Magrat Garlick
Global Moderator
England squad: M Butcher, N Knight, N Hussain, G Thorpe, G Hick, C Bassano, A Stewart, A Giles, A Caddick, M Hoggard, P Hutchison, I Bell, K Pietersen, J Crawley, A Flintoff, K Dean, R Anderson, D Cork.
After a downright trouncing by Australia in the 1st test at the 'Gabba, nobody thought England were in with much of a chance in the Ashes...just like every single time before. The England bowlers had been consistently smacked about, and only Chris Bassano of Derbyshire emerged with some credit after the first Test, where he took 2/22 and scored a grand total of 93 runs. The two wickets included the Australian captain Steve Waugh, who nibbled at the spinner's delivery and got it behind to the keeper. The front-line England bowlers, however, were trounced. Matt Hoggard: 33 overs, one maiden, no wickets for 108. Paul Hutchison: 35 overs, two maidens, one wicket for 133. Andrew Caddick: 43 overs, eight maidens, three wickets for 135. Ashley Giles: 40.3 overs, six maidens, four wickets for 150. Australia made 569 - and then bowled England out for 162 and 220, where only the fourth wicket partnership between Nick Knight and Chris Bassano, of 95 runs, were worthy of note.
Australia 569 (Waugh 195, Hayden 130, Langer 69 - Giles 4/150) beat
England 162 (Butcher 48 - McGrath 4/55, Warne 2/26, Gillespie 2/36, Lee 2/40) & 220 (Bassano run out 72, Knight 68 - Lee 5/76, Warne 3/51) by an innings and 187 runs
Man of the match: Steve Waugh (Australia)
But then England came back. Winning the toss at the WACA, Nasser Hussain chose to bat in the hot spring day and was rewarded by a reasonable batting display from most of his players. All made starts, but only one could convert - Hampshire's keeper John Crawley, who had come in for Alec Stewart after his disappointing performance, which included two dropped catches in addition to poor batting, in the previous match. Crawley hit his fourth Test century in what was an excellent display of batting, and he finished with 134 not out. What was even more remarkable was the way he urged Andrew Caddick to hang on, keeping the strike for most of the time but alsot 1 allowing the less proven partner to get the strike for a while. Caddick was eventually caught behind three runs short of his maiden Test fifty, but not before he had saved the team from a potentially precarious position at 183/7 to a more comfortable 348/8. The rabbits, Paul Hutchison and Matt Hoggard, left in quick succession as England closed on 365.
What followed was a spirited display of what variation in bowling can do. Bowling a mixture of short-pitched bouncers, yorkers, the occassional full tosses, and the even more occasional length ball, England's bowlers got breakthroughs slowly but surely. Langer was trapped lbw to an inswinger from Hutchison on 6. Steve Waugh, the near-double-centurion from the first match, could only make 21 before suffering the same fate. And Matt Hayden was bowled neck and crop by Matt Hoggard trying to drive him to the off side. The fourth wicket partnership between Ponting and Katich of 126 was a bit of a set-back, but wickets fell in quick succession after that, and Australia were eventually all out for 319 two minutes before tea on the third day.
In an unlikely 46-run-ascendancy, England were quickly set back as Nick Knight nibbled at a Brett Lee bouncer which Adam Gilchrist held firmly. England were 3 for 1, and already struggling. However, that marked the start of Graham Thorpe's perfect innings. Partnering with Mark Butcher at the start, the Surrey batsmen quickly were in control, as Butcher smacked a quick 50 in little less than two hours. However, Thorpe could only watch as Butcher bottom-edged a trademark leg-spinner from Warne out in the field, where Justin Langer dived magnificently at deep mid on to hold on to the catch. Butcher out for 50, and England at 85/2 with the Derbyshire youngster Christopher Bassano coming to the crease. He and Thorpe smashed the bowlers about in an excellent partnership, lasting a full 93 runs and wrenching the control of the match over to England. Thorpe forged partnerships with the rest of the middle order as well, before Steve Waugh had an amazing spell of medium-pace bowling with the new ball that removed both Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick for low scores. Thorpe, however, tried to attack after lunch on day four, realising that England needed quick runs if they wanted to win the game, but instead got bowled by Warne for 148 - the second English ton of the game. England ended up setting a target of 404 after Andy Caddick had contributed with another good innings, scoring 23.
England got a quick breakthrough as Justin Langer got bowled by a Matthew Hoggard yorker, but Hayden and Waugh continued to smash on for the victory. They put on 38 for the second wicket before Hayden fell, again to Hoggard, as he edged one to Crawley who held the catch. Ricky Ponting hung on, however, and the score got to 143/2 before the Australians collapsed. Ponting scored 31 in a partnership of 80 with Waugh, but that was the end of the Australians. Realising that the Aussies were just going to block their way to a draw, Hussain switched to a field consisting of three slips, point, gully, midwicket, silly mid on, silly mid off, and short leg most of the time. It worked. England, and in particular Hoggard, picked up wickets with amazing regularity, picking up the last three wickets (Lee, Warne, and McGrath) for only the solitary run. Hoggard ended with innings figures of 6/63 - a surprise, given his previous 59 overs in the two earlier innings had gone for 180 runs with only one wicket in the bag. Nevertheless, England had come back from the innings defeat in the style, and were back in contention for the Ashes.
England 365 (Crawley 134* - Lee 6/90, MacGill 4/87) & 357 (Thorpe 148, Bassano 53, Butcher 50 - MacGill 3/66, Lee 3/93) beat
Australia 319 (Katich 92, Ponting 64 - Caddick 3/47, Hutchison 3/76) & 252 (Hoggard 6/63, Caddick 2/40)
Man of the Match: Graham Thorpe (England)
(Please note. This does not constitute a story. I will do more write-ups if I feel the games are worthy of it...like this comeback.
)
After a downright trouncing by Australia in the 1st test at the 'Gabba, nobody thought England were in with much of a chance in the Ashes...just like every single time before. The England bowlers had been consistently smacked about, and only Chris Bassano of Derbyshire emerged with some credit after the first Test, where he took 2/22 and scored a grand total of 93 runs. The two wickets included the Australian captain Steve Waugh, who nibbled at the spinner's delivery and got it behind to the keeper. The front-line England bowlers, however, were trounced. Matt Hoggard: 33 overs, one maiden, no wickets for 108. Paul Hutchison: 35 overs, two maidens, one wicket for 133. Andrew Caddick: 43 overs, eight maidens, three wickets for 135. Ashley Giles: 40.3 overs, six maidens, four wickets for 150. Australia made 569 - and then bowled England out for 162 and 220, where only the fourth wicket partnership between Nick Knight and Chris Bassano, of 95 runs, were worthy of note.
Australia 569 (Waugh 195, Hayden 130, Langer 69 - Giles 4/150) beat
England 162 (Butcher 48 - McGrath 4/55, Warne 2/26, Gillespie 2/36, Lee 2/40) & 220 (Bassano run out 72, Knight 68 - Lee 5/76, Warne 3/51) by an innings and 187 runs
Man of the match: Steve Waugh (Australia)
But then England came back. Winning the toss at the WACA, Nasser Hussain chose to bat in the hot spring day and was rewarded by a reasonable batting display from most of his players. All made starts, but only one could convert - Hampshire's keeper John Crawley, who had come in for Alec Stewart after his disappointing performance, which included two dropped catches in addition to poor batting, in the previous match. Crawley hit his fourth Test century in what was an excellent display of batting, and he finished with 134 not out. What was even more remarkable was the way he urged Andrew Caddick to hang on, keeping the strike for most of the time but alsot 1 allowing the less proven partner to get the strike for a while. Caddick was eventually caught behind three runs short of his maiden Test fifty, but not before he had saved the team from a potentially precarious position at 183/7 to a more comfortable 348/8. The rabbits, Paul Hutchison and Matt Hoggard, left in quick succession as England closed on 365.
What followed was a spirited display of what variation in bowling can do. Bowling a mixture of short-pitched bouncers, yorkers, the occassional full tosses, and the even more occasional length ball, England's bowlers got breakthroughs slowly but surely. Langer was trapped lbw to an inswinger from Hutchison on 6. Steve Waugh, the near-double-centurion from the first match, could only make 21 before suffering the same fate. And Matt Hayden was bowled neck and crop by Matt Hoggard trying to drive him to the off side. The fourth wicket partnership between Ponting and Katich of 126 was a bit of a set-back, but wickets fell in quick succession after that, and Australia were eventually all out for 319 two minutes before tea on the third day.
In an unlikely 46-run-ascendancy, England were quickly set back as Nick Knight nibbled at a Brett Lee bouncer which Adam Gilchrist held firmly. England were 3 for 1, and already struggling. However, that marked the start of Graham Thorpe's perfect innings. Partnering with Mark Butcher at the start, the Surrey batsmen quickly were in control, as Butcher smacked a quick 50 in little less than two hours. However, Thorpe could only watch as Butcher bottom-edged a trademark leg-spinner from Warne out in the field, where Justin Langer dived magnificently at deep mid on to hold on to the catch. Butcher out for 50, and England at 85/2 with the Derbyshire youngster Christopher Bassano coming to the crease. He and Thorpe smashed the bowlers about in an excellent partnership, lasting a full 93 runs and wrenching the control of the match over to England. Thorpe forged partnerships with the rest of the middle order as well, before Steve Waugh had an amazing spell of medium-pace bowling with the new ball that removed both Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick for low scores. Thorpe, however, tried to attack after lunch on day four, realising that England needed quick runs if they wanted to win the game, but instead got bowled by Warne for 148 - the second English ton of the game. England ended up setting a target of 404 after Andy Caddick had contributed with another good innings, scoring 23.
England got a quick breakthrough as Justin Langer got bowled by a Matthew Hoggard yorker, but Hayden and Waugh continued to smash on for the victory. They put on 38 for the second wicket before Hayden fell, again to Hoggard, as he edged one to Crawley who held the catch. Ricky Ponting hung on, however, and the score got to 143/2 before the Australians collapsed. Ponting scored 31 in a partnership of 80 with Waugh, but that was the end of the Australians. Realising that the Aussies were just going to block their way to a draw, Hussain switched to a field consisting of three slips, point, gully, midwicket, silly mid on, silly mid off, and short leg most of the time. It worked. England, and in particular Hoggard, picked up wickets with amazing regularity, picking up the last three wickets (Lee, Warne, and McGrath) for only the solitary run. Hoggard ended with innings figures of 6/63 - a surprise, given his previous 59 overs in the two earlier innings had gone for 180 runs with only one wicket in the bag. Nevertheless, England had come back from the innings defeat in the style, and were back in contention for the Ashes.
England 365 (Crawley 134* - Lee 6/90, MacGill 4/87) & 357 (Thorpe 148, Bassano 53, Butcher 50 - MacGill 3/66, Lee 3/93) beat
Australia 319 (Katich 92, Ponting 64 - Caddick 3/47, Hutchison 3/76) & 252 (Hoggard 6/63, Caddick 2/40)
Man of the Match: Graham Thorpe (England)
(Please note. This does not constitute a story. I will do more write-ups if I feel the games are worthy of it...like this comeback.
)
