England’s Joe Root is watched by Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who dropped him on 0. Source: AFP

For the Australians it was partly the story of two fine cricketers and good servants. The obvious one was Brad Haddin, who had the opportunity to reduce England to four for 43 with both their captain and vice-captain gone, and Ben Stokes exposed under circumstances that would have tested his commitment to all-out attack, but who dropped Joe Root to his right, arm crookedly outstretched.

Asked when it dawned on him that it was time to give the game away, Haddin’s predecessor Adam Gilchrist cited a catch he missed in his final Test proffered by VVS Laxman — Gilchrist said the idea of retirement came to him ‘somewhere between the ball hitting my gloves and the ground’.

Whether the same occurred to thirty-seven-year-old Haddin, only he can know. Yet it was a catch in his prime he’d have made short work of, and continued his chequered form at home last summer, which mixed the brilliant and the insecure — he had earlier made a difficult catch to dismiss Alastair Cook look easy.

Supporters have loyally backed Haddin to carry on years yet Gilchrist’s predecessor Ian Healy pronounced him in good shape with the gloves, really good shape’ just a couple of days ago. But it is an ill omen to miss a critical chance at the outset of a series; Gilchrist’s came at least at the end of one.

Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin celebrates catching England’s Captain Alastair Cook. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The other key Australian was, less obviously, Ryan Harris. When you saw the effect of his absence, in fact, you understood why such strenuous and expensive efforts were made to get him onto an English Test field one last time.

This was the kind of pitch and sort of scenario which called for that relentless Harrisment of the top-of-off, and England were spared it. Balls were sprayed wide of off and speared down leg, three sets of four byes passing a dejected Haddin. Short stuff sat up on the slow surface, imploring the punishment meted out.

Mitchell Starc. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

Joe Root, who fell to Harris five times in eight Tests of the last Ashes cycle, enjoyed the absence of Harris as well as the mercy of Haddin. Two years ago, he made merry at Lord’s then progressively less merry as the Australians probed away at fuller lengths and down tighter lines. At times he looked weighed down by expectation and responsibility as much as by actual accuracy.

Part of Root’s hot streak since has been a shrugging off of that dull care. Twenty balls after being dropped on 0, he was 32. He took advantage when rain dampened the ball; he tucked in when the part-timers operated; his bat drops down in defence now only as a last resort once all attacking options have been reviewed and deferred. The highlights were drives threaded to the left of cover then of mid-on. The first brought up Root’s hundred; the second was the shot of the day, seeming to gather pace as it rolled toward the straight boundary.

Root’s partner in a partnership of 153, Gary Ballance, is perhaps where Root was two years ago. His back foot cross step bunkers him in the crease like a soldier taking shelter in a foxhole, while his preliminary backlift draws intricate signals in the air. He is grooved for the cut, which he was he was in position to play so early off Johnson that he could almost have played the shot twice; when the ball is full, his pads present inviting targets, and his defensive shots are barely more than twitches.

The Australians pitched it up to him early in search of late movement; they banged it in later, aware that he eschews the pull. On a livelier surface than this, he would surely be tested. Yet in favour of Balance’s method is that it is his; he knows it, and it suits him like a comfy pullover. His captain, who rebooted his game in mid-career only to have to deboot it later, is a reminder that in technique the perfect can be the enemy of the good.

Old Australia versus young England looked like the day’s storyline until Mitchell Starc produced one of those spells of his that appear like diamonds among the dross, to remove Root, bewilder Stokes and prevent Australia’s opponents disappearing into the distance. England were fortunate that cramp restricted him to three overs; and four for 43, of course, could easily have become 200 all out.

If the scoreboard is understated at Sophia Gardens, there is plenty else to detain the eye.

With every passing game, the visual clutter at international cricket grounds grows. The Aussie cableknit has now been marred by a red airline logo that looks like a stab wound in the breast; there are no longer drinks breaks but ‘hydration breaks’ spruiking a spring water company; you will see fewer zebras in the savannah.

Yet the ‘We Are England Cricket’ corporate message repeating from the big screen sounds more like an introduction than an affirmation: ‘Hello. We are England Cricket. And who might you be, little chap?’ ‘Cymru,’ comes the reply, and what feels a little like an away Test for both sides rolls on.