Better too late than never in this Ashes series as Warner & Rogers lay foundation for Smith: T5D1

Australia 3/287 (79.4ov, Warner 85/131b/11x4, Smith 78*/132b/1x6 9x4, Voges 47*/87/8x4, Rogers 43/100b/7x4) v England T5/5 D1/5 at The Oval, London. England won toss and sent Australia in to bat. England: unchanged; Australia: M Marsh, Siddle in, S Marsh, Hazlewood out.

David Warner and Chris Rogers hung on grittily until lunch against some sharp England bowling, especially (again) that of Stuart Broad who began with a 5-3-4-0 (initially 4-3-1-0) spell which tested the pair's judgment and resolve, but failed to part them.

0/82 at lunch in English conditions was English Test cricket at its best, and  not only because the openers had responded so well. I exhaled a sigh of relief as the players walked off, relieved that Australia hadn't imploded once more, but well aware that its brittle middle order needed, unless the Warner-Rogers stand went on and on, to show more than they'd done in most of tis series.

Well, it did (Michael Clarke's 15 excepted). After Rogers, and then Warner, fell Steve Smith stepped in, and up. He had his scratchy moments (and I'm not referring to his restlessness before facing the bowling) but he persevered and in time, as he got his eye in and took the measure of the home attack, flourished' leaving Australia, at the end of a day curtailed by bad light, comfortably placed to at least save the Test (which no Australian supporter would wish for) on with what looks (perhaps through rose tinted spectacles0 a half decent chance of winning the dead rubber.

Scorecard

Rogers and Smith centuries put Australia in front on flat Lord's pitch: T2 D1

Australia 1/337 (90ov, Rogers 158*/282b/25x4, Smith 129*/217b/1x6 13x4) vEngland; T2/5 D1/5 at Lord,s. Toss: Australia. 

Winning the toss gave Australia, who brought in Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill for Shane Watson (as expected dropped) and Brad Haddin (personal reasons) the considerable advantage of first use of a flat Lord's pitch. Chris Rogers and Steve Smith, coming together after David Warner was dismssed for what now looks a trifling though quickfire 38, have added 259 for the 2nd wicket . They gave few chances (fewer, I thought,  than were in the eyes of some beholders/commentators) and with their judiciously aggressive strokeplay capitalised on the blandness of pitch to reduce the England attack to near impotence.

Much of the quick scoring came at the beginning of the innings and during the last session. In between England, whose bowlers lacked the edge and some of the accuracy they'd showed at Cardiff, opted for a wide of off stump line in the hope of induced some errors. The scorecard shows that this strategy didn't work.

The pitch has been rightly criticised for its flatness. Whether it is sufficiently flat to condemn the Test to a draw is too early to say. Australia have a good numbers of runs on the board at the moment, but they will need to add many more to give them the scoreboard pressure which might assist their bowlers to dismiss England twice. Just over a month ago New Zealand lost to England at Lord's after a first innings of 523.

For all the assistance offered by the pitch both Rogers, on his English home ground, and Smith batted extremely well.

At last, a top order Australian batting fight (in the face of an appalling umpiring blunder) T3 D1

Australia 3/303 (90ov, Clarke 125*/208b/17x4, Rogers 84/114b/14x4, Smith 70*/150b/7x4) v England: T3/5 D1/5 at Old Trafford, Manchester. Australia won toss and chose to bat.

I turned in just after tea, expecting Australia, 3/180 at the interval with Michael Clarke and Steven Smith rebuilding a fragile 3/129, to wobble a bit more and leave the first day more or less evenly poised. Had this happened I'd still have been satisfied 

As it was they batted through the session, adding 123 from 37 tightly contested overs. I was pleasantly surprised, and a little relieved.

Smith toughed it out, as he did at times in India earlier this year. Clarke played himself into form, at first cautiously, tentatively, then reminding watchers how stylish he is, especially against spin. I only watched the second part of his innings via the highlights, but these included a wonderful slow motion replay of him dancing down the pitch to Graeme Swann which was reminiscent of the famous 

photo of Victor Trumper.

Earlier in the day Chris Rogers had played an innings which I thought was beyond him - confidently aggressive, in a manner which vindicated the selectors' choice.

And then there was the Usman Khawaja dismissal, an initial error by onfield umpire Hill confirmed by TV umpire  Dharmasena. As Warnie said from the commentary box "a shocker..a ridiculous decision". Australia may subsequently have had some good fortune in the matter of umpiring decisions, but nothing as  Palpably bad as Khawaja's. Is Dharmasena a Test (or international) standard umpire?

Well as England bowled at times the scorecard reflects a strong Australian fight back which lasted, unlike 

many recent Tests, a full day. David Warner, not Phil Hughes - along with Ashton Agar, dropped - is next in in a 

situation which should allow him to play his natural game even if no6 isn't his customary position.

Runs, but not enough, on the board. The Test is nicely poised. I hope this opinion doesn't come back to bite me.

<a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013/engine/match/566934.html">Scorecard </a>.

Point of interest

Old Trafford Cricket Ground has undergone a  90 degree reorientation, with the wicket now on a north- south axis. 

From above it looks odd, but it helps to bear in mind that the straight boundaries are now short and the square 

ones long: the reverse of what the Adelaide Oval used to look like.