Day Two - Tea

Day one, all 30 overs of it, belonged to Australia and they began day two on 126-1, with Shane Watson in his new role on 62 and Ricky Ponting on 17, just 8 shy of Allan Border’s all time Australian run record. With more rain forecast for the weekend today would be crucial in deciding how this test would finish.

First ball! Graeme Onions first ball of the day caught Watson sleeping as it nipped back, he was late on it and it cannoned into his pads, plum LBW. 62 from 106 balls, great effort yesterday but no more from him today. Hussey out to join his skipper, and he goes first ball!! Two in two balls from Onions what a start!! Clean bowled leaving a straight ball. Stupid boy, as Captain Mainwaring would say. Wow. Vice captain and Lord’s centurion in next and just about survived the hat trick ball, he did his best to glove it through to Prior chasing a bouncer.

Phew. First ball of the 4th over of the day, once things had just about calmed down, Ponting reached 25 with a flick past short leg for 2, and thus moved ahead of Allan Border to 11,175 Test runs. A great moment for him, the record brought up in 22 matched fewer than AB, and leaving Ponting behind only Lara and Tendulkar in the all time list. Some player.

But no match for Onions today! After a not entirely convincing 38, Onions bagged the captain. A quick bouncer which Ponting hooked but only succeeded in top edging it through to Prior. Marcus North next through the revolving dressing room door. He made it through to drinks with Clarke and after the first hour England, in particular Onions, had had taken 3-42 from the 12 overs bowled.

A dropped catch from Flintoff at 2nd slip in the 17th over denied Onions his 4th wicket of the morning and gave Clarke a huge let off. Very straight forward chance, Flintoff like Watson earlier was asleep, and how costly would that be?

Ten runs was the answer to that, Anderson replaced Onions after the drop and didn’t’ waste much time at all in getting the ball to swing and trapped Clarke in front with a big in ducker. Clarke gone for 29 and the debutant Manou came in with Australia 193-5. Hawkeye suggested the ball had done too much and would have carried on down and missed leg stump.

Six down with ten minutes to go until lunch, 5 wickets for England this morning for the addition of less than 8 runs. Marcus North this time the victim of a fantastic catch from Prior. Thick outside edge from an Anderson away swinger, and Prior had to dive across in front of first slip to take it. Australia 202-6 with 250 looking a long way off and as I was writing Johnson came and went for the second Golden Duck of Australia’s innings. LBW Anderson and now it was his turn to bowl a hat trick ball. Hauritz to face it, and he survived.

Two balls before the lunch break, Manou is cleaned up by a beauty from Anderson. Off stump back bowled from wider it straightened and the Aussies are reeling. 203-8, England 7-77 in the session. Enjoy lunch boys!

Peter Siddle was the new batsman after lunch, and after half an hour he became Anderson’s 5th wicket of the innings outside edging to Prior for 13. 229-9. Some late order biffing from Hilfenhaus and Hauritz, who each finished on 20, and a dropped dolly by Bopara, got Australia up beyond 250 and on to 263 before Onions finished the innings with his 4th wicket, Hilfenhaus caught by Swann in the gulley.

In reply England got off to an equally poor start, losing Cook in the second over caught Manou bowled Siddle for nought. 2-1 and England’s daunting middle order were exposed. No further alarms though as Strauss and Bopara comfortably guided England through to tea where they were 56-1 with Strauss on 33 and Bopara on 23, both batsmen having faced 52 balls and hit 4 fours.

3rd Test Day One

After a much needed break to recharge some batteries after the drama of the opening two Tests, The Ashes was due to resume this morning at Edgbaston, scene of England’s famous 2 run victory in the 2nd test of 2005.

Leading up to the game the early news was that Kevin Pietersen would play no further part in the series and he would be replaced at number four by local boy Ian Bell. The weather then dominated the headlines with head Groundsman Steve Rouse saying that following monsoon like conditions the pitch was going to be behind schedule and like jelly. The two captains traded opinions on auras, Strauss firing the first shot by saying that Australia had lost theirs with the retirement of McGrath, Warne, Hayden and Gilchrist. Fairly bleedin’ obvious really. Ponting shot back saying that England didn’t have one either. Ooooh… Handbags away gentlemen. On the morning of the match, team news from the Australian camp, and on Twitter, was that Philip Hughes was dropped in favour of Shane Watson.

No play possible in the morning session, with pitch reports at 11am and 12 noon leading to nothing but a further inspection at 2pm. Not much better news at 2 o'clock. It's stopped raining and the covers are coming off, but no chance of play any time soon. Here's a limerick to keep you going...

There once was a man named Flintoff,
who when in Mumbai took his shirt off.
After shedding his fat,
to add to swinging his bat,
he was able to knock batsmen's heads off.

Shortly after half past 3 the captains appeared on a sodden outfield and at quarter to four it was announced that there would be another inspection at 4.15pm and assuming all was well with that, play would begin at 5 o’clock.

Ricky Ponting won the toss and chose to bat, teams were announced as expected, and weather permitting play would go on until 7.30pm. Watson and Katich to open with late news that Brad Haddin broke his finger after the toss and is out of the Test to be replaced by Graham Manou. Not quite an Edgbaston injury of Glenn McGrath proportions, but England will take it. Interestingly, it was Haddin who rolled the ball McGrath stood on in 2005. Well well.

Anderson and Flintoff to share the new ball. It was a steady start, 33 on the board after 10 overs although both batsmen had thumped a couple of fours each. The first bowling change came after 12 overs when Onions replaced Anderson and the fifty partnership followed 2 balls later. 26 Katich, 24 to Watson and both men unfurling some cracking shots. 50 became 62 at drinks, as Broad replaced Flintoff and followed Onions in conceding 8 from his first over. Plenty for Strauss to ponder, 11 fours hit from 14 overs.

Ponder he did as Katich and Watson continued at 6 an over until Swann appeared and got Katich LBW. Fantastic opening partnership, 85-1 and Watto still in on 37, about 10 times his average as an opening bat in 1st class cricket so far. Ponting in next needing just 25 to overhaul AB as the leading Australian runscorer of all time.

On his way to that landmark Ricky passed 20,000 first class runs and less than a handfull of runs later Watson had 50. The 30 over mark arrived soon after with Australia 126-1. More play than anyone had expected, and more runs than the English would have liked. The weather forecast still favours a draw, but batting first and with some quick runs on the board, the old enemy are in front thus far.

Early Team News

Blaise Murphet reports from worldcricketwatch that the news in Australia is that Philip Hughes is likely to be dropped in favour of Shane Watson, giving the Australians an extra bowling option should Johnson continue to struggle and Siddle continue to be ineffective. More here.

Cricinfo indeed are confirming that Hughes makes way for Watson.

3rd Test - Edgbaston

Well, tomorrow the Ashes train rolls on to Edgbaston, scene of the famous 2005 victory and traditionally a happy hunting ground for the English team.

Bell replaces the injured Pietersen and is expected to fit straight in at number 4 as a like for like replacement, which makes perfect sense. Panesar has been sent back to county cricket and Flintoff has been passed fit so Bell aside England should be naming an unchaged team. It would, after all, seem more than mildly ridulculous to bring Harmison in to play on a pitch which resembles jelly.

With this in mind it would seem unlikely that Johnson's woes will come to a halt in Birmingham, as it looks as though he has escaped the axe for one more Test, even though Stuart Clark would surely be a better option on a pitch so damp. Siddle may yet give way if they do go for Clark, although there has been no sugestion from the Australian camp that there will be any changes.

I will be reporting once again for worldcricketwatch on days one and two so please check in and see what happened. Although as things stand after rain, rain and more rain it looks unlikely that there will be much for me to report on.

Friends Provident Trophy Final

Tomorrow sees the final of the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy, between South coast neighbours and rivals Hampshire and Sussex. It has been the premier English domestic one day competition since 1963 , and this is third time the final has been under the Friends Provident banner. It began life as the 60 over a side Gillette Cup (65 in it's inaugural year) and Sussex were crowned champions in years one and two. Hampshire had to wait until 1991 for their first win, by which time NatWest had taken over the sponsorship. During NatWest's twenty year association with the competition both sides won it once with Sussex also finishing once as runners up. In recent times, under Cheltenham & Gloucester's charge and now a 50 over showpiece, both sides have picked up one more win each and Hampshire were losing finalists in the first year as the Friends Provident, in 2007. Should Sussex win tomorrow, in their 10th appearance, they would become the first side to lift the trophy in all four guises and move up to second in the all time list with six wins, behind the current pace setters Lancashire.

Route to the Final

Hampshire topped qualifying Group A, winning 5 out of 8 games, thus securing a home quarter final draw where they faced the runners up of Group B, Middlesex.

Batting first Hants posted an imposing total of 310, for the loss of just 4 wickets. Former Yorkshire batsman Michael Lumb scored a better than a run ball hundred, Jimmy Adams 76 from 77 and young England prospect Liam Dawson adding some late sparkle with 51 from 37.

Middlesex had a chance of chasing it down at 207-3 , but lost their last 7 wickets for 81 runs as the rate increased, with only Neil Dexter passing fifty. Billy Taylor was the pick of the bowlers with 3-44.

Sussex finished second in Group C, winning 4 out of 8, and faced Group B winners Somerset.

Somerset scored 285 as the Sussex bowlers struggled, but runs from Ed Joyce (74) Murray Goodwin (93) captain Michael Yardy (57*) saw Sussex home with 5 balls to spare.

In the semi finals Hampshire faced Lancashire, the tournament's most successful side with 8 wins from 11 finals, at Old Trafford while Sussex hosted Gloucestershire.

Hampshire were again indebted to Michael Lumb and Jimmy Adams who both passed 70 as they notched up 271 all out in the 49th over. Lancashire would have gone into reply as strong favourites, but as it was only VVS passed the fifty mark. Skipper Mascarenhas, paceman Chris Tremlett and all rounder Sean Irvine took two wickers each and leg spinner Imran Tahir took 3 as Lancashire limped disappointingly to 207 all out.

Down by the seaside Sussex hammered 326 off the Gloucester attack, Ed Joyce and Murray Goodwin again the stars with 146 and 60 respectively. Gloucestershire captain Alex Gidman hit a century in reply, but in vain as his side fell short at 292 all out.

So, going into the final it seems the batsmen are key. The Hampshire side will be hoping their opening pair of Lumb and Adams can continue their form and that their long middle order can all contribute.

Sussex too have batting a plenty, Ed Joyce and Murray Goodwin the key men, Matt Prior may play although if he did it would be a terrible shame on Andy Hodd, who for my money is the best young keeper batsman in the land. Luke Wright and Michael Yardy too will hope to shine on the big stage.

There are no "stand out" bowlers as such, both sides are packed with options but none that will tear through a batting side. My tip for man of the match, a certain Dominic Cork, may disagree with that statement, but the 28,000 or so crowd will hope for sunshine and runs a plenty.

One "person" who will not be present in the Lord's crowd will be Sussex's mascot Sid the Shark who is not allowed in due to Lord's fancy dress ban. Sussex are up in arms about this and even have a petition on their website to fight the ban. I have some sympathy, it does seem rather over the top to extend the ban to the team mascot, but presumably the Hampshire mascot Harry the Hawk has fallen victim of the same ban, and you don't see him getting in a flap about it. I have nothing against Sussex, but they have never been a team I've been able to warm to and 18 years worth of childhood holidays next door in Bournemouth, Dorset, have me nailing my colours firmly to the Hampshire mast for the day.

Best of luck to both teams though, and fingers crossed for decent weather.

Reaction from Down Under

More than a hint of sarcasm in this post from the Beer and Sport blog. He makes a fair point I have to say, the post match hysteria has been typically way over the top. Let's not forget Strauss and Cook setting things up on day one, Jimmy's 4 wickets on the second day, Prior pushing for runs on day three and Swann's 4 wickets in the second innings including the key scalp of Michael Clarke. I felt for Anderson last night when during yesterdays golf day he found a Sky microphone in his face asking his him just how good Freddie was. He would have been rightly entitled to be thinking, "Eh hello? What about me?"

Australian Blog

Just as I am looking at the events of the Ashes summer, I direct you to an enjoyable and in depth blog from down under which is also doing just that, albeit in far more detail than I could hope to manage.

It's excellent stuff and well worth a regular look as the series rolls on, and indeed beyond.

http://thebaggygreen.blogspot.com/

Day 5

Oooh, interesting stuff. If Australia, in the form of Clarke, Haddin and Johnson most likely, manage to pull off a stunning win today or at worst hold out for a draw, sports writers and commentators the length and breadth of the country will no doubt lambast Andrew Strauss for not enforcing the follow on. The Sky Sports commentary team made no secret of their thoughts on the decision anyway. However, there may have been good reason why Strauss was reluctant to ask the Australians to bat again. Alex Massie explains why here.

Bumble

Despite being away for the weekend it would be remiss of me not not to share this collection of Bumbleisms having stumbled across them.

What a character.

You can follow him Twittering or Tweeting or whatever it may be here on; http://twitter.com/BumbleCricket

He was in fine fettle in his commentary position yesterday, as he may have been all series to be fair, but yesterday was the first chance I have had to sit down and watch a whole days play uninterrupted. For me the highlights were; Suggesting to Warne that on his turn in the 3rd Man hotseat he produce a 19 way split screen of Atherton being dismissed by McGrath, moments after yesterdays 3rd Man, Athers of course, chose to remind Warne of his drop at the Oval in 2005 which allowed Pietersen to score 158 and secure the Ashes.

And on the toing and froing of the 12th man late in the day when light was fading and England were motoring with a declaration in mind, "Freddie's just said to the 12th man, 'send reinforcements, we're going to advance. And you know by the time it's reached Strauss in the changing room the message from the middle probably said 'send 3 and 4 pence we're going to a dance'.

Some man. Will do a proper post on him in due course but for now a reminder of the night someone stole his lawnmower will have to suffice.

I'm sure that if only he'd caught 'em, he'd have flippin murdered 'em...

Something for the Weekend

I'm off to Edinburgh first thing tomorrow morning so there will be no more blogging until next week.

The rest of the team at World Cricket Watch will report on days 3, 4 and 5 of the Test.

I'll leave you with a look at a more glamorous contest of this Ashes summer, the battle of the WAGS.

Kevin Pietersen and Michael Clarke lead the way for the batting side, with Jessica Taylor and Lara Bingle on their respective arms.

For the bowlers it's a straight contest between Mrs. James Anderson and Mitchell Johnson's beau, Jessica Bratich.

Queen amongst them though has to be the First Lady of English Cricket, Mrs. Rachael Flintoff.

Phew, stirring stuff.

Finally, if that isn't enough to keep you going, you can read more about Flintoff courtesy of Rob Marrs who, in a statisticians dream, has had a look at Andrew Flintoff in comparison to other top all rounders through the ages.

Enjoy.

Day Two at the Test

Here's how a remarkable rain interrupted second day went...

England won the first day by 2 sessions to 1. 346-6 at close with the skipper having carried his bat all day for 161 not out. Stuart Broad would accompany him to the crease this morning and with Graeme Swann still to come before the tail starts, England will have been looking at a score of 450 minimum. The Australians would hope that Johnson could put yesterday’s horror show behind him and make early inroads to leave England all out under 400. Just 50 runs the difference between a good morning for England and a good morning for Australia showing how finely balanced this game is after day one.

Here’s what happened on day two…

Oh Dear. Second ball of the day Strauss left one from Hilfenhaus which bent back in and took out his off stump. A huge misjudment, a disastrous start for England, Strauss gone without adding to his overnight score. England 7 down and 400 looking a long way off. Swann in next, Ponting and his men cock-a-hoop!

Argh!! Swann gone in the second over! Short from Siddle angling in at his ribs and edged to Ponting at 2nd slip. Swann gone for 4 and England 8 down. Gulp.

Ooh crumbs, as Penfold used to say. Broad didn’t last beyond the third over of the morning. Driving loosely outside off stump attempting to hit Hilfenhaus for the 3rd four of the over he dragged it back onto his stumps and gone for 16. You might argue that he felt it was worthwhile going for runs at this stage but surely 8 from the over would have done!? You can’t score runs from the dressing room after all. Big and bad he may be, but not better than his Dad this morning. Last man Onions in, England 378-9.

Woo hoo!! 400 hundred up for England. Ponting brings Johnno back on and his first over goes for 7 runs including a back foot drive from Anderson for 4. Good morning Mitchell, we’ve missed you. Anderson and Onions both looking to play their shots now, and why not. The two of them flayed away for a partnership of 47 before Johnson, who had been smashed for 25 from his previous 2 overs and 3 balls, had Anderson caught well at gully for 29. Onions 17 not out and England making it to 425 thanks to this last pair. They’d be happy with that given what happened in the first fifteen minutes of the day, but disappointed not to have got at least 450.

Got him! That’s out! (apologies) Anderson and Flintoff opened up for England and both started with maidens, 4 from the first ball of Anderson’s second over and a wicket with the third! Hughes gone strangled down the leg side gloving an attempted hook through to Prior. Bad ball, great result. Australia 4-1 and Ponting to the crease who, ominously given this will likely be his last tour of England, has not registered a Test hundred at Lords. Watch this space…

Stop watching he’s out too! Inside edge on to pad and just carried to first slip. Caught Strauss bowled Anderson and what a series he is having so far! TV replays and hot spot show that Ponting didn’t hit it, he hit his boot but not the ball so he was not a happie chappie although Hawkeye says it was hitting so he could have been out LBW anyway. All of a sudden thanks to James Anderson first with the bat and then with the ball this became England’s morning! Remarkable stuff. Australia have batting to come yet though. Out of form Hussey in next.

Well well well. Lunchtime on day two and take a bow Jimmy Anderson. England got off to the worst start imaginable losing wickets in each of the first 3 overs of the day but made it up to 425 thanks to 29 from Anderson supported in his plundering by Graeme Onions who finished with 17. He then took two early wickets including that of the Australian captain to leave the Aussies 22-2 at lunch. Super stuff that.

Just two overs were possible after the lunch break before the players came off for rain. It had been promised and an afternoon of frustration was expected. Play resumed an hour later at 2.40pm and tea would be taken slightly later at than normal at 4.20pm. But only 3 and a half overs were possible before the players were off again and didn’t reappear until almost another hour had passed, at 3.40pm. Australia finally reached 50 in the 21st over of the innings and it was confirmed that despite 79 minutes of time off the field, only 4 overs had been lost. Assuming there was no more rain. Tea was taken at 4.20pm as planned, a fairly uneventful afternoon. 87-2, Katich 40* and Hussey 37*.

Hundred up in the 31st over, ship well and truly steadied, then out of nowhere Katich top edged a hook off Onions to fine leg where Broad took a fantastic diving catch. Katich gone for 48 and Australia 103-3. Add two wickets to that as Geoffrey always says... Fifty for the "out of form" Hussey from 82 balls. Shows what I know.

Nelson struck for the third time!! After 222 and 333 accounting for two English batsmen yesterday, 111 - with a little help from a certain burly Lancastrian - saw off Hussey. Clean bowled for 51, Australia 111-4 as Marcus North joined Michael Clarke at the crease. But not for long as Jimmy A removed Clarke. Caught by Cook at midwicket for 1 and 111-5 now. Haddin in to try and stop the rot with 115 needed to avoid the follow on.

North gone!! 139-6 as North looked to pull a ball that wasn't quite short enough for the shot and dragged it on. An agonising 14 ball quacker for the number six and Mitchell Johnson would have to do some serious batting to make up for his woeful performance with the ball. Still along way to the follow on total and England are having a wonderful day.

Johnson fared no better with the bat though, out for 4 from 11 balls. Third bouncer of the over from Broad and the Aussie quick couldn't resist anymore, hooking it straight to Cook out at deep square leg. He was set up and fell hook, line and sinker! 148-7, Hauritz came out to bat at number 9 and his hand would surely be tested by the England seamers.

Just after 6 o'clock the light began to fade over Lords and Haddin wasted no time in pointing that much out to the umpires. His pleas were ignored though, just long enough for Broad to dig one in at him and see him hook tamely to midwicket. Cook took another catch, Haddin's resistance ended on 28 and with just 2 wickets left Australia were staring the follow on in the face still 70+ short.

Only one more over was possible before a combination of bad light and rain halted proceedings with Australia ending on 152-8. A quite brilliant performance by England today, barring the first 3 overs, with James Anderson the star of the show. Four wickets to add to his 29 runs this morning, England clear winners of day two. They should polish Australia off within the first hour tomorrow, it would be a travesty if Anderson didn't finish with 5 for, and then it would be up to Strauss to decide whether to let his bowlers put their feet up for a day or so, or have another crack at things straight off. Rain rain go away...

Lords

Ah, summer's here. The Lords Test Match against the Australians, Is there anything more special? Well not for the Australians it seems. Their Test record at the home of cricket since 1896 reads played 27, won 13, drawn 13, lost just 1. In 1934. Good luck England...

Well perhaps they didn't need my good luck, here's how day one panned out...

Since 1896 Australia’s Test record against England at Lords reads played 27, won 13, drawn 13, lost 1. That loss coming as far back as 1934. So it would be fair to suggest that the Australians would have arrived in St John’s Wood this morning as favourites, but would England be galvanised by Andrew Flintoff’s resignation, or distracted by the hype as Ricky Ponting hopes.

Early team news was that, as expected, Panesar makes way for a quick man. Onions getting the nod ahead of Harmison as Flintoff is passed fit to play. Ricky Ponting, who named an unchanged team, lost the toss and England will bat on a bright but cloudy morning in North West London.

Hilfenhaus and Johnson shared the new ball, Hilfenhaus with the first over of the day from the Nursery End and Johnston, obviously then, from the Pavilion End. Johnson’s woes continued from the Cardiff Test, removed from the attack after bowling just four overs as England reached 39-0 after 9 overs. Johnston (0-26) replaced by Siddle.

The first hours play was a good one for England. Johnson out of the attack early, 57 runs on the board and Ponting complaining already, this time about the shape of the ball. The umpires weren’t having it though. Cook was first to fifty, in the 22nd over from 73 balls and England’s hundred was brought up courtesy of a bye off keeper Haddin’s pads in the 25th over of the morning.

126 for no loss at lunch England, a fantastic morning’s work from the opening pair who were opening the innings together for the 57th time today, the most by any English pairing. Alastair Cook went to lunch on 67 not out and Andrew Strauss was just three short of his half century on 47 not out. Australia’s bowling was poor, Johnson in particular will be a concern for Ponting, and both batsmen cashed in. Fantastic stuff.

Strauss joined Cook on fifty shortly after lunch, his half century coming up of 104 balls in the 34th over. The first real excitement of the day came midway through the 39th over, Cook advanced down the pitch and drove hard back at the bowler Hauritz who got a hand to it but succeeded only in having his middle finger bent backward so badly he had to leave the field in real pain, Marcus North finished the over, England beyond 150 by now. News from the Australian dressing room an hour after lunch was that Hauritz’s finger is not broken so that was good news, less good news was that Mitchell Johnson continued to bowl like a drain. 8 from his first over after lunch leaving him 9-0-61-0 at drinks.

Well, who’d have thought it, first Johnson over after drinks and he of all people gets Cook to claim his 100th Test wicket. Cook just five short of a century, the ball kept a little low and trapped him straight in front. Bad luck, England 196-1 and in came Bopara. Nineteen balls later back Bopara went as double Nelson struck. Another LBW, again dead in front, this time from the bowling of Hilfenhaus who had easily been the pick of Australia’s bowlers thus far. Bopara gone for 18, Hilfenhaus 16-9-38-1, England 222-2 and Richie Benaud impersonators around the World were in raptures. Strauss was still there on 90 and time for Pietersen…

And he didn’t disappoint, giving the spectators collective heart failure in the two overs prior to tea, racing down the track to smash the spinner, North, over mid on for four, then very nearly getting himself out handled ball and then very, very nearly being caught by Haddin from a top edge off a one handed pull shot. Scary stuff, finally a single got him off strike which led to…
Hundred for Strauss! Two balls before the tea interval he cut Hilfenhaus behind point for 3 runs to register his fourth Test hundred at Lords, his eighteenth in total and his third against Australia. England 255-2 at tea and the captain exactly 100 not out. Well played Sir.

Fourth over after tea guess who got out? Yep Pietersen. At least this time he wasn’t doing something stupid. A “fair dinkum”, as the bowler Peter Siddle might have said, outside edge. Terrific ball that committed KP to the shot and moved away just enough to square him up and catch the bat on its way through behind to Haddin. Pietersen 32 and England 267-3. More action came in Siddle’s next over when Strauss slashed hard to gulley and a diving Hussey put him down. It was a tough chance but you’d back these Aussies to take them and to add salt to the wound the ball carried on for 4. Siddle by this stage had cranked it up to a consistent speed of 90mph+ and was looking dangerous.

England reached 300 in the 76th over of the day when Johnson came back into the attack for another burst. 1-77 from 11 overs up until this point so not his best day it’s safe to say. Just one run off the bat and two leg byes came from this comeback over, and there was even a spot of swing.

Next over, Collingwood thought he was Pietersen and danced down to Clarke and played a horrible shot straight to mid on. Strauss was furious at the non strikers end, and rightly so. What on earth was that all about? England 4 down now, 302 on the board, and the new ball was only 3 and a half overs away. Prior would need to stay at the crease until close or Australia would be right back in the game.

But he couldn’t. In the last over before the new ball was due the worst bowler on display so far, Johnson, found an absolute beauty to swing in and bowl him off stump. England 5 down for 317 and suddenly Australia were two quick wickets away from being in charge of the game. Flintoff in next. Ricky Ponting didn’t take the new ball straight away, having seen the ball swing in the last over he wanted to see if there was some reverse there for his bowlers before deciding what to do.

And that was the right decision, 2 overs and 3 deliveries after the new ball was due the old ball swung away from Flintoff, took the edge and flew to a delighted Australian skipper at 2nd slip. Having succumbed to double Nelson earlier in the day triple Nelson struck now, England 333-6 with Flintoff gone caught Ponting bowled Hilfenhaus for 4. Stuart Broad to the crease.

Having got the breakthrough Ricky Ponting took the new ball with 5 overs left in the day and continued with Johnson who conceded 9 runs from his over, and Hilfenhaus who goes for 6 runs, in the over where Strauss brought up his 150. Great knock, the captain leading from the front in the face of a jittery final session for England’s batsmen.

Strauss and Broad made it through to stumps with no alarms, Strauss passing 5000 Test runs in the process. The score of 364 -6 at close represented a really good day for England, tarnished only by the loss of perhaps 2 wickets more than they would have liked. Collingwood gifted his wicket, but the others were undone by decent balls so shouldn’t be too despondent. Strauss the captain 161* overnight will look to push onto 450+ tomorrow, a score that looks more tricky now than it perhaps might have given the state of the match at tea, but let’s face it, it’s not often the Australians lose all 3 sessions in a day. Well played England, well done Alastair Cook and very well done Andrew Strauss. For the tourists Hilfenhaus was the pick of the crop, finishing with figures of 25-10-77-2, his figures ruined slightly by some loose stuff in the last half hour of the day. Johnson had a horrible day going at more than 6 an over for most of it, but picked up 2 wickets. Siddle looked menacing but was without luck. Honours probably just about even, England perhaps still edging it. It will be an absolutely crucial first hour tomorrow morning.

Freddie Flint('s) Off

Hot on the heels of Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff has announced his retirement from Test Cricket today. As the curse of the 2005 Ashes claims yet another victim, I'll be looking at Flintoff's career pre and post Ashes.

1995 -1998

After starring in youth cricket for St Annes in Preston and for Lancashire and England age group sides, where his size and strength gave him a considerable advantage over boys of a same age, Flintoff made his First Class debut for his beloved Lancashire in 1995 aged just 17. It wasn't a resounding success, scores of 7 and 0 were backed up with match bowling figures of 11-0-39-0 but at a young age, with all the talent in the World ready to be harnessed, there was a lot more to come. He captained the England under 19 side in 1996 and 1997 and, in what seemed at the time a bold move, was picked to make his Test debut in 1998, aged just 20. This came just a month after hitting 61 from 24 balls, including 35 from one over, to help Lancashire chase down 250 in a championship match against Surrey. Wasim Akram said at the time that if Flintoff had been born in Pakistan, he would have been playing Test cricket already, referring to the practice on the subcontinent of picking players on potential rather than weight of runs or wickets.

1998 - 2002

Unfortunately, for the first two years following his debut, potential was all anyone really saw from Flintoff in both the international arena and in domestic cricket. By Flintoff's own admission in "Being Freddie" (which can be summarised thus; "grew up, got good at cricket, got pissed a lot, got less good at cricket, stopped getting pissed, got good at cricket again, won the Ashes, got pissed.") he struggled with his weight largely due to his new lifestyle, that of a 20 year professional international cricketer with money and a city centre pad, hard to cope with, opting for pizzas, currys and cans of beer rather than chicken, pasta and mineral water. It wasn't a lifestyle that a 6' 4" frame could readily cope with and his weight ballooned to 19 stone which lead to two years of struggling with form and fitness and by 2000 his back was so bad he could barely bowl and many were beginning to lose patience with the precocious youngster who seemed to be in danger of eating and drinking away his talent without giving himself the chance to succeed. Having missed the first match of the 2000 NatWest series injured, his, "not bad for a fat lad" jibe when picking up a man of the match award in the following game - for 42 runs against Zimbabwe for goodness sake, at this stage his most significant international innings - was further evidence of his lack of dedication, and disregard for the wishes of the England management It's easy to look back on Flintoff's career now and think, "aw, bless him" but at the time it was no laughing matter. Something had to change, and fast.

A year later nothing had changed. Flintoff was out of the English team and was almost out of the Lancashire team after a dressing room dressing down by the coach Bobby Simpson. His career, such as it was at the time, was in serious danger of petering out into nothing. It took intervention and an all or nothing ultimatum from his management team of Andrew Chandler and Neil Fairbrother for Flintoff to realise just how much danger he was in. He was sent, at his own request, to The ECB Academy run by Rod Marsh to live and breath cricket, lose weight and get fit in an environment where could do little else. He was recalled to England colours in the winter of 2001 when he was called to India, but whether the return came too soon or whether it just wasn't his tour, he was in appalling form and became so frustrated that he broke down in tears in the dressing-room. He would later look back on this as a turning point in his career.

The 2002 New Zealand tour saw Flintoff make his maiden Test century and had a decent home summer although by the end of 2002, he had averaged just 19 with the bat and 47 with the ball in his career to date. The biggest moment of 2002 though happened off the field, when Flintoff met the lovely Rachel Woods in a sponsors tent. The love of a good woman seemed to do wonders for Flintoff, and he himself credits Rachel with finally getting his career going in the right direction.

2003 - 2006

This was Flintoff's golden period. Having recovered from an operation on a hernia sustained on the 2002/2003 Ashes tour, he had time out away from cricket to concentrate solely on getting fit and starred in the 5 Test summer series against South Africa scoring a century and 3 fifties, including 95 in the remarkable comeback at the Oval, winning man of the series in the process. The tour of the Caribbean at the beginning of 2004 further raised Freddie's stock, he scored a century, took a 5 wicket haul and continued to show that he could be a genuinely fast attacking bowler. In England's victorious summer of 2004 Flintoff hit half centuries in every Test and continued to be England's most potent weapon with the ball. He flew to South Africa for the 2004/2005 tour firmly established as England's talisman, having finally begun to fulfil all his early promise. Injury was a concern by the end of that tour and a cricketing nation held it's collective breath over his fitness for the Ashes, as we heard for the first time about that troublesome ankle.

All was well, and swapping his honeymoon for an intensive rehabilitation programme had him fit and firing and ready to capture the nations hearts during the greatest series ever. Enough has been written here and elsewhere about that so we don't need to go into any more detail. Suffice to say that Flintoff's all round performance evoked vivid memories of and inevitable comparisons with Both in 1981, key moments including his Edgbaston twin fifties and 7 wickets in the match, including Langer and Ponting in one of the most perfect overs ever bowled in the second innings, his century, his first against Australia, in the winning Test at Trentbridge, and 5 wickets in the 2nd innings at the Oval. Flintoff had become the first Englishman to claim over 20 wickets and 400 runs in a series as he finished with 24 wickets and 402 runs, enough to win him another man of the series award and the inaugural Compton-Miller Medal. The aftermath of this Ashes win, and Flintoff's part in that, has become stuff of legend and although there were a few disapproving murmurings, there are not many would have begrudged him this blow out.

Flintoff's star shone brightly for another year, he captained England in India in February 2006 due to the unavailability of Vaughan and Trescothick with success, doing enough to win another man of the series award and drawing the series courtesy of a series levelling win in Mumbai in which Flintoff contributed 100 runs and 4 wickets. Flintoff missed that home summer due to injury, losing the captaincy to Strauss, but won it back in time to travel as England captain down under for the 2006/2007 Ashes rematch.

2007 - July 2009

A 5-0 whitewash with a shadow of the 2005 side was too much for Flintoff to cope with on his own, and this tour was a Flintoff PR disaster. Hammered in the first Test, Flintoff was lucky to escape sanction when he arrived for a training session at the Adelaide Oval leading into the second Ashes Test at the end of 2006 clearly suffering the consequences of a heavy night out. Reports are that he could barley focus on the balls being hit to him for catching practice and had to have the bloke next to him throw them back in to Duncan Fletcher. It's said the only reason he escaped sanction then was to preserve team unity early in the tour. Flintoff is further believed to have sought solace in the bar on a number of occasions throughout the tour and indeed Duncan Fletcher reports that a practice session had to be cancelled prior to the One Day Series in February, because the captain was worse for wear. This was not long before the infamous "Fredalo" incident in St Lucia which cost him the vice captaincy and made many question his worth around the side.

Flintoff would go on to miss every home Test in 2007 and had been plagued with almost constant injury ever since. As he announced his retirement on July 15th 2009 to concentrate on ODI and T20 cricket, only a fortnight after his latest incident one can't help but look back over the career of Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff and notice some uneasy parallels.

A promising youngster who looked as though his lifestyle might prevent him ever reaching his full potential as a cricketer, Flintoff became for a brief spell one of the World's greatest. Building up from 2003 he peaked in the 2005 Ashes and achieved things no one would have imagined possible years before. He was England's number one and undoubted star, in a team full of match winners he rose above them all. But almost as soon as that little urn had returned to English hands, the bubble began to burst. An increased workload on the field that came with being England's go to bowler and talisman all rounder, the increased pressure off it with captaincy and media interest all became too much for the big lovable Northern lad and his career went into a decline from which it was never to recover. It's almost as if Flintoff's sole cricketing purpose was to regain the Ashes in 2005, and for that we should be eternally grateful, even if he does exit the Test arena leaving behind a hollow sense of unfulfilled promise, and tinge of regret for what might have been had his body allowed him to consistently be the player everyone can see he could have been. Or, perhaps more aptly, had he allowed his body to allow him to consistently be the player everyone can see he could have been.

You lucky, lucky b*stards...

Phew. Thrilling stuff, Manchester Piccadilly Stations sports bar wasn't where I would have imagined myself watching one of the great rearguard actions in recent times, but that wasn't biggest surprise of the day. Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar guided England to a draw. Here's how...

It seemed a pretty simple equation for the Australians arriving at The SWALEC for the final day of this Test. Turn up, take 8 English wickets and march on to Lords 1-0 up. Having given the English a 3 day batting masterclass in compiling 674, and Ponting reading the weather forecast well enough to declare earlier than most would have expected and nicking out 2 wickets before the rain came on day four, it looked like there was only one team left in the game. Of course England couldn't win, but a draw was still possible, but all the smart money must surely have been on Australia making it six in a row.

England's top two batsmen, captain Strauss and main man KP, were the not out batsmen over night so there was still hope. But not for long. Fourth over of the day saw Pietersen make a Horlicks, and a typically flamboyant one at that, of a straight delivery from Hilfenhaus which he let go all the way onto his of stump. England 31-3 and Collingwood, who it must be said thrives in this sort of situation, in earlier than anybody, Australians aside, would have liked. It didn't get any better any time soon as the much maligned Mr Hauritz stepped up and had the English skipper caught behind top edging a sweep in just his second over. 46-4 with just 45 minutes of the day gone. Lunch was beginning to look like it might be a liquid one for Ponting and his men.

Sure enough, Matt Prior didn't hang around all that long, 32 balls before he was back in the hutch caught off a top edge cutting, who other than Nathan "what the hell is he doing here" Hauritz. England finally limped to lunch 102-5, with no rain forecast to save them and only Collingwood left as a real hope for salvation. For any chance of the game being saved he would have to stay there for the rest of the innings and just hope that Flintoff, Broad, Swann, Anderson and, Heaven help us, Monty could do enough at the other end.

Flintoff did well enough, 89 minutes at the crease faced 71 balls and scored just 26 as he curbed his instincts to attack and played sensibly and solidly until he wafted his bat at a delivery from the out of sorts Johnston to Ricky at 2nd slip. You'd think it was game over now even with Broad and and Swann still to come. Decent lower order batsmen they undoubtedly are, but this would be a step too far. Surely...

Another hour passed before Broad was on his way back to the pavilion, 159-7 now, not that the 159 mattered, probably, but all of a sudden you maybe just wondered. Not long until tea, if Swann could hang around until then and maybe an hour afterwards, Anderson plays his nightwatchman role, Colly holds tight, Johnston continues to aim at first slip...

Well, as it happened, Swann did just that. Another hours play eaten up before he was plumb in front playing an awful pull shot to a straight ball which kept a little low, but not so low that the maker's name wouldn't have dealt with it. Elation from Ponting and his men, the new ball had worked but now there were less than 20 overs to go and the score all of a sudden was threatening to add an extra dimension to things. England had crept up to 18 behind. So suddenly there was the chance that Australia might have to bat again to knock off a handful of runs. And in the process lose 2 overs, or ten minutes, for the change over. The game, all of a sudden, was looking less like a formality by the over.

There came a huge, huge, huge HUGE miss on the first ball of the16th last over. Anderson defended a short ball into the leg side, Collingwood wanted one, Anderson toyed with the idea for a step or three then sent Collingwood back, by which time Hauritz had picked the ball up and send it towards the stumps at the non strikers end but missed all three as Collingwood was face down in the dust 6 inches or so short of his ground. That was match point missed. The rest of the over passed without incident and 15 overs were now to be bowled, as a minimum, and Aleem Dar signalled the last hour of the match at 5.50pm on the button.

11.3 overs to go, Collingwood caught Hussey, bowled Siddle. Oh. Dear. Wonderful stuff from Mr Gritty, 344 minutes 245 balls and he was devastated. Out comes Monty, there go England.

7.4 overs to go, Australia have to bat again. Now then, now then, now then said Jimmy. Possibly.

5 overs remaining, England lead by 6. So if a wicket falls next over that one is gone, minus another two for the change. So it's not quite now or never at this stage, but it ain't far off.

Now, 4 overs to go following another Hauritz over and Ponting turned to North. Now it was now or never. If Australia didn't get a wicket in this over that would be it. But, it wouldn't. Because we were in the last hour. 15 overs minimum. Must play an hour. And with spin at both ends it was now a time issue, not an overs issue. Play had to end at 6.50pm, it's a ten minute change around between innings so England just had to bat out until 6.41pm. Which would be in about 4 overs time. So two each from North and Hauritz. Even if a wicket did fall Australia would probably have only 1 over to score the required runs which would by no means be a foregone conclusion. England, at 6.30pm on the final day, had somehow, just about saved this Test Match from an impossible position at close on day 4, an insurmountable position at lunch on day 5 and a perilous position at tea on day 5.

And, lo and behold, save it they did. Monty crashed North through cover for 4 in his first over, Anderson blocked out a maiden from Hauritz, Monty blocked out a maiden from North, 6.39pm, one more over during which the clock would tick on to 6.40pm and the game would be over anyway, no runs until the last ball which spun out of the rough for a bye, handshakes all round and the game was drawn. My word what a final session that was.

Well done England, commiserations Australia. England escape and have little time to sort things out before Lords. Batting needs work, not technically, but mentally. The Australians will be looking for more of the same. Ineffectual stuff from Johnston today cost them big, and the two spinners never really looked like sorting the last pair out. Thrilling stuff, bring on the next one.

Typical. 29 years of livng in Scotland with little or no top level cricket to watch, your work moves you to Manchester the weekend before the Ashes starts and where is the Old Trafford Test? Cardiff, that's where. Bloomin' Cardiff. I repeat, typical.

Now, I accept that the chances of getting tickets were slim anyway, (although I was offfered one for the Saturday) and Manchester is only two and bit hours from Lords and the Oval, an hour from Headingly and an hour and a half from Edgbaston but that's beside the point. I'll also be able to watch every ball on an outdoors big screen with a cold pint of Red Stripe at £2.95 a pop so it's not all bad.

Anyway, the move to Manchester has left me without internet connection outside work for the time being, so have to leave it at that. Best of luck England for day one, and I'll be reporting on day two's play for worldcricketwatch from an internet cafe somewhere.

And did those feet, in ancient........

Pic of the Day

The SWALEC Stadium, which on Wednesday will become the 100th Test Match venue.

ICC Cup

This season's ICC Intercontinental Cup, which gives the Associate (i.e the best non Test playing) nations the opportunity to play against each other in 4 day matches gets underway today in Aberdeen with the opening match between Scotland and Canada. Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton sits this out and Gordon Drummond gets his first shot at captaining the national side.

Running commentary and full scorecards of the next 4 days play can be found here.

Robert Key

In the wake of the Ashes squad announcement and beginning of both the England Lions vs Australia and England vs Warwickshire games commencing yesterday, Rob Marrs over at Left Back in the Changing Room quite rightly bemoans the seeming loss of Robert Key to English cricket.

Like Rob I agree that Key, Fat Bobby or not, has been very harshly treated by the English selectors over the years. With all the toing and froing for the number 3 spot and the insistence on keeping faith with Iain Bloody Bell, Key can count himself mightily unlucky not to have had another chance.

Rob discusses in more detail here