With England 97 runs ahead going into the last day only 1 wicket down, the likelihood is that this test match will end in a draw. However, Shane Warne extracted prodigious turn from the overs he bowled late in the day today whilst England's Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell played him in positive fashion, meaning the game is likely to move forward tomorrow morning.
The Adelaide pitch will probably have the final say on this match, and it's lifeless nature only reinforces the view that this was a herculean bowling performance from Matthew Hoggard. His 42 overs brought him a haul of 7 wickets for the miserly cost of 109 runs, and provided ample proof that with all the modern training techniques available, there is still room for a good walk on the Yorkshire Dales followed by a pint of bitter or two, in preparing for the rigours of international fast bowling.
Credit too to Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist, who at one stage threatened to take the game away from England with a flurry of strokeplay after an excellent opening burst from Hoggard and Flintoff. Steve Harmison has looked much more like his old self in this game too, and though he has yet to take a wicket, he enjoyed encouraging support from the massive English contingent at the ground.
There are signs of concern for England's selectors though - James Anderson has been neither penetrative nor frugal and though he hasn't necessarily bowled that badly, Australia's batsmen have played him with considerable ease. Ashley Giles' woes continued, and though he snared Adam Gilchrist, caught on the midwicket boundary from a rash sweep-slog, he has lacked any real cutting edge and is clearly not troubling the Australian batsmen on these durable Aussie wickets. How Captain Freddie Flintoff must have wished he had Monty Panesar in his armoury, something that surely appears likely at Perth.
The Australians also have problems with their bowling attack, which is clearly imbalanced and much too reliant on Stuart Clark and Shane Warne at present. The events of tomorrow may give us a better indication of what changes might be made in time for the next test at Perth, and there is still a chance Australia will to have to bat again in this match. What price a very positive approach from England for 40 or so overs and a cheeky 4 hours for Australia to chase 280? Let's hope so.
Wello
Comments (1)
What a disaster, Wello. I can't believe England batted so poorly, especially the guys in the middle - clueless. They tried to take Shane Warne on with the sledging and merely roused him into a supreb performance, though none of the wickets he took were through great bowling - just great mind games as usual.
Freddie looked a bit clueless, trying to set a one-day field, rather than one for the fifth day of a Test. That said, he could not rely on any of his bowlers, and they knew it as he kept having to rotate the bowlers every couple of overs. He is not fully fit, so cannot lead from the front as in the last series, otherwise he would have been able to bowl for most of the Aussie second innings.
it is do or die now. Where England have been foulish is that Read and Panesar had imporved the side compared to last year, yet Fletcher and Flintoff went back to old favourites. And to think had Vaughan been fit, they would have left out Bell or Collingwood!
Posted by Adam | December 5, 2006 4:55 PM
Posted on December 5, 2006 16:55