England in the pink

Pink is the colour, cricket is the game

Sydney Day 3: Australia 280, England 488 for 7. England lead by 208 runs with 3 wickets left.

Day 3 at the SCG was dedicated to the memory of Jane McGrath, an English lady who fell in love with and married legendary Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath, but tragically lost her life to breast cancer. Jane believed that "it takes a real man to wear pink", so it is only appropriate that pink should be the colour of choice for the McGrath Foundation, which seeks to raise money (and awareness) to fund breast care nurses for cancer sufferers. The majority of the 40,000 spectators in the ground today wore at least one item of pink - in some cases matching pink bra, panties and top hat, in others an unexpected pink sunburn as the sun finally came out on the SCG around midday.

On the pitch the day went with the form of the rest of the series. Resuming on 167 for 3 with the match finely balanced, England proceeded to score a further 321 runs for the loss of only four wickets. This was once again a day of commanding batting by Alastair Cook, who broke all sorts of Ashes records on the way to his superb 189, and Ian Bell, who batted beautifully to reach his long overdue but richly deserved first hundred against Australia. At the moment Bell reached his century I was glad of my sunglasses, as to be seen wearing pink and simultaneously shedding a tear may have been taking Jane McGrath's "real man" image a bit too far.

Matt Prior also contributed a typically pugnacious fifty, at one stage spanking a straight drive into the crowd for the day's only six. Aside from nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson, who as usual did not last long, only Paul Collingwood failed today wíth the bat and must now be fearing for his Test place after a poor series. His skied drive presented Michael Beer with his first Test wicket at the third attempt: after the no ball call yesterday which denied him the prized wicket of Cook, there was also a huge Aussie appeal for a catch at short leg when Cook was on 99. TV replays clearly showed the ball had bounced before being "caught" by Phil Hughes.  Conversely, the TV "snicko" technology suggested that Bell was caught behind on 67 but he was adjudged not out as the "hot spot" technology available to the third umpire did not detect contact with the bat. Australia really have not had the rub of the green with key decisions so far in this match.

In short, today belonged once again to England, who will be looking to extend their first innings lead to 250+ tomorrow morning, then start to make inroads into the Australia second innings. It now seems inconceivable that they can lose this match from here, an outcome which would be sufficient to ensure a first series win in Australia since 1986/87.

Proper Test cricket

The Sydney pitch looks a bit bumpy from this angle

Sydney Day 2: Australia 280 all out, England 167 for 3

With improved weather in Sydney, we were treated to a full day of "proper" Test cricket - over 300 runs, 9 wickets and the balance of power fluctuating regularly between two committed sides. By the end of the second day, England hold a slim advantage but this could easily be eroded by a couple of quick wickets tomorrow morning.

After the adulation of Khawaja yesterday, which continued in this morning's newspapers, it is now the turn of Michael Beer, Austalia's new left arm spinner, to earn the plaudits for an impressive first spell of bowling in Test cricket. Which earned him and Australia precisely no wickets. Harsh again? In this case yes, as everyone in the ground thought he had earned his first Test wicket by dismissing prolific England opener Alastair Cook - until the technology showed that he had overstepped the no-ball line. Even English hearts must have felt for the debutant Beer at that moment. But rules are rules and are there to be enforced - as any member of the security personnel employed at Australia's cricket grounds will tell you. Regularly.

England started the day impressively and reduced Australia to 189 for 8 before Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus put together an unlikely but highly effective 9th wicket partnership which went on far too long for England's liking. Their final total of 280 is - unbelievably - the highest innings in the series by a team batting first. Whether it is enough to be competitive remains to be seen, but it was certainly a much better effort than in Melbourne and the wagging tail (incorporating a fine fifty by Johnson) invited many a comparison with Perth - the scene of Australia's only win to date.

Though the forecast sun had not yet materialised by the time England batted, captain Strauss got off to a flyer and soon registered his fifty at a run a ball. His partnership with Cook had reached 98 when he was surprisingly bowled by the innocuous Hilfenhaus. England then proceeded to donate two further wickets to Johnson, Trott dragging on a ball which would have comfortably missed off stump and KP hooking horribly down long leg's throat after an otherwise disciplined innings.

So it's still all to play for here. England, only 113 runs behind with 7 wickets in hand, will fancy their chances of forcing a first innings lead of around 80-100 which could prove critical on a pitch which will increasingly favour Graeme Swann's spin bowling. But today's fluctuating fortunes showed that it is never quite that simple, so expect another day of twists and turns tomorrow before a likely winner of this Test emerges.

Crikey it's Khawaja

One of the brighter spells at the SCG today

Sydney Day 1: Australia 134 for 4. Rain stopped play.

Monday dawned to dark, angry clouds obscuring the Sydney skyline but as yet no rain. Alas, the weather did not hold longer than mid-afternoon and 31 overs were lost to rain on this opening day of the 5th and final Ashes Test.


Despite the overcast conditions, Michael Clarke boldly elected to bat after winning the toss. He was rewarded with a battling display by his openers Watson and Hughes, who rode their luck to grind out an unexciting but promising position of 55 for no wicket. After doing all the hard work, Hughes then edged a Tremlett delivery to slip in the last over before lunch.

Usman Khawaja must have endured a nervous lunch interval knowing that he would shortly face his first ever ball in Test cricket. But England let him off the hook straight away as he raced to 15 off his first 8 deliveries, including an imperious pull for four which had echoes of David Gower's Test debut (one for the older reader!). Fortunately for England, Shane Watson obligingly edged to slip just when he looked set to break loose and finally outscore the overs bowled (he made 45 and was out in the 45th over).

After a lengthy break for rain, the skies brightened long enough for England to enjoy further success by enducing Michael Clarke to play a poor shot straight to gully, thus continuing his unusually poor run with the bat. Despite the loss of his captain, Khawaja looked increasingly comfortable in the Test arena before he had a rush of blood and skied Swann for an easy catch - just as the rain was beginning to fall again.

This evening's TV news here is already celebrating Khawaja's debut innings as a vision of the Promised Land. To put this into context, he scored 37 - a nice enough start but not a fifty or a hundred. And he played a stupid shot to get out just as it started to rain - if he had simply played Swann's last ball back down the pitch, he would still be batting tomorrow morning. Harsh? Welcome to Test cricket. Only time will tell if Khawaja will make the grade.

In summary, Australia appear to have conceded a promising, fighting start to this game. At 105 for 1, they were looking good. At 134 for 4, they now face a real battle tomorrow to post a decent first innings score.

Raining cats, dogs and kangaroos

On the eve of the fifth and final Test in Sydney, it's been raining here for the last five hours. Quite hard. But my Sydneysider friend Andy is a born optimist and tells me everything will be fine tomorrow. We certainly had a great time this evening observing the brilliantly coloured skies over the Sydney suburbs as the approach of the storm coincided with the approach of dusk. Tangerine, nectarine, peach melba - you could have made some decent yoghurt out of the colours we saw through the bottom of our glass tonight.


Hey Ricky - now that's how you
play a decent forward defensive

Just before it started to rain, we had a knock-about at the cricket ground at Petersham Park - where an 18-year-old Don Bradman scored his first hundred in grade cricket (and also took 3 wickets for 26). Rolling back the years, the cricketers formerly known as "Ash" and "Toad" took a complete pasting from the 9 year old Annabel and 7 year old Simon - so nothing changes there.

Tomorrow - weather permitting - England and Australia will commence battle for the 5th and final time of this series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. While the destination of the Ashes is already decided, Australia can still level the series at 2-2 if they force a win here. An England win, or a draw, will mean that the tourists win the series outright - an achievement which the captain and players have been at pains to point out has always been their number one goal in spite of already retaining the Ashes in Melbourne.

Toad - perhaps a late call-up for Australia
if Hilfenhaus pulls a fat in the warm-up

The Australians are blooding a new captain and two new baggy green caps in this match. Michael Clarke has come under intense press scrutiny since it was announced that he would skipper the Aussies after Ricky Ponting's injury had allegedly worsened in Melbourne. He was even forced to attend a staged meeting with the Prime Minister Julia Gillard. As one observer wrily commented, this was a meeting of two leaders with much in common - mainly that they appear to have the support of only a tiny minority of the Australian public. Time will tell whether "Pup" will step up to the plate (it already seems clear that Gillard will not).

The Aussie debutants will be batsman Usman Khawaja and spin bowler Michael Beer. Pakistan-born Khawaja is a nice politically correct selection as the first Muslim to play for Australia, but it will surely prove too much for him to step into Ponting's shoes and make runs against a ruthlessly efficient England bowling attack. With only 7 first class matches under his belt, a ludicrously inadequate number, Beer admitted on TV that he had never even set foot in the SCG prior to net practice on New Year's Day. These really are desperate times for Australia, which means England will only have themselves to blame if they fail to demonstrate a killer instrinct here and emerge as 3-1 series winners.

My prediction for tomorrow: with rain around, it could be another low-scoring first day. But here at Sydney the scores normally get lower as the game goes on, so the captain who wins the toss may well choose to bat first this time. If Clarke wins the toss, this will be a early test of his and his batsmen's nerve after their recent Day 1 horror shows at the crease.

A happy and healthy New Year

....to our family, friends, colleagues and any other readers of this blog.

This New Year our thoughts are with everyone affected by the terrible floods in the North of Australia, which reportedly now cover an area equivalent to the size of Germany, and with the families of two tourists who have drowned just off Penguin Island, near Perth, where we spent a carefree day just 10 days ago.

Best wishes
Richard, Jayne, Annabel & Simon

Winning the Ashes - a pictorial guide



Looking forward to winning the Ashes



About to win the Ashes



 

Winning the Ashes
(not sure whose foot that is)



Happy to have won the Ashes



We're taking the urn home

Melbourne Day 4:  Australia a pitiful 98 & a totally inadequate 258 all out; England a magnificent 513. England win by one whole innings and a splendid 157 runs.

Pure joy. Enough said.