Australia 389 for 5 (Clarke 109*, Haddin 57*) v England
Scorecard
Michael Clarke continued his love affair with the Adelaide Oval with an unflustered, unbeaten century as England's Ashes challenge wilted in the face of Australian adventure on the second morning of the second Test.
Virtually everything that could go wrong for England did as Clarke and Brad Haddin batted through the morning session with commendable enterprise, adding 116 at almost four runs an over. Ben Stokes missed out on a first Test wicket because of a no ball and the list of half chances to elude England grew as they failed to press home their hard-won position of equality from the first day.
Clarke's sixth Adelaide hundred in nine Tests, and his 26th of all, was his second in succession, following his century in Brisbane when Australia's domination was assured. This one was a perfectly-constructed affair with the Test in the balance; made all the more noteworthy because of occasional suggestions that first his back and then his ankle were troubling him more than the England attack. When he reached his hundred, the big screen flashed up an average of 110 on this ground, higher even than The Don - Adelaide's most revered figure.
Clarke has skippered Australia through a fallow period in Test cricket, but his hundred has personally put Australia in a powerful position from which hopes will be stirring ever more noticeably that they can regain the Ashes.
England, who fielded two spinners on a gripping pitch, were hopeful of restricting Australia to 350 at start of play but instead they failed to exert any control as Clarke and Haddin took the game away from them. By lunch, their sixth-wicket stand was worth 132 in 34 overs.
England will reflect that it could have been so different. Clarke's determination to dominate the left-arm spin of Monty Panesar from the outset almost went awry as he skipped down the pitch to his first ball of the morning and spooned it over extra cover, marking his fifty with relief as the ball evaded Stokes. England's decision to begin with Panesar did not pay off as his four overs cost 22, broken by the deft footwork of Australia's captain.
England also had a glimmer of a chance to dismiss him when he was 91. Again Clarke's foot movement was ambitious, this time to the offspin of Graeme Swann, and his glance thudded through the hands and into the ankle of Ian Bell at backward short leg. A tough catch missed, Bell, and the wicketkeeper Matt Prior, then failed to gather cleanly to pull off a run out as Clarke dived back into his crease and rose with the sense that fortune was favouring the brave.
Haddin was an impressive accomplice, but he, too, had one or two moments which fell his way. James Anderson, with no swing to sustain him, looked listless, but when he produced a good bouncer to Haddin, on 30, the hook shot fell short of Panesar, who reacted cumbersomely at long leg as the ball sailed out of the unfinished stand. It was barely a catch, although in keeping with the ground works, Panesar also seemed to be wearing concrete boots.
Building works have left one of the square boundaries only 53 metres - it will be closer to 60 metres when the job is done - and Swann's exasperation was apparent as Haddin's top-edged sweep, little better than a mis-hit, sailed over the boundary for six.
But Swann's frustration was nothing in comparison to that of Stokes. He began poorly, but in his third over produced an excellent delivery to have Haddin, on 51, caught at the wicket. Stokes had already fielded congratulations from his team-mates for his first Test wicket when replays showed he had overstepped. The creeping tendency of umpires barely to monitor no-balls unless a wicket falls, in which case they rely on technology to make a delayed judgment, has been overshadowed by the larger debates surrounding DRS, but it deserves examination.
Haddin could not resist a jokey congratulation to Stokes at the end of the over about his first Test wicket that wasn't, and as Stokes's manner suggested an appetite for continuing the conversation, the umpire Marias Erasmus intervened to calm the situation.
Clarke continues Adelaide love affair
This article
Clarke continues Adelaide love affair
can be opened in url
http://naturalherbmedic.blogspot.com/2013/12/clarke-continues-adelaide-love-affair.html
Clarke continues Adelaide love affair
