Close shave for Ponting, though not for Australia: T4 D3

Australia 445 defeated England 102 and 263 (61.3 ov, G Swann 62, S Broad 61, M Johnson 5/69, B Hilfenhaus 4/60) by an innings and 80 runs: Ashes 09 T4 D3 at Headingley, Leeds.

When Ricky Ponting led Australia onto the field at the start of play his clean shaven face (the first time I can recall seeing it thus so early in on a match day) indicated that he wanted, and probably expected the match, to be wrapped up quickly.

Well, some beer match hitting by Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad didn't postpone the inevitable for too long, even if it did show what might, just might, have been achieved had those higher in the order shown more application.

Mitchell Johnson accelerated his series improvement and Ben Hilfenhaus maintained his Ashes form, yet Stuart Clark and, to a lesser degree Peter Siddle, disappointed with the ball, and some of the Aust fielding was pretty lethargic too,

D3's biffing, which at least did give the crowd something for their overpriced ticket money, (and let the skinflint Yorkshire authorities off the hook of giving a refund) was fundamentally a coda to a monumental form reversal by each side.

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened in this series: remember Cardiff and Lord's?

Will it , can it, might it happen again? No comment....just now.



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Australia excel, England fall apart as embarrassingly one-sided match just makes it to D3: Ashes T4 D2

England 102 and 5/82 (32 ov) trail Australia 445 (M North 110, M Clarke 73, R Ponting 78, S Watson 51, S Broad 6/91) by 261 runs with 5 second innings wickets remaining: Ashes 09 T4 D2 at Headingley.

This must have been one of the most one sided day's play in Ashes history. Only briefly, eg the Andrew Strauss - Alistair Cook second innings opening partnership, did England look in the least competitive. And this brief flame was harshly snuffed out by Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson who almost ended the match on D2.

Can England regroup enough to be competitive in the Fifth Test? It's hard to imagine them being any worse than here but it looks as if that task is, notwithstanding their turnaround between Cardiff and Lord's, well beyond them.

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Strengthened Australia outplay weakened England: T4 D1

England 102 (33.5 ov, P Siddle 5/21, S Clark 3/18) v Australia 4/196 (47 ov, R Ponting 78, S Watson 50): Ashes 09 T4 D1 at Headingley, Leeds

298 runs and 14 wickets from 80.5 overs.

Not a bad day's cricket, eh? Up to a point, depending on your allegiance.

It was a disastrous one for England, weakened by the withdrawal of Andrew Flintoff, whose batters crumbled in the face of an Australian bowling attack strengthened and refocused by the selection of Stuart Clark.

Andrew Strauss must have been discombobulated by all the last minute uncertainty about whether Matt Prior - yet another casualty of the modern warm up regime - was able to play. The keeper was, and top scored with 37* as all around him succumbed to the four Australian quick bowlers.

Strauss, having been reprieved by Umpire Bowden from an lbw verdict from the first ball of the match, started the procession when he was well caught in the gully off Peter Siddle. Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson picked up a wicket apiece but it was Clark's combination, not often seen so far this series, of movement and accuracy which ripped the heart out of the middle order and set the scene for Siddle to mop up the tail. He finished with 9.5-0-21-5, Clark 10-4-18-3.

With his characteristic lucidityGideon Haigh in The Times summed up the difference Clark made:

Australia have wanted all summer for a bowler who understands line as a cardinal virtue, who strives above all for consistency, who tries to make batsmen play but is averse to surrendering easy runs off the pads — now they had him. He bowled the day’s first maiden, didn’t concede a first run until his seventeenth delivery, claimed his first wicket with his 21st — and every bowler around him benefited ... The question inevitably will arise why Clark has been made to wait so long for his chance on this trip, when his experience, especially of Lord’s as a former Middlesex player, would have been invaluable.

When Australia batted Simon Katich failed but Shane Watson with yet another 50 (51/67b, 9x4) and Ricky Ponting despite (or maybe because of) the booing which greeted him overhauled the England first innings total before Graham Onions and Stuart Broad took three late wickets including Ponting's for a belligerent 78 (101b/12x4, 1 x6) to give England some small consolation for an other wise appalling day.

Disclosure: I thought that Siddle should make way for Clark, leaving Nathan Hauritz in the team to provide some front line spin. So far I've been proved wrong.

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Draw confirms Australia's batting strength and both sides' bowling weakness: Ashes T3 D5

Australia 263 and 5/375 (112.2 ov, M Clarke 103*, M North 96, M Hussey 64, S Watson 53) drew with England 376: Ashes 09 T3 D5 at Edgbaston

The first two sessions of play were absorbing. Australia worked their way steadily and without too many indiscretions towards a position of safety and then, as tea approached, one of some strength which could have made for an interesting result had the match been played to a finish.

Shane Watson and Mike Hussey kept the England bowlers at bay for the first hour and a bit. From the last ball of the day's 16th over (and, surprisingly, his first) Jimmy Anderson induced Watson to snick one to the keeper: 3/137. Watson's 53 (114b/9 x4) completed a good batting double and hushed the many critics who thought he was no Test opener.

Michael Clarke looked assured from the outset. This was just as well, for not long after his arrival Hussey, who had looked in better touch (and more assured about which balls to leave) than previously in the series, fell to Stuart Broad for 64 (130b/13x4): 4/161.

The England bowlers were steady but far from unplayable: they weren't able to swing the ball as some of them had done in the first innings. At lunch 4/172 it was clear that a considerable though not impossible improvement (like two or three quick wickets) was required to keep England in with a good chance of victory.

That didn't happen. Clarke and Marcus North, the one elegant, the other pugnaciously gritty, batted through the next session against some increasingly pedestrian bowling (Graeme Swann was especially disappointing) . During the extended afternoon session 36 overs were bowled and Australia added 121. 4/293 (Clarke 73*, North 64*) at tea was safety plus.

There were one or two wobbly Australian moments in the last session, when England needed six or seven of them (and a couple of miracles). Unfortunately for them their prospective miracle worker Andrew Flintoff listened to his stressed body and didn't bowl. He must be doubful for T4.

In the 11th over after tea North was brilliantly caught by Anderson in the gully off Broad for 96 (159b/ 15x4). This was the third and last wicket to fall in a day when 84.2 overs were bowled. When Clarke reached his century the captains called the game off, leaving him 103* (192b/14x4) and Australia 5/375, a healthy lead of 263.

So, an honourable draw. England were on top for most of the game but couldn't finish off a resolute and perhaps (though it's really too early to tell) resurgent Australia.

Yet in the series England are still ahead 1-0. Therefore the challenge for Australia will be how to maintain its batting strengths while reshaping its attack. The batting order shouldn't change, but the attack must. Lawrence Booth writing for The Guardian's The Spin succinctly states the obvious:

Are England glad Stuart Clark is serving the shandies? You bet they are.

Australian selectors please note.

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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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D3 washout, draw likely: Ashes09 T3 D3

The weather forecast was cruelly accurate: no play was possible on D3.

A draw seems the likeliest result, though today Gideon Haigh on Offsiders suggested that in the absence of much more rain England might be able to force a win. He also suggested that, given Brett Lee's apparent return to fitness, he'll be a strong candidate for the T4 team, which will turn the rest of the England innings into a bowl out for the other Australian quicks. Oddly, IMO very oddly, he didn't mention Stuart Clark.

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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