Mitchell Johnson: The kings of aggressive cricket couldn’t handle it when the heat got turned back on them

Well, how about the irony? With a crazy first Ashes Test on the line at the beginning of the fourth innings on Saturday, Travis Head Bazballed the Bazballers and they didn’t have an answer. You would think that if you are the kings of aggressive cricket that you would have a plan to deal with it when the heat gets turned back on you. This two-day defeat in Perth is devastating and deflating for England. They became the first team to win the toss and bat and lose at Optus Stadium. And they missed a trick. A huge opportunity. They were flying along at 1-59, with a lead of 99 runs, at lunch on Saturday. They were in a position to pile on the runs and keep Australia out there and their failure to do that will be something that will come back to haunt them. It’s obvious their Bazball method backfired. There was just no patience, no letting balls go and no common sense about picking their time to be aggressive. Then when it came time to bowl, England came out wanting to blast Australia out again like in the first innings. While they had the arsenal to do it, the quicks looked flat from ball one in the second innings and the pace of their key weapons Jofra Archer and Mark Wood was down. Head’s performance as a makeshift opener was mind-blowing really. What he did just wasn’t expected. While we’ve seen Head play like that opening in the short forms, to go out there under pressure and to step up to the plate at short notice and be so free-spirited was phenomenal, especially when it could have gone the other way quite easily after what we’d seen earlier in the match. There is an opportunity there for Head to continue opening in the second Test at the Gabba. He’s inflicted psychological damage on England with his 69-ball century and it’s a serious consideration now to leave him there. It might depend on how Usman Khawaja recovers from his back issues, but even if the veteran is fit it might place him under pressure to hold his place now. Khawaja was selected as an opener but was not able to open in either innings due to back spasms. Khawaja has spoken openly about how he has appreciated the “chilled, relaxed environment” created by coach Andrew McDonald and the licence he extends senior players to prepare for matches how they want. Everyone has their way of preparing, and I’m not against players using golf as a way to switch off. But you’ve got to be professional too. Khawaja reportedly played golf in Perth for three days in a row leading into day one of the first Test. If I’d done that the day before a Test match, well, I couldn’t imagine playing 18 holes of golf the day before a Test match. Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg says it is drawing a long bow to link Khawaja’s golf with his back issue. From the outside, it doesn’t look great. Steve Smith, the stand-in skipper, didn’t look thrilled on Friday when he realised Australia’s much-considered batting order would be tipped upside down. The message Smith signalled to the bench late in the fielding innings made that clear. And I reckon Khawaja’s teammates who don’t spend as much time on the golf course might not be sympathetic either. These little moments matter in elite sport. You could reasonably argue that the preparation contributed to the back spasms, and if that’s the case, then that’s not doing your job properly for Australia. This level doesn’t give you much room to be held back by preventable issues and at Usman’s age his preparation for a huge series needed to be better. The loss of Khawaja from the top of the order threw the batting line-up out of rhythm in the first innings. Debutant Jake Weatherald had prepared to walk out alongside Usman, and suddenly he’s facing the first ball of an Ashes Test with a different partner. That’s a big shift in pressure. Personally, I thought the more experienced Marnus Labuschagne could have taken the first ball of the first innings to settle things and take the sting out of the whole situation. The first two days of the Ashes series didn’t ease anyone in gently, with the entire complexion of the first Test shapeshifting in the space of a single hour or session on more than one occasion. It was chaotic, fast, and at times confusing, the sort of play that leaves you arguing about whether it was great entertainment or just poor discipline. A lot of the debate has zeroed in on the pitch. Was it too spicy? Was it unfair? Personally, I didn’t see anything out of order. It was consistent, it offered bounce, and it rewarded bowlers who hit good areas. That’s a Test wicket. The 32 wickets that fell in two days came down more to skill, intent, and at times poor decision-making rather than demons in the surface. England’s approach was true to their style and their two innings tell their own story - 172 runs at 5.23 runs per over in 32.5 overs and 164 runs at 4.73 in 34.4 overs. Bazball is high-risk, high-reward cricket and in this match, it became high risk of collapse.