England win against SA, but at what cost?

Yesterdays match was one of the most English things I have ever witnessed. Not so much a testament to skill but to sheer persistence.It may sound harsh but in many ways it was a triumph of mediocrity over sheer ability. Collingwood is the epitome of the hard grafter, lets not take away the fact the guy actually is a talented cricketer, he's easily in the top three fielders in the world, but he is hardly the most stylish or powerful batsman, nor is he the the fastest or most guileful bowler. But he is a fantastically tough guy, he has come back from more knockdowns than any human should rightfully have to sustain. There are many players out there who can learn from his example, far greater gifted players I might add (are you listening Bopara, Shah et al). If only they had his mentality perhaps they would still be playing.
But enough about Colly, lets talk about Strauss. The commentators were piling on the praise for his captaincy yesterday, not so the case with his fielding but we'll forget that, and he deserved it. He recognised that the pitch was distinctly un-south african in its nature. Taking neither pace nor spin well.Step up Colly and Jonathan Trott. See what I mean? How English can you get? You've brought in your promising leg spinner and a pace bowler, and who gets a bowl? Your opening batsman and the number four. I cannot think of any team in the world that would do this apart from England, it was like watching the county championship at times.But it worked. Now there is no need to talk about why he left out Mahmood till the end, it was plainly not just that pace was failing miserably. He looks totally out of depth; no matter how much he blames the bad balls on cramp. As soon as Broad returns he will be back carrying the drinks, his time in international cricket really is finished.

I am more concerned about Adil Rashid. He is having a really tough time of it at the moment. He has finally been brought into the team this year after an extremely long period of waiting in the wings. He has not exactly set the world alight with his bowling and his confidence will have been dented by the four overs he has been afforded in the series so far. 25 from one over in the Pro20, 27 from three overs yesterday and not a wicket to show for it. The only decent ball he has bowled has been one good googly to Graham Smith. Does Strauss simply not trust him? Possibly. Leg spin is a difficult art at the best of times and on a non turning, tennis bally sort of pitch it can be a nightmare. So on the one hand he is protecting his young spinner but on the other he was worried that a few more costly overs could have cost England the game. This might be good captaincy in the short term but is Rashid going to be molly coddled like this in the future? He has to learn to bowl well on the difficult days, a leg spinner needs overs under his belt. Personally I would argue that he is being asked to run before he can walk. Naturally a leg spinner should make his start in test cricket where he can bowl a multitude of overs without the kind of pressure on accuracy and economy associated with the shorter forms of the game. This attitude towards spin is a symptom of the modern game, and a detrimental one. Rashid cannot get in to the test side because Swann currently occupies that berth, so he is restricted to ODI and 20/20. His batting aptitude would also suggest that this is a good place for him. But this kind of thinking is counter productive to the formation of a good leg break artist. England have to be extremely careful that his talents are not misused and, ultimately, wasted.

The State of Spin Part One

A batsman in touch smashing down the ground, sweeping and switch-hitting is a rush of blood to the head. A fast bowler loping in like a timber wolf with eyes hungrily fixed on the top of off stump or banging them in short on that terrifying deodorant length are arguably the most thrilling sights in a great game of cricket. But nothing, nothing quite compares to a truly great spinner weaving his web of deception and guile.

Shane Warne is gone, it is time we just accepted it. He returned to the Ashes only in commentator form, something that really as Englishmen we should be thankful for. Had he been present at the Oval it is highly likely things would not have gone so well. We were only treated to the briefest of cameos on the pitch when he coached some of the young academy spinners but there was no keeping Shane out of the game even if he was not an active participant. His contributions to the commentary box were easily one of the more fascinating elements of the 2009 Ashes series. His insights were refreshing, witty and very welcome. But if you, like me, find spin bowling to be THE sight of cricket then understandably you were disappointed. Through the course of the series we saw Swann, Panesar and Hauritz giving the ball a flick. To a lesser extent we also had Katich, Clarke and North to satiate our appetite for twirlers. But did any of them really provide the same kind of banquet we have come to expect from an Ashes series? Of course not. The haute cuisine Warne has provided in both the fast food format of 20/20 and the decadent twelve course Roman feasts we have glutted upon in both Tests and previous Ashes encounters has spoiled us utterly. It is unfair to expect this current crop of spinners to provide the same levels of skill and entertainment.

Unfortunately Warne’s best days are now behind him and we’ll never see him on the international circuit again. It was a privilege to see his all too brief cameos during the IPL and I am sure every Australian and cricket fan alike wishes he would come back for just one more series. Alas it is not to be, despite the premature talk some months ago of million dollar deals. Warney has found solace in all those activities, notably poker at which he excels, that he has been unable to pursue due to the gruelling international schedules. It makes perfect sense that his spinners mentality should so suit a game based around cunning and deception. So if Shane is away spinning his web on the Texas hold em tables who do the Aussies have to step into his sizeable boots.

The truth is that they have relied on Warne, MacGill and Hogg for far too long. After the exodus of aging genius’ from the international side they are inexplicably left with some journeymen off spinners and three unreliable leg break bowlers. The names you will recognise in the leg break department are Bryce McGain and Cameron White. Neither name would fill you with hope as an Australian nor fear as an Englishman. McGain was unceremoniously hammered out of the park at Cape Town earlier this year, recording disastrous figures of 0-149, and White’s bowling has been inexorably dwindling for some time now. In India he had ideal conditions but seems to be going through the classic leg spinners nightmare of having lost his leg break. At least he has his batting to fall back on; the same cannot be said for McGain who I doubt we shall ever see gracing a Test Match again.

We have come to expect quality wrist spin from the Aussies so it has come as something of a shock to see them come over here this summer with an assuredly underwhelming spin department. Before the series I would have argued that the Australian Captain and selectors would have been wiser to play the less reliable but infinitely more exciting Jason Krenzja; who during the Chappell-Gavaskar Series bowled some of the most uneven spells of off spin you might ever see in the professional game of cricket. His match figures of 12 for 250 were a nightmarish blend of obvious talent and a lack of control that must have sent Ricky Ponting’s head reeling. He did himself no favours when they returned home against New Zealand and was promptly dropped in favour of Nathan Hauritz. But he is exactly the kind of spinner I would pay money to see, he gets rapacious revolutions on the ball and his larrikin nature is comparable to the outgoing Warne.

However, Hauritz was the man of choice for the Ashes. He offered the control that Krenzja does not but he relies on a favourable pitch to give him bigger turn. That said at the beginning of the series his confidence must have been at an all time low after the battering he has taken in both the English and Australian press and he rose to the occasion beautifully. He had as much to prove as any other man in the Ashes and one must have respect for the way he came through such a tough time. Kevin Pietersen obligingly playing ridiculously adventurous shots in the first test might have helped as well. Clearly he was not the pathetic figure the media had painted him to be and it was sheer insanity on the part of the Australian Captain and selectors that he was not chosen for the final test. He may not be the most thrilling spinner we will ever watch but undoubtedly he has earned his baggy green.

Hauritz, however, is only part of a group of young Aussie spinners who have been around for some time in State cricket and have regularly been tipped to progress from rising stars to burning suns. Such illumination unfortunately has been sucked into a black hole as they have now ceased orbiting at the very highest level. Some have said it is an exciting time to be a young Australian spinner but Dan Cullen (Off spin), Cullen Bailey (Leg Spin), Beau Casson (Chinaman) and Hauritz have all been through the mill on their journeys to the harsh universe of international cricket. Many of them made their international debuts with totally unrealistic hopes pinned upon them.

Beau Casson debuted in the West Indies over a year ago following the shock retirement of Stuart MacGill. He was solid at the Kensington Oval if somewhat unremarkable. His action is uncomplicated (rather like Katich’s in fact) and he demonstrated a very hard to pick wrong ‘un. Mysteriously the selectors decided not to take him to India. He then promptly disappeared back to State cricket and has since been plagued by injuries and a thoroughly chaotic 2008/9 resulted in banishment to the fringes of the NSW side after a season that yielded just seven wickets at 91.00 in eight matches.

The two Cullen’s are easily the most gifted of the four and as well as sounding like a Dickensian law firm oddly both play for same state team. They fulfil my own criteria for a spinner in that they give the ball an almighty flick and have both a googly and a doosra in their respective sac des ruses. Most of the truly great spinners of the modern age have these weapons at their disposal and it is only the truly brilliant who can play at this level without them. Dan Cullen made his one-day debut way back in 2006 and then disappeared from sight but then was South Australia's leading one-day wicket-taker in 2007-08 with 13 at 28.30. This boded well for the future until a bad run in the Pura Cup (18 victims at the high price of 49.44) coincided with a time when the selectors decided to give Cameron White his opportunity. Since then he has not featured in the reckoning.

Cullen Bailey is the only right arm wrist spinner of the quartet and the natural successor to the Warne mantle. He is one of the Warne Kids of the early nineties who grew up inspired by his idols 7-50 at the SGC against the West Indies and of course THAT ball to Gatting back in ’93. Just like Warne he was taken under the wing of Terry Jenner, as sober and realistic a mentor as he could hope to have. When Warne had an inauspicious start to his career it was Jenner who kept a wise and enthusiastic eye upon him. Bailey of course originally modelled his action on Warne’s, arms languidly down by his side, a deceptive amble to the popping crease followed by a perfectly powerful rotation propelled by those mysterious hips, wrists and shoulders. But as he grew older and taller he found he had to alter this and so looked to another legend, Richie Benaud. His action still has traces of Warne about it in terms of its dynamism but his action really is a carbon copy of Benaud’s.

All of this should stand him in good stead but he too has had a tough time breaking through after yet another promising start. Cricket Australia obviously rated him when they awarded him a central contract but his performances have been typically up and down, as one might expect from a young leg spinner. After a debut in the final Pura Cup game of 2004-05 the next summer he bowled the Redbacks to victory over Tasmania with 5 for 146, earning 18 wickets at 47.55 in six matches including a memorable stumping of Michael Bevan. But his pairing with Dan Cullen has hurt his cause somewhat, whenever the club choose to play only the single spinner inevitably the leg spinner suffers, perhaps he will have to shift his allegiances to escape the drawbacks of being second choice.

So it would seem that even in the spiritual home of leg spin the art is still overlooked and abused; a common curse that occurs right from schools and club level up to the international game. Leg spin whilst supreme in its deadliness is also easily the most humbling skill in cricket for a young man. But at only 24 years of age Bailey still has plenty of time to get it back together and state his case for a place in the rich annals of Australian leggies. Many ex-players such as Peter Philpott, Jenner and Warne himself believe that a leggie only really comes to maturity in his late twenties and early thirties. So despite the harsh realities of being a struggling leg spinner he should remember that four of the top Australian bowlers of all time are leg spinners; theirs is a country simply dying to embrace the genius of yet another.

Even Don Bradman himself rated leg spin as the greatest bowling art of them all, he bowled it himself part time and picked Bill O’Reilly as the most difficult bowler he ever faced (Though arguably he may have chosen Clarrie Grimmett had their not been such animosity between the pair). It was ironically an English leg spinner who ended his hopes of finishing his career with a 100 average. Eric Hollies of Warwickshire served up the googly that sent Bradman, with eyes clouded over with tears, back to the pavilion. Afterwards Bradman was quoted as saying: "No ball bowled is as difficult as one which leaves the bat and goes towards the slips. The really good leg-break beats them all.” Never was there a truer sentence uttered.

Check back next week for part 2...

The Ashes Day 1 - England Make Solid Start

The weather decided to favour cricket fans all over the world today by staying dry. The Ashes opened with its triple whammy of Anthems honouring the three countries involved: Wales, Australia and England. Ponting apparently expecting a deluge of support from the English hating Welsh. Don't bank on it Ricky. It ended on the highest note possible with a rousing dash of God Save The Queen and a cheeky close up of Freddie Flintoff smirking like a naughty schoolboy. The rather pointless and barely visible pyrotechnics out of the way we could finally see the first delivery of the series. Which unfortunately was nowhere near as eventful as the infamous Steve Harmison ball of 2006. Which in my memory went past second slip, flew up somewhere outside the Gabba and disappeared over the Story Bridge on its way back to England. At least that is how the Aussies tell it anyway.
It would have been difficult for this first day to live up to the hype but it certainly tried its best and what ensued was at least an absorbing and evenly matched contest. Strauss and Cook looked solid until Cook revealed his weakness outside the off stump by waving at a wide one from Hilfenhaus. This forced an acrobatic leap from Mike Hussey and a stunning catch, Cook might think himself unlucky but the ball was too wide to make excuses. 'Chef' (as the boys like to call him due to his cooking skills, that one obviously did not take much thought) will have to stop these old problems resurfacing if he is to score runs against the savvy Australians. If they smell blood you can rest assured they will strike and like the Great White Shark their eyes will roll over and they will take a great big bite out of Chef.
Strauss looked as though he could easily carry on to a ton until Mitchell Johnson changed tack and started bowling short. He may not have been swinging the ball at all but his slingy action make his bouncers exceedingly skiddy. If only he could keep that seam upright he could go from being a handful to being absolutely deadly. Still he has this knack of taking wickets, a quality his Captain will appreciate. 2-68 0ff 18 may sound a little expensive but when you consider those wickets were the English Captain and Ravi Bopara, who was deceived by a cleverly disguised slower ball spun almost like an orthodox left arm spinner, one has to argue he has done his job.
Ben Hilfenhaus was the surprise (though not to The Top Spinner) inclusion in the Australian side along with the medias favorite whipping boy Nathan Hauritz. Every pundit and journalist expected Stuart Clark to be a certain inclusion considering Brett Lee's unwelcome absence. But The Top Spinner thought otherwise. Ponting has been forced into taking a good long look at Hilfenhaus during Clark's own injury enforced absence and it appears he has impressed both his captain and the selectors. Notably during the Test series against South Africa in which he made his debut. He did not take a bag full of wickets but he demonstrated his craft in taking 1-58 off 25 overs which included 9 maidens. English conditions would logically suit his swing style of bowling down to the ground and that is exactly how it would prove today. He took 2-61 off 23 which included 5 maidens. At times he was bowling beautifully, swinging it effectively away from the batsman and he did Collingwood completely. Beating his stroke and taking the outside edge through to the keeper, Haddin. In saying this however he is no Jimmy Anderson, he may have bouncers in his locker which caused a little consternation but he does not have the English maestros unerring, and at times prodigious, control of swing. Anderson will have watched the ball swinging with anticipation, as sometime tomorrow afternoon he will be handed a nice, dark cherry of his own.
Swing was not the only skill on show today, spin was of course the most talked about subject prior to the Test. True to predictions the pitch was indeed turning. Hauritz was clearly enjoying the conditions and a few deliveries ripped along nicely. But his bowling just seems to lack penetration. He is a classical off spin bowler who is there to offer control, i do not think we can ask him to start turning it around corners but it would be nice to see him attack the batsman a little more. He did make efforts toward this today, his confidence rose as the batsman appeared loath to attack him. He flighted some balls very nicely and pitched it right up at Pietersen and Collingwood urging them into making a mistake. Which Pietersen eventually obligingly did. He swept with authority all afternoon until he telegraphed a simply huge paddle shot and Hauritz challenged him to take it over short fine leg from about three feet outside off stump. In the interview afterward he was unapologetic and brash as usual. His arrogance is only matched by his ability which makes it very hard to argue against him taking such risks. On the one hand it makes him the character that he is but on the other it must surely cost him runs. Let us hope that it comes off for the rest of the series.
There were other fireworks during a hostile afternoon. Peter Siddle carried on from where he left off in the morning session tailing the ball in at pace and mixing those fuller deliveries up with truly demonic bouncers. Ravi Bopara had a stormy reception earlier in the day from the fast bowler when a short ball seemed to track his movements and veered horribly into his throat area. He took it well but it set the tone for how we can expect Siddle to bowl for the rest of the series. He was also responsible for dispatching both Matt Prior, with a searing inswinger which demolished the stumps, and Freddie Flintoff in a slightly less than spectacular fashion, played on from a short delivery outside the off stump. Previously Flintoff and Prior had been dominating the bowling, cover driving and pulling with authority. This bodes well for the series, England need the top 6 to fire all the way through. But in terms of the match the wickets came with only 20 balls left in the day and consequently these losses have handed Australia the upper hand going into the 2nd day. Stuart Broad will start at the crease tomorrow and Graeme Swann is still to come so we can expect a few more runs tomorrow before we see just how effective Englands spin twins will prove to be.
Check in tomorrow for another full report.

2 Days To Go

Well this week may turn out to be one of crushing disappointment. The weather forecast looks positively ghastly and the First Test is being played in Wales. they might as well be playing in Orkney. One might call that a royal cock up, every game England have been scheduled to play at the SWALEC so far has been rained off so you'll forgive me for not holding my breath on that one. We can but hope. 

The squad was announced at the weekend and unsurprisingly Monty Panesar was selected as our second twirler over the up and coming Adil Rashid. Those that voted on The Top Spinner poll agreed with the selectors but certainly if Monty fails in this game there may well be a place for the young leg spinner in a later test. Steve Harmison was also omitted from the 13 man squad despite his good performances for both his county and this week for the Lions. I would say that this was the most difficult decision for the selectors, in many ways picking Monty is a no brainer. Rashid has no test experience and they will be hoping that Monty can prove himself to be a big game player who will perform at a higher rate as demanded, effectively ignoring his poor performances for his county. We can but wait to see how true that will prove to be. Whereas Harmison is much more of a headache. He offers something completely different to the rest our bowling attack with his height and bounce and it is clear the Aussies have a certain degree of respect for the big man. Phil Hughes will certainly be pleased to see he has not been included, as will the out of form Ricky Ponting. But he has proven himself to be a lazy competitor and to have a weak mentality. Look at how he went to pieces in the First Test of the 2006 series in Australia. On the other hand he has done himself several favours by performing well all season and may well find himself in the side for a later test if the conditions suit him. 

In other fast bowling news Brett Lee is apparently awaiting news on a scan which will reveal the extent of his rib injury, sustained whilst playing against the Lions at New Road this week. It will be a blow to the Aussies to have lost him just as he is looking like the Lee of old. If you are a patriot you will no doubt be pleased that this hands the English an advantage (lest we not forget what happened to McGrath in 2005) but its a real shame he will miss out. I for one was relishing the idea of seeing an absorbing battle between Lee and the English top order, especially Pietersen and even Cook who is certainly not shy of a pull shot or two. Ponting will have to look to Peter Siddle to provide the necessary aggression (which he has in plentiful supply) and it is likely Ben Hilfenhaus will be brought in instead of Lee should he not be declared fit. I believe they will rest him as they will want him fit for the rest of the summer and Hilfenhaus will give them a rather more English style swing option.

Check back soon for my article on spin bowling in the world today: 'The State of Spin'.

England Lions VS Australia Day 2

This was another highly intriguing and revealing day of cricket. Hussey got to his 150 and then quickly got himself out to a beauty from Harmison. It was full and fast and left the Australian all over the place whilst it shot past and rearranged his stumps; is this yet more evidence that the Durham man deserves a Test spot? (Despite the reports he is a disruptive influence on the other players). Lee was dispatched in a similar fashion not long later. Hauritz stuck around for 59 balls but only scored 11, he attempted a piece of violence on the bowling of Onions which went straight up in the air and was caught easily at square leg. It was with the end of the Aussie’s first innings that the day would start to really get interesting.

Joe Denly and Steven Moore are not yet household names, but to those of us who have been watching county cricket they are well known as potential stars of the future. The 23 year old Denly plays for Kent and Moore, also 23, is of course a Worcester local boy. Today they demonstrated just why they are talked about so much. Denly played some searing shots to score his 66; one spectacular front foot pull drew audible purrs from the crowd. Moore equally delighted the home crowd with a mixture of careful, clever deflecting and powerful straight, lofted drives culminating in him scoring a ton and eventually finishing on 120 from 176 deliveries.

For long periods a combination of excellent batting and a flat pitch made the Aussie bowling attack look less than ferocious and at times barely effective. Clark, Lee and Johnson had little luck in the morning and early afternoon spending much of the time trying to hold back a little for the test next week whilst also trying to take the wickets they needed. It may be that without the genius of Warne and McGrath to turn to the Australians will need to rely on the pitches being rather livelier than the one at New Road.

Ponting naturally turned to his spinner to buy him a wicket. Unfortunately that spinner is Nathan Hauritz. His figures for the day were 80 for 0 from 18 overs with only 1 maiden. Hardly an improvement on the game at Hove. Suffice to say this may hurt his cause as he jostles with Lee, Clark and Siddle for Test places. Though his Captain gave him as many overs as he possibly could the spinner looked unthreatening throughout the day. His action is easy on the eye and evidently easy on his shoulder as well; he barely gives it a rip and only once all day did the ball appear to spit and bounce. It was picked off for a boundary by Moore anyway. The excellent footwork and temperament of the openers contributed to his lack of wickets early in the day but by the evening he had failed to penetrate even the lower order. Worrying signs for a specialist spinner.

The highlight of the day undoubtedly came in the form of Brett Lee. He was having as unproductive a day as the other seamers right up until his Captain spotted him having a laugh and a joke with the crowd down at the third man boundary. He swiftly ordered him over and threw him the ball. I clearly heard him say ‘you may as well have a bowl if you’ve got time to piss around’. Suffice to say he did not look happy. This moment proved to be a revelation. Lee had already achieved some impressive speeds, getting above the 90mph mark, but now he began steaming in like a man possessed, evidently holding nothing back as the speed gun jumped as high as 95mph. This extra pace and the wear and tear on the ball caused the first summer sighting of truly deadly reverse swing. The ball careered into Denly’s stumps and ended the young mans hopes of carrying on to a ton. Lee then summoned another ball which swung prodigiously into Ian Bell’s pads to send the struggling Lions Captain (who played all around it and looked positively stunned) back to the pavilion and to set up the chance of a hat trick. Solanki came in to face the hat trick ball which was another beauty; swinging viciously right into his toes. Somehow he deflected it away down to the vacant fine leg position and got himself a lucky boundary. Lee proceeded to take the first five wickets, including the impressive Moore, finishing with figures of 5-53 from 20 overs including 5 maidens. Surely a sign of things to come.

Strauss should really expect Lee to now be in the squad next week. He looks fitter, faster and hungrier than ever. He has the ability to turn a game around and his strength with the old ball gives Ponting a weapon which can match the reverse swing which will surely be found by Flintoff and Anderson.

England Lions VS Australia Day 1

The beginning of this warm up game happily coincided with my own return to Worcestershire and so on a very sweaty, close morning I made my way into New Road heralded by the pealing bells of the cathedral. The heat however did not slow the Lion’s bowlers and the much talked about Phil Hughes was dismissed with surprising promptness. He took a nasty blow on the helmet and looked uncomfortable against Harmison which must surely give the England selectors a massive headache.

Further muddying the waters is that the so called ‘enigmatic’ Harmison appears to really be getting himself fired up against the Aussies. As soon as the Australian Captain came out to bat, even from the boundary, I swear I saw a hint of red glow deep in the eyes of the Durham bowler. And immediately he sought to replicate that wonderful moment he shared with Ponting on the morning of the first test in 2005. His radar was not quite perfect however and he was forced to settle for inflicting a blow on his shoulder rather than his face.

This peppering though must be said to have contributed towards the rash shot he then played at the other end against Onions (who, along with Harmison, continued to look a class above Bresnan and Mahmood throughout the day) which saw him caught in the slips by Solanki. He was playing away from his body completely unnecessarily. Only a few deliveries before he did the same and when he attempted to remove his bat at the last second the ball took a dangerous under edge to the keeper. The Aussie Captain will be wishing he had more runs under his belt prior to the first test but I think it would be wishful thinking to believe that he will play with such carelessness in the test matches proper.

Simon Katich hung around for a long time on this first day to notch up a typically gritty 95. He has much to prove since his days of batting down the order in 2005. England really will have to give some thought as to how they can best dispatch him early; he is the rock upon which the Australian innings will be built. The same can be said about the other big scorer of the day, Mike Hussey who at close of play was on 143 not out and hit 14 boundaries. It should be a worry to the England camp that he has regained his form at this crucial time. These two players have a steely determination it will prove hard to break. Coming into play will be the effectiveness of Swann and Anderson who will both be taking the ball away from the bat of the left handers.

The question of whether England will play two spinners at Cardiff is probably the most talked about subject of the week. After watching Rashid closely for the day I think we can safely say he will not playing in the first test. Australia has a bevy of left handers as always and leg spinners are nearly always less effective against the left handers, unless of course their initials are S.K.W.

Apart from that he simply does not seem ready yet, no matter that he offers a longer batting line up than the comedic Monty. Though there was little turn on offer today his action simply does not look dynamic enough, he isn’t flicking the ball. A leggie who really spins the ball would have found something more out there even on a flat, turgid surface. His googly does not appear to turn either, on closer inspection his wrist does not extend far enough and somehow the seam becomes scrambled rather than pointing towards fine leg. It seems incredible to me that he has not received some specialist advice from an older leg spinner; someone should be brought in especially to coach this, the most important, aspect of his game. At one stage I did think he was using an old Warne tactic, the one where he bowls two rank long hops and then slips in the flipper (a Yorker in Rashid’s case as he does not have a flipper) but after a short debate with the man next to me I decided it was just poor bowling. He would benefit hugely from some guidance.

Despite firing in the morning the afternoon session saw the Aussies really dig in. As expected they have a tough and able lower order. Haddin, North (who cannot score a run at the moment but is very capable) and Johnson are a potent trio. The keeper did not show his best today but he is a big stroke maker and a joy to watch on his day. Johnson displayed that the South Africa tour was not just a one off. In fact he seems to have matured further since then. He looked relaxed and even happy to play the waiting game. His defence was as solid as his attacking shots are brutal. He ably demonstrated both facets of his batting by hanging around long enough with Hussey to score 47 and by thrashing Rashid over mid wicket and out of the ground for the biggest six of the day, probably the entire match. His ability to go from a slow meander to a rushing torrent will suit his position in the line up, he can shore things up or unleash as necessary.

The Australians finished the day on 337-8. My moment of the day would have to be either Harmison VS Ponting, Johnson dispatching Rashid into the River Severn or the banter between Andrew MacDonald and the crowd (“You’re s**t and you know you are!”, to which he dryly replied ‘is that why I’m down here and you’re up there?” before swiftly scarpering before any plastic cups found his general direction. The same scrumpied section of the crowd also later on in the day engaged in some of the strangest chants I have ever heard including a many versed song about Jesus Christ (“Hey J.C he’s so fine! He’s so fine he turned water into wine!” and “J.C. he’s so cool he walked across a swimming pool!” and so on and so on) I have no idea what prompted it or why.

But surely the best part of the day was simply being at New Road. It is such a wonderful little ground. So charmingly personal and you feel like you really are a part of the action. Close enough to chat to the guys on the boundary and informal enough to feel that if you should the world will not come to an abrupt end. Let’s hope that more games like this come to New Road in the future.