Pietersen snaps, late Siddle spell keeps day even
By Tom Wald, 9 Jul 2009 Tom Wald is a Roar Pro
England's Kevin Pietersen sweeps Australia's Nathan Hauritz during the first day of the first test in Cardiff, Wales, Wednesday July 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi)
A late burst from Australian paceman Peter Siddle and a Kevin Pietersen brain explosion have combined to keep England in check in the first Ashes Test in Cardiff.
On a topsy-turvy day, both sides threatened to gain the ascendancy before honours were shared as the home side finished the opening day at 7-336 at Sophia Gardens.
An inspired spell of swing bowling by Siddle (2-93) late in the day levelled up proceedings as he had both Andrew Flintoff (37) and Matt Prior (56) chopping the ball back onto their stumps.
Pietersen’s (69) shocking shot against spinner Nathan Hauritz had earlier threatened to undo all his hard work before Prior’s enterprising half century guaranteed his team a respectable total.
Surprisingly England called up a nightwatchman in James Anderson (2no) and he and the man he was sent in to protect, Stuart Broad (4no), remained unbeaten at Test cricket’s newest venue.
Australia earlier made the surprise decision to name a bowling attack devoid of Ashes experience but Ben Hilfenhaus (2-61) more than justified his selection ahead of Stuart Clark by being the pick of the bowlers.
In an encouraging sign for England, the pitch was already taking turn on day one and their decision to play two spinners could pay big dividends later in the match.
After opting to bat, skipper Andrew Strauss (30) and Alastair Cook (10) negotiated the first half hour before Cook came undone playing at a wide Hilfenhaus delivery with Mike Hussey taking a spectacular diving catch to his right at gully.
The Australians immediately turned up the heat on Ravi Bopara (35), Siddle roughing him up in a menacing opening spell.
His second ball to Bopara struck the batsman just below the throat and deflected onto the grill of his helmet.
Mitchell Johnson (2-68) returned and made amends for his poor opening spell by removing Strauss and then just before lunch showed his smarts by deceiving Bopara with a slower ball.
Hauritz came onto bowl soon after lunch and the Australians placed three men immediately on the leg side fence in an attempt to test Pietersen’s patience.
The South African-raised batsman kept his head in the middle session as he and Paul Collingwood (64) steadied the England innings with a 138-run stand to lift the home side out of a precarious position at 3-90.
It took a fine spell of swing bowling from Hilfenhaus after tea to part the experienced pair.
On 61, Pietersen pulled away just as the Tasmanian was about to deliver the ball and that infuriated the quick and he shared his thoughts with the flashy right-hander.
He then charged in next ball and responded with a perfectly delivered inswinger that was on line to take out the middle stump when it smashed into Pietersen’s boot.
Umpire Billy Doctrove somehow thought otherwise.
But Hilfenhaus would not be denied, rebounding in his next over to have Collingwood (64) caught behind and then almost snaring Pietersen on 66.
Michael Clarke dropped a tough chance low down at cover before the right-hander’s luck ran out on 69, out to an appalling shot to Hauritz in attempting a pre-meditated sweep at a ball that was a metre outside off stump.
Hauritz (1-67), who had unflattering figures of 2-260 on tour coming into the day’s play, was understandably delighted at claiming the prized scalp.
Prior and Andrew Flintoff (37) put their heads down before branching out when the second new ball was taken in a valuable 86-run stand off 95 balls.
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Colin N said | July 9th 2009 @ 8:32am | Report comment
All in all, a good day’s Cricket. The Australian bowlers did ok, and the delivery that got Bopara by Johnson was excellent. The pitch spun a fair bit for Hauritz and if he can get that much spin out of the pitch, I’m fairly certain Swann will be a big threat with the ball and maybe even Panesar, as this pitch may suit his style of bowling.
In 2005, the tail-end partnerships proved crucial and if the likes of Broad and Swann, who are both accomplished batters,can take the score past 400, then England will be firmly in pole position. At least Anderson kept his record of never having been out for a duck in test match Cricket.
Brett McKay said | July 9th 2009 @ 8:44am | Report comment
As far as opening days to series go, 7/300+ means you could walk away having got good value for money. Suggestions of honours being even would be pretty accurate, in my humble opinion.
Hilfenhaus and to a lesser extent Hauritz seemed to be the pick of the Australian bowlers to me, and perhaps what is surprising is that Johnson and Siddle, the two guys who were “locked in” before the England Lions match, were both off the pace in stages. Johnson’s second spell to take Strauss and Bopara was quality, and Siddle’s corker inswinger to remove Prior was his highlight of an otherwise disappointing first day for him.
Pietersen needs a walk through the house of mirrors after his dismissal, most sane batsmen would have pulled out of that shot once the ball went wide, but not Kev and Kev’s ego. Perhaps it was karma for surviving the Hilfenhaus LBW shout. Bopara looked like a rabbit in the headlights, and even Strauss seemed lost after starting reasonably well. Collingwood looked solid, and Flintoff and Prior’s partnership very nearly gave England the honours for the day. Flintoff looked ominous, and Prior erased the questions I had about him being a Test No.6. Though both were aided by Siddle giving them as much width as they needed.
Great first day, and on the personal front, the lounge room camp worked a treat, and despite only three hours sleep, I’m feeling pretty fresh at work. That said, ask me again on Monday morning…
JohnB said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:00am | Report comment
I always think – wait until both sides have had a bat before you decide what a good score is. Topsy turvy is right though – the English looked so comfortable for the first half hour you’d have thought the stumps score would be more like 3-350, but then at 3-90 you’d be a bit disappointed that a team with only 5 batsmen got as far as they did.
And just something that puzzled me – Johnston looks innocuous, then suddenly finds his groove and in one over (the third I think of his second spell, and sixth overall) hits and nearly gets Bopara, has a good shout against Strauss turned down, and gets Strauss with a nasty one off the last ball. The other team’s main batsman (Pietersen) comes in to the non-striker’s end, and stays there for the following over, setting up the confrontation with Australia’s main and fired up bowler. What does the captain do? Put on a new bowler so Johnston could switch ends. Is it just me, or do others think you’d at least give Johnston one over immediately at Pietersen especially given he was suddenly bowling well from that end?
Jameswm said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:17am | Report comment
Yes I noticed that too John. And why didn’t they pepper KP with short balls at his throat when he came in?
I got through about the first half of the day.
Bopara was completely at sea. He was playing and missing outside off, snicking them over slips and gully, couldn’t handle the short one and lucky to survive as long as he did.
I also agree with whoever said it was karma KP got out the way he did, because that LBW beforehand was plumb. KP looked iffy early on and he’ll get some low scores as the series goes on.
Ponting took too long to fill the gaps when Hauritz was bowling, letting them take easy singles off him. He needed the short leg plus a square leg, which was where both Collywobbles and KP were milking Hauritz. Hauritz also has to bowl fuller or they’ll read him off the pitch. Overall he bowled ok though, but what will the English spinners be like on the 5th day?
Hilfy did bowl well and almost looked like an inspired selection. I expected SClark to play. Siddle did his usual thing of charging in late in the day to change the course of the match. That’s about the third time he’s done that in only 6 or so tests.
Johnson’s seam wasn’t vertical and his arm was too low. I don’t understand how they can have that many coaches and not get this right. It isn’t really that hard, but it could all change in an instant as it did in SA. I think in his 2nd spell he stopped worrying about trying to swing it too much and came in and bowled fast. Hughes is supposed to be the one who worries about the short ball, but Strauss and Bopara looked pretty wobbly to me!
Great day, honours roughly even. England will be ahead if they can manage 400+, Australia will feel good if they can dismiss them for under 375. Bowling first can be a great way to win a test. Bowl them out, then have a huge first innings so your bowlers can rest. Even if England make 400, the Aussies can really seize control – but they’ll have to score about 550 to do that. A couple of big innings.
Everyone will be very excited to watch Phil Hughes when he gets his chance tonight!
RickG said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:45am | Report comment
Good to hear the loungeroom camp worked well Brett! I sat down wondering if it was going to live up to expectation and wasn’t disappointed. It was a really absorbing 1st session and you could really see the bowlers feeling their way through amid some great spells. Actually, I wonder how much of this had to do with the commentators? I know the ch 9 guys cop a bit of stick but I felt Holding, Beefy, Gower, Hussain (and who’s the one with the thick Lancashire accent – Arlott?) did a great job – giving an insight to what’s going on without banging on too much about the same thing.
Looking forward to tonight and how the Aussies reply.
Brett McKay said | July 9th 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment
I do need a coffee though Rick!! And Graeme “Bumble” Lloyd is the Lanc in question. Has anyone bothered to see what he’s Tweeting?? You’re right about the Sky commentators too, I thought they were good, though I also through Warnie was part of their coverage?? Even though The Roar’s own Stuie MacGill did a good job in the SBS studio. Damien Martyn is surprisingly good, he seems to have come out of his shell since retirement..
JohnB said | July 9th 2009 @ 10:02am | Report comment
Rick G – David Lloyd is who you’re wondering about (I think). Not Arlott anyway – different accent from what you describe, but also (and this is perhaps the clincher) sadly he’s long dead!
Michael C said | July 9th 2009 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Early days, Johnson and Hilfenhaus looked to be just going through the motions.
Pulling Johnson out of the attack and getting Siddle in was both good and bad. Siddle didn’t quite settle as well as he would’ve liked – but, he brought the necessary amount of aggression and energy to the table.
From there, it was as if the Australians were ‘awoken’ and the English top order batters became a tad tentative.
Ironically, Siddle failed to settle. Hilfy got a soft wicket and Johnson likewise got a couple more pretty soft wickets – but, the batsmen had become a little unsure and it was tentative non-strokes that got them in trouble. Certainly Johnson’s 2nd spell was a great improvement on his insipid start.
Equally bemused as others about the handling of Johnson and the end switch after he got Strauss?!?!??! Just because a plan is hatched – - doesn’t mean a sudden wicket shouldn’t allow it to be deferred another over (it’s as annoying as the AFL tend to plan interchange breaks for players, such, that so often a guy kicks a goal and then heads straight for the bench?!?!?! What about momentum and confidence and addrenalin rush??)
The middle session – - gawd, Hauritz on day one…..either North, Katich and Clarke are real part timers and can plug the hole for a tad and we take a 4th seamer in – - or what the heck is going on?!?! Even McDonald would’ve been better value.
With 4 overs to go, the day belonged to England. Funny how Siddle suddenly validated his day with 2 key wickets and should establish momentum for Australia going into day 2.
Brett McKay said | July 9th 2009 @ 10:14am | Report comment
where did I get Graeme Lloyd from?!?
Benjamin Conkey said | July 9th 2009 @ 10:17am | Report comment
Brett, I agree with you on Marto..he is good..But MacGill? It sounded like he was doing an infomercial. I guess he will improve as the series goes on. I switched between the TV and radio commentary. Ian Chappell is better on radio.
And I know he annoys some Aussies, but I like Geoff Boycott’s commentary. I never get tired of his ‘My mum could smash Nathan Hauritz’ calls.
Good day of Test cricket. That wicket of Flintoff was crucial, because it changed the way Prior played. He and Flintoff were just going along nicely not worrying about the close..then Prior was in two minds how to play.
Interesting that they sent in James Anderson ahead of Stuart Broad..The ABC/BBC commentators suggested he was the night-watchman..and quite rightly asked. “Who was he protecting?”