ASHES: Talking points from Chester-le-Street Day One

Did England’s disrespect of Nathan Lyon come back to haunt them? What is a par score on this pitch? Did Jackson Bird justify his selection ahead of Mitchell Starc?

Why is Michael Clarke holding back Peter Siddle?

Did England’s disrespect of Nathan Lyon come back to haunt them?
Kevin Pietersen is renowned for his disdainful treatment of spinners.

The cavalier strokemaker drove Nathan Lyon out of the attack at Old Trafford with a calculated assault on the off spinner on day three.

On that occasion, he was well set on 42 not out when he launched into the Aussie tweaker, lofting him for consecutive sixes.

Yesterday, Pietersen had the audacity to skip down the pitch from the first delivery he faced in an attempt to smash Lyon out of the ground.

Beaten in the flight, he succeeded only in skying the ball just shy of a dashing fieldsman.

Just six overs later, with England having lost two quick wickets, Ian Bell charged Lyon from only the fourth ball after the tea break.

Similar to his lanky teammate, England’s in-form number five was deceived by Lyon’s loop and rather than striking the delivery over the head of mid off it landed in the fielder’s mitts.

There is little doubt that attacking Lyon can be an effective ploy, forcing him to resort to a flat trajectory in an effort to avoid being dispatched.

But the hubris of Pietersen and Bell was exploited by the spinner who bowled with a tantalisingly loop in an obvious attempt to bait the pair.

Lyon finished the day with 4 for 42 and a renewed confidence.

What is a par first innings score on this track?
As England cruised to 1-109 yesterday, it appeared as though the Chester-le-Street pitch was almost as friendly as the batting utopia offered up at Manchester.

Despite bowling with great patience and discipline, the Australians seemed destined for a lengthy, taxing stint in the field.

The dry surface offered minimal bounce, pace, seam movement or spin, and the lush state of the outfield inhibited reverse swing.

While it is always prudent to wait until both sides have batted before making concrete assessments of a pitch, it has offered little assistance to the bowlers so far.

The lack of pace and bounce does not foster quick scoring, but patient batsmen are unlikely to find themselves undone by a jaffa.

English skipper Alastair Cook was the only batsmen whose dismissal yesterday could be attributed to the pitch.

Cook was undone by a delivery from Bird which jagged back sharply off the seam catching him plum in front.

Given the conditions, it is likely England would have been unhappy with a score of less than 340.

Australia’s batsmen, of course, have a history of making even the most accommodating decks look like minefields so England’s total may yet prove sufficient.

Did Jackson Bird justify his selection ahead of Mitchell Starc?
The Tasmanian swing merchant has been unlucky not to feature earlier in the series.

A tall and reliable operator who makes the batsmen play more often than any of the Aussie quicks, Bird is well suited to English conditions.

It is this dependability which makes him a more attractive prospect than Mitchell Starc who, for all his raw talent, still cannot maintain a line and length.

Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris have in the first three Tests proven the value of consistent bowling against the strong, but faltering England batting line-up.

Bird was not overly threatening on the docile pitch but conceded just 2.76 runs per over and his relentless accuracy helped build pressure.

The manner in which Australia’s paceman dried up England’s scoring avenues likely contributed to the ill-advised decisions by Pietersen and Bell to try to collar Lyon.

Why is Peter Siddle being held back by Michael Clarke?
The determined Victorian is Australia’s highest-ranked Test bowler and has been the most consistently incisive paceman from either side this series.

Yet in the past two Tests, Aussie skipper Michael Clarke has held back Siddle, rather than offering him the chance to tear into England’s top three.

In both innings at Old Trafford, Siddle was the fifth bowler used by Clarke.

Yesterday, Ryan Harris, Jackson Bird and Shane Watson were afforded the luxury of utilising the new ball, with Siddle not called into the attack until the 18th over.

The puzzling strategy from Clarke, who is renowned for shunning orthodoxy, certainly has not blunted the effectiveness of Siddle, who has 17 wickets at 23 for the series.

It does, however, cause you to ponder just how destructive he could be with the newer ball.

Perhaps Clarke has decided that Siddle’s pace counterparts are more reliant on the seam movement and swing offered by the shiny cherry.

Perhaps the skipper believes by using Watson ahead of Siddle he is stroking the ego of the emotionally fragile all-rounder, a strategy which former skipper Ricky Ponting found often coaxed the best out of him.

It is hard to criticise the tactic given its success so far. But it will be fascinating to see how long Clarke continues to use Siddle as a second change bowler.