Fourth Test, day one: Australia (196-4) lead England (102) by 94 runs at Headingley.
England saw their Flintoff-free future on Friday – and it did not look pretty. Forced to patch up the hole left by their all-rounder after he was dropped by the captain and coach, they weakened the batting and were promptly bowled out for 102, a total that has badly jeopardised their Ashes ambitions after Australia closed on 196 for four, a lead of 94 runs.
To make matters worse, England’s feeble batting was compounded when their bowlers dropped too short with the new ball, an elementary error against cutters and pullers of the calibre of Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson. Both batsmen passed fifty in fairly swift order as England’s total was overhauled in the 23rd over.
Hampered by a niggle to James Anderson’s left leg, which he suffered while taking a quick single to get off the mark, Andrew Strauss began by starting his opening bowlers at the wrong ends.
Having watched Australia’s swingers, Ben Hilfenhaus and Stuart Clark, trouble batsmen from the Kirkstall Lane End and Peter Siddle gain steepling bounce from the Rugby Stand End, he gave Anderson the latter and Steve Harmison the former.
Later, Harmison was switched and looked a handful as he terrorised Michael Clarke, who was lucky to survive after he was struck on the flap of his glove while on 27.
It was a decision England, barely staying in touch, could have done with but umpire Asad Rauf decided it had come off Clarke’s forearm.
The reprieve allows him and Marcus North to continue their patient partnership on Saturday, one that England must break quickly to have the slightest hope of salvaging this match.
Realistically, England need to bowl Australia out by an hour after lunch at the latest to keep them in sight.
England’s score was their second lowest against Australia at Headingley since the 87 they made in 1909. Uncovered pitches were in play then, which could ruin a team in a session if the elements conspired against you, but there was not much of that on Friday.
Australia’s bowlers did move the ball around but the most turbulent conditions were clearly in England’s heads, following a disruptive build-up that included the Flintoff saga, a fire alarm going off in their hotel at 4.50am, and Matt Prior sustaining a back spasm an hour before the start.
Prior’s problem happened during a game of football in the warm-up, and it was bad enough for England to ask Australia if they could delay the toss by 10 minutes to consider their options.
With no spare keeper, these seemed to be for Paul Collingwood to keep wicket and Jonathan Trott to make his debut and bat at six.
After treatment and a fitness test Prior declared himself able to play, something Flintoff had also done with a very different response from management. Basically they were prepared to take Prior’s word for it but not Flintoff’s, which suggests they have moved on, even if the team have not.
If Prior was hampered, it did not really show until the afternoon, when he conceded four byes off Harmison after the fast bowler fired one down the leg side.
But others were affected, notably Paul Collingwood, who forsook his morning batting practice to dust off his wicketkeeping, which might explain his disorientation during his brief innings.
Through this turmoil England chose to bat after they had won the toss – fair enough given the dryness and straw colour of the pitch. But if one team had prepared to bowl first it was Australia, after they had dropped their spinner to play Clark, their tallest pace bowler.
Whether Darren Lehmann, of Yorkshire and Australia, had marked their card about the conditions (he has been spotted in deep conversation with several Australian players over the past few days), Clark’s introduction was crucial to Australia’s excellence here, their best day of the series.
Peter Siddle may have grabbed more scalps with his five for 21, but it was the probing Clark who spread doubt among batsmen.
Clark niggles away at the pace and place least liked by England’s batsmen, something borne out by his three for 18. With occasional seam and swing spicing his accuracy, Clark had Collingwood caught at second slip, Alastair Cook caught at first and Stuart Broad grabbed by Simon Katich at short leg.
Clark’s control allowed Siddle to be aggressive, especially in his second spell which brought him the remarkable figures of four for 11 in 29 balls.
Earlier, with the new ball, he had dismissed Strauss with the last ball of his second over, the England captain’s wild drive to a ball at least a foot wide of off stump, betraying the added pressures of an Ashes series.
Strauss was lucky to have survived that long and only the late George Carman might have been able to make a case why he was not lbw Hilfenhaus to the first ball of the match.
The captain’s shot was not the sole poor one. Only Prior, who was left stranded on 37, showed the judicious shot selection required when the ball is nibbling about, though even he rode his luck, scything it through and over the slip cordon.
With Cook, Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell slow to address their shortcomings, Australia have long believed that England’s batting was an accident waiting to happen. On Friday, in useful conditions for bowlers, the pile-up occurred.
No comments:
Post a Comment