England’s
lack of variety in their pace attack was painfully exposed as Australia
enlarged their overnight 303 for three to the dangerous proportions of 507
for seven wickets and shifted the psychological balance of this Ashes
series.
Australia
have an excellent chance of following up their enormous total with England
wickets because they have pace bowlers with more pace and variety, two
essentials for this pitch.
Stuart Broad managed his 200th Test wicket when a short ball at exactly the
right height for Michael Clarke – chest height – was deflected
into his stumps. But Clarke did have 187 at the time.
England’s pace bowlers found a little more reverse-swing on the second day
than they had on the first, but not enough to disturb Australia’s passage to
500 – and their mental revival.
Clarke did not make 200 – he scored four Test double-centuries last year, one
of them a treble – but otherwise he maintained the superb traditions of
Australian batsmanship, which had been considered in some quarters to be
dead.
Clarke lost Steve Smith and the pantomime villain David Warner in the morning,
both to Graeme Swann. But Brad Haddin kept going with Clarke in a stand of
62 and when Mitchell Starc came in to use ‘the long handle’, Australia’s
scoring-rate accelerated and England were made to look an ordinary side in
the field.
England were therefore grateful to Swann for keeping them in the game, while
their three seamers all conceded more than a hundred runs each in return for
two wickets.
To add to England’s ordinariness, Matt Prior missed two catches – although
Jonathan Trott bailed him out by hanging on at slip to the chance offered by
Warner before lunch.
The other chance dropped by Prior was offered by Haddin off an inside edge,
which Prior could not hold with his left hand.
Anderson was the unlucky bowler in this case, and the century that he recorded
yesterday was not the sort he would have envisaged on his return to his home
ground.
Haddin, reprieved, reached his half-century but then sat back because Starc
started to unfold, if not a sterling defence, then a serious array of
attacking shots.
Even Swann was clubbed by Starc and had to be withdrawn. England’s offspinner
had done his stuff with five wickets, but his economy rate was 3.6 an over –
Clarke and Starc saw to that.
Starc reached his 50 off 53 balls with his ninth four - and the newfound
confidence will no doubt help his left-arm pace bowling.
England, after Australia had seen off the second new ball in the first hour,
revised their expectations down to a draw. But if they are to go to Durham
still 2-0 up they have a lot of batting to do against Ryan Harris and Peter
Siddle, both faster than any of England’s pace bowlers, while Starc will
create footmarks for the restored Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon.