Proper test cricket

Tuesday 4 January 2011

The Sydney pitch looks a bit bumpy from this angle

Sydney Day 2: Australia 280 all out, England 167 for 3 With improved weather in Sydney, we were treated to a full day of "proper" Test cricket - over 300 runs, 9 wickets and the balance of power fluctuating regularly between two committed sides. By the end of the second day, England hold a slim advantage but this could easily be eroded by a couple of quick wickets tomorrow morning. After the adulation of Khawaja yesterday, which continued in this morning's newspapers, it is now the turn of Michael Beer, Australia's new left arm spinner, to earn the plaudits for an impressive first spell of bowling in Test cricket. Which earned him and Australia precisely no wickets. Harsh again? In this case yes, as everyone in the ground thought he had earned his first Test wicket by dismissing prolific England opener Alastair Cook - until the technology showed that he had overstepped the no-ball line. Even English hearts must have felt for the debutant Beer at that moment. But rules are rules and are there to be enforced - as any member of the security personnel employed at Australia's cricket grounds will tell you. Regularly. England started the day impressively and reduced Australia to 189 for 8 before Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus put together an unlikely but highly effective 9th wicket partnership which went on far too long for England's liking. Their final total of 280 is - unbelievably - the highest innings in the series by a team batting first. Whether it is enough to be competitive remains to be seen, but it was certainly a much better effort than in Melbourne and the wagging tail (incorporating a fine fifty by Johnson) invited many a comparison with Perth - the scene of Australia's only win to date. Though the forecast sun had not yet materialised by the time England batted, captain Strauss got off to a flyer and soon registered his fifty at a run a ball. His partnership with Cook had reached 98 when he was surprisingly bowled by the innocuous Hilfenhaus. England then proceeded to donate two further wickets to Johnson, Trott dragging on a ball which would have comfortably missed off stump and KP hooking horribly down long leg's throat after an otherwise disciplined innings. So it's still all to play for here. England, only 113 runs behind with 7 wickets in hand, will fancy their chances of forcing a first innings lead of around 80-100 which could prove critical on a pitch which will increasingly favour Graeme Swann's spin bowling. But today's fluctuating fortunes showed that it is never quite that simple, so expect another day of twists and turns tomorrow before a likely winner of this Test emerges.

[Original comments]

BJ January 4, 2011 at 4:11 PM

Do you think England really want to win this game or was retaining the Ashes enough for them?

Richard January 4, 2011 at 9:48 PM

Good question. Judging from the bowling, fielding and opening partnership, which were all top class again (apart from that annoying Aussie 9th wicket stand), they meant what they said about winning the series being the most important thing. How the England middle order bats on Day 3 will really show us, I guess.

Crikey it's Khawaja

Monday 3 January 2011

One of the brighter spells at the SCG today

Sydney Day 1: Australia 134 for 4. Rain stopped play. Monday dawned to dark, angry clouds obscuring the Sydney skyline but as yet no rain. Alas, the weather did not hold longer than mid-afternoon and 31 overs were lost to rain on this opening day of the 5th and final Ashes Test. Despite the overcast conditions, Michael Clarke boldly elected to bat after winning the toss. He was rewarded with a battling display by his openers Watson and Hughes, who rode their luck to grind out an unexciting but promising position of 55 for no wicket. After doing all the hard work, Hughes then edged a Tremlett delivery to slip in the last over before lunch. Usman Khawaja must have endured a nervous lunch interval knowing that he would shortly face his first ever ball in Test cricket. But England let him off the hook straight away as he raced to 15 off his first 8 deliveries, including an imperious pull for four which had echoes of David Gower's Test debut (one for the older reader!). Fortunately for England, Shane Watson obligingly edged to slip just when he looked set to break loose and finally outscore the overs bowled (he made 45 and was out in the 45th over). After a lengthy break for rain, the skies brightened long enough for England to enjoy further success by enducing Michael Clarke to play a poor shot straight to gully, thus continuing his unusually poor run with the bat. Despite the loss of his captain, Khawaja looked increasingly comfortable in the Test arena before he had a rush of blood and skied Swann for an easy catch - just as the rain was beginning to fall again. This evening's TV news here is already celebrating Khawaja's debut innings as a vision of the Promised Land. To put this into context, he scored 37 - a nice enough start but not a fifty or a hundred. And he played a stupid shot to get out just as it started to rain - if he had simply played Swann's last ball back down the pitch, he would still be batting tomorrow morning. Harsh? Welcome to Test cricket. Only time will tell if Khawaja will make the grade. In summary, Australia appear to have conceded a promising, fighting start to this game. At 105 for 1, they were looking good. At 134 for 4, they now face a real battle tomorrow to post a decent first innings score.

Raining cats, dogs and kangaroos

Sunday 2 January 2011

On the eve of the fifth and final Test in Sydney, it's been raining here for the last five hours. Quite hard. But my Sydneysider friend Andy is a born optimist and tells me everything will be fine tomorrow. We certainly had a great time this evening observing the brilliantly coloured skies over the Sydney suburbs as the approach of the storm coincided with the approach of dusk. Tangerine, nectarine, peach melba - you could have made some decent yoghurt out of the colours we saw through the bottom of our glass tonight.

Hey Ricky - now that's how you play a decent forward defensive

Just before it started to rain, we had a knock-about at the cricket ground at Petersham Park - where an 18-year-old Don Bradman scored his first hundred in grade cricket (and also took 3 wickets for 26). Rolling back the years, the cricketers formerly known as "Ash" and "Toad" took a complete pasting from the 9 year old Annabel and 7 year old Simon - so nothing changes there. Tomorrow - weather permitting - England and Australia will commence battle for the 5th and final time of this series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. While the destination of the Ashes is already decided, Australia can still level the series at 2-2 if they force a win here. An England win, or a draw, will mean that the tourists win the series outright - an achievement which the captain and players have been at pains to point out has always been their number one goal in spite of already retaining the Ashes in Melbourne.

Toad - perhaps a late call-up for Australia if Hilfenhaus pulls a fat in the warm-up

The Australians are blooding a new captain and two new baggy green caps in this match. Michael Clarke has come under intense press scrutiny since it was announced that he would skipper the Aussies after Ricky Ponting's injury had allegedly worsened in Melbourne. He was even forced to attend a staged meeting with the Prime Minister Julia Gillard. As one observer wryly commented, this was a meeting of two leaders with much in common - mainly that they appear to have the support of only a tiny minority of the Australian public. Time will tell whether "Pup" will step up to the plate. The Aussie debutants will be batsman Usman Khawaja and spin bowler Michael Beer. Pakistan-born Khawaja is a nice politically correct selection as the first Muslim to play for Australia, but it will surely prove too much for him to step into Ponting's shoes and make runs against a ruthlessly efficient England bowling attack. With only 7 first class matches under his belt, a ludicrously inadequate number, Beer admitted on TV that he had never even set foot in the SCG prior to net practice on New Year's Day. These really are desperate times for Australia, which means England will only have themselves to blame if they fail to demonstrate a killer instinct here and emerge as 3-1 series winners. My prediction for tomorrow: with rain around, it could be another low-scoring first day. But here at Sydney the scores normally get lower as the game goes on, so the captain who wins the toss may well choose to bat first this time. If Clarke wins the toss, this will be a early test of his and his batsmen's nerve after their recent Day 1 horror shows at the crease.