Australia 25-0, trail England (260 all out) by 235 runs."The hat-trick ball that got Broad lbw was a dream ball. It him full and there was a bit of shape on it. I was a bit nervous when he referred it but when I saw the replays, I thought I'd be safe."
What a birthday for Peter Siddle.
In many quarters thought to be fortunate to get the nod ahead of Doug Bollinger, Siddle responded in fine fashion with a stunning hat-trick to rock England and make it advantage Australia at stumps on day one.
Much was made in the build up of the importance of 'winning' the opening hour or session at Brisbane and after winning the toss and electing to bat, England were immediately on the back foot when Strauss was caught off Ben Hilfenhaus from just the third ball of the day.
England soon steadied though, first with Cook and Trott and then Cook and Pietersen but neither partnership really got away from Australia, but for all of the talk of England being bowled out cheaply they were in a relatively comfortable position at 197-4 before Siddle struck.
Take nothing away from him though; it was an excellent hat-trick: Cook caught in the slips before getting the ball to nip to dismiss Prior and then beating Broad for pace to win the LBW decision and etch his name into Ashes history.
Looking long term, England should not fear this attack though. Both Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson rarely threatened, whilst Xavier Doherty looked no more dangerous than Nathan Hauritz. Ian Bell's form was a positive for England too and some early wickets later today could see their total a relatively competitive one.
The danger for this test though is that if Australia get away on day two, it will take some effort in their second innings to avoid going 1-0 down.
Day 1 analysis:
0 comments:
Post a Comment