Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Can England take a 2-0 Ashes lead?
A stunning day’s Test cricket, wasn’t it? If there was ever any doubt over the status of the longest form of the game then Sunday’s play will have washed away concerns.
You simply don’t get this sort of story told, with its twists and turns, at a Twenty20 match or a 50-over game for that matter. It had everything; wickets, runs, hostility, sledging and a dramatic finale that leaves a positive result to this rain interrupted Test match still possible.
Australia closed day four on 88 for 2 in their second innings, still 25 runs behind England’s first innings total of 376, and they will attempt to bat out the final day in order to save this match.
The draw is still favourite, but England have given themselves a whiff of an opportunity, by way of their aggressive batting and attacking bowling. Led by the bruise brothers Andrew Flintoff and Matt Prior, who smashed 89 off almost as many balls, England clawed their way back from the precipice of 168 for five to post a 113 run first innings lead over the Australians.
It was scenario that seemed most unlikely after the start of play was delayed for an hour. Then Australia’s bowlers got to work in a tight first session, creating pressure, which brought the wickets of Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, to leave England 159 for 4 at lunch.
It wasn’t long after the restart that the fifth wicket fell and England looked in trouble.
Ian Bell, who had so much luck in surviving three huge lbw appeals that he should go out and buy himself a lottery ticket, eventually fell as the umpire found the fourth appeal too tempting to turn down, with Bell once more caught on his front pad striding across his stumps to a swinging delivery, and he went for 53.
Ashes analysis: insipid England fail to keep pressure on Australia
Whatever momentum England had built up over Australia by scraping a draw in Cardiff and then winning convincingly at Lord’s, slowly ebbed away following an insipid display late on a truncated first day’s play of the third Ashes Test in Edgbaston, as Australia rattled along at almost four and a half runs an over to close the day at 126-1.
Ricky Ponting, beset by problems, will have been delighted with his sides response in the face of adversity.
A couple of brave decisions from the Australian captain saw embattled fast bowler Mitchell Johnson keep his place in the side, while Shane Watson replaced the enigmatic young opener Phillip Hughes.
Hughes may be feeling a bit of a Twit. His management company used his Twitter feed to announce he had been dropped from the team, a full 3 hours before the start of scheduled play at 11am. The move seemed even more ridiculous once play was delayed because of rain until 5pm.
Ponting then lost one of his most reliable players just before the start of play, with wicketkeeper Brad Hadden breaking a finger in the warm up, meaning a debut for Graham Manou.
It appears a good toss to win on what looks a flat pitch that will deteriorate over the next four days and, unlike in 2005, Ponting followed the rules of Edgbaston and opted to bat first. His openers didn’t disappoint him.
Shane Watson, opening for Australia for the first time in his ninth test match, and Simon Katich cruised at one-day batting pace as they were fed a series of long hops outside off stump and rank deliveries down the leg side, which they tucked into with relish.
Well, maybe at Headingley…