The ‘big first hour’ has become a cricketing cliche. But never is it more apt than when England go to the Gabba, where an entire Ashes series can be defined by events before drinks on the opening day.
In 1994, Phil DeFreitas saw his first ball dispatched for four by Aussie opener Michael Slater, who went on to smash 176 as England lost the first Test and then the Ashes 3-1.
Eight years later, captain Nasser Hussain muttered the infamous words, ‘We’ll have a bowl’, after winning the toss, only to watch Australia close day one on 364 for two and go on to romp to victory in Brisbane and win the series 4-1.
Nasser Hussain opted to bowl first after England won the toss of the opening Test in 2002
In 2006, it was Steve Harmison who set the tone for a humiliating 5-0 whitewash when his first delivery to Justin Langer was so wide it was collected by skipper Andrew Flintoff at second slip.
Here, those three men recall their day-one disasters as a warning to Joe Root of what can go wrong if England get off to a bad start at the Gabba a week tomorrow.
PHIL DeFREITAS: SLATER PLAYED WELL BUT I GAVE HIM SOME THROWDOWNS!
1st Test, Nov 1994: Australia 426 & 248-8dec; England 167 & 323. Australia won by 184 runs
The first over of an Ashes series, you set the tone. I think I set the tone for Australia.
All my preparation had gone really well. Three days before, I knew which end I was going to bowl at. I was focused. I visualised it the night before.
In the morning, we went through the drills as normal. I bowled from that end and felt great. But just as we were about to go out, Mike Gatting — after most probably having 10 sausage rolls for breakfast — went along to captain Michael Atherton and said: ‘The wind has changed, Daffy needs to bowl at the other end.’
Michael Slater smashed English bowlers as he scored 176 in the first Test of the 1994 series
He completely took my focus away and I ended up bowling the first over from the end which I didn’t see myself bowling from.
You don’t want to use it as an excuse… but it affected me and my thought process. It was not a perfect first over.
There were a lot of nerves and Michael Slater was very positive. That was just the way Slater played.
He did not need a sighter. He just saw the ball and hit it. He cut my first ball through point for four.
England fast bowler Phil DeFreitas endured a nightmare opening Test
He then hit another wideish ball over third slip for four in that over and he was off. He played really well but I gave him some throwdowns to start!
Going 1-0 down in Australia, it is always tough to come back. You are instantly on the back foot.
We knew we were battling because you are not only playing the Australians on the cricket field, you are also playing the crowd and everyone at the hotel as well.
When you go back to the hotel, you can’t get away from it and the only way to keep them quiet is by winning.
The Gabba brings back great memories for me because it was the place where I made my Test debut in 1986 and we won.
I enjoyed playing cricket there — apart from that first over in 1994.
NASSER HUSSAIN: WITHIN 20 MINUTES I KNEW IT WAS THE WRONG DECISION
1st Test, Nov 2002: Australia 492 & 296-5dec; England 325 & 79. Australia won by 384 runs
I always look forward to the first morning at Brisbane because my Twitter feed explodes with gags about the toss in 2002. Luckily, all of these years later, I am able to laugh at myself about it.
I look back now and just think: ‘I got it wrong.’ It was a case of me trying to reinvent the wheel. We were beset by injuries leading up to that game, especially in the bowling department.
Hussain's call to bowl first was motivated by feeling the ball would swing in the first session
In the warm-up games, the
