Shane Watson, Australia's centurion yesterday, admitted he had been boosted before a ball of had been bowled by the news that England had selected Simon Kerrigan and Chris Woakes rather than Chris Tremlett.
With the hosts 3-0 up in the series it was decided that Woakes, an all-rounder, and the slow left-armer Kerrigan would be given Test debuts, but neither impressed as Watson cracked a Test-best 176 before being superbly caught by Kevin Pietersen just before stumps.
Day One drew to a close with Australia on 307 for four with Watson apparently having targeting the new bowlers, and Kerrigan in particular, as he helped himself to 25 4s and a 6 during his innings.
"I was expecting Tremlett to play; he had quite a lot of success against us in Australia in the last Ashes series," said Watson. "He bowled beautifully in the games he came in so I was certainly expecting him to play, [rather] than Woakes and Kerrigan. They have obviously got their reasons why they are picking those guys and I'm certainly a little bit happier than I would be having to face a guy who is 6ft 8in with balls bouncing up all of the time; I'm certainly not complaining."
The 32-year-old, batting at No.3, had been waiting for almost three years to add to his previous two Test centuries and revealed that going up against Kerrigan, who he had played so well in a tour match over the weekend, was a particular boon.
"Once the toss went up and I knew he [Kerrigan] was going to play I certainly understood what he was going to bowl to me," Watson said, scarcely concealing a smile. "After the last tour match I certainly had a gameplan of what I was going to do and I followed on from that in this innings.
"You could sense that he was very nervous, especially after the first couple of overs. There is no doubt that on your debut it is extremely nerve-racking, especially if someone gets after you while you are trying to find your feet."
James Anderson took two of the four wickets to fall to move second on England's all-time list with 326 scalps, ahead of Bob Willis and behind only Sir Ian Botham. Despite that, he described the pitch as "lifeless" and offered support to Woakes and Kerrigan. The latter is a Lancashire team-mate of Anderson, who pointed out the success or failure of England's selection gamble could only be judged at the end of the match.
"It was a tough day for us but it was a pretty lifeless pitch, to be honest," he said. "It's difficult to say whether [this XI] worked after one day."
Yet there was no escaping the fact that 24-year-old Kerrigan had a chastening start to his international career, his eight overs costing 53 runs and containing a shocking number of full tosses and long hops.
Anderson accepted as much but believes the senior members of the side have a responsibility to support their new colleague behind the scenes. "The guys in the dressing room have a job to do tonight. We have to rally round him and keep his spirits high," he said.
Watson, though, finally had a reason to celebrate after a tough series has forced him to question his own technique at times.
"It is a big relief to get a hundred, there is no doubt about that," he said. "For me the most important thing has been trying to bat for a long period of time. I have worked really hard and had some good people helping me out over the last six weeks to be able to get myself in to a place where I can give myself a chance to bat for a period like that."
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