Australia 492-9dec; England 247-4
It is eight years now since that day at the Oval when, with England on the verge of their historic Ashes win, the crowd sat and sang Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. It was odd: they had paid their money and yet, in the cause, they were willing an abandonment. The Guardian even got a title for a book out of it: Is it Cowardly to Pray for Rain?. Weather interference would have been a blessed relief on the third day of a match that England, unilaterally, are turning into one of the more tedious in recent memory.
This is a team who have won a series already making damn sure that the opposition do not get a sniff of a late win to take home and sustain them, and in the process making a mockery of poor David Saker, forced at the press conference he did the previous evening to utter some guff about the team still believing they could win the match. It was a team who were doing what they felt they had to do, but even the connoisseurs, to whom such days are usually ascribed as being interesting, would have thrown the towel in and for stimulation gone to watch tin cans rust instead. It is a rum old day when the highlights appear to have been Kevin Pietersen and Michael Clarke yah-booing each other with an exchange that would do little to disturb the reputations of Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker, and the construction of a plastic beer snake.
By late afternoon, as the sky began to fill in optimistically pewter in colour, each run was being cheered. Boundary futures were soaring on the Stock Exchange as shrewd investors piled in before it closed for the holiday. When Pietersen hit the first boundary in 14 overs, his fourth, to reach his slowest ever Ashes half-century, from 124 balls, there was close to uproar: novelty has its value. When, on Pietersen's demise to Mitchell Starc shortly afterwards, Chris Woakes then drove his first ball in Test cricket handsomely to the square cover boundary, it might have been a World Cup winner at Wembley or VE Day with hats thrown in the air.
These were the crumbs of comfort on which a sell-out crowd were fed.
England had begun the third day on 32 without loss and hopes of batting through the day, something they certainly achieved, losing only four wickets in the process. By lunch they had added 65 more runs to that, for the loss of Alastair Cook for 25, who yet again started but was unable to finish. By tea, 38 overs later because of extended hours on account of the bad weather the previous day, the total had swelled by a further 84, to 181 for three. Joe Root had gone for 68, a competent enough innings – if lent a tame ending as he top edged a sweep to short fine leg – that occupied 184 balls and almost four hours. So too had Jonathan Trott, after a flirtation with batting frivolity during the series, restored to his old self as Australia cut off his onside blood supply, and lbw for a 134-ball 40 to Starc's first delivery with the second new ball.
Goodness only knows what Woakes was doing livening up proceedings with several more handsome boundaries: team-mates will not enjoy being shown up and the new boy clearly has to learn the ropes. It was unacceptable behaviour. Sixty-six more runs eventuated from the final 32 overs and England ended the day on 247 for four, with Ian Bell, it almost goes with saying in this series, unbeaten on 29 (110 balls), and Woakes 15 not out.
Just in case anyone has lost sight of the fact in all the excitement, England, having scored 215 runs from 98.2 overs in the day, still need a further 46 runs to avoid the possibility (probability even given the weekend weather forecast) of following on. If they do that, then the match could be all but moribund.
From the moment Clarke won the toss and chose to bat, Australia have had the upper hand in this match. This is not a good Test pitch, in that once the new ball goes softer it offers precious little to the pacemen, even those who really bend their backs, but neither does it help strokemakers beyond putting away half-volleys or long hops. Certainly felicitous touches, even from Bell, who has exhibited more than his fair share in this series, have been out of the question.
Instead, Australia hoisted England with their own petard, sending down arid overs with the seamers, and then looking to Nathan Lyon to get some purchase. Just for a while, as Pietersen prodded and poked uncertainly, he found not just some turn from round the wicket (his habitual angle of attack now) but bounce as well. At least it lent some credence to England's decision to play a second spinner, even if he did go into meltdown, and Graeme Swann may yet collect some further Ashes scalps before the match is done. Twice Lyon found the inside edge of Pietersen's bat as he pushed forward firmly, and twice the ball flew from his front pad at pace past the shoulder of short leg crouched in close.
Clarke eventually compensated by pushing the fielder back several paces but it was a rare case of the captain bolting the stable door: Pietersen did not give that chance again. Reported by guardian.co.uk 18 hours ago.
It is eight years now since that day at the Oval when, with England on the verge of their historic Ashes win, the crowd sat and sang Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. It was odd: they had paid their money and yet, in the cause, they were willing an abandonment. The Guardian even got a title for a book out of it: Is it Cowardly to Pray for Rain?. Weather interference would have been a blessed relief on the third day of a match that England, unilaterally, are turning into one of the more tedious in recent memory.
This is a team who have won a series already making damn sure that the opposition do not get a sniff of a late win to take home and sustain them, and in the process making a mockery of poor David Saker, forced at the press conference he did the previous evening to utter some guff about the team still believing they could win the match. It was a team who were doing what they felt they had to do, but even the connoisseurs, to whom such days are usually ascribed as being interesting, would have thrown the towel in and for stimulation gone to watch tin cans rust instead. It is a rum old day when the highlights appear to have been Kevin Pietersen and Michael Clarke yah-booing each other with an exchange that would do little to disturb the reputations of Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker, and the construction of a plastic beer snake.
By late afternoon, as the sky began to fill in optimistically pewter in colour, each run was being cheered. Boundary futures were soaring on the Stock Exchange as shrewd investors piled in before it closed for the holiday. When Pietersen hit the first boundary in 14 overs, his fourth, to reach his slowest ever Ashes half-century, from 124 balls, there was close to uproar: novelty has its value. When, on Pietersen's demise to Mitchell Starc shortly afterwards, Chris Woakes then drove his first ball in Test cricket handsomely to the square cover boundary, it might have been a World Cup winner at Wembley or VE Day with hats thrown in the air.
These were the crumbs of comfort on which a sell-out crowd were fed.
England had begun the third day on 32 without loss and hopes of batting through the day, something they certainly achieved, losing only four wickets in the process. By lunch they had added 65 more runs to that, for the loss of Alastair Cook for 25, who yet again started but was unable to finish. By tea, 38 overs later because of extended hours on account of the bad weather the previous day, the total had swelled by a further 84, to 181 for three. Joe Root had gone for 68, a competent enough innings – if lent a tame ending as he top edged a sweep to short fine leg – that occupied 184 balls and almost four hours. So too had Jonathan Trott, after a flirtation with batting frivolity during the series, restored to his old self as Australia cut off his onside blood supply, and lbw for a 134-ball 40 to Starc's first delivery with the second new ball.
Goodness only knows what Woakes was doing livening up proceedings with several more handsome boundaries: team-mates will not enjoy being shown up and the new boy clearly has to learn the ropes. It was unacceptable behaviour. Sixty-six more runs eventuated from the final 32 overs and England ended the day on 247 for four, with Ian Bell, it almost goes with saying in this series, unbeaten on 29 (110 balls), and Woakes 15 not out.
Just in case anyone has lost sight of the fact in all the excitement, England, having scored 215 runs from 98.2 overs in the day, still need a further 46 runs to avoid the possibility (probability even given the weekend weather forecast) of following on. If they do that, then the match could be all but moribund.
From the moment Clarke won the toss and chose to bat, Australia have had the upper hand in this match. This is not a good Test pitch, in that once the new ball goes softer it offers precious little to the pacemen, even those who really bend their backs, but neither does it help strokemakers beyond putting away half-volleys or long hops. Certainly felicitous touches, even from Bell, who has exhibited more than his fair share in this series, have been out of the question.
Instead, Australia hoisted England with their own petard, sending down arid overs with the seamers, and then looking to Nathan Lyon to get some purchase. Just for a while, as Pietersen prodded and poked uncertainly, he found not just some turn from round the wicket (his habitual angle of attack now) but bounce as well. At least it lent some credence to England's decision to play a second spinner, even if he did go into meltdown, and Graeme Swann may yet collect some further Ashes scalps before the match is done. Twice Lyon found the inside edge of Pietersen's bat as he pushed forward firmly, and twice the ball flew from his front pad at pace past the shoulder of short leg crouched in close.
Clarke eventually compensated by pushing the fielder back several paces but it was a rare case of the captain bolting the stable door: Pietersen did not give that chance again. Reported by guardian.co.uk 18 hours ago.