Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Ashes day one: advantage Australia?
What an extraordinary first day of Test match cricket, even by Ashes standards. A day that ebbed and flowed, that tormented and teased both sets of supporters and ultimately left us with the question: where does the balance of this match lie?
As Kev notes, lunch for England would have been the equivalent of trying to digest tarmac, a disconcerting affair to say the least. Having won the toss and electing to bat England were reduced to 92-3 by a persevering if unspectacular Australian attack, which left the Barmy Army cowering behind their beer snakes fearing the worst.
Tea would have been sweeter — “two more sugars please” — after Pietersen and Collingwood put on a hundred runs for the loss of no wickets. If Pietersen batting is like watching an artist paint a masterpiece, then watching Collingwood is like sitting through a blacksmith beating a horseshoe into shape.
Then came an astonishing final session. Collingwood played at one outside off as unconvincingly as he’d hit a boundary a few balls earlier, and was snaffled by Haddin behind the timbers.
Shortly after, the least impressive bowler Nathan Hauritz took the wicket of England’s best batsmen Kevin Pietersen, who played shot that would’ve had Geoffrey Boycott charging for him with his stick of rhubarb, and England were again teetering on the brink at 241-5.
Cue the Prior and Flintoff show. In a blink of an eye the pendulum had swung again as the bruise brothers rocketed England to 327 with a series of blazing cover drives and thumping pull shots through midwicket, and suddenly it looked as though England would finish close to 400 with 5 wickets in hand and the game, if not in the bag, then at the till ready for packing.
Where the Ashes will be won and lost
With the furore over Cardiff being awarded the first Ashes cricket test still bubbling, here’s a run down on each venue for England v Australia and how the results might pan out.
Cardiff: Starts Wednesday, July 8th A controversial choice for the first test, given that Trent Bridge and Old Trafford were overlooked entirely, but we’ve been told to expect the wicket to turn sideways. Don’t be surprised to see: England field two spinners, Shane Warne drooling over the pitch … from inside the commentary box, Ricky Ponting cursing the fact his only spin front-line option is Nathan Hauritz and rain.
Result: Draw – it can’t rain all the time. It can in Cardiff.
Lord’s, London: Thursday, July 16th The home of cricket has been as a dry as a desert and as flat as a pancake in recent years and England haven’t beaten Australia at Lord’s since 1934. Expect a seam bowler, most likely Graham Onions, to replace Monty in England’s attack, but the Aussies will arrive without fear given their history on this ground.
Result: Australia win – history is on their side.
Edgbaston, Birmingham: Thursday, July 30th In 2005, Edgbaston was a scene of carnage for Ponting’s crew as spectators witnessed one of the greatest test matches of all time. For Australia, Glenn McGrath was crocked in the warm-up, the captain then won the toss and mystifyingly chose to bowl, promptly conceding over 400 runs in under 80 overs, and lost the test that swung the series in England’s favour by 2 runs. Moral: Win the toss and bat then take advantage of the deteriorating pitch.
Or not optimistic enough, maybe… Have you seen Australia bowling? They’re going to spend a lot longer in the field in this Ashes series.
To spin or not to spin? Australia’s crucial Ashes question
Australia captain Ricky Ponting will be praying that the rumours of a sideways turning Cardiff wicket prove to be complete fallacy when the Ashes series begins on Wednesday.
Ponting’s team have been bereft of a front-line spinner since the retirement of the mercurial Shane Warne in 2007 and Stuart McGill shortly after.
Australia has selected just one “attacking” spinner in the tour party, 27-year-old Nathan Hauritz. But “Ritzy” has yet to shine, taking just 2 wickets in the 59 overs he has bowled on tour so far, at a cost of 260 runs.
That could see Ponting select a four-pronged pace attack for the first test on a pitch not conducive to fast bowling, and with Brett Lee unavailable through injury.
Lee’s absence puts a lot of pressure on Stuart Clark, who is likewise on his way back from injury. Can he stay the pace over back-to-back Tests in Cardiff and at Lord’s?
RITZY BUSINESS: Australia’s Nathan Hauritz grimaces during a match against Sussex in Hove, June 25, 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown
It is better not to play Hauritz at all if he is going to get whacked. Clarke offers a slow change of pace if need be
The shoot-out where blazing over the bar is a good thing
Major rugby’s first shoot-out was followed, almost inevitably, by a tidal wave of complaints about how unfair it all was.
Leicester secured a slot in the final of the Heineken Cup, Europe’s premier club competition, after beating Cardiff Blues 7-6 “on penalties” on Sunday.
The teams were level at 26-26 after extra time and had each scored two tries, paving the way for a long-anticipated shoot-out.
Each team took five shots from in front on the posts on the 22-metre line.
The front-line kickers had little problem with such a straightforward test but once it moved on to boys who kick a rugby ball about as often as they celebrate a try by kissing a team mate, it got a bit sticky.
The fall guy turned out to be Wales and British and Irish Lions flanker Martyn Williams, who shanked his kick horribly wide, leaving Leicester number eight and former semi-pro footballer Jordan Crane to stroke over the winner.
Reducing both teams by one player at five minute intervals throughout extra time with the winner decided by a golden score would avoid the result coming down to one man’s error.
Try count (not in this case, of course) followed by fewest yellow cards? Not as exciting but might encourage the right approach by the teams during the match.
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Resident Left Field Expert
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Fantastic first day. England played positively apart from at the end and Australia bowled about as well as they could. That has got my attitude whetted.