Adelaide: Day 1: Slow n steady
On a peach of a batting track, England made a steady start to the second test. Strauss made an uncharacteristic mistake failed again, chipping a slow one off Stuart Clark to Damien Martyn. Alastair Cook looked good for his 27 in an hour and a half, but after doing all the hard work let his concentration lapse and wafted at an ever-so-slightly wide one, again from Clark. Collingwood and Bell then steadied the ship, and when Bell departed for 60, KP joined the party and added another 50 to England’s card. Collingwood ended the day 2 away from his century, but then we all remember what happened last time he was in the nervous nineties. England closed on 266-3, and whilst it doesn’t match Australia’s first 370-odd at Brisbane, it does at least represent a step in the right direction for England’s oft-lacklustre batting. The big question will be whether England can continue in the right direction tomorrow morning - all too often have England made a start, and then capitulated in the next session.
My main concern now, though, is assuming England can post 450-500 for their first innings, will the English bowlers be able to do anything particularly different to the Aussies to bowl them out and force a win out of this game? When arguably the two best bowlers in the world, as well as Brett Lee, couldn’t get much from the pitch, it seems unlikely that an under-performing England attack will be able to do much better. Certainly as time progresses the wicket will deteriorate, but I doubt it will degrade enough to really worry the Australian top order.
Job number one, however, is to get that first innings total. Fingers crossed that two days of bowling will properly knacker McGrath’s heel.
Thoughts for the interval:
How critical will Trescothick’s untimely demise prove to be? England’s opening pair is not producing at the moment, and it’s certain that Strauss has been put under a lot of pressure, resulting in his loss of concentration and his poor shot selection.
Tags: adelaide, andrew-strauss, Australia, England, glenn-mcgrath, Shane-Warne, The-AshesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Cricket
1 opinion for Adelaide: Day 1: Slow n steady
Jack
Dec 2, 2006 at 9:00 am
It will be hard work for weaker england attack. Also the rate at which the batsmen scored was bit too slow looking at the wicket.To win the match, england bowlers have to show extraordinary performance to round up the top order of australian batting. I think the match is heading towards draw.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: