The 'Golden Age' of batting exposed

Day 2 - Close

In years to come, today’s play will form delirious memories and nostalgic ad campaigns.

Thirteen wickets fell in two sessions to leave England within touching distance of a glory that yesterday seemed to have eluded them.

The day shed light on the so-called ‘golden age of batting’. Never before have so many batsmen in the world averaged in the 50s, never have so many runs been scored so quickly and so often.

Yet today exposed how the flat pitches that dominate Test cricket are entrenched in the mental and technical make-up of batsmen. When confronted with a remotely sporting wicket, they folded instantly.

No batsman fell to a grubber, no ball leaped off a length; instead wickets were earned through a spell of quality seam bowling, lively spin bowling and some questionable decisions. It’s difficult to believe more defensively equipped players, like Rahul Dravid or Shiv Chanderpaul, would have crumbled in the same way.

If Test cricket is to really live up to its name, more fair pitches should be prepared. Scoring runs should be a challenge not a formality.

As Strauss and Katich showed, the gremlins today were more in the head than the pitch. Ashes pressure, so often England’s undoing, proved Australia's nemesis. But it was Stuart Broad, timing his coming of age to coincide with Flintoff’s retirement, that unleashed the doubts in Australian heads.

Australia's three wickets gives them a sliver of hope, but the series now is England's to lose.

It's Cardiff, all over again

Day 1 - Close

It's been a month and 12 days since the series began at Cardiff. On that day England squandered a strong position to finish 336/7 with Broad & Anderson the men in. Today, their batsmen repeated the same careless strokeplay to gift Australia pole position, closing 307/8, with the same two batsmen at the wicket.

The symmetry with Cardiff was also replicated in Australia's bowling. Unable to match the flair of Headingley, they reverted to the muted, hard-working approach of the first Test. England were not so content to stick-in - they flayed aimlessly as batsmen got in, got bored and got out.

Collingwood, Cook and Bell possess the same frailties they showed two years ago, which says little for Andy Flower and the selectors. However, Miller's team can be relieved with the debut of Trott. The certainty of his strokes, if not his technique, brings a much needed spine to England's middle order. He'd make a decent partner for England's missing talisman.

Pietersen was left on the sidelines as Freddie received standing ovations for walking in, playing a daft shot and walking out again. Being a champion batsman is clearly no route to becoming a people's champion in England.

Ponting will feel satisfied with the game situation, if not quite the performance of his bowlers. With Australia ahead already, the Oval pitch has displaced Freddie as England's great hope. But before getting carried away with the cries of dust-bowl, we should again remember Cardiff, where everyone apart from Swann found purchase.

The series now hangs on Australia's first innings. Should day two mirror Cardiff in the same way, England's Ashes campaign will be over.

Where have 10 days gone?

It's common for us to bemoan the back-to-back international schedule that rules cricket today. But thanks to England losing in three days, we've been treated to a rare period of reflection.

With no Ashes cricket on offer, Ashes selection has been the only thrill to latch on to. Selection is a tough job - or so we keep hearing - so much so that Miller’s panel have given up selecting all together. Instead they roll out largely the same team that has been mediocre for years. Cook and Bell have made no progress since the last Ashes series and should be dropped. The selectors inertia over the past three years is why England have a debutant replacing Bopara for the ‘Biggest Test Ever’. It reeks not so much of bad planning as of an absence of planning at all.

With one hand on the urn and a batting pitch, Australia will feel inches from a goal that seemed miles away on Day 4 at Edgbaston. England, as underdogs are back in their familiar comfort zone. Without clouds it is difficult to see where England could find inspiration. Harmison won’t bowl teams out and Flintoff, even when fit, never has.

The Oval promises to be an emotionally charged, feverish clash of attritional cricket. The fairy-tale finish seems out of England’s grasp, but first innings runs and swing for Anderson would make a good game.