A day that threatened to hand Australia a stark reminder of their 2005 tour, after Steve Harmison struck Phillip Hughes on the head with his first ball, ended with the visitors showing just how dangerously deep their batting can be, especially when shepherded by a scrapper like Mike Hussey, who scored his 50th first-class century.
Hussey has spent 2009 out of form but not out of favour. Opting to rest at home rather than pocket the riches from the Indian Premier League, he has returned to duty refreshed, something evident in his energetic batting against an England Lions bowling attack which, unlike the steamy weather at New Road, blew hot and cold.
Dubbed “Mr Cricket”, Hussey looked especially pleased to collect the four off Adil Rashid that took him to his hundred, his first in all cricket for nine months. Possessed of a solid defence, he also has an unerring eye for the gap whenever the bowling strayed off line, which it did more often than it should for what is in effect an England 2nd XI.
He enjoyed a couple of let-offs, on 75 when Sajid Mahmood put him down off his own bowling, and on 133 when Rashid failed to cling to a low edge of Harmison with the second new ball, but otherwise this was pukka batting in a match described by Ian Bell, the Lion’s captain, as the "sixth Test".
Two century partnerships, the first with Katich the second with Mitchell Johnson, kept England’s bowlers working hard on a day whose heat and humidity recalled Wagga Wagga rather than Worcester.
The conditions, good for swing but sapping for body, might have explained the inconsistency of the bowlers. By reducing Australia to 197 for six, the Lions should have smelt blood and finished them off, but some resolute batting - Johnson showing his all-round credential with a fine 47 and two big sixes off Rashid - allowed them to get a competitive score on a pitch that, according to reliable sources, could be replicated in Cardiff next week.
If the Test strip at the Swalec stadium is like this then only three of Australia’s batsmen enjoyed a good preview. As at Sussex last week, most of the top order failed with five of the top seven failing to reach double figures here, one of the failures to Harmison, the other four split between Onions and Tim Bresnan.
Harmison’s first ball has been taken as a barometer of the last two Ashes series and it would be great to report that his sconning of Hughes here was a consequence of him exploding from the blocks as he did at Lord’s in 2005. The reality, however, was that ball, banged in short, didn’t bounce as much as Hughes expected.
That was not the case with the one that got Hughes out for seven, which was a classic throat ball which the left-hander parried to gully where Joe Denly took the catch. It was vintage Harmison, but with the ball getting soft it proved a rarity and although he later added Katich and Brett Lee, this was not a performance to smash down the England dressing-room door.
Ponting’s failure after being caught at first slip off Onions, will be a concern for Australia. A short ball wide off off-stump, Ponting would have cut it for four back home. Over here he has decided to play off-side shots off the back foot with a straight bat, a tactic that has seen him twice caught behind the wicket in successive matches.
Of England’s bowlers, Onions was the pick despite Bresnan’s 3-43 (all three taken after the ball was changed in the 45th over), figures that flattered the Yorkshire swing bowler. With six left-handers in their top eight, and a solid first day pitch, Rashid’s wrist-spin was nullified. But if the weather stays hot and the pitch crumbles, his time may come.
No comments:
Post a Comment