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Aussies' hour of power stirs ghosts of Boxing Days past

The final-hour of mayhem at the MCG as Starc, Cummins and Boland put England's top order through the mill evoked memories of the famous 1981 duel against the West Indies

With respectful acknowledgement of his capabilities as a Test opener, it's unlikely Zac Crawley will find himself regularly compared to Desmond Haynes.

And notwithstanding he needs a further 18 tomorrow to overtake Sir Vivian Richards' benchmark of 1710 Test runs in a calendar year, Joe Root will doubtless agree that's where his likeness to the 'Master Blaster' begins and ends.

But putting aside the obvious differences in the casting of central characters, there was a distinct whiff that tonight's final half-hour at the MCG was cut-price remake of that famed first day of the 1981 Boxing Day Test between Australia and the West Indies.

That was the game that enshrined the day after Christmas as the most celebrated on Australia's cricket calendar when, after seeing his team knocked over for less than 200 by the four fast men of the Caribbean, Dennis Lillee lifted the roof of the old southern stand by reducing the West Indies to 4-10 at stumps.

From the Vault: Lillee's famous spell to "nervous" Viv

Four decades later, and a socially distanced Melbourne crowd of 42,626 were pushed to the edge of delirium by Mitchell Starc (who came within a width of a grain of wood on Root's bat of his first Test hat-trick) and local boy Scott Boland, whose double-wicket over saw him acclaimed with Lillee-esque adoration.

"It was absolutely bouncing," Boland's Victoria teammate Marcus Harris said of that rocking half-hour in which England lost 4-15 in the space of six overs to limp to stumps 4-31 and still needing a further 51 runs to avoid an innings defeat and a surrendering of the Ashes.

Late-day double! Boland scalps ram home advantage

"For 40-odd thousand it felt like there was 100,000, and when Starcy was on a hat-trick it was unbelievable.

"Then when Scotty Boland ran down to Bay 13 after those two wickets in an over, that was brilliant.

"That was something you dream of as a kid."

Starc goes close to hat-trick, sends MCG wild

Of course, Harris was not born when Lillee (and Terry Alderman, who claimed one of the four West Indies wickets to fall) set up a rare Australia win over the world's best team.

Even England's longest-serving and most-successful Test fast bowler, James Anderson, did not enter the world until seven months after that Boxing Day drama.

But Australia coach Justin Langer often cites the impact of that December afternoon on his then 11-year-old self among his defining cricket memories.

And there's a fair chance those still able to get to their feet as Starc and Boland ran riot today will recall with equal reverence their memories of the day after Boxing Day 2021.

Apart from the screaming and the scorelines, there were other similarities amid the glaring differences.

Australia's innings 40 years ago was littered with top-order failures and held together by one sparkling gem (Kim Hughes's unforgettable unbeaten 100 off 200 balls) before being buttressed by a few handy contributions from allrounders Rod Marsh and Bruce Yardley (both 21).

'Pretty happy with that in a low-scoring game': Harris

Today it was Harris, who fought as doggedly as Hughes without the ex-skipper's panache to post an invaluable 76 from 189 balls, while bowlers Starc (24) and Pat Cummins (21) saw Australia past England's first innings of 185.

As was the case in 1981, there was a feeling the home team had been shaded by their opponents to that point but a wicket or two in the fast-lengthening shadows could provide momentum heading into the following morning, with nobody really expecting what happened next.

After both sets of openers were removed for single-figure scores 40 years apart, a nightwatchman was despatched to safely see out the day's play (Colin Croft back then; Jack Leach today) only to be rolled for a duck as the crowd went troppo.

Those who recall that epic evening that launched the Boxing Day Test tradition will tell you the MCG was packed with upwards of 100,000 fans although official records show it was 39,982, even fewer than in current COVID times.

But as with any worthwhile drama, the final scene required an explosive climax to ensure the day's escalation from 'memorable' to 'folkloric'.

Forty years ago, it was Lillee rattling Sir Viv's stumps with what proved the day's ultimate delivery and then completing his follow-through halfway up the steps to the players' dressing room as the throng chanted his name in unison.

Today's equivalent was surely Starc pinning England's number three Dawid Malan lbw for a first-ball duck, which unleashed a rumbling chorus that grew to a frenzy as his hat-trick ball scorched past Root in a blur of red leather and white heat.

Or perhaps it was Boland doubling his Test wickets tally by having opener Haseeb Hameed (playing the role of Faoud Bachus in this re-creation) caught behind, and then tripling it two balls later when he smashed the wicket of Leach who offered no stroke and even less resistance.

"We knew that last 12 overs was going to be tough, but even so to lose four wickets was really disappointing," said Anderson whose 130kph bowling is hardly Michael Holding's, but whose figures of 4-33 from 23 overs today weren't far off 'Whispering Death's' 5-45 off 17 in 1981.

"I thought the spell from Starc and Cummins was outstanding, but that's what you expect – they're world-class bowlers.

"They've done it in Test cricket for many, many years so it shouldn't take anyone by surprise that they bowled like that."

Spellbinding Anderson's morning of brilliance

Back in the day, West Indies recovered from their overnight predicament to post 201 before Lillee and Yardley inflicted even greater pain to roll them for 161 in the second innings and claim a 58-run win for the home team.

Should Root (12no) and Ben Stokes (2no) channel their inner Larry Gomes and Jeff Dujon to lift their team beyond 200 tomorrow, they might still hold faint hopes of setting Australia a victory target of 150 or thereabouts that would prove no canter on a pitch where only Harris has so far passed 50 this Test.

But as Lillee and his then skipper Greg Chappell learned as they endured the subsequent 11 Test matches against the West Indies without a win, those sort of miracle afternoons are invariably exceptions rather than expectations.

And England enjoyed theirs during the previous Ashes campaign in the UK when Stokes lifted them from imminent defeat to an unimaginable win courtesy of an innings that lives in the mind of all who bore witness (including Langer) on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Leeds.

Harris was another who can't forget that day, having turfed a tough outfield catch in the frantic final overs that earned him attention from the increasingly euphoric Headingley crowd that seemed to number several times the ground's 18,000 capacity.

For that reason, he felt little sympathy for England's top-order batters as they came and went like sacrifices before a baying mob today.

Harris with timely 76 in front of home fans

"It's hard work but it's probably no different to having go and do it over in England," Harris said of the coliseum-like atmosphere that took hold this evening.

"I personally won't forget opening in the Ashes in England (in 2019), and Jofra running in or Stuart Broad so the shoes are on both feet.

"As a batter you've just got to try and concentrate on the ball and block out the noise as much as you can, but it can be hard when there's 50,000 people going mental.

"That's what's great about playing international cricket and playing for your country."

Or just being privy to one of those rare afternoons when sport transcends itself.

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: Australia won by nine wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 275 runs

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena