Six and Out - Some Serious Cricket

Perth : Day 2 : Business as usual

by SixandOut on December 15th, 2006

I nearly started this entry with “Despite our best intentions” but I thought better of it. Why? Because I don’t think you can really doubt England going about things with their best intentions. Many punters around the various blogs and forums have described England’s lack of commitment as “shameful”, suggesting that our men are not giving it everything. It’s perhaps not a bad conclusion to draw, as on all too many occasions it seems that England have simply stopped trying or taken the outcome of a game as a given. No such criticism could ever be levelled at the Australians. These assertions were made evident by the Adelaide test. England took their foot off the pedal, whilst Australia spied an opportunity.

So as we moved in to day 2 of this crucial 3rd Test match the fundamental requirement was that England batted, and batted… and batted. They at least had to level the scores, but a lead of a hundred or even one-fifty would have been golddust. Instead though, we were presented with an all too familiar result - England were skittled. It seems all of the positive propaganda that spewed from the England camp prior to this match - “We are up for it”, “We know what we have to do”, “We are ready for this” - were instantly forgotten as the first innings crumbled away. With the exception of KP, who contributed a shaky 70, no other batsmen settled themselves. For the 5th time this series Flintoff was away with the fairies and could offer no resistance to Australia’s attack. Geraint Jones got a 4-ball duck, and despite it being his first duck in 54 matches, the fact that that is a World Record will be of little solace to Jones, Fletcher or any England supporter. There might be a wry smile across Chris Read’s face but even if Jones is dropped for the 4th test, it will ultimately be fruitless as this match looks destined to decide the fate of the series.

I felt that England had a chance of commanding this match after the antics of the first day. With Strauss looking in form, and the steely determination of Adelaide double centuriorn Paul Collingwood, there was certainly no lack of talent at the crease. But the task was too much for them as England capitulated to 215 all out. A brief cameo knock of 16 from Monty Panesar added further ridicule to Fletcher’s grounds for selecting Giles earlier in the series and the 50 odd that he put on with fellow tail ender Steve Harmison might prove to be a saving grace for England. By the close of play Australia had moved on to 119 for only the loss of Langer (to the first ball of the innings) with Hayden and Ponting both looking in imperious form.

With 3 days of rain looking at best unlikely, this is now a definitely a result match, and the result will stop the series in its tracks should Australia win. England know the task, but as they’ve previously demonstrated, simply don’t look up to it. Only another top quality bowling performance from Harmison and Panesar can save England’s blushes now.

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