Fifth Ashes Test, Oval, Day One

Sports - Cricket - Ashes

My picks of the first day:

England won the toss and chose to bat with Andrew Flintoff back from injury and Jonathan Trott making his debut against an unchanged Australian side at the Kennington Oval. After losing an early wicket in the morning, England recovered well up to lunch and played some beautiful cricket, hitting boundaries on a regular basis. But, one by one, the England line-up fizzled out, each contributing their little part, ending the first day of the final Ashes test disappointingly but something the bowlers can work with at 307 for 8.

Run of Play: Advantage to...

1st session, England 108 for 1 at lunch: England will have been the happier having recovered and built up a partnership after they had lost an early wicket.

2nd session, England 180 for 3 at tea: England kept the scoreboard ticking and the entertaining cricket going, eventhough they lost a couple of wickets.

3rd session, England 307 for 8 at the end of day one: Australia pulled the advantage back and shattered any hopes of a high score for England, no batsmen reaching a century, once again.


Partnerships:

- 102 runs between Andrew Strauss (55) and Ian Bell (41): After Alastair Cook fell early, giving a catch away to Ricky Ponting with a poor shot off the side of the bat for 10 off 12, the England skipper showed his team again how to work the works and score the runs, until lunch at least. Bell joined in and also contributed some beautiful and brutal cuts for fours. Strauss eventually got out for 55 off 101 with his only underdetermined shot of the day - which replays showed came off a no ball. Unlucky.

- 62 runs between Ian Bell (31) and Paul Collingwood (24): Bell continued strong after his captain's departure, completing a hard-earned half-century and looking to continue nice and strong. Collingwood worked hard to keep up with his batting colleague but just did not look like he was comfortable in his role and got caught in gully. Bell fell shortly afterwards for 72 off 137, an inside-edge onto his stumps.


- 48 runs between Jonathan Trott (22) and Matt Prior (18): The debutant, replacing Ravi Bopara, started nervously, edgy and a bit silly but later showed off some cheeky and bold shots with Prior contributing well, too. But it did not last long enough to build anything solid, Prior losing control and giving away a stupid shot and catch to Shane Watson, falling for Mitchell Johnson's change of pace. Andrew Flintoff fell cheaply for only 7, giving a catch away, after being applauded and cheered onto the pitch for his last match in an England Test shirt. Trott got run out for 41 off 81 thanks to quick thinking by Simon Katich, the debutant thinking he smacked it, but got snapped out of it. Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad looked like they were going to hit off a great partnership again, putting runs on the board whilst Australia would have thought they could and should cut through the lower order. But those hopes were dashed, Swann falling to the last ball of the day, caught behind.

Bowling: Peter Siddle got four of the day's wickets, looking the most dangerous from the first overs of the day. Mitchell Johnson had on and off spells whilst Ben Hilfenhaus looked unlike his normal excellency. But most of the wickets came from the batsmen's inconsistency and insecurity. Just when you thought they had started something they could build on, they gave their wickets away stupidly. The pitch changed throughout the day, showing uneven bounce and bursts, which will encourage the England bowlers for when they come to field.

Ups: Some beautiful batting, quality drives, brutal cuts, many boundaries, great to watch.

Downs: Too many wickets on a too regular basis, no big partnership, no big individual scores, i.e. centuries, once again.

Hero to zero: Funny contrast how Flintoff was cheered and applauded on like a hero and legend he is - but how much quieter he left the field again shortly after falling cheaply. Hopefully he can do a better job with the ball.