The Hindu : Sport : Australia seizes the initiative

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 16, 2006
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Australia seizes the initiative

Ted Corbett

England collapses on day two; Pietersen scores a half-century

— PHOTO: AP

SKIPPER GONE: Andrew Symonds (right) celebrating with Ricky Ponting after dismissing Andrew Flintoff on Friday.

PERTH: Bold, bright batting — its trademark — enabled Australia establish a dominant position after only two days of the third Ashes Test in Perth and it seems inevitable that Ricky Ponting's men will win well within four days and so regain the Ashes only 15 months after they let the urn slip away.

Australia's pacemen bowled England out for 215, despite a stand between Monty Panesar and Steve Harmison, the bowlers who removed nine Australian batsmen in the first innings. It was the highest stand of a wretched innings, showing what initiative and intelligent cricket can achieve. With the first ball of the second innings Matthew Hoggard bowled Justin Langer and for one happy moment England seemed ready to creep back into the series.

The fall of that wicket stirred something in Ponting, who needs very little encouragement to score a heap of runs and, surprisingly, in Matthew Hayden, who has scored so few runs in the three matches that he seemed to be next candidate to follow Damien Martyn into retirement. By the close of play they had put on 119 runs, given Australia a lead of 148, and reduced England to a bunch of hopeful trundlers again.

Difference

In that sentence we have the essential difference between the two teams. England, without the guiding hand of Michael Vaughan, whose captaincy is its biggest loss, lie down under adversity; Australia immediately attempts to seize the initiative. Even Kevin Pietersen, a positive but not always intelligent cricketer, went into his shell and needed three hours for his 70.

Ponting began to play shots from the first over; Hayden played as if failure was foreign to his nature. I am sad to say that England can blame most of its problems on a simple error. After Paul Collingwood had dismissed to yet another catch in the slip cordon, Andrew Strauss appeared to avoid all contact with a rising ball from Stuart Clark but was given out caught behind. All TV's magic electronic detective work could not find a sign of an edge but there was a noise. Some problems are beyond solution but Strauss had a similar experience at Adelaide that led to an England collapse.

Both umpires — Rudi Koertzen, who made the Strauss decision, and Aleem Dar — have been excellent and no blame attaches to Koertzen whose theatrical slow death decisions cover shrewd judgements.

Neither Andrew Flintoff, the England captain, who increasingly looks as if he wishes Vaughan would lift the burden from him, nor Geraint Jones, who is attacked daily in the local press, can buy a run at the moment and soon went but the tail-enders supported Pietersen steadfastly before Harmison struck about him and Panesar showed his detractors that he can bat as well as any No.11. Now the television commentators want Panesar promoted — on the basis of one innings of 16 for heaven's sake — but that is not the answer to England's problems.

When England loses this Test there will be a demand for the head of Duncan Fletcher, the coach. During the lunch interval, after one of England's worst sessions in a bad series, I met David Morgan, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who looked as if he was in need of a stiff whisky, a revolver and a single bullet. He has just been re-elected unopposed and he is Fletcher's greatest supporter. It makes the sequel to this Ashes, the upcoming one-day series and the World Cup intriguing as England is not in contention for any of those trophies and it is thought Morgan will not let Fletcher go without a fight. Or will he?

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport