Ashes 1st Test Day 2: Australia turn the screws

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Day 2 panned out even better than I'd hoped as Australia declared at 9 for 602 then had England at 3 for 53 at stumps. I expected the McGrath massacre before stumps - I hadn't expected Australia to get quite so many runs. There was one blemish - Adam Gilchrist dismissed LBW to Hoggard for a third ball duck. Gilchrist's innings was what I was looking forward to most of all today but I'll have to settle with Australia taking a stranglehold on the game.

At the start of the day, Hoggard and Anderson opened the bowling with the new ball - interestingly Harmison was overlooked. They bowled well, obtaining a fair bit of swing and keeping the scoring rate down. Then Harmison came back into the attack and things went pear-shaped once again for England. He bowled two wides in his first over, spraying it all over the place. Geraint Jones did himself proud though - there were wides down the legside, in front of 1st slip, all over the place. Most of the time, he managed to glove them - a bright spot to Harmison's waywardness.

Flintoff had to step in again and make things happen. He bowled a pearler to Ponting that reared and may or may not have brushed his gloves (he was given not out). In his next over, Hussey's off stump was knocked flying, falling just 14 shy of his first Ashes century. On the bright side, his average went up again (it was mid 70's before this Test). When Ponting was out LBW to Hoggard for 196, I was encouraged to see him strike the ground with his bat in frustration - he obviously means to grind England into the ground if 196 runs isn't good enough to satisfy him. It was also pleasing to see everyone from 8 to 11 contributed including consecutive sixes from Stuart Clark. I think England bring it upon themselves by bowling too short to our tailenders - they did the same thing last year and it nearly cost them the series. The sight of Brett Lee squirming and getting struck on the body might be satisfying in an alpha-male kind of way but it just doesn't get him out.

After Australia declared 9 down (just to let the Poms know they couldn't finish them off), England came in with an hour and a half to play before stumps - always a perilous time and a road well travelled by the Australian bowlers. We've come to expect McGrath knocking over openers in those conditions and the old timer didn't fail to deliver. The first dismissal was painful to watch as Brett Lee and Mike Hussey hurtled towards each other like some horrific deja vu experience. Had Gillespie and Waugh's collision in Kandy taught them nothing? Call for it, boys! At least the catch was taken - if we'd suffered injury and given Strauss a life, I would've been tearing my hair out. It was a foolish shot from Strauss who was crusing along comfortably and sparked a top-order collapse.

Already the fingerpointing for England's lacklustre performance has begun. Will Luke at Cricinfo blames it on the ICC's over-scheduling of international cricket. Admittedly, having the Champion's Trophy a few weeks before the Ashes was ludicrous. Maybe two warm-up matches before the 1st Test isn't enough. But Glenn McGrath only played 1 first class match in the 18 months leading up to the 1st Test and he was a whisker away from a hattrick this afternoon. England didn't even select Harmison to bowl in the 2nd warm-up match and yet they sent him in to field. Sounds like the familiar theme of scapegoating we've heard on past tours. England have been boasting for the last few years about their new squad of young players unscarred by past Ashes defeats. Hopefully this series will leave a generation of scarred English cricketers in its wake.

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Posted by JC on Sat 25 Nov

11 comments

bugger off :)

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Posted by cov on 2006-11-25 11:01:54

Hey, come on, there's always the chance England will come back in Adelaide a la Edbaston so I have to enjoy it while I can :-)

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-25 11:37:11

We can always hope that cloud seeding takes effect. Serious effect...

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Posted by EofS on 2006-11-25 12:27:25

If you're hoping for rain, I'm sorry to say Brisbane is going through the worst drought in 1000 years at the moment (I don't know how they have rainfall records back that far but that's what the newspapers have been saying).

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-25 13:47:17

Still too late to make a call on the world's 2nd best team JC?

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Posted by TA on 2006-11-25 22:56:35

i mean 'early'

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Posted by TA on 2006-11-25 22:57:19

Well, I think at 626 runs ahead, you can safely say the Gabba Test is in the bag. But we also won at Lords, remember.

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-26 08:30:19

I know about the drought. But apparently they're trying cloud seeding for you?

Frankly, praying for rain is about the best chance we have right now. Even with the drought.

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Posted by EofS on 2006-11-26 11:34:08

There is talk of thunder storms south of Brisbane which has me worried. 6 wickets to go...

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Posted by JC on 2006-11-26 17:22:09

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