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| August 26, 2005 | Friday | Rajab 20, 1426 |
Sloppy Australia let England off the hook
NOTTINGHAM (England), Aug 25: Michael Vaughan’s England ended a rain-affected first day of the fourth Ashes Test on 229 for four following another flawed display by Australia on Thursday.
Marcus Trescothick led the line at Trent Bridge, scoring 65 and putting on a century stand for the first wicket with Andrew Strauss, before Vaughan added 58 during the afternoon.
Kevin Pietersen was 33 not out at the close, brought forward by bad light, with Andrew Flintoff on eight.
Only 60 increasingly damp overs were possible in all. The five-match series stands at 1-1.
The world champions began the day rueing their ill fortune — fast bowler Glenn McGrath failed a last-minute fitness test and England then won the toss — but were so ragged in the field that they perhaps did not deserve much luck.
Their bowlers failed to exploit the swing on offer, while they also dropped two catches and took a wicket off one of a string of no-balls. They bowled 22 in all.
McGrath, a bowling miser and Australia’s enforcer, had missed the second Test after stepping on a stray ball just before the toss. At Trent Bridge, a swollen right elbow sidelined him.
With Jason Gillespie already axed after a wretched run of form, the attack looked suspect — Australia have only started three Tests in seven years without McGrath and Gillespie -– but England, so dominant in the second and third Tests, failed to capitalise fully on a slowish, spongy pitch.
They reached lunch on 129 for one, scoring at almost five runs an over, but perhaps failed to retain their concentration as the rain and dark clouds turned the rest of the day into a stop-start affair.
Strauss went first and in freakish circumstances after contributing 35. He bottom-edged an attempted sweep off Shane Warne on to his toe and the ball ballooned up to Matthew Hayden at first slip.
The rain then wiped out an hour and soon returned in two more salvoes.
Shaun Tait, a 22-year-old fast bowler making his Baggy Green debut and with a slingy action reminiscent of Jeff Thomson, took his chance with two wickets in 12 balls as the players got back on.
A fine inswinger worked its way through Trescothick’s forward prod — the left-hander hit one six, off Warne, and eight fours during his 111-ball stay — to make it 137 for two.
Trescothick could have gone 10 runs earlier, inside-edging Lee into his stumps only for a no-ball to be called.
Nine runs later, Ian Bell had gone, shuffling half-forward and edging behind to give Adam Gilchrist his 300th Test victim.
Only three keepers — Ian Healy and Rod Marsh of Australia and Mark Boucher of South Africa — have completed more dismissals.
Vaughan and Pietersen rebuilt with a patient 67-run stand but were given plenty of help. Pietersen, on 14, shovelled a return catch to Michael Kasprowicz only for the ball to go to ground while Vaughan, having made 30, saw Hayden drop him in the gully.
Vaughan produced some of his finest shots to reach 50 but his dismissal galling. Ricky Ponting brought himself on and his medium pacers looked innocuous until Vaughan edged a gentle outswinger behind.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings):
M.E. Trescothick b Tait 65
A.J. Strauss c Hayden b Warne 35
M.P. Vaughan c Gilchrist b Ponting 58
I.R. Bell c Gilchrist b Tait 3
K.P. Pietersen not out 33
A. Flintoff not out 8
EXTRAS (LB-4, W-1, NB-22) 27
TOTAL (for four wkts, 60 overs) 229
FALL OF WKTS: 1-105, 2-137, 3-146, 4-213.
TO BAT: G.O. Jones, A.F. Giles, M.J. Hoggard, S.J. Harmison, S.P. Jones.
BOWLING (to-date): Lee 16-1-75-0 (7nb); Kasprowicz 18-2-56-0 (11nb); Tait 14-1-62-2 (4nb); Warne 6-1-23-1; Ponting 6-2-9-1 (1w).
AUSTRALIA: M.L. Hayden, J.L. Langer, R.T. Ponting, D.R. Martyn, M.J. Clarke, S.M. Katich, A.C. Gilchrist, S.K. Warne, B. Lee, M.S. Kasprowicz, S.W. Tait.
UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and S.A. Bucknor (West Indies).
TV UMPIRE: M.R. Benson (England).
MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka).—Reuters
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