Australia look to quell the fuss after Gabba

There’s always that one.

That present, brightly wrapped, perched under the Christmas tree looking so inviting. Surely, after all your niceness, Santa has delivered the latest, greatest doovalacky thingamajig you’ve been dying to get your hands on all year.

You’re so convinced that, when you rip through the tinsel and paper, the disappointment is all the greater when it turns out to be a pair of grey socks and some cotton checked handkerchiefs from your great-aunty Sheila.

Such has been the demeanour of the Australian team in the wake of their great escape at the Gabba.

Wait. That should read their great victory at the Gabba, right? Because that’s what each member of the Australian team to speak publicly since the match has emphasised. For no matter how gutsy, how defiant, how inspirational Pakistan’s chase was, the cold, hard fact is that it didn’t succeed. And, perhaps understandably, it seems to have irritated the Australians that, after such a dismal run in Sri Lanka, South Africa and Perth, which reached its nadir in the Hobart humiliation, their second consecutive Test victory with a new line-up – and five wins across two formats – has received only muted and qualified praise. Enjoy your socks and hankies, boys.

All week the Australians have fended off, a little defensively, questions normally reserved for a losing side. Does it worry you that you struggled in the fourth innings? How much confidence can Pakistan take out of that match? Are your quicks going to be able to back up after spending so long trying to crack the tail? Are you really going to stick with Nic Maddinson? The Grinch hasn’t so much stolen Christmas …

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