test to Australia by eight wickets after being 105 ahead with one man out could derail the entire tour
Stuart Broad was a highly meme-able cricketer and it turns out that talent now extends into commentary. As Joe Root chopped Mitchell Starc on to his stumps during England’s subsidence on Saturday afternoon, Broad summed up the mood of a nation without uttering so much as a word.
In a clip that has since gone viral, Broad is in the Channel 7 box with his eyes shut, arms folded, letting out an exasperated sigh; the kind of internal “FFS” triggered by a toddler doing the very thing they were just warned against. Watching from the far end as two teammates fall to expansive drives on a bouncy, nippy surface, only to attempt a repeat against Starc, is a bit like pulling on the cat’s tail. Root did it anyway.
If they have not done so already, it may be time for England’s players to delete the social media apps on their phones. Shutting out the noise has been one of the tenets of Brendon McCullum’s tenure as head coach and, given the opportunity squandered, there is plenty of it around. Understandably so.
Perth really was an all-time howler of a collapse that will now test England’s resolve like no other tour. No Pat Cummins and no Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja a passenger with back spasms and Nathan Lyon labouring in the field – never has there been a better chance to go 1-0 up.
