LONDON, Aug 22: Australian quick Shaun Tait hopes his hostile spell in the drawn tour match against Northamptonshire will be enough to give him an Ashes Test debut against England on Thursday.
The 22-year-old had an eventful day at Northampton against the English county side taking two wickets and forcing opener Tim Roberts to retire with blood pouring from a gash above his left eyebrow.
Tait finished the contest with a wound of his own when Ben Phillips unleashed a booming drive which struck him on his knee causing him to collapse to the ground.
He left the field and is assured the bruising will not affect his chances of an international bow in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday.
“It was pretty painful for a while but it is not too bad now,” said Tait who has been widely tipped to replace the misfiring Jason Gillespie in the Australian team which is locked at 1-1 against England in after three of the five Tests.
Tait tempted Usman Afzaal into an ugly pull and knocked out David Sales’s leg-stump to finish with two for 52.
The match with Northamptonshire ended in a draw.
Australia made 374-6 declared in their first innings with Hayden and Michael Clarke making centuries before bowling out the home side for 169.
The tourists reached 226-2 in their second innings at the close with stand-in skipper Justin Langer making an unbeaten 86 and Simon Katich 63.
SCOREBOARD
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings):
J.L. Langer c Wright b Phillips 1
M.L. Hayden b Brown 136
S.M. Katich c Wright b Jones 19
D.R. Martyn c Wessels b Jones 26
M.J. Clarke c A.R. White b Panesar 121
B.J. Hodge lbw b Phillips 34
B.J. Haddin not out 32
B. Lee not out 2
EXTRAS (W-1, NB-2) 3
TOTAL (for six decl, 96 overs) 374
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-30, 3-69, 4-275, 5-317, 6-359.
DID NOT BAT: B. Lee, S.W. Tait, M.S. Kasprowicz, S.C.G. MacGill, G.D. McGrath.
BOWLING: Wright 23-7-58-0 (1nb, 1w); Phillips 20-5-50-2; Jones 11-0-70-2; Shafayat 3-1-28-0 (1nb); Brown 19-7-66-1; Panesar 18-3-91-1; A.R. White 2-0-11-0.
NORHAMPTONSHIRE (1st Innings):
T.W. Roberts retired hurt 18
B.M. Shafayat c Haddin b McGrath 0
R.A. White c Clarke b Lee 2
U. Afzaal c Katich b Tait 15
D.J.G. Sales b Tait 0
M.H. Wessels c Haddin b Kasprowicz 15
A.R. White c Hayden b Lee 17
B.J. Phillips not out 37
D.G. Wright c Clarke b McGrath 17
M.S. Panesar run out 16
P.S. Jones b McGrath 13
EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1, NB-13) 18
TOTAL (all out, 50.1 overs) 169
FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-10, 3-41, 4-42, 5-81, 6-82, 7-103, 8-124, 9-169.
BOWLING: McGrath 11-2-24-3; Lee 8-0-30-2 (2nb); Kasprowicz 14-1-43-1 (8nb); Tait 14.1-1-52-2 (3nb, 1w); Hodge 3-0-15-0.
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):
S.M. Katich c Sales b Brown 63
B.J. Hodge run out 24
J.L. Langer not out 86
D.R. Martyn not out 43
EXTRAS (B-9, LB-1) 10
TOTAL (for two wkts, 58 overs) 226
FALL OF WKTS: 1-75, 2-112.
BOWLING: Wright 5-0-20-0; Phillips 5-0-18-0; Panesar 24-2-92-0; Jones 13-1-59-0; Brown 10-4-22-1; Afzaal 1-0-5-0.
UMPIRES: N.L. Bainton and B. Dudleston.
NOTE: 12 players per side (11 bat, 11 field).—Agencies