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| And the coin goes up |
Last week saw England walking out of Brisbane holding their head high after a high scoring draw, despite of Ricky Ponting’s tall claims about how the visitors were going to struggle under the difficult batting conditions of the Gabba. Peter Siddle, with a six wicket haul including a hattrick in the first innings did everything to prove his captain right, but Andrew Strauss’s men never felt they were out of the game except for the start of the second innings, when they were staring at a mammoth lead of 221 runs with two and half days to go. But very quickly, the captain in the company of Alistair Cook, wiped up the deficit and then England went on to pile up the runs on Australia in an authoritative manner.
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| Finn claimed six wickets in the match |
The positives from this drawn test would be a high level of confidence for England, given the fact that deep down, they still have this feeling of the Aussies being kind of invincible at home To their credit, England played aggressive cricket over the entire five days, despite of being pushed back early in the match by the Siddle-storm, and then by the Hussey-Haddin partnership. But then they knew they blew their chances by poorly using the UDRS, which costed them Hussey’s wicket when he was in his eighties. I also liked the way KP and Trott approached their knocks in the first innings. Even though they didn’t score a lot of runs, they did manage to set the tone for the rest of the match by their positive approach. Pieterson was greeted with a customary bullying, but came and settled like he does, before unleashing some stupendous shots.
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| Trott in fine form |
I had no doubt, KP bats only one way, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the way Trott played. Here is a player who has got a tight technique, knows how to mix the right amount of caution and aggression in his batting, strong on either side of the wicket and most of all is unfazed by things around him when he is on the crease. He lend solidity to the top order of England much like what Ponting used to do for Australia a decade earlier. I can’t really compare his with a Dravid of a Kallis because he unlike the former two guys, doesn’t miss out on any scoring opportunity. Mind you, I’m also not comparing his game with that of a young Ponting; they are as different as chalk and cheese. Only, the effect of their knock could be similar on their sides at the crucial one down position.
I am unable to comment of Ian Bell’s knock for I missed that part of the match, but I am told, his was the most defining innings on day one. He played superbly to pull the England score towards that respectable 260, which kept them in the game.
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| A dissapointing Johnson |
For Australia, the two most disappointing factors were yet again Mitchell Johnson and Marcus North. Both failed to make any impact in the match and are looking like a burden on their team. As of today, we are aware that Johnson has lost his place to Doug Bollinger, but North has still got another life line in the second test.
It does look like England are a much better side and are in with more than a decent chance of retaining the Ahses, but it remains to be seen, if they can beat the Aussies in their own den. It's gonnabe a long series as Ashes are, and this English side, despite of the absence of the towering Andrew Flintoff, does look capable of beating the Aussies. Much would depend upon how they keep up the already created pressure though,
Much more excitement to follow in days to come! Will update you on the second test ASAP.
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