Australia’s target this morning would have been to take quick wickets and try, somehow, to force their way back in the game. Michael Clarke, interviewed on the first evening, was bullish about their chances of fighting their way back: he must be feeling rather less so on a day where just about everything that could go wrong did.
They did achieve their first objective, however. In the midst of what can only be described as a debacle Peter Siddle, on his home turf, has bowled superbly, and he knocked over Cook and Strauss early on, Strauss superbly caught by Hussey. From there on, however, the wheels came flying off.
Jonathan Trott has only been playing test cricket for fifteen months, but today he calmly went about compiling his fifth test century. A hallmark of a Trott hundred is that one is left with very few strong memories of it, but he times the ball beautifully and never looked anything other than totally in control. He initially had Pietersen for company, who reined in his more frenetic tendencies but played some glorious shots before being palpably leg before to the persevering Siddle, and then lost Collingwood and Bell cheaply, both hooking Johnson to the ubiquitous Siddle in a manner that doubtless brought back all sorts of memories for Andrew Hilditch.
We shall come to Matt Prior’s knock in a moment, but for all of England’s dominance there is one incident that will overshadow today’s play. On forty-nine the Australians were convinced that Pietersen had edged behind, although interestingly neither the bowler nor first slip seemed terribly interested. The review showed Hot Spot picking something up, but it was some distance away from where the ball passed the bat: the only decision that the third umpire could give was not out. What followed was, at the risk of sounding like a sanctimonious Pom, unacceptable. Ponting harangued both umpires at length and also seemed to suggest to Pietersen that he should walk. He is a man under pressure but this went way beyond what is acceptable on the field of play – he can count himself fortunate to have been fined just forty per cent of his match fee, for there are many, including me, who feel that a more appropriate punishment would have been a suspension. It wasn’t even a clear miscarriage of justice – there was no evidence that Pietersen had hit the ball and the decision was absolutely correct.
Going back to the cricket, Prior survived being caught behind off Mitchell Johnson when the cameras detected a no ball and went on to blossom, moving to seventy-five not out with a delightful array of strokes. This was another day when nothing went Australia’s way, but it is hard to sympathise with any bowler who has wickets chalked off due to bowling a no ball. They kept trying, but with Mojo at his most Mojo-like, Hilfenhaus bowling tidily but with very little threat and Harris not looking the bowler that he did in Perth it was left to Siddle to carry the attack, which he couldn’t do on his own. Steve Smith didn’t bowl badly but looks out of his depth with both bat and ball at this level. He would, rightly, be nowhere near the England side and needs to play more first class cricket if he is to fulfil his undoubted potential: being a bit part player in a struggling team isn’t going to do his long term development any favours. To hear the Australian selectors describe him as a number six batsman who bowls a bit beggars belief. They would be far better off playing a genuine batsman, such as Khawaja, at number six and picking a proper spinner. Given that travails of Xavier Doherty in the first two tests and the weakness of the tail I still find it staggering that Nathan Hauritz has been discarded.
England will look to push on to a lead of five hundred tomorrow and aim to retain the Ashes sometime on the fourth day, and, at the risk of tempting fate, there’s no real reason to think that they won’t. If that does turn out to be the case, the Australian selection for Sydney will be very interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment