England have slight edge after 14 wickets fall on hard fought day of uneven quality: Ashes 2013 T1 D1

Australia 4/75 (21ov, Smith 38*) trail England 215 (59 ov, Trott 48/80b,9x4, Bairstow 37, Root 30, Siddle 5/50, Pattinson 3/69) by 140 runs on 1st inns; T1/5 D1/5 at Trent Bridge Nottingham. England won toss and chose to bat.

Yesterday Sir Ian Botham predicted that this Test would be over in three and a half days, with England winning. I scoffed at what I took to be pre-series bluster, but after a hurly-burly first day's play in which 14 wickets fell it looks as if Sir Ian was, unusually for him, erring on the side of caution.

Australia surprised me (and many others) by preferring the 19 year old Ashton Agar to Nathan Lyon (who took 9 wickets in his last Test).  I couldn't see a good reason for this and the decision may well come back to bite them. He only bowled a few nothing-to-write-home-about overs but will almost certainly need to do more when England bat again, which will probably be on day two.

The first session gave little hint of what was to come. The Australian bowlers, Peter Siddle included because of his first few overs, were all over the place in what should have been helpful overcast conditions. The England batters took advantage of this and the fast outfield and at lunch were handily placed at 2/98 from 26 overs with Jonathan Trott looking good.

But early in the afternoon session  Kevin Pietersen swatted Siddle to cover and it was 3/102. At 124 Trott, who'd looked so on top of the situation, played on to Siddle for 48, which turned out to be the highest score of the day. Even so England's position didn't look to be beyond redemption, but none of the remaining upper order could keep Siddle 14-4-50-5 at bay, while James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc refocused and sliced through the tail.

215 looked decidedly below par. Yet when Australia collapsed to 3/22, including Michael Clarke bowled for a duck by a beautiful Jimmy Anderson nip backer (watch the replay if you can), it suddenly looked ample. Steve Smith, like Agar a late addition to the original squad, batted positively - his straight drive for 6 off Graeme Swann was the shot of the day - restore a measure of hope to the visitors.

 Talk about Australia batting down to no11 is all very well, but in the circumstances it sounds like Bothamesque bluster. The weather and the pitch, which is already starting to crumble, will play a big part in shaping the course of the match but on paper now England have an edge.

All this makes for mandatory viewing (the Sky Sports feed is available here on both free to air - Gem - and Foxtel)  for the next couple of days. I  shall try to keep awake as long as possible (unlike last night where I nodded off early in the afternoon session and had to catch the highlights this morning).

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Tale of two innings as Australia snatch narrow victory in high scoring ODI

Australia 8/334 (49.2 ov, M Clarke 82, M Johnson 57, S Watson 51, C Ferguson 46) def England 6/333 (50 0v, J Trott 137, A Strauss 63, I Bell 45) by 2 wickets: ODI #6/7 at SCG. Australia lead series 5-1.

The approach of Cyclone Yasi towards the North Queensland coast preoccupied me for much of the time this match was being played but today, when the bad weather had subsided, I filled the gaps in my viewing by watching the highlights of a very, very high scoring game which Australia, having looked out of the reckoning for so long, won narrowly.

Two innings stood out: Jonathon Trott's 137/126b (11x4) which put England in what looked like an unassailable position, and Michael Clarke's 82/70b (1x6, 4x4) which kept Australia in, if not leading, the hunt.

Fox Sports report

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England keep ODI series alive with comfortable win at Adelaide

England 8/299 (50 0v, J Trott 102, M Prior 67, D Hussey 4/21, S Smith 3/33) def Australia 7/278 (50 0v, S Watson 64) by 21 runs: ODI #4/7 at Adelaide Oval. Australia lead series 3-1.

For various reasons I haven't watched a lot of cricket since the Ashes Tests, but yesterday I went to the Adelaide Oval to see if Australia could wrap up the seven match series with a fourth consecutive victory. They couldn't, and England won comfortably - far more comfortably than a margin of 21 runs suggests. But at least the match lasted longer than the 59 over 2007 match , ie into the night.

Andrew Strauss won the toss and, not surprisingly given a warm (29deg C), sunny day and a good pitch, chose to bat.

Brett Lee's first over went for 12 (in 2007 he'd bowled 8 for 8 runs and 2 wickets) and while in his second he made amends of sorts when Strauss edged him to the keeper. 1/23 from 17 balls was evidence of England's intentions and the waywardness of Australia's bowling. Jonathon Trott joined Matt Prior, who having, at the third attempt, opened his account for the series, continued to punish the bowling. Trott didn't waste too many opportunities but built his innings more methodically than his partner who posted his 50 with a six off Lee.

While Michael Clarke switched the four quicker bowlers around none of them looked especially penetrative There were a couple of run out chances which the Australians missed (neither side was at its best in the hitting the stumps department), otherwise the score mounted and a 300+ total looked more and more likely as the 100 was posted in 15 overs.

Xavier Doherty then came on. He conceded only 1 one in his first over, encouraging Clarke to throw the ball to Steven Smith, who bowled one scratchy over for 9 runs before Prior cut the first ball of his second to point. Prior's 67/58b (1x6, 8x4) out of 136 from 22.1 overs was as good a launching pad as could have been expected, and there was plenty more batting to come.

But as Doherty bowled steadily at one end for 10 straight overs for 44 Smith struck again...and again, as Kevin Pietersen hit a catch to long on and Ian Bell came down the wicket to his second ball and was smartly caught behind by Brad Haddin.

4/158 wasn't quite what the ideal England script would have read, but it weasn't bad either, espeically Trott was still there moving along at his own pace (which wasn't as slow as some had thought). Eoin Morgan joined him and together, as Clarke shuffled the quick bowlers, they kept moving things along. Then, when we were wondering when (or even whether) David Hussey would be given a bowl, he came on for the 40th over of the innings, during which he induced Trott, who'd perhaps relaxed after reaching his century, to edge a turning ball onto his stumps. Trott's 102/126b (6x4) was a masterly innings of quiet aggression which confirmed England's superiority.

Hussey struck again with the first ball of his second over, having Morgan caught at point/ square leg reverse sweeping. 6/227 and Australia were at last in with a chance of restricting England to well under 300.

But Clarke took Hussey (2/3 from 2 overs) off and brought Lee and Doug Bollinger back. Neither had hitherto bowled well, and nor did they improve much as Paul Collingwood 27/27b (1x6, 2x4) and Michael Yardy 39*/27b (6x4) made hay under the floodlights. This was a failure on Clarke's part to read the game: in the more leisurely atmosphere of a Test match it would have been fine, but here, where spin had held England if not in check then under greater restraint, he should have given Hussey another over or two, Powerplay or imminent innnigs end notwithstanding.

As it happened the quicker bowlers continued in their expensive vein so he had to come back , and took two more wickets, finishing with the surprising (though not entirely undeserved ) analysis of 4-0-21-4. The three slow bowlers collectively bowled 21 overs and took 7/98 whereas the four quick ones bowled 29 0vers for 1/197. Enough said?

300 looked beyond Australia's grasp, though they gave it a reasonable shot and at least gave the scorecard the illusion of a close finish. But in the first phase a slow run rate, with the first 100 taking 30 balls longer than England's (120 v 90 b), and the loss of three wickets, including yet another modest score by Clarke, put England in control. Its quick bowling was tighter than Australia's (Jimmy Anderson bowled the only maiden of the contest) and if Yardy's slow-medium darts were milked, Collingwood and, surprisingly, Trott with their gently probing medium pace prevented any breakaway, and took 3 wickets between them.

From this point a Shane Watson century was Australia's best hope. But on this, as on other occasions (and he shouldn't be criticised for this: at least he's scoring runs), it wasn't forthcoming for at 116 he was caught behind off Ajmal Shahzad for a worthy 64/72b (1x6, 5x4).

Neither Cameron White, despite his big hitting reputation, nor David Hussey were able to move things along. They spent some time playing themselves in before falling to Trott. White's 44/64b was especially disappointing: he rarely looked in command and only hit two fours.

After they were out Smith played aggressively, but not aggressively enough to haul the asking rate back to where a final overs tilt at the total might have been feasible. After John Hastings went cheaply (IMO Dan Christian has a better claim on his place: maybe not as good a bowler but a more punishing lower order batter), Lee (who should have gone in ahead of Hastings) 39*/32b (5x4) and Smith 46*/47b (4x4) added 78 in the last 10 overs in what became, as the possibility of victory faded, centre wicket practice.

The metaphorical fireworks required for Australia to snatch an improbable victory didn't eventuate before the real fireworks commemorating Australia Day brought proceedings to a close. .

A good game, which showed many of the best features of 50 over cricket. There were few controversies and the umpires controlled the game well. It was good to see Simon Fry, with whom I played cricket many years ago, umpiring his first ODI after many years as fourth umpire.

The overlong 7 match series is not yet over. On this occasion England looked a more complete team than Australia, but the gap between them isn't wide enough to make the results of the last three games easy to predict.

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Fox Sports report with link to video highlights.

Australian batting crumbles again to disciplined England bowling: T4D3

Australia 98 & 6/169 (66ov, S Watson 54) need 246 more runs with 4 second innings wickets left to avoid losing by an innings to England 513 (159.4 ov, J Trott 168*, M Prior 85, A Cook 82, A Strauss 69. P Siddle 6/76) : T4 D3 at MCG

Some time, probably before lunch tomorrow, England will take Australia's last three wickets (the injured Ryan Harris is highly unlikely to bat), complete a well deserved innings victory over Australia and retain the Ashes.

Today, another huge crowd (68,773) turned up to watch Peter Siddle continue to bowl his heart out as England lost its last five wickets for 69. Then the Australian batting, set a daunting (?improbable) 515 to make England bat again, fell apart after a foolish runout (once again involving Shane Watson) followed mot long after by Tim Bresnan dismissing Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey in quick succession.

While Matt Prior didn't get a 100 his aggressive 85/119b (11x4) was a good counterpoint to Jonathan Trott's more measured 168*/345b (13x4). But for Siddle's 33.1-10-75-6 who knows when England would have declared.

Bresnan, as in the first innings, justified his selection. 15-7-26-3 is an excellent analysis, though most of the time, unlike Siddle, he had the benefit of someone keeping the other end tight.

Australia are in disarray. Neither Ponting nor Michael Clarke looked like building a big innings and their futures as captain and vice-captain will be discussed even more in the coming days. Despite their underperformance and, in Ponting's case, yesterday's intemperate on field outburst (for which he was fined 40% of his match fee), I think it's too late in this series to remove them.

But beyond that...


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England keep building lead and path to victory:T4D2

England 5/444 (136 ov, J Trott 141*, A Cook 82, M Prior 75*', A Strauss 69. K Pietersen 51) lead Australia 98 by 346 runs with 5 1st innings wickets in hand: T4/5 D2/5 at MCG.

There was little to write home (or blog) about today unless you are a staunch England supporter (perhaps one of the 67,149 spectators who were at the MCG), in which case you are allowed a generous measure of triumphalism at the sight of Australia trailing by 346 runs on the first innings and consequently without any prospect of victory and little of a draw..

Australia did show a little resistance early in the day as Peter Siddle removed both Alistair Cook 82/152b (11x4) and Andrew Strauss 69/167b (5x4) for the addition of only 13 runs. But then Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen steadied the innings (as if at 2/170 it needed steadying) before Siddle returned to claim Pietersen lbw for 51/89b (7x4) and dismiss Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell cheaply, by catching them in the deep, off Mitchell Johnson's (short) bowling.

5/286 turned out to be Australia's last satisfying moment of the day as Trott 141*/278b (12x4) and Matt Prior 75*/105b (10x4) added 158 for the sixth wicket before stumps leaving England, as they were yesterday, dominant. Early in his innings Trott snicked Johnson to the keeper but survived umpire Aleem Dar's self-imposed review after replays showed the delivery was (just) a no ball. Pity about the overstepping as it was Johnson's best ball of the day. As for the other bowlers, Siddle was, as 26-8-58-3 suggests, by far the best. Steven Smith and Ryan Harris bowled the occasional teasing delivery, though Ben Hilfenhaus looked out of puff despite clocking some pacy balls on Channel 9's speed measuring instrument.

So Australia is headed for defeat. Whether it is to be an honourable or dishonourable one will depend on the batters and the captain, who lost his composure at one point by challenging an umpire's decision which was clearly correct. Not a nice sight, but a reflection of the pressure Ricky Ponting is under. He should try to let his bat do the talking.

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Fox Sports report.

A century to Cook and a century in the shade as England press ahead: T2 D2

England 2/317 (89 ov , A Cook 126*, K Pietersen 85*, J Trott 78) lead Australia 245 by 72 runs with 8 first inns wickets in hand: T2/5 D2/5 at Adelaide Oval.

It was, notwithstanding the false dawn of Andrew Strauss being bowled in the first over, unquestionably England's day.

On a flat track Alistair Cook batted through a day where the temperature reached 38deg C (100 deg F) to reach 136*/246b (17x4). Jonathan Trott rode his luck, notably being dropped in the gully when he was 10, and settled down to add 174 with Cook before he was out for 78/144b (11x4). Kevin Pietersen then played an imperious innings in which he showed that reports of his vulnerability to slow left arm bowling are exaggerated. By stumps he'd made 85*/141b (13x4) of 141 as England continued their march towards victory.

Cook batted extremely well, playing few false strokes (one of which resulted in the umpire's caught behind decision being overturned) and, by my reckoning, missing even fewer balls. He looked especially good square of the wicket on both sides. In short, a class player.

Australia looked pretty ordinary, not least in the field where a couple of chances were put down and a run out missed (from side on, but why wasn't anyone up at the bowler's end stumps to take it?) Of the bowlers Ryan Harris, with his extra pace looked the best, while Xavier Doherty's inexperience was exposed.

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Fox Sports video highlights.

Huge England score leads to draw and poses many questions for Australia

England 260 & 1/517 dec (152 ov, A Cook 235*, J Trott 125*, A Strauss 110) drew with Australia 481 & 1/107 (26.0 ov, R Ponting 51*): T1 D5 at the Gabba Brisbane: series level 0-0 with 2 matches to play.

Yes, the First Test ended in a draw and, yes, England struggled for the early part of the match, but at the end it was they who had the measure of Australia.

For the record today England added 208 runs in 51 overs without losing a wicket against an increasingly dispirited and, to Australian supporters, dispiriting opposition. Several chances were offered but none accepted by the fielders, sapping even more of the bowlers' diminishing reserves of energy and,no doubt, motivation.

Enough of that. Let's give due praise to the magnificent batting of Alistair Cook 235*/428b (26x4) and Jonathan Trott 135*/266b (19x4) who added an unbroken 329 for the 2nd wicket, the highest partnership for any wicket by England in Australia.Had the match been a timeless Test the mind boggles at what the final total might have been: quite possibly (probably?) a four figure one. But it wasn't: England declared, left Australia up to 41 overs to make 297, and Shane Watson and an impressive looking, though hardly Cook or Trott standard, Ricky Ponting prevented England from causing even more embarassment.

The Second Test starts here in Adelaide on Friday. England has a few areas, eg middle order batting and perhaps Graeme Swann's bowling, requiring attention but these look minor issues compared to the home team;s woes. So what is Australia to do?

"Regroup" the pundits of the media, couch and pubs will say. What does this mean? For one thing there must be change(s) in the eleven: Mitchell Johnson and perhaps Marcus North and others must make way for Doug Bollinger or Ryan Harris, who've been added to the squad. But beyond these changes there needs to be a recovery of that elusive quality of self-belief, which has been a hallmark of so many Australian teams over the years. I know this sounds vague, but today at Bellerive in a Sheffield Shield match, overshadowed by events at the Gabba, bottom of the table South Australia beat Tasmania after being bowled out for in their first innings for 55 . Not a bad regrouping, eh?

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Fox Sports Report with video highlights.

Thrilling finish out of the blue

South Africa 418 and 6/301 dec drew with England 356 & 9/228 (96ov, K Pietersen 81,J Trott 69): T1 D5 at Centurion.

For most of the last day fortunes fluctuated with a comfortable draw increasingly looking the likeliest result. Then came the last hour, when South Africa came from out of nowhere and put England under great pressure.

Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott restored a shaky 3/27 to 3/169 at tea. I heard one commentator suggest that Pietersen, 80* at that interval, might fancy having a crack at the 195 runs required from the last 36 overs. Maybe KP fancied himself: he'd batted well but it had been clear for much of the match that team England would be happy to settle for a draw. The pitch was OK as fifth day pitches go, which is to say that it wasn't conducive to a full on run chase, especially against the competent South African attack.

Well, just after tea Pietersen foolishly ran himself out by the length of the pitch, his 81/143b (11x4) now looking likely to go down as a match saving innings. When Trott and Paul Collingwood spent almost 20 overs moving from 4/172 to 205 when Trott was brilliantly caught in the slips by A B de Villiers off the combative Friedel de Wet. With 86 balls to be bowled the draw looked almost the only possible result.

Almost, but not quite. While Collingwood watched from the other end wickets fell at 207, 208, 209 and 218, leaving him and Graham Onions to face the last 19 balls, which they did. Actually Onions faced 12 of those balls, including the entire last over. Watch the highlights here:

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English continue progress towards match and series victories: T5 D3

England 332 & 373/9d (95ov, J Trott 119, A Strauss 75, G Swann 63, M North 4/98) v Australia 160 & 80/0 (20 ov). Australia require another 466 runs with 10 second innings wickets remaining: Ashes 2009 T5 D3 at The Oval, London.

The scorecard speaks for itself, Jonathan Trott's 119 on debut and Andrew Strauss' 75, enabled England to build on its already solid lead against a generally modest, Marcus North to some degree excepted, Australian attack and declared more than 500 runs ahead. Simon Katich and Shane Watson held on until stumps but Australia is still a long, long way behind. I don't believe in miracles.