THE WACA CHRONICLES: PART III

England at Perth in the 90s

England endured a horror show at pacy Perth in their three Tests there in the Nineties.

Their campaign in 1990/91 suffered a setback in the city when Graham Gooch split his ring finger in practice there, fielding a Robin Smith drive. The injury should have been stitched, but a doctor merely used butterfly strips. It became infected by a “rare but lethal organism”.

By the time of the fifth Test, Gooch had recovered, but made an unlucky 13 as England were dismissed for 244. Craig McDermott took 8 for 97 after the tourists had been 212 for 3. Australia slipped to 168 for 6 in reply, but rallied to 307. Then their seamers dismantled England again, this time for 182, and Australia made 120 for 1 to secure victory in 10 sessions. Gooch said at the time that the contest felt like “a fart competing with thunder”.

Mike Atherton’s England fared little better four years later, losing by 329 runs. Their fielding was dire, and they dropped seven chances in the first innings and 10 in the match.

Australia won the toss, and Michael Slater struck 124 in a total of 402. The worst moment came when Graham Thorpe dropped Steve Waugh off Devon Malcolm, and booted the ball in frustration, costing his side an extra two runs. Thorpe put his annoyance to one side to make 123, however, and he received good support from Mark Ramprakash, who hit 72 after being drafted in from the A tour in India. But England’s total of 295 was substandard.

Australia then made 345 for 8 declared, with Greg Blewett scoring a century. Although Ramprakash scored 42, England were flattened by McDermott, who took six wickets in a limp total of 123.

_{McDermott claimed 6 for 38}

As usual, tempers were fraying at the end of an unsuccessful Ashes tour, and Atherton smacked a plastic chair with his bat after Glenn McGrath had dismissed him for eight.

England had rain to thank for a draw in Brisbane in 1998/99, but there was no escape for England in the second Test at Perth, as they were beaten by seven wickets inside two days and two sessions. Only 607 runs were scored in the match for the loss of 33 wickets, with Graeme Hick’s 68 in the second innings the highest individual score on either side.

England limped to 76 for 6 at lunch on day one, and were soon dismissed for 112. Australia assumed the lead with only one wicket down, but were restricted to 240 by Alex Tudor, who recorded first-innings figures of four for 89 on his Test debut.

Hick twice then hit Jason Gillespie for six in his half-century, but England managed just 191, which was not enough to test Australia, who reached 64 for 3 to win.

Damien Fleming took nine wickets in the match, and Gillespie seven.

Darren Gough lamented: ‘The confidence and spirit from the South Africa series [the previous summer] had vanished. I blame the media to some extent: one bad game, and your worth in the side is questioned. The media, with help from the management, created an atmosphere of uncertainty.”

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