War of attrition as Clarke kicks in

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 4 Comment

England started the day knowing a quick wicket could open the door to a series-levelling victory. The Aussies knew that if they could that overcome this threat they first made the game safe, and then if they batted well enough, create an opportunity to bowl England out. With so much at stake both sides started tentatively. It was England, however, who first hit the mark and, for the first hour, bowled with great discipline, pinning down two of the fastest scorers in the Australian side.

England deserved some luck, but found none as catches fell just short and a Hoggard's lbw shout against Gilchrist was turned down. Eventually, Flintoff needed to rest which brought Harmison into the equation. And promptly the pressure released.

Harmison has improved from Brisbane, but if even if I turned up to bowl, it would be an improvement from that game. Gilchrist cut loose and Australia dominated the second half of the morning session. England were lucky to get him, just before lunch, when he launched Giles needlessly into the hands of Bell.

It brought Warne to the crease and he was welcomed with a volley of chat, that, well, only he could imagine. It was enjoyable to watch, though slightly surprising to see that Warne, who dishes so much out, seemed annoyed about getting some back.

It was a brilliant mornings cricket, England were striving for an elusive wicket which seemed just a ball away, before Gilchrist counter-attacked as only he knows how.

England continued to be frustrated, particularly by Michael Clarke, who has played as well as I’ve seen him for his impressive 124. He will surely take Martyn’s spot when Watson comes in at number six.

It was not until Hoggard removed Warne just before tea and mopped up the tail quickly thereafter that England made any real headway in the day. You will continually hear about Hoggard being an underrated bowler, but anyone who has watched England over the past couple of years will be familiar with his brand of unfashionable, consistent and occasionally brilliant fast-medium bowling. Indeed a glace at the ICC World Rankings, will show he is rated as the fourth-best fast bowler in the world. His bowling here was nothing short of phenomenal, and is likely to be the best performance by a quick bowler this series. The pitch was an absolute grave-yard yet he still ran-in for two days and picked up seven wickets.

England were left to survive a tricky 19 overs at the back-end of the day. The only casualty was Cook, who was caught behind off Clarke. Alistair Cook is an mature person and talented batsmen, but he is going through the learning phase that every player has to. England must stick with him even if he continues to struggle, because as Bell is showing, learning in the Ashes may be hard, but you come through it mentally and technically stronger.

Warne turned the ball and sledged sharply last night, which sets up yet another crucial morning session. After their dominance for much of this match, England would not want to give the Aussies a sniff of victory in this game. To ensure this they must bat two sessions. In the end this hopeless pitch should be the winner, but provided nothing goes wrong tomorrow, England can draw much confidence from this test match.

Honours even as England shun opportunity

Second Test, Adelaide
Day 1 Comment

England were given everything they could have asked for today, but lacked the decisiveness or confidence to take full advantage.

The conservatism directing England’s batting display was evident before the game began with Flintoff announcing an unchanged side. Many have argued that leaving out Monty Panesar was simply the result of a stubborn, pig-headedness of Duncan Fletcher. This may not have been the case. It remains a defensive selection but the reasons behind it may more subtle than many will give the coach credit for.

A change in selection policy after one, admittedly terrible, match may have sent signals to the opposition that they had upset England’s plans early on in the campaign. Australia has gone down a similar, ill-judged route. Keen to disprove to everyone that they are not an aging ‘Dad’s Army XI’ they played a half-fit McGrath. His presence in the field alone cost Australia two vital wickets – a run out of Collingwood and on the penultimate ball of the day, a tired missed catch off a Pietersen hook. The later miss may prove to be the difference in the match.
Despite the combination of an unfit McGrath, an out of form Lee and a first day pitch that most batsmen would spend their time dreaming about, England failed to win the day. They started appallingly, with Strauss (14) and Cook (27) playing themselves in, before getting themselves out tamely, to leave England 45-2.
England improved from there but Bell and even Collingwood initially batted for a session as if it were a net. On an easy paced pitch where 480 should be par, England seemed overly content with occupying the crease; even if it meant letting the game drift aimlessly. Half volleys were patted straight to fielders and there was no urgency in the running between wickets.

When Bell was finally dismissed for a hard-graft, though undamaging 60, Pietersen took to the crease and inject purpose into England’s performance. His battles with Shane Warne made compelling viewing, and aside from Tendulkar in India, few have ever played Warne better. Like Ricky Ponting, Pietersen picks up length so early, that if a bowler errs even slightly short, he can rock back and cut with power and precision.

It is momentum that affects the pressure and the mental resolve of each side. The problem for England is, with the approach they adopted for most of the day, they did not shift the momentum. If they had been bolder and shown greater belief in themselves, they could have clawed back the momentum from the opening test – as they did at Edgbaston in 2005. As it is, if England lose two quick wickets tomorrow, the momentum will be entirely with Australia and England would have gained nothing.

Predictably though, the good score could not temper the overblown reactions of the media or many armchair barmy army, who had abandoned all hope day before yesterday, but have now returned to full voice.

For the rest of us, we can breath a sigh of relief that after the first day, we are still in the game. The first hour tomorrow, as always, will be vital. If Collingwood and Pietersen can complete and then build on centuries then it could give a chance for Flintoff to finally ‘express himself’ against the old ball. Five hundred is not enough to win this test match but England are more then capable of reaching a total that can.

Pietersen plants late seeds of hope

First Test, Brisbane
Day 4 Comment

After 261.1 overs, two declarations and three abysmal days, England finally turned up to Brisbane and injected fire into the Ashes.

Of course, it’s all a little too late, but the performance dragged some much-needed momentum back into England’s Ashes campaign. It has exposed some of the weaknesses of the home side that the visitor's shoddy performance has so far masked so effectively. More surprisingly, it has left England with the most miniscule of chances to pull off a draw.

It’s a strange and unnerving thing being a die-hard England fan. Like a twisted form of love, you can be mistreated, uncared for, utterly dismayed and angry for three days, but when offered the smallest signs of care, all is forgiven. Almost without realising it, the acceptance of defeat morphs seamlessly into blind optimism again.

The farce of Australia’s imposed second innings ended with Justin Langer reaching a meaningless century and Ricky Ponting sustaining a back injury. This gave England the impossible task of batting five-and-a-half sessions in an attempt to spare being ridiculed all the way to Adelaide. It was a task that would require patience, composure, skill and the smallest of miracles.

The opening scenes were familiar. Andrew Strauss, for the second time in the match offered little, hooking needlessly down deep to square leg early in the innings for just 11. When Warne dismissed Bell with a slider a duck, England seemed to capitulate. Collingwood also started off unconvincingly, stuck on the crease as if waiting to be dismissed, before the welcome lunch break.

Whatever talks took place over England’s lunch table had been badly missing two days ago. England took the field looking positive, determined and crucially decisive. Cook battled hard, before being caught at short leg via the inside edge off Warne, and would have learned much from his 43. Pietersen then enjoyed the first classic contest of the series with his pal Shane Warne. After playing himself in with maturity he took the game to the Australians, using his feet well and flicking him through mid wicket before unleashing his trademark slog sweeps.

Together with Collingwood, the pair dominated Australia in a determined 153-run stand. Suddenly with Ponting unable to take the field with his dodgy back and McGrath showing his age with a bruised heel, Australia may have exposed some seeds of doubt. England were finally able to punish them with an authority that has been badly missing since 2005.

Just as he always does though, Warne struck the decisive blow towards the end of the day. Collingwood had played calmly and superbly, but with barely 15 overs left of the day, fell victim to Warne’s trickery, waltzing down the pitch and getting stumped on 96. Flintoff then got to the wicket, stroked a couple of commanding boundaries before mistiming a pull from a Warne long hop and skying it to mid on. It was a cruel blow after such a convincing performance, only firing another nail into England’s coffin.

Australia has been in complete control of this game, but it was vital that England clawed some self-confidence back with a good performance. Tomorrow Pietersen and Jones will need to apply themselves and continue much in the same vain as today, steering the game well into the afternoon at least. And whisper it quietly, but there is mention of rain late tomorrow.