Dave Bracegirdle
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3rd Test: England v Australia at Nottingham, 2-6 Aug 2001 Dave Bracegirdle |
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Australia 1st innings:
England 1st innings: |
The first two sessions belonged to Glenn McGrath, the spearhead of the Australian attack. Another five wicket haul, his 20th in Tests, began in fortuitous circumstances as Michael Atherton was given out caught from the second ball of the day, although replays showed that the deflection to Mark Waugh at slip had come from the batsman's arm guard.
Butcher and Ramprakash both fell before lunch but Marcus Trescothick remained unbeaten with a half-century. His dismissal in the early part of the afternoon heralded the start of a collapse, which was to see England lose seven wickets for 92 runs in the second session. McGrath finished with 5-49 and Shane Warne chipped in to collect the two wickets he needed to reach 100 in Tests against England. Apart from Trescothick's 69, only Alec Stewart batted with any conviction. His dismissal, for 46, was a tame affair as he steered the ball to Mark Waugh at slip to give McGrath his fifth victim.
Matthew Hayden was quickly out of the blocks, hitting seven boundaries in 33, when Australia began their reply. Alex Tudor, recalled to the Test arena after a two-year absence, snapped him up in his second over, trapping the left-hander lbw in his crease. Darren Gough then cheered up the sell-out crowd with a fiery six over burst, which brought him 2-15 as Slater played on and Ponting edged behind; both batsmen yet again missing out.
Steve Waugh scored all 13 out of a fourth wicket stand with his brother but hopes of a first Test century at Nottingham were dashed in it’s infancy as Caddick's steepling bounce found the shoulder of the bat on its way to Atherton at first slip.
Like the rest of his team-mates Mark Waugh was able to get a start but couldn't turn it into a sizeable contribution. Atherton, the England skipper, held another fine slip catch to give Tudor his second scalp.
England began to smell a first innings advantage and the belief intensified three balls into the next over as the last specialist batsman, Damien Martyn, nicked a beauty from Caddick to 'keeper Stewart.
As thoughts of last years two-day Test were revived Caddick, a hero on that occasion, made it three wickets in seven balls trapping Shane Warne lbw for no score.
Fading light ended a pulsating day at 6.42pm with four overs still to be bowled and Australia on 105-7, still 80 runs adrift of England.
His straight driving became a feature of the early overs as he raced to 33, which included seven fours. England turned to Alex Tudor, replacing Gough from the Radcliffe Road End, and in his second over he made the breakthrough, trapping Hayden lbw in his crease.
Michael Slater had enjoyed a watching brief whilst his partner had cut loose, and contributed just 13 out of the first 50.
Ricky Ponting came in at number three to join Slater, looking for his first major contribution of the series. The omens looked good as he drove Tudor handsomely to the boards as Australia progressed to 56-1 from the first 15 overs.
Earlier Glenn McGrath had scythed through the England innings, picking up 5-49 from 18 overs, as the home side were dismissed for 185 before tea.
McGrath's 20th five-wicket haul in Tests (fifth time v England) was the highlight of another outstanding bowling display by the Australians, which left England's first innings in total disarray.
Marcus Trescothick had made a belligerent 69 but when he fell in the early part of the afternoon England's collapse gathered impetus.
Ian Ward made only six and an out-of-sorts Craig White even had the luxury of being dropped but was still dismissed without scoring. All of the first six wickets had fallen to seam (McGrath four and Gillespie two) but then Shane Warne made his first impact on the Test and again found his way into the record books.
Alex Tudor, playing his first international innings since his 99 not out against New Zealand two years ago, made only three before being given out lbw by umpire Venkat. Warne was definitely convinced of the validity of his appeal, although the tall Tudor was striding purposefully forward as the ball ripped into his pads.
The wicket was Warne's 99th against England and he didn't have long to wait before being able to celebrate another milestone. Robert Croft, another playing his first game of the series, prodded the ball with uncertainty and presented Ricky Ponting with a routine catch at silly point. Warne, his hair bleached almost white, became the 11th Australian bowler to pick up a ton of wickets against the 'Poms'.
Another bowler with plenty to celebrate was McGrath, who claimed his fifth wicket when Alec Stewart gave Mark Waugh catching practice at second slip.
Stewart's 46 had been a valiant effort. Eight boundaries, most of them crisply executed, had garnished a solid innings but his tame dismissal summed up another disappointing batting display by those wearing the Three Lions on their shirts.
Andy Caddick flailed away semi-successfully to reach 13 but then lost his off stump to give Brett Lee his first victim of the innings.
Midway through the first day England had slumped to 147-6, having reached lunch on 93-3 – a disappointing effort having won first use of a good batting track.
Shane Warne began the afternoon session with a tidy over to Alec Stewart, which yielded two runs from a controlled steer to the vacant third man area. Trescothick, 52 not out at the interval, then resumed his pre-lunch form by crashing Jason Gillespie through extra cover for four.
The total advanced beyond 100 in the 26th over and the pair then took their stand to 50, from just 64 deliveries, as the left-hander took two more boundaries from Gillespie. The South Australian quickie then exacted the perfect revenge as he induced Trescothick into pushing at an away swinger and Adam Gilchrist took his second catch of the day diving away to his left to scoop up the edge. With 13 boundaries in his 69 the opener will feel that his work had been only half completed.
Ian Ward hung around for 20 minutes in making six and helped his Surrey team-mate Alec Stewart add 25 for the fifth wicket. The partnership was broken when Glenn McGrath returned to the attack. Bowling around the wicket he squared Ward up with a first ball leg cutter and saw Gilchrist pouch another victim.
Craig White immediately had a life, being dropped at third slip, again off McGrath, but the Yorkshire all-rounder's reprieve was short-lived as the same bowler had him caught at short leg in his next over, off a thick inside edge.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first Michael Atherton was the victim of an unfortunate umpiring decision from just the second ball of the match. Glenn McGrath's rising delivery looped to Mark Waugh at second slip but replays indicated clearly that the ball had flown off the batsman's arm guard, rather than the shoulder of the bat. The batsman stood his ground but umpire John Hampshire upheld the Australian's appeal.
Mark Butcher survived a confident lbw shout from the bowling of Brett Lee but had confidently moved on to 13 before nicking McGrath to third slip, where Ricky Ponting took a sharp, low catch.
Marcus Trescothick meanwhile, in his first Trent Bridge Test, began positively. He appeared to relish the extra pace of Brett Lee and pulled him for three vigorous boundaries, although one miscue, off the toe of the bat almost reached Shane Warne at slip.
The England 50 came from 91 balls soon after the stoppage for rain. Mark Ramprakash timed the ball sweetly from the off and had hit three fours from just 18 balls faced when he pushed at Jason Gillespie with a slightly open face and thin-edged through to 'keeper Adam Gilchrist.
Trescothick advanced to his 50 with a smartly taken single off Lee (93 mins 68 balls 9x4) who then had Alec Stewart dropped next ball, as a miscued hook flew straight to McGrath at midwicket.
The England skipper has enjoyed great success at Nottingham over the years, hitting five of his 16 Test centuries at Trent Bridge but lady luck deserted him in the first over of this match.
With just his second delivery Glenn McGrath had Atherton caught at second slip by Mark Waugh, although replays clearly indicated that the ball had struck only the batsman's arm guard before looping up for a routine catch. The opener stood his ground but was given out by umpire John Hampshire at the Pavilion End.
Alex Tudor passed his morning fitness test so returned to the international arena after a gap of two years, so standby Richard Johnson was allowed to return to Somerset's Championship match at Canterbury. As expected Usman Afzaal was also omitted, thereby missing out on the chance to play on his home ground.
After the early loss of their captain Mark Butcher and Marcus Trescothick had to negotiate a testing passage, which saw Brett Lee share the new ball with McGrath for the first time in the series.
Trescothick's vigorous pull through midwicket off Lee brought the first boundary, in the sixth over but an attempted repeat next ball fell just short of Shane Warne at slip.
Lee's bumper-barrage continued in his next over but again the tall left-hander came out on top with successive boundaries, the second of which landed almost on the rope at square leg.
Having seen Brett Lee off, Waugh replacing him with Jason Gillespie, England seemed to have weathered the storm. Yet McGrath struck again in the 10th over, removing Butcher for 13 as he squared up to a short ball and edged to Ricky Ponting at gully to leave England on 30-2.
Drizzle then forced a fifteen-minute break, allowing England to lick their wounds and regroup as Trescothick, now partnered by Mark Ramprakash, attempted to steady the England ship.
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Date-stamped : 02 Aug2001 - 22:29