England hit back after being dismissed for 215 in 1st Test by Andy Jalil

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Scorecard:	England v Australia
Event:	Australia in British Isles 2013

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DateLine: 10th July 2013

 

By Andy Jalil at Trent Bridge.
In association with INVESTEC.

 

Andy Jalil at Trent Bridge In association with INVESTEC © Pakistan Cricket Website

 

Nottingham – After all the usual hype and predictions that take place before an Ashes series, the first Test got underway with England widely regarded the top dogs. Some had written off Australia predicting a series whitewash. That could of course happen yet but not on the evidence of the first day’s play in the first Investec Test which saw England, after deciding to make first use of a slow, dry pitch, dismissed for a modest 215. The damage was done by Peter Siddle, who in a sensational 51-ball spell of fast bowling claimed five wickets for 22.

 

It was the England batting that casts some doubt on their supposed superiority. In the second session of play England had managed to score just 87 runs for the loss of four wickets and after tea lost four wickets for two in 14 balls. In reply Australia, by close of play, were struggling to keep wickets intact as they trailed by 140 runs on 75 for four after fine bowling from the England opening attack.

 

The tourists lost the first two wickets on 19. Both fell in the fourth over to Steve Finn who had Shane Watson held at third slip and Ed Cowan chased the next ball, well outside off stump, for a catch at second slip. Thereafter it was James Anderson who reduced the opposition to 53 for four. Michael Clarke was beaten by a ball that left him just enough to clip the off stump, without scoring, and finally Chris Rogers, after an hour and a quarter for 16, was trapped lbw.

 

Earlier, bowling under cloud cover Australia would have hoped to have had a wicket earlier than in the ninth over of the morning but still it wasn’t a bad start for them taking the first wicket that of Alistair Cook for 13 with 27 on the scoreboard. The ball had been moving a fair bit and had beaten both batsmen outside off stump in between some wayward bowling too. Cook fell to a poor shot reaching out to drive and got an outside edge for a catch behind.

 

A half century partnership between Jonathan Trott and Joe Root brought some recovery but twenty minutes before lunch Australia struck with Root’s wicket for 30. Siddle was brought back for a second spell and with his first ball, of yorker length, he bowled Root. The ball swung away just a little to hit off stump. It could be argued that the idea of having Root partner Cook in the opening slot did not entirely fail.

 

It is something that Nick Compton, having lost his opening spot and dropped from the team, will be watching with close interest. Some consider him unlucky to miss out after hitting two consecutive centuries in New Zealand last March. Root was quite impressive with his strokes which brought him six boundaries three of which were his first scoring shot.

 

Trott settled in well showing the consistent form that the team has come to expect from him. His cover drive off Mitchell Starc which took him to 32 was among the finest and he repeated the stroke two balls later off James Pattenson. By the end of the first session England were 78 for two with Trott on 37 and Kevin Pietersen, playing his first Test at home after having been dropped last season amid controversies, was on 10.

 

Australia struck quickly after the break having Pietersen caught at second slip in the second over. He had hit the previous ball for four to point and attempted a similar drive towards cover only to get a thick edge. As Cook had done earlier, this was also a poor shot to a ball that was well outside the off stump. Trott went on to add runs and his clip to the mid-wicket boundary off Pattinson took him to 47.

 

But a run later Siddle struck again with the wicket of Trott to reduce the home side to 124 for four. He was yet another England batsman who got himself out. It was a wide ball which could have been left but Trott went for a big drive and got an inside edge on to his stumps. With that Siddle had taken three wickets for 14 in 36 balls and England had lost the two South Africans, their two premier batsmen, in a space of 22 runs.

 

Once again there was a partial recovery for the fifth wicket as there had been earlier for the second wicket. Ian Bell and Jonny Bairstow had a 54-run stand in 73 balls and just as the two looked settled in, Siddle found the outside edge of Bell’s bat with the batsman not quite getting behind the line of the ball. He was snapped up at first slip by Watson and England were proving unable to handle Siddle’s pace and ball movement.

 

Worse was to come for them when two runs later they were reduced to 180 for six. It was the fast bowler doing the damage again with the wicket of Matt Prior whose square drive was held at cover point. By that stage Siddle had bowled 12.2 overs and had taken 5 for 49. England then went on to lose three wickets on the score of 213.

 

After Stuart Broad gave a return catch to Pattinson, Mitchell Starc removed the next two and two runs later the innings was wound up with Pattinson finishing with three for 69.

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2013 Andy Jalil)