I happened to be zapping through the TV channels on Saturday night and I thought that the election must have started with people begging for votes (at premium rates) in a show called "The X Factor" and then a group of people, I didn’t know, lost in the Australian Bush and not a cricket ball in sight. Mentioning cricket the Aussie’s really gazumped the Poms in the opening days of the first Test at The Gabba (Why is it called that?).
The English bowler Harmisson’s first ball which headed to second slip like a sliced Gerry Emmettt tee shot, set the tone. Then came a magic 'knock' from the Aussie skipper Ponting (once questioned as the real deal) and the Australians reached over 600 declaring for nine. There followed a dispirited response from England (leaving Flintoff's bowling aside) reaching 159 in their First Innings due to superb bowling by the veteran Glenn McGrath. Surprisingly Australia went in to bat a Second Innings and did not make England follow on and eventually declared at a further 202. It was really game over despite a good effort from England’s Peterson in their second innings.
The First Test should end on Monday and it really looks like a mis-match at this stage but England have lost First Tests before, even as badly as this and come back. The Aussies will go for the clean sweep as nothing they like more than beating England …like a few more.
(The above piece was inspired by Brian and Michael, two cricket fans and it is the policy of realboyle to treat minorities favourably!). I saw someone who looked like Ciaran Conlon indicating a Ponting boundary! I’ve failed to get the buzz word ‘ripper’ in until now so that’s sorted. Also look out for ‘hawkeye’ the computer which gives an idea on Billy Bowden calls. He used to be the character in MASH. (Australian papers please copy!)
Summary of the Second Test in Adelaide:
If one wished to witness many of the emotions and nuances as to why cricket is regarded, by its followers, as one of sport’s great games, then the Second Test between England and Australia at Adelaide was an exemplary provider. England had little time to recover from their bruising encounter at ‘the Gabba’ in Brisbane. Yet batting first it looked as if one of their few successes from the First Test would provide the platform for an unlikely challenge. Paul Collingwood ended the first day (Thursday) on 98 and continued on Friday to 206 and a 310 stand with Kevin Peterson (158), the fifth highest in Ashes history. This helped England to ‘declare’ on an impressive 555 for 6 wickets. The idea of declaring is to ensure that the game of two inninings each team gets a chance to reach a conclusion for if it did not ‘a draw’ would be the result. Australia batting closed the second day (Friday) at 29 for 1.
Crucial Drop:
As in many sports a mistake proved critical. Here it was the ‘dropping’ of a pretty straight-forward catch by England’s Ashley Giles of Australian ace and Captain Ricky Ponting when he was at 35. He was to go on to score 142. Despite the fine bowling of Matthew Hoggard Australia ended the day at 312 for 5, 243 behind. England were still in the driving seat but needed early wickets on Sunday.
This did not happen however and Australia brought their total to 513 just 43 behind. Then it was England back to bat their Second Innings. Their objective was to put on either a respectable number of runs, making their total uncatchable and also to reduce the number of bowling ‘overs’ on the last day, Monday. The situation for England had come down from a strong winning position, after their big First Innings total, to a certain draw, barring disaster of course, as time would run out and the game would not run its full course.
Collapse:
However disaster did strike as the English batting collapsed. Reaching a tolerable 69 for two wickets the wickets then tumbled with the next six going for 36 (3 for 8 runs) with Peterson 2, team Captain Flintoff 2, Jones 10, Cooke 9, Collingwood not out 22. The destroyer was one of the other great players in the history of the game ‘seam bowler’ Shane Warne who took 4 for 49.
Even with this incredible collapse a draw seemed the likely result if England restricted the Australian run rate below the required total and got through the allocated number of ‘bowling overs’ for the day. However the Australians played aggressively scenting the wilting of English confidence. They needed 168 from the 38 overs remaining for the remainder of the day. Time was a critical feature. When Australian openers Langer (7) and Hayden (18) went, things looked reasonable but once again an aggressive Ponting pushed the score along with 49 and Australia were narrowing the gap at 3 for 116, 52 behind. Just to show where the gods stood Australian batsman Hussey ran for three and the ball being returned by the fielder was overthrown to a boundary realising 7 runs for the one strike (hardly ever happens). The Australian supporters were waltzing in Utopia. Hussey brought in the runs required (61) for Australia to win by the 6 wickets (batsmen) they had left standing and three ‘overs’ to spare. Ricky Ponting even edged out history maker Collingwood for the ‘Man of the Match’ award.
Third Test, Perth:
So England went through the floors with a very laudable recovery from the First Test and a winning position after their First Innings score to a certain ‘draw’ to a humiliating defeat. Now it is on to the Third Test in Perth starting on Thursday 14th. This will be the ultimate test for the badly bruised lions against an Australian team which includes, in Ponting, Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist, some of the great players of the modern era. It looks like 'Advance Australia Fair'.
No comments:
Post a Comment