Australia's day of giving

Plus notes from Day 1 of the 3rd Ashes Test

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You can have a wicket. You can have a wicket. You can have a wicket. You can all have wickets. Australia’s batting in Adelaide was full of gifts.

England did their normal thing of spraying the ball around in all directions like they were trying to paint a barn rather than get batters out. The wicket was two-paced, and the bounce could be a little odd. But this was a day Australia could have ended the Ashes as a contest.

Instead, they were in a giving mood.

It started with the fact they didn’t pick Steve Smith because he had Vertigo.

England are 0-2, and yet Australia have not yet picked their best team. And with Hazlewood unlikely, might never do it. Every game Australia have had to do a rogue batting line-up, find random bowlers, and even dropped Nathan Lyon. And now their greatest modern batter is off because he became obsessed with a woman, only to find out he was actually helping murder her. Or Vertigo is an inner ear thing. But either way, in Adelaide, you want Smith.

Well, sort of, he averages low 40s there, but that is because he makes no runs in the pink ball matches. So you want Smith for a day game in Adelaide, and instead, he was not playing.

That is a gift.

But nothing compared to what Usman Khawaja gave them.

He wasn’t even supposed to be here today.

He was on the verge of an unplanned retirement. His opening spot was taken by his mate, after he hurt his back in very old man fashion, and Australia had decided to go with another batter instead of him.

It was possible he could have retired if he missed this match.

Instead, he was out in the middle, being dropped by England, and then the only batter who wasn’t reaching out at the ball.

Khawaja’s batting has gotten older in the last few years, by no fault of his own. But as the entire world is batting like kids hopped up on sugary red cordial, he’s just clothed the ball off his hip for one and jogged down the other end. It’s comforting to watch him, for kids, they get an understanding of how Test cricket is played when not nose deep in cocaine.

Simply waiting for the ball to be in his area, and playing it under his eyes is a revolutionary act in modern cricket.

Sure he hits everything square of the wicket, even when he doesn’t have to. And his bat is seemingly made of balsa wood. But on a pitch like this, not charging at the ball, and waiting for an England bowler to be bad is the best option.

Khawaja was like a caveman thawed just for this moment.

Until he went for a big sweep to Will Jacks. Khawaja plays the slog, reverse and orthodox sweep. But Jacks’ biggest chance of taking him on day one of a Test was going to be with this shot.

The issue for Khawaja was that he tried to hit it very hard, and his execution was poor and the bat turned in his hand.

He made a decent score, but his wicket was the third of the session, after a great partnership, and again when Australia should have been well on top, England felt in the game.

That happened all day.