Australia’s worst wounds were self-inflicted on a fluctuating day two of the fifth Ashes Test against England at the SCG. Reaching 280 after the tail wagged vigorously, the Australians made a poor start in the field to allow England a rollicking opening stand of 98, before the left-arm spinner Michael Beer denied himself a wicket on debut by overstepping.
Led by the reprieved Alastair Cook (61no) and captain Andrew Strauss (60), the visitors reached 3-167 by the time stumps were taken.
They left Beer plenty of time to ponder his no-ball, a mistake bad enough for a paceman but quite unpardonable for a tweaker bowling off a handful of paces.
While a harsh initiation for Beer, the incident epitomised the kind of sloppy cricket Australia have been guilty of playing at vital times across the series – it was the second instance of a no-ball preventing a dismissal after Matt Prior survived an edge off Mitchell Johnson at the MCG.
Johnson admitted that no-balls were a major problem for his side, despite their being tended to by a small army of coaching and support staff.
“We’re always trying to find a way to get behind the line, whether you feel enclosed with the nets being there I don’t know, but I’ll still bowl half a foot over in the nets,” said Johnson.
“I don’t know how we’re going to fix that, obviously it’s coming into play out in the middle and we need to keep trying to find a way to fix these problems, whether it’s doing more centre wicket practice or being more strict at training.
“It’s obviously a problem we have and we need to fix it as soon as we can.”
Johnson (53, 66 balls) had raised a priceless 76 in 89 balls with Ben Hilfenhaus (34), the largest partnership of the innings, to add unexpected heft to their team’s total.
The Australian batsmen struggled to free themselves from the clamps placed on them by Jimmy Anderson (4-66), Chris Tremlett (1-71), Tim Bresnan (3-89), Graeme Swann (1-37) and even the part-time seamer Paul Collingwood (1-5) until Johnson and Hilfenhaus attacked.
Brad Haddin (six) was promoted to No.6 by stand-in captain Michael Clarke in place of Steve Smith, but a loose flash outside off stump brought his dismissal to leave debate open over who should bat there when Australia next play a Test match, against Sri Lanka in August.
At 8-189 the end appeared nigh, but Johnson found a willing ally in Hilfenhaus, and together they took Australia past 200 and into the realm of a reasonable tally.
After lunch Hilfenhaus danced down to smite Bresnan for a tremendous six over wide long on, and next over Johnson clattered Swann for four and six off successive balls in a promising display of belligerence.
Knowing that wickets often follow runs for Johnson, Clarke gave him the new ball, and though the left-armer found some swing he had inadequate control, offering a variable length and plenty of runs for Strauss and Cook.
Hilfenhaus (1-52) was innocuous in delivering five overs for 27 before tea, but recovered after it to bowl Strauss with a collector’s item of a ball that shaped in then seamed away.
Jonathan Trott collected his first Test duck when he dragged Johnson (2-42) onto the stumps, and Beer (0-26) seemed to have added to the momentum when Cook skied to mid on.
However the umpire Billy Bowden called on the third umpire to check a no-ball and so reprieve Cook, much to the disbelief of the bowler, the Australians and the crowd.
Kevin Pietersen (36) hooked unwisely at Johnson to be caught by Beer at fine leg, but nightwatchman Anderson averted further loss.
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