Test heads for stalemate as England bats as Australia did: T1 D4

England 260 and 1 /309 (101 ov, A Cook 132*,A Strauss 110, J Trott 54*) lead Australia 481 by 88 runs with 9 second innings wickets in hand: T1 D4 at the Gabba, Brisbane.

After another bad light induced early finish the First Test is heading for a stalemate.

This is because England batted through D4, adding 290 runs from 85 overs, and losing only one wicket, Andrew Strauss stumped off Marcus North for 110/224b (15x4). They are now 88 runs ahead of Australia.

Strauss and Alistair Cook both batted well and more freely than last night, though each was dropped (by Mitchell Johnson and Michael Clarke respectively) off hard but not difficult chances. Each side has had some crucial fielding lapses, which have exposed the shortcomings of their attacks even more. Today it was Australia's turn as ball after ball didn't appear to me to deviate much (the Channel 9 video protractor usually confirmed this). The bowling wasn't bad, it just didn't look penetrative, and it became progressivly clearer that Strauss and Cook had its measure. Strauss looked almost as annoyed with himself to be out for 110 as he did afterhis first innings duck.

Tomorrow there'll be, as there was today, an early start to try to make up some of the lost time. Cook will resume on a substantial 132*/270b (11x4), while Jonathan Trott is motoring along nicely on 54*/118b (8x4).

I don't believe in miracles, so I can't see any result other than a draw. The wicket has been scuffed up in places but looks to be playing reasonably well. England don't need to win this match so a tempting (or even any) declaration looks unlikely. I can't blame them if Day 5 turns out to be, as it looks like doing, a dud.

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Fox Sports report with video highights.

England fight back after South African tail wags : T2 D2

England 1/103 (26.2 ov, A Strauss 54) trail South Africa 343 (108.3 ov, G Smith 75, J Kallis 75, A B de Villiers 50) on first innings by 240 runs with 9 wickets in hand: T1 D2 at Durban

Interesting day's play entirely under lights at an overcast Durban. First the last five South African wickets added 168, (58 of them coming from a Dale Steyn dominated last wicket partnership with Makhaya Ntini.

343 looked good until Andrew Strauss belted 54 from 67b (9x4) and took the wind out of the Proteas' sails. At least Morne Morkel dismissed him but that platform, and specifically the relatively easy manner in which it was achieved, will give England heart, South Africa food for thought and the spectators and viewers reason to keep watching (and hoping that the weather holds).

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Uneven batting, bowling and pitch make for an interesting match: Ashes 09 T5 D1

England 8/307 (85.3 ov, I Bell 72, A Strauss 55, P Siddle 4/63) v Australia: Ashes 2009 T5 D1 at The Oval, London.

Australia fielded an unchanged eleven , and England won the toss and chose to bat. The game therefore started without one side having a clear advantage over the other.

The home team gained the upper hand by scoring 1/108 from 26 often wayward Australian overs in the first session. Andrew Strauss looked in good touch, and Ian Bell vulnerable, yet it was the captain who fell soon after the interval, lbw to Ben Hilfenhaus (off a no-ball overlooked by Umpire Bowden) for 55 (101b, 11x4).

Bell continued to tough it out as the Australian attack tightened up and the pitch to reveal a few tricks. At tea he was 72* and England 3/180 from 53 overs.

Immediately after tea Bell was out bowled Peter Siddle without adding to his 72 (137b, 10x4)
Nobody was able to match either Bell or Strauss as, over the rest of the longish ( 32.3 overs) final session Australia, led by Siddle with the ball and energised by Simon Katich's brilliant runout of new boy Jonathan Trott for a promising 41, looked to have clawed their way back into the game.

On paper, especially as so many critics were talking about a par score of 450 give or take a few, Australia are on top. Given that they have yet to bat and will probably have to bat last, I'm not willing .
to venture any predictions.


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Long day's journey into night for Australia: T3 D4

Australia 263 and 2/88 (28 ov) trail England 376 (93.3 ov, A Flintoff 74, A Strauss 69, S Broad 55, I Bell 53, B Hilfenhaus 4/109) by 25 runs with 8 second innings wickets in hand. Ashes 09 T3D4 at Edgbaston.

It seemed like a long day after no play on D3 , an hour's delay at the start today and a late finish to compensate for some of the time lost. In fact 85.3 overs (less than the standard modern ration of 90) were bowled from which 344 runs were scored and 10 wickets taken.

Most significantly England are well on top.

Once again the Australian attack couldn't finish off the job it had started reasonably well. After converting the over(Friday & Saturday) night total of 2/116 to 5/168 (hon mentions to Andrew Strauss' 69 (134b/11x4) and Ian Bell's 53 (114b/7x4/1x6)) the wheels loosened, and some came off as Andrew Flintoff 74 (79b/10x4/1x6), Stuart Broad 55 (64b/9x4) and Matt Prior 41 (59b/6x4) took advantage of some modest bowling.

Ben Hilfenhaus persisted well until he flagged late in the innings, Nathan Hauritz was steady, Mitchell Johnson looked better than he's previously done in the series, yet Peter Siddle (3 wickets notwithstanding) was too often erratic and Shane Watson's 3-0-23-0 showed that no matter how much his batting has improved his bowling has not.

Australia have yet to wipe out the first innings deficit and have already lost two wickets: one of them Ricky Ponting bowled by a beautifully flighted and turning offspinner from Graeme Swann. Mike Hussey was almost out first ball when Graham Onions nearly caught a return catch: fortunately Swann subsequently gave him a few to boost his confidence. If Australia are to save the match - they've Buckley's chance of winning - he and Watson, who's looking assured, will need to wipe out the deficit and start to build a lead.

The last day will be, needless to say, mandatory viewing,

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Wickets from first two balls and it didn't get much better thereafter: Ashes T3 D2

England 2/116 (36ov, A Strauss 64*) trail Australia 263 (70.4 ov, S Watson 62, J Anderson 5/80, G Onions 4/58) by 147 runs on first innings with 8 wkts in hand: Ashes 09 T3 D2 at Edgbaston.

Graham Onions wouldn't have been everyone's choice to open the bowling on D2 but he was Andrew Strauss's. With his first delivery Onions had Shane Watson lbw, then bowled Mike Hussey, who misread the line, with his next. 1,2,3 for 126 and the game had swung England's way, where it stayed for the rest of another short day.

A generally assured Ricky Ponting (38) and a less so Michael Clarke (29) were unable to mount the salvage operation required. Jimmy Anderson took over from Onions as the spearhead and cut through the middle order: Clarke was fifth out at 193, which became a dispiriting 8/203 at lunch and a not much better 263 all out not long afterwards.

Onions and Anderson bowled magnificently, swinging the ball in conditions which favoured them somewhat. One or two of the umpiring decisions might have gone the other way but most of the Australian batting looked inept.

Could the Australian bowlers take a leaf out of Anderson's and Onions' books? Short answer no, despite Peter Siddle having Alistair Cook caught neatly by Graham Manou. Strauss showed his class and in the gloaming kept his team on target for what should be a first innings lead.

I will say it again: Australia missed Stuart Clark.

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Former PM turns cricket writer...and not a bad one at that

John Howard, our former PM, has fulfilled what must have been one of his mid/ late life dreams and reinvented himself as a cricket writer, and IMO not a bad one at that if his recent contribution to the Australian Spectator is any indication.

Extract:

When we planned our trip to England, largely for cricket, the itinerary was not meant to include England’s first win at the famous Lord’s cricket ground in 75 years. We were outplayed, and our hosts thoroughly deserved their victory. Having watched the First Test I found it hard to believe that England could bowl us out twice in the one match. At Cardiff they only managed to snare six Australian wickets in five days. We claimed 19 English scalps in the same time. How different it was at Lord’s. Australia’s fate was really sealed when our opponents bundled us out for 215 in the first innings, a low enough score to allow for the follow-on, which Strauss did not enforce. The run chase of 522 in the last innings was always unachievable. In the circumstances, Australia’s score of 406 was remarkable. It did not suggest that Australia had lost any of its famed fighting spirit in cricket. That is a good omen for the remaining three matches in the series. England’s bowling and fielding in our first innings was the best I have seen from them in years. They acted like a team which had got its act together. This is already a great Ashes series.

Sentiment overcame calm judgment when Flintoff was named man of the match. It may have been his last Test at the home of cricket, but his contribution to his team’s victory was, in my view, less significant than that of either Strauss or Anderson. Strauss played a great captain’s knock of 161, which was the backbone of England’s very respectable first innings total. And it was Anderson who really broke through in Australia’s first innings, and put his side in such a strong position. Given that England won, and there were some very good personal performances from their players, the man of the match was always going to be an Englishman. That said, Michael Clarke’s score of 136 was achieved under enormous pressure, was without any real flaws and showed a lot of character. Those constant crowd chants of ‘Freddie’ obviously had their impact.


Mr H is a well known cricket tragic who in his previous public comments, including guest commentator spots on radio and TV has, apart from a contentious comment a few years ago, maintained a high degree of impartiality. He's naturally never denied his support for Australia but has usually given praise to the accomplishments of their opponents.

Now that he's no longer encumbered by the burden of high office he's showing signs of being more forthright. His assessment of why England won at Lord's is astute, and if he's right that England has "got its act together" then Australia really needs to worry.

It's a pity that he hasn't applied his analytical skills to Australia. He's now back in Australia but with (almost) every ball shown live here this shouldn't stop him from offering his thoughts on the rest of Ashes 2009.

1-0 to England: Ashes 09 T2 D5

England 425 and 6/311 dec beat Australia 215 and 406 (107 ov, M Clarke 136, B Haddin 80, M Johnson 63, A Flintoff 5/92, G Swann 4/87) by 115 runs: Ashes T2 D2 at Lord's.

England were on top pretty well throughout the match and deserved to win. Congratulations to them.

The 115 run margin was, if closer than looked likely on D4 when Australia were 5/128 in their second innings, undeniably emphatic. As the first England win at Lord's in an Ashes Test since 1934 the victory will give the team an additional morale boost.

On D5 neither Brad Haddin nor Michael Clarke was able to carry on from where they left off the evening before: Haddin was caught in the slips off Andrew Flintoff without adding to his overnight 80 (130b/ 10x4) or his team's 313, while Clarke added only 11 to his tally before Graeme Swann bowled him for 136 (227b/14x4). Mitchell Johnson's aggressive 63 (75b/9x4) featured some strong hitting and driving but but itself was never going to get Australia home. Flintoff bowled throughout the session to finish with 5/92; he was well if less ostentatiously supported by Swann's 4/87.

Flintoff won the Player of the Match Award, though as our former PM John Howard astutely observed during a guest spot on today's ABC RN Breakfast, England won the game on the back of Andrew Strauss' 161 and good bowling from Jimmy Anderson and the other quicks which skittled Australia for a paltry first inngs 215.

Where to from here?

Australia have the job in front of them to regroup before T3. There will be much discussion about what changes should be made: should Johnson, or Phillip Hughes or both, be dropped are some of the more important questions. I think that room must be made for Stuart Clark unless he performs poorly in the 3 day match at Northhampton. He can (or should be able to) provide the nagging accuracy which makes it harder for batters to break into a gallop.

England have a few issues of their own, eg can Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen keep fit enough to contribute as the former has and the latter should in first two Tests? Winning two of the three remaining Tests to recover the Ashes is a big ask, but not an impossible task.

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PS British Airways and Qantas are offering 425 UK - Sydney flights for 215 pounds each . (thanks to my daughter for drawing my attention to this).