Thursday, September 08, 2005
Strauss hits right notes
Day one over of the last Ashes test match, and the Aussies are on top. England finished 318-7 thanks mainly to Andy's Strauss (who hit 125) and Flintoff (72).
The pitch was good and I was grateful to see Vaughan win the toss and bat. After a good start however, wickets started to fall - Warne taking the first four - from 82-0 to 131-4, and things didn't look good for the home side. The recovery was good though, and the score doubled, before Strauss luckily survived an edge behind. Flintoff was then caught in the slips, Collingwood trapped leg before, and Strauss succombed (as he usually does) to tiredness.
Hopefully Jones and Giles can add a few tomorrow, and get the score near to 400 (par for this pitch).
The weather forecast is good for most of tomorrow, and also may be dry over the weekend. A result looks very likely therefore after close of play on day one.
Unless England increase their score, they could be chasing leather over the very fast outfield for most of the next couple of days. That would then leave the Aussies with a couple of days to bowl England out to win, whether they needed to bat a last time or not. I think this the most likely scenario unfortunately.
I hpope though that the English bowlers have watched the play, and will see how and where to bowl on this pitch. Reverse swing was very evident, but our best protagonist is injured and not playing. Maybe Freddie will become even more of a hero?
The pitch was good and I was grateful to see Vaughan win the toss and bat. After a good start however, wickets started to fall - Warne taking the first four - from 82-0 to 131-4, and things didn't look good for the home side. The recovery was good though, and the score doubled, before Strauss luckily survived an edge behind. Flintoff was then caught in the slips, Collingwood trapped leg before, and Strauss succombed (as he usually does) to tiredness.
Hopefully Jones and Giles can add a few tomorrow, and get the score near to 400 (par for this pitch).
The weather forecast is good for most of tomorrow, and also may be dry over the weekend. A result looks very likely therefore after close of play on day one.
Unless England increase their score, they could be chasing leather over the very fast outfield for most of the next couple of days. That would then leave the Aussies with a couple of days to bowl England out to win, whether they needed to bat a last time or not. I think this the most likely scenario unfortunately.
I hpope though that the English bowlers have watched the play, and will see how and where to bowl on this pitch. Reverse swing was very evident, but our best protagonist is injured and not playing. Maybe Freddie will become even more of a hero?
