Nottingham in many ways paralled Edgbaston, the Australian attack was again without McGrath, and again in his absence his cohorts bowled in an unprofessional and “un-Australian” manner. Unfortunately, they did not have the benefit of shifting some of that blame onto their captain Ricky Ponting, as the ‘punter’ like Old Trafford picked the wrong side and therefore has still not had the opportunity to right his wrong from Edgbaston.
England took full advantage of the situation thanks in large to another positive opening stand. Trescothick will always be the subject of criticism because his technique can look so bad when he gets out, but, for a man who did not look up to it in his previous two Ashes series, it would certainly be satisfying for him to be the top run-getter this series. He has achieved largely from playing positively but also smart. He has tried harder to leave balls and only hit the bad balls. The Aussies may not have been able to bowl consistently in his trouble areas, but he equally has not allowed them to settle.
Aside from Trescothick, the remainder of the top five have been largely inconsistent. This was again evident here, with only Vaughan passing 50, and all four of them really getting themselves out to strokes at balls they did not really need to play at. Fortunately, for them they were saved by Super Freddie again. Flintoff’s batting had been in a bit of lull since the tour to South Africa, where he was able to show marked improvement in his bowling, but since Edgbaston he was able to recover the form that he has shown over the last two summers. His first (of many I hope) century against Australia was certainly one of the best I have seen him play. It was not the type of innings that one would associate with Flintoff, well not the Freddie of old anyway. It was very much controlled aggression, with text book drives and well judged singles. The Australians set the field back in the hope that he could not hold off temptation, but Flintoff again showed how much he has matured as a batsman and as a player. Credit also needs to go to Geraint Jones, the much maligned wicket keeper, his 85 was an innings filled with delicious cross-batted strokes and cover drives. It was an innings that people expected of him, but as of late had begun to question whether he was capable of playing it. He is the type of player that I think will take a long time to get acceptance from the public, when he is good he can be a remarkable player, but when it all goes bad, it almost as if he is a blight on the team, the 12th Aussie. His inconsistencies have hurt England, but not badly enough and one hopes that he continue to improve with bat and gloves.
Once England had amassed 477, the fear was always that Australia’s batsmen would finally find form and impose themselves on this series. The England bowlers, however, proved that it was no fluke as they again ripped through the no.1 batting line-up in the world, and ensuring that they would be asked to follow-on for the first time since the late 80’s. The chief destroyer, Simon Jones with five wickets, is surely in the middle of his career-making series. Prior to this series, some considered Jones to be the weakest link of England’s pace attack, now he can step forward and without hesitation claim to be the second best bowler in the side. He had shown us his ability to reverse swing the ball at Edgbaston and OT, but here it was conventional swing that he utilised to bring down the Aussies. It has been a remarkable transformation from the bowler who debuted at Lords back in 2002 and barely had any idea where he was landing the ball let alone swing it.
His importance to England was highlighted in the second innings, when he was off the injured. The attack lacked the same level of potency and fire as it did in the first innings and Australia was allowed to perform much better. If, England are to secure this series at the Oval, they will need to expect, or even demand more from Steve Harmison. Harmy started the series well, but his form and aggression has really started to taper off in the last couple of tests. It may have something to do with the intensity and the pressure these games are being played at, but if there is a time when they need him to dig deeper and find that extra edge it is now.
In spite of the diminished bowling capacity, England still managed to dismiss Australia for a second time, albeit with a little assistance from umpires. The Australians have not managed the rub of the green this series and it certainly showed in the final two days at Nottingham. Tempers were frayed, firstly at a run-out by substitute fielder and the secondly at a bad LBW decision. Nevertheless, these are almost expected in any five day test match, and to see the Australians so visibly distressed is a sign of how much pressure and discomfort they have been this series.
It is for this reason, that England will rue the fact that they let the game comes so close. Like Edgbaston they fluffed their lines just before the curtain call, and again it was the team of Warne and Lee who were perpetrators. Australia will again be buoyed by the fact they almost won a game that they so deserved not to win. It would have been the ultimate let-down to see England come so close and throw it all away in a session of mindless batting. Fortunately, the fearless duo of Giles and Hoggard showed courage and greater deal of common sense than the majority of their counterparts in erasing the deficit and setting up perhaps the most anticipated sporting event in nearly 40 years.
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