Haddin epitomises Australia fight

The first Test ebbed and flowed right up until the moment of uncertainty surrounding Brad Haddin's dismissal before the waters finally closed over Australia

Brad Haddin re-marked his guard like a man who had given the possibility of losing barely a nanosecond's thought. England's fielders swarmed around him, convinced of the edge that would deliver them victory. James Anderson was not so sure, having heard no sound. Behind Anderson, the umpire Aleem Dar was even less aware of the possibility of a nick, not for the first time in the match. Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Anderson conferred, briskly but calmly, before deciding to review Dar's decision.

Offering them not the slightest bit of notice, Haddin strode down the wicket and conferred with Australia's last man, James Pattinson, ahead of the next ball he looked so certain would come. As England held their breath, Haddin and Pattinson began planning how to whittle those last few runs down. They also had the chance to ponder for a moment how they managed to get within 15 runs of an England team so few had expected them to seriously challenge. A match flashed past their eyes.

Trent Bridge had revealed its charms and dramas slowly. First impressions were seldom the same as final ones. Day one was frenetic but lacking in poise, nerves playing as great a part in proceedings as skills, tactics or conditions. Australia's first man through the wall on day one had not been Ashton Agar, a nervous debutant yet to become the popular phenomenon he is now. It was instead Peter Siddle, who confounded the small army of critics who had questioned his place. England's first blows were struck not by Anderson but Steven Finn, a hair's breadth away from a grand hat-trick with Michael Clarke as its apogee.

Pattinson started the match not as a nerveless tailender, but a decidedly keyed up fast bowler. He hurled down the first over of the Test match, a nervy bouncer to Cook followed up with a series of balls sprayed too wide to be of any danger to the batsman. Haddin made a similarly ginger start to his series, diving over a difficult leg-side chance offered from Pattinson's bowling and then having his defence punctured second ball by a ripping offbreak from Graeme Swann, who was never again quite as dangerous as he had seemed at that moment.

The disarming of Swann was perhaps chief among Agar's many achievements. Apart from setting records for No. 11 innings and partnerships, bringing a smile to cricket watchers the world over with his charismatic batting, and holding his own as a tidy left-arm spin bowler, Agar showed a confidence and assurance against Swann that can only improve Australia's chances of combating him for the rest of the series. The way he advanced to drive Swann on the second morning, lofting him imperiously towards the Trent Bridge Members Pavilion, was to be tellingly repeated by Pattinson as the target ticked closer on day five.

	The Huddle - Australia will have to move on

The confidence with which Pattinson and Haddin faced up to Swann, Broad and Finn left an enormous weight of pressure on Anderson. Throughout the match he responded stirringly to Cook's demands, extending his spells an extra over here or there, and coming back more frequently than either of his pace counterparts. Ultimately Anderson's tally for the match reached into a 56th over. Between them, Finn and Stuart Broad bowled 54.5. Anderson's pre-eminence as a fast-medium bowler in this series, and in the world, is unquestioned. But he is highly unlikely to be able to sustain the Trent Bridge effort for five Tests, let alone ten.

Something else that cannot be sustained, at least in Australian eyes, is the disparity in the two teams' use of the DRS. Another slightly misleading point for much of day one had been England's use of the system, notably a poor Finn review against his caught behind dismissal. The more lasting pattern of the match would be established late on the first evening, when Chris Rogers reviewed his lbw dismissal and found himself on the wrong end of a marginal umpire's call.

These would surface again and again to Australia's displeasure, though England were also to be humbugged by Jonathan Trott's lbw exit when bat appeared likely to have been involved. Broad's survival of a clear catch to slip was less the denial of sportsmanship than a reminder of flawed umpires, flawed Australian use of reviews and a flawed system.

Nothing, though, was quite so flawed as Australia's batting. The memorable tenth-wicket stands in both innings played a huge role in ensuring Clarke's team would stay close with England. They were in the same instant a reminder that this side has been essentially relying on freak batting events to keep them competitive for quite some time.

In 2011 and 2012 such happenings revolved around Clarke, who batted as if in a perpetual dream. This year too few of the runs have come from those men who answer to making them in their job descriptions. Clarke has said he does not care where the runs come from, so long as they arrive from somewhere. But no team can reasonably expect tail-end miracles of the kind produced by Siddle in Delhi, Mitchell Starc in Mohali and Agar here to carry them towards any kind of consistent success.

Haddin knew this as he stood side by side with Pattinson, refusing to believe the day was done. English hearts leapt briefly with joy when the replay screen appeared to show a speck of heat on Haddin's inside edge, then returned to a more laboured pulse as the third umpire Marais Erasmus cross-checked Hot Spot with the stump audio. Only three days before he had been oblivious to an inside edge by Trott.

Stern and confident, Haddin hung on to his thoughts of the next ball, the next run and the final victory, right until the moment Dar crossed himself and raised his finger. The younger Pattinson bowed his head, in frustration and defeat. But Haddin stared straight ahead, not willing to lose face. He kept his defiant posture on the walk off Trent Bridge, even if the removal of his helmet revealed a face lined with pain. However Haddin dealt with this defeat, he would not grant England the opportunity to see it. If his stance said anything, it was this: it isn't over.

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England lean on Anderson again

Whatever they may say to the contrary, England are increasingly reliant on the skill, fitness and reliability of James Anderson

It was entirely fitting that James Anderson took the match-winning wicket at Trent Bridge. Never has England's reliance on him been so painfully exposed. Over recent months, England have lent on him like an elderly person might a zimmer frame, or like an alcoholic in search of a drink.

Perhaps that is the better simile, for England's over-reliance upon Anderson is not healthy. The burden upon him, not just in Test cricket, but in ODIs as well, has become immense. While his colleagues lose form, fitness and confidence, Anderson has been consistently excellent for several years, leading his captain to coax just one more over, one more spell from him time after time. England go to the well so often that fears are growing it may run dry.

It looked for a while on the last day as if England had reached that moment. After an immense opening spell of 13 overs that took his tally for game above 50 in unusual heat, Anderson was forced off the pitch with what the England camp insist - an insistence perhaps tinged with hope - was an attack of cramp.

At that stage he might have presumed his work was done. Australia were 80 runs from their target when the ninth wicket fell; his colleagues should have been able to take it from there.

Instead, Anderson was obliged to take on plenty of fluids at the lunch break and found himself forced into service once more after it became painfully obvious that England had no replacement capable of sustaining his match-clinching burst. It took him only two overs to finish the game off and clinch not just his second five-wicket haul of the match but the second ten-wicket haul of his career. His statistics, dented by premature exposure to international cricket, may never show it but his bowling over the last three years has touched a level of greatness to which very few England bowlers have ventured.

Anderson was magnificent in this game. It is not just his skill, but his fitness and reliability that render him such a valuable player. MS Dhoni rated him the difference between the sides after England's Test series victory in India and it was no exaggeration. It is the same in this series: if Anderson were injured, this England attack would hold little fear for Australia.

This surface offered him little. There was just a little conventional swing and seam and minimal pace or bounce. Conditions were much more akin to Ahmedabad or Kolkata than to stereotypical English pitches. But Anderson, with his nagging control and ability to reverse-swing the ball into and away from the batsmen from a well-disguised action, rose above such obstacles to remain a potent force. It was a performance of which Zaheer Khan or Mohammad Asif would have been proud.

He deserved better support, though. While Stuart Broad may be worryingly fragile, he had an increasingly impressive Test, but a couple of other England players would have slipped away from Trent Bridge amid the celebrations, feeling low as result of their personal contributions.

Certainly Steven Finn, cutting a diffident figure for a man capable of such brutish spells, endured a horrible final day. Not only did he miss a tough chance at deep-backward square leg to reprieve Brad Haddin on 62, but he failed to sustain the pressure created by Anderson when he relieved him in the attack. The contrast was unflattering: while Anderson delivered three wicket maidens in the session and conceded only 29 runs in a 13-over spell, Finn was plundered for 15 in his first over and five in his second. He was then removed from the attack and is far from certain to play at Lord's.

	James Anderson's post-match press conference

Finn is too young and full of potential to be written off but there is a concern about his lack of progress. He was dropped after the Perth Test in 2010 for conceding four an over but conceded 4.68 an over here. While he bowled one decent spell on the first day and another on the fourth, his lack of control has routinely released the pressure on the opposition in recent months. Again, England insist he is fully fit but the suspicion remains that the shin soreness that troubled him in earlier in the summer has robbed him of some confidence and rhythm.

Had England lost this game, it might have been remembered as one of the lowest moments of Graeme Swann's career, too. He has endured disappointing games before - Cardiff and Edgbaston in 2009 spring to mind, as does Brisbane in 2010 and The Oval 2012 - but rarely when so much has been expected of him in conditions so apparently favourable. England had originally planned not to take the new ball on the final day but so unthreatening was Swann they had to, with Alastair Cook admitting that "it wasn't doing a lot for Swanny, so we changed tactics".

Perhaps expectations were unrealistically high. With England bowling last on such a dry pitch and Swann playing on his home ground, events seemed to have been set-up for Swann to strike the crucial blows. But the pitch turned less than had been anticipated and Swann, who has never taken a five-wicket haul in a first-class game on the ground and had not taken a Test wicket here until 2012, was rarely threatening.

He did, however, produce one good spell, late on the penultimate day, that perhaps suggested there was enough in the pitch to help had he bowled with the bite and turn that we have come to expect.

The miles on the clock may be starting to show. Swann has suffered from back and calf injuries in the last few weeks and underwent a second operation on his right elbow earlier this year. While the sluggish pace of the pitch did little for him, that can be no excuse for the surfeit of full tosses he delivered.

That is more of a worry than Finn's loss of form. Swann's prowess had been considered a key factor in the gap between the sides before this series and a succession of dry pitches are anticipated to aid his spin. If he is struggling for form or fitness, England will become even more reliant on Anderson. Monty Panesar remains the second-best spinner in England but has not been at his best in recent months - he was dropped from the Sussex side a few weeks ago - while James Tredwell, in favour with the selectors but out of form with the ball, has an eye-watering first-class bowling average of 428 this season.

It was somehow typical that Ian Bell's immense contribution to this result was overshadowed by the performances of others. He will be consoled, however, in the knowledge that he played the innings that defined this match and, to this point, the most mature and important innings of his career. After a modest 18 months, his confidence and form is as good as it ever has been and he should have proved to himself as much as anyone that he can produce such performances regularly.

Cook's contribution could easily be overlooked on the final day, too. When he first moved into the slip cordon, he was something approaching a liability. Only a year ago, he put down several chances against South Africa that proved hugely costly for England. But, just as he worked on his range of strokes and his issues outside off stump, Cook worked on his weakness until he made it a strength.

Here, as the sole slip fielder and standing closer to the bat than normal to account for the lack of carry from the sluggish pitch, he held on to a couple of sharp chance, the first off Ashton Agar and the second off Peter Siddle. He did provide a reminder that you have never mastered this game by also putting down a relatively easy chance offered by Siddle but Cook, like his star fast bowler, has proved that with hard work and self belief, continual improvement is possible and can lift players to unprecedented heights. Neither Cook or Anderson would claim to be the most talented cricketers their country has produced, but they may well end their careers as the highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in England Test history.

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Azam, Talat give Zarai Taraqiati Bank last-over win

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited 156 for 2 (Azam 77*, Talat 37*) beat Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited 155 for 6 (Waqas 41, Rehan 2-26) by 8 wickets
Scorecard

A flamboyant knock of 77 from 18-year-old Baba Azam and a stable 37 from Hussain Talat helped Zarai Taraqiati Bank chase 156 with two balls to spare against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited in Karachi. Azam and Talat put on 112 for the third wicket in just 13.3 overs after they lost their first two wickets for 44. They needed 94 off the last ten overs and 56 from the last five, and Azam's six fours and three sixes, along with four boundaries from Talat made the chase possible.

Earlier, SNGPL were put in to bat and all their top-order batsmen got starts but couldn't convert them into big scores as they were 68 for 3 after 10 overs. However, a run-a-ball innings of 41 from Ali Waqas and quick contributions from Khurram Shehzad (20 off 16) and Imran Khalid (26 off 12) ensured they reached a competitive 155 for 6, which eventually did not prove enough.

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Finn must fly

Some say he is 24, with time on his side. Others say his Test career is going sideways

Try telling Steven Finn that victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan. As England celebrated their victory over Australia at Trent Bridge he will have felt if not alone then certainly detached. Finn's relief at victory was probably greater than anybody's - had England lost, he might have been a Fred Tate for the 21st century - but even that will have been overshadowed by the insecurity that surrounds his Test career and his apparently recurring Ashes nightmare.

The final day at Trent Bridge was almost humiliating for Finn. Alastair Cook only trusted him to bowl two of the 39.5 overs, and they disappeared for 25 to get Australia back into a game that they had apparently lost. Then he dropped Brad Haddin at deep backward square leg, a difficult chance but one he would have taken to the grave had England been beaten.

Finn had allowed Australia back into the match once already, with a poor spell to Phillip Hughes and Ashton Agar on Thursday. He went from taking the new ball in the first innings to not getting a bowl until the 29th over of the second. Even allowing for the context - Stuart Broad's first-innings injury and Graeme Swann's early use in the second innings - it felt like a significant demotion. For a bowler there are few things as hurtful as realising his captain does not trust him. The match wasn't an unmitigated disaster - Finn bowled a superb five-over spell on Saturday evening - but it wasn't far off, and his place in the team will be England's main point of discussion ahead of Lord's.

There are two ways of looking at Finn: he is either 24, with time on his side, or he has been a Test cricketer for three years - Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann, established stars, only began their Test careers seven and 14 months before Finn - and is going sideways. The sense that he has not progressed is most acute in an Ashes series, for Finn is enduring the same problems as on the 2010-11 tour of Australia, when he was dropped for the fourth Test despite being the leading wicket-taker in the series. The reason was simple: he was a walking four-ball. The problem has re-occurred two and a half years later. Finn has been set aside for potential greatness for a few years; his development is taking a frustratingly long time.

In the age of media training, sportsmen are not encouraged to be lavish with the truth, yet Finn recently suggested that he had not developed as he had hoped. His overall career record is fine - 90 Test wickets at 29.40, a lower average than any of his team-mates - yet a more relevant statistic is his economy rate of 3.65. This compares unfavourably to James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett, who are all between 2.90 and 3.10, although Graham Onions concedes runs at a similar rate to Finn.

That does not fit the ethos of a side obsessed with bowling dry. The peculiar thing is that, on paper, Finn is David Saker's driest dream: he could have been invented by boffins trying to create a parsimonious fast bowler, and when he first arrived as an international player, he cited Glenn McGrath as the bowler he wanted to be.

Increasingly Steve Harmison seems a more relevant point of comparison. Both make the little girl with the little curl seem like the model of equilibrium. Finn's outwardly secure exterior suggested he was a different animal to Harmison, yet increasingly he seems to suffer damaging lapses in confidence. His two overs on the final day against Australia were those of a man whose head had gone. Yet at other times he has been unplayable, most notably during a wonderful spell against South Africa at Lord's a year ago. He has excelled at times in one-day cricket, although he was dropped from the England side during the Champions Trophy.

	The most encouraging thing for Finn is that, generally speaking, he is good at the things you can't teach and not so good at those you can

Much of Finn's success in one-day cricket has come from a drive-inviting length, whereas in Tests he frequently bowls too short. McGrath is an obvious reference point for a tall fast bowler, but in some ways Finn is more reminiscent of Jason Gillespie. At his best, Gillespie bowled a much fuller length than almost all new-ball bowlers, allowing the snarling seam movement to do the rest. This is something Finn does not do nearly enough at Test level. It is not possible for Finn to simply change his default setting; Finn needs to train his brain over time.

In the short term it might be beneficial to replace Finn with Bresnan, merciful even, yet it's hard to know how that would impact his confidence in the medium-term, especially as it would be the second time he had been dropped in the middle of an Ashes series. After that spell against South Africa at Lord's it seemed that Finn had left Bresnan in his slipstream forever, and that he would always play when England were picking three seamers. After a decent series against India, he was poor in New Zealand and has not recovered.

Finn shortened his run-up during that tour, which has been cited as the main problem by many; equally significant if not more so, however, is Finn's relative lack of tactical awareness. England, particularly Saker and Anderson, are big on understanding the game and reacting to circumstances. This is one of Finn's weakest points, and was demonstrated again during Agar's innings on Friday.

The most encouraging thing for Finn is that, generally speaking, he is good at the things you can't teach and not so good at those you can. There is no need to panic yet. In Anderson he had a perfect role model. The two are incomparable as bowlers, yet their early careers had a similar arc: a burst of success followed by some lost years as they attempt to understand their game and their action.

Anderson went through some extremely dark times, far darker than Finn is going through at the moment. At Finn's age, Anderson had not been a regular in the team for over three years and had 46 Test wickets at 38.39; at Trent Bridge yesterday he went from extremely good to truly great. Anderson may have been born with a degree of greatness in him, but ultimately he had to achieve it. There is no reason why Finn should not do the same.

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An English plan made in Australia

Something that David Saker had seen in Chris Rogers' batting led to a wicket and an on-pitch tribute from England's leading bowler

James Anderson wasn't looking at his captain. James Anderson wasn't looking at the catcher. And James Anderson wasn't even looking at Graeme Swann in the seconds after his Chris Rogers wicket.

Anderson was looking at someone though. He was pointing. He was screaming. He was connecting with a special person on the balcony. It was passionate and romantic. But instead of a beautiful woman wearing a white gown leaning seductively on the balcony, it was the round, flushed face of David Saker.

Saker didn't blow a kiss at Anderson; he just gave him the thumbs up.

Only lip readers will know, or at least think they know, what Anderson said to his beloved coach. Anyone who didn't believe in cricket coaches might have been converted by this dramatic moment. Saker is certainly of more use to Anderson than merely driving him to and from the ground.

This all came about, like the best crime films, with a plan.

The plan was not all that complicated. Anderson would bowl around the wicket to Rogers. He would pitch it up on off stump. There would be a short midwicket. And Rogers would eventually flick one in the air to the short midwicket.

It could have been something Saker had seen in this innings. Or it could have been something Saker remembered from a Shield match against Rogers in 1999. It's even possible that Rogers showed the weakness to chipping in the air when Saker was Victoria's assistant coach.

Saker coached Peter Siddle and James Pattinson before leaving Australia for the England job. He was under Cricket Australia's nose for over five years. Victoria's fast-bowling line up was scary, and Saker was getting credit. In any of the many recent overhauls Saker could have been tempted back home to finish the job he started at Victoria.

Instead he plots the downfall of his countryman and gets screaming adulation of the opposition.

It wasn't just any wicket either; this flaccid flick from Rogers was what has given England their chance to win. With Rogers at the crease, Australia had one end locked tight. Rogers had dulled Graeme Swann. Australia had moved past 100. Michael Clarke was still with him. There were reasons to be optimistic. Hell, there were reasons to tease random English people that their 10-0 prediction may not last until lunch on Sunday, if you're that kind of fan.

And it wasn't as if a James Anderson late-hooping million-dollar ball took him out. The ball couldn't have been any straighter if it were a Southern Baptist Preacher. It wasn't particularly quick, maybe the slightest bit of pace off. It played no tricks off the pitch. Had there not been the yellin' and screamin' at Saker on the balcony, it would've looked like a lucky wicket.

Maybe it was. But England seemed to get a lot of lucky wickets. They continually aimed at Shane Watson's massive front pad until they hit it. They gave Ed Cowan a part-time spinner to hit out of the rough knowing that he might be more likely to have a go off Joe Root than Swann. They kept the ball in the place Clarke is most likely to play a half shot and nick behind.

But until tea, England were ordinary. They were flat. Steven Finn was hidden. Swann looked out of sorts. Anderson was manageable. And Broad looked more pantomime villain than cold-blooded assassin. They were playing like a side who thought 311 runs were way too many for Australia, even though the evidence was proving otherwise.

According to Ian Bell, the break came at the right time. Sitting his bowlers down, the man with the round face and Australian accent gave them new plans.

After tea Australia lost four wickets. They had to use their Ashton Agar. They only scored 63 runs in 34.2 overs. They lost all advantages. And referrals. They were naked.

Saker and Anderson had made them so. The coach, his 'most skillful bowler in the world' and their simple plan.

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Australia lose openers' thread

The partnership between Shane Watson and Chris Rogers rattled England and made Australia's target look eminently achievable - but the men that followed could not keep it up

For 84 runs and 24 overs, Shane Watson and Chris Rogers left England's bowlers more bereft of ideas about how to confound Australian batsmen than at any time in recent memory. As a promising opening combination read faultlessly from the book on how to handle the new ball, a curious flatness descended on Trent Bridge. In contravention of what the tourists are expected to do - collapse - Watson and Rogers rotated the strike, cuffed regular boundaries and kept the good stuff out. Seldom in recent times has Australia's batting been cause for less concern.

Of course, it did not last. Watson departed first ball after drinks to Stuart Broad, victim of a marginal lbw decision just as Rogers had been in the first innings. What followed was a slow, inexorable decline, as English pressure compounded Australian lapses of the kind that have come to be expected almost as a matter of course ever since Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey disappeared from Test match view.

While the wicket of Michael Clarke provided a definitive conclusion to the chief sportswriters' walking debate and that of Phillip Hughes ensured questions of technology would only grow in urgency, they were dramatic parts of the wider whole. Shown how to conduct themselves in these circumstances and conditions by their openers, Australia's batsmen failed comprehensively to follow suit, once again leaving an enormous task in the hands of the debutant Ashton Agar.

In the case of Ed Cowan, Australia have a batsman apparently out of step with his natural game, having lost the kind of patience and judgment that took him into the side in the first place. Should they go on to record a stirring victory, it will not conceal the fact that the new coach Darren Lehmann's most pressing task is the same that confronted Mickey Arthur. At least he will have the example of the opening stand to point out.

One of the most startling effects Rogers and Watson had while they batted together was to make the target Australia confronted look eminently achievable. England's tail had appeared satisfied with their lead at the start of the day, after Ian Bell and Stuart Broad had ridden considerable luck but also showed plenty of skill to ensure it would go beyond 300. But within a few overs of the chase English brows had began to furrow, as a pair of Australia batsmen showed authority, good sense and sound technique.

Only the occasional play-and-miss interrupted their flow, and apart from one Watson loft to the straight midwicket boundary from Graeme Swann scarcely a single shot was struck in the air. The slow, deteriorating surface meant it was admittedly easier to face the new ball than the old but at no stage did Rogers and Watson allow England's bowlers to settle, punishing the merest miscalculations in line and length and also scoring from plenty of deliveries that were blameless, using quick feet and subtle hands to do so.

	The Huddle - Pitch kept Australia in the game

For once, the end of Watson's innings was not a matter for too much introspection about wasted foundations. Stuart Broad swung a good one into him, the pad was struck, and the appeal was upheld. Watson's referral was instinctive, and a Hawk-Eye projection that had the ball clipping leg stump was another marginal call against Australia. In other words, it was the kind of dismissal that, while influential, could be lived with. The next would be quite the opposite.

Cowan has been ill across this match, suffering badly from a virus that has consigned him to bed at times when he has not been needed at the ground. But he has also been afflicted by a kind of compulsion to play as his position demands rather than the way he generally builds an innings. On day one he wafted at a ball that might normally have been left and was out for a golden duck. This time around he tossed away a serviceable start by driving heedlessly at the first ball Joe Root floated into the footmarks outside off stump, moreover in the last over before tea.

In isolation, Cowan's exit was wasteful. In the context of the match it was critical. Bell later acknowledged that England had bowled somewhat loosely prior to tea. After it they tightened up, and thanks to Cowan they had a new batsman in Clarke to concentrate on. Lehmann has spoken often of allowing his players to bat the way they know best. In Cowan's case he must rediscover exactly what that is, and quickly. Even retention for the Lord's Test is far from guaranteed.

Having played so well in Watson's company, Rogers was gradually becalmed. He found it increasingly difficult to find the occasional boundary that kept his score ticking, and at length the supply of singles also began to dry, his innings slowly becoming almost as parched of runs as the dusty pitch lacked for moisture. Eventually, Rogers was undone by a neat James Anderson plan from around the wicket, cramped for room and flicking in the air to a short midwicket. Unlike Cowan, Rogers has been his usual self in this match. But he will rue the constriction of his innings, leading to error and dismissal.

Batting by this time had become a rather more difficult task, complicated by a softening, moving and spinning ball, a more focused England and the tension of the chase itself. But Clarke would be another batsman to find difficulty adapting to his new role. Typically, Clarke's best innings at No. 5 have begun with a distinct note of counterpunching, going after good balls and bad with a busy, energetic approach that takes momentum away from the bowlers. He was strangely conservative here, trying to preserve his wicket but ultimately allowing England to encircle him. His exit will be talked about mainly for the use of Australia's final review but he had hardly set a confident marker, and No. 4 will remain a kind of millstone until he can be more proactive.

Steve Smith and Phillip Hughes duly fell victim to the momentum and pressure inflicted by England, plus the extravagant turn gained by Swann. There was a familiar sense of fear and claustrophobia about Australia's batsmen in England, the kind of feeling first visited in 2005 and repeated again four years later. Agar, Brad Haddin and the rest of the tail have been left with an almighty task. But even if they achieve it, the batsmen have plenty to ponder before Lord's. A video of Rogers' partnership with Watson should be required, repeat viewing.

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Hundred was Ashes best - Bell

Ian Bell rated his century his "best Ashes innings" after helping England into a strong position going into the final day at Trent Bridge.

Bell, playing his fourth Ashes series, contributed 109 to help set Australia a target of 311 to win the first Investec Test. While it was Bell's second successive century in Ashes Tests - he also made one at Sydney in early 2011 - he admitted that the context of this game, coming when his side were under pressure and helping to set-up a match-defining position, rendered it his most valuable and satisfying.

His record in Ashes cricket has been modest. Going into this series he averaged 32.36 against Australia in 18 Tests. But, crediting the benefits of recent experiences in subcontinental conditions, he negated a slow, low pitch and an attack generating reverse swing to steer his side from a precarious position to one of some dominance. England were only 66 runs ahead when they lost their fourth wicket but, by the time Bell departed, the lead had been stretched to 306. On a surface on which no Test side has ever scored 300 to win a Test, it was a vital contribution.

"Certainly it's my best Ashes innings," Bell said. "It was nice to put an innings together when the team needed it most.

"The wicket was pretty slow, obviously reverse swing has played a massive part in this game so to use my skills to get us a decent lead on this pitch is very satisfying.

"This wicket is quite close to a subcontinent wicket. I've played a lot of subcontinent cricket in last 12 or 18 months, so batting in such conditions is something we've had to work out.

"I was disappointed with my performance in my first Ashes series [in 2005 when Bell averaged only 17.10] when I was a young lad. I always wanted to score as many runs as possible. You want to win Ashes series and be part of successful teams. But it's not all about individual stuff; it's about being part of a team."

That team ethic was apparent as England weathered an early storm from Australia's batsmen to hit back strongly in the final session on day four. Shane Watson and Chris Rogers, feasting on some loose bowling, posted an opening stand of 84 to make deep inroads into their target. Graeme Swann took a long time to settle, delivering several full tosses and short balls, while Steven Finn's first spell, peppered with short balls outside off stump, was horrible. It necessitated his captain posting a sweeper on the cover boundary which, in turn, led to a gap in the close off-side field that allowed the batsmen to pick of singles with dispiriting ease.

Both recovered admirably, though. Finn returned for a much tighter spell, helping sustain the pressure built up by his colleagues and, once Swann had taken his first wicket, in his 23rd over, he settled into a much more penetrative rhythm.

It was still a slightly frustrating day for Swann. Playing on his home ground and on such a dry surface, the expectations upon him may have been unrealistically high. Although he found turn, it was often too slow to unduly trouble the batsman and, perhaps in frustration, Swann attempted to force matters and failed to show the requisite patience for such a context. He adapted, though, and produced a beautiful delivery to account for Phil Hughes.

	The Huddle - A monumental Test century

The pick of the bowlers, by some distance, was Stuart Broad. Perhaps buoyed with confidence by his performance with the bat, Broad bowled at a sharp pace, generated some reverse swing to account for Shane Watson and maintained a probing line and length that eventually drew a false shot from Michael Clarke. Certainly Broad appeared unaffected by the furore surrounding his decision not to walk on the third day and proved he has fully recovered from the recent blows he has taken to his right shoulder.

"Australia played very well when they first came out and we maybe didn't bowl to the standards we'd like," Bell admitted.

"But we reassessed at tea. We came out with a plan to be very accurate and maybe a little more defensive with field settings. This is the type of wicket that, if two guys get in, then it's hard to get them out. We wanted to keep the run rate down and create pressure. We got wickets at the end due to really accurate bowling. We're happy with how patient we were.

"Our bowlers have been good at adapting to the conditions. They're not just guys who run up on green seaming wickets and take wickets. They take wickets in all surfaces. They've learned to adapt. That's why guys like Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad have done so well in the last few years.

"I've played too much Ashes cricket to take anything for granted. They have two guys at the crease who are dangerous players. We have to get them early in the morning. It is going to be a big first hour for both teams."

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Clarke draws line under Broad debate

With deed and then word, Australia's captain Michael Clarke has ruled a line under the debate that surrounded Stuart Broad's decision not to walk in the second innings of the Trent Bridge Ashes Test. Clarke himself declined to depart after none other than Broad procured a thin edge to Matt Prior behind the stumps as the tourists slid badly in their chase of 311 to win.

Afterwards he said that while the Australians had been frustrated by failing to secure Broad's wicket, there was little case for directing their anger towards the England No. 8. Clarke even referred to the concept of "getting away with" standing your ground and forcing an umpire to deliberate, something he has done several times himself in the past with varied results.

"We would've liked him out for a lot less that's for sure, but that's the way the game goes," Clarke said of Broad. "I'm not going to go back there. There's no need, it's the game of cricket. There's ups and downs, good times, bad times. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don't. That's what I've seen through my career and that's the way it goes."

Clarke also offered unabashed support to Broad on Sky TV. "I've always been a believer that umpires are there to take decisions," he said. "If everybody walked, we wouldn't need umpires. It is an individual decision but I don't think any less of Stuart for what he did."

Regarding his own dismissal, Clarke said he had been unsure of whether he hit the ball or not, having also brushed bat with pad. His consultation with the non-striker Steven Smith better reflected the 21st century conventions of dismissals in the DRS era than much of the commentary surrounding the question of walking that has sprung up since Broad also stood his ground.

"Obviously not - I referred it," Clarke said. "Well, I knew I had hit my pad. I asked my partner up the other end and he certainly wasn't convinced I hit it either so I referred it. Actually when we both looked at the big screen we couldn't see anything, so we were pretty pumped that we made the right decision. Then I was given out and had another look when I came in the change room and there was a little spot there on Hot Spot. That's the way it goes. That's how the review system operates.

"I've said to our team that if you feel you're not out then back your judgement. And if the review doesn't go your way we move on. I'm not going to go into the DRS at the moment. We're using it. Both teams are using it. It's the same for both teams. We have no excuses at the moment. I'm certainly not going to use DRS as one."

	The Huddle - Clarke looked desperate

Clarke also offered an extraordinary endorsement of the 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar. Clearly impressed after watching Agar's treatment of Graeme Swann during his startling, world record 98 at No. 11 in the first innings, Clarke declared Agar to be among the best players of spin to enter the Australia dressing room in years.

Clarke explained that he had batted Agar at No. 11 in the first innings to help ease a nervous debutant into the match. But it seems inconceivable now that Agar will ever do so again for any team. His poise was on display a second time as he hung on stubbornly in the company of Brad Haddin to reach stumps on day four, Australia still needing 137 runs on the final day.

"He's as good a player against spin as we've had in the Australian team for a long time, so I think he'll certainly look forward to facing Swanny tomorrow," Clarke said. "He is definitely not a No. 11 in any team in the world. I batted him there in the first innings only so that he could find his feet in Test match cricket and get into the game. He showed he was ready.

"I thought it was the right thing to let him get into the game slowly, but he obviously proved me wrong there, he batted beautifully."

Apart from Agar, Phillip Hughes in the first innings and a composed opening stand by Shane Watson and Chris Rogers on the fourth afternoon, Australia's batsmen have largely failed to cope with the pressure imposed by England in Nottingham, even if Alastair Cook's side have not sustained it for anywhere near as long as Australia managed. Clarke said the falling of wickets in clusters could be attributed to conditions that England's batsman Ian Bell spoke of in subcontinental terms.

"I think that's the conditions in the UK to be honest," Clarke said. "Especially when you've got a wicket that is quite dry so you've got reverse swing and a lot of spin. I think it's these sort of conditions where if you get in it's about cashing in, going on to big scores, because it is a hard place to start.

"We've spoken about it as a batting unit. It's not from lack of work, the boys have been working extremely hand for the start of their innings and we're as well prepared as we can be. I think we've put up a really good fight so far and I'm excited about tomorrow."

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Essex booed off after paltry 74

Middlesex 77 for 2 (Denly 34) beat Essex 74 (Shah 39, Mills 3-4) by eight wickets
Scorecard

Essex were booed off the field by some members of the crowd after being crushed by Middlesex at Chelmsford. Essex were bowled out for 74, their lowest-ever Flt20 total, and lost by eight wickets.

Only Owais Shah, with 39 from 43 balls, posed any threat as the rest of his colleagues were swept aside with embarrassing ease.

Essex's hopes of posting a challenging total lay in ruins after only four overs. By that time they had lost half their side for 12 runs, with New Zealand paceman Kyle Mills sending them on the slippery slope by removing Greg Smith and Graham Napier with the first four balls of the match.

Mills then dismissed fellow countryman Hamish Rutherford who put up an easy catch to Joe Denly to pave the way for Gurjit Sandhu to inflict further damage. Sandhu had Jaik Mickleburgh caught behind by Adam Rossington before bowling Ryan ten Doeschate with his next delivery.

Shah, whose innings included six boundaries, was the seventh man out with the total on 59 when he was stumped advancing down the pitch to left-arm spinner Ravi Patel.

Mills picked up his three wickets for only four runs in three overs while Sandhu and Neil Dexter ended with 2 for 15 and 2 for 18 respectively as the home side's sorry effort came to an end in the 17th over.

In the face of such a low total, Middlesex had no difficulty in carving out a victory that enabled them to join Surrey level on points at the top of the table.

Shaun Tait did offer Essex a glimmer of hope when he removed openers Paul Stirling and Dawid Malan in his first two overs but Joe Denly and Adam Voges carried the visitors past the winning post.

Denly set the scene with three boundaries in an over off Napier on his way to an unbeaten 34 while Voges finished with 22 not out as Middlesex were able to celebrate victory with 10.1 overs to spare.

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Glamorgan thrash sorry Somerset

Glamorgan 126 for 1 (Allenby 47*) beat Somerset 125 for 6 (Trego 42*, Wagg 3-29) by nine wickets
Scorecard

Jim Allenby produced a fine all-round performance to help unbeaten Glamorgan to their fourth Friends Life t20 win thrashing Somerset by nine wickets at Cardiff.

In front of a crowd of nearly 9,000 Glamorgan, who remain top of the Midlands, Wales and West Group, restricted Somerset to 125 for 6 with a fine bowling and fielding performance.

And Allenby (47 not out from 47 balls), who also had bowled four tight overs, and Chris Cooke (42 not out from 28 balls) helped to knock off the 126 needed with 4.4 overs to spare. For Somerset, who had won their opening two encounters, Peter Trego top-scored with 42 while Craig Meschede made a quick-fire 30 with the only two sixes of the innings.

Somerset decided to bat after winning the toss but made a dreadful start. Graham Wagg reduced Somerset to 14 for 2 in the fourth over taking the wickets of Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter with consecutive balls.

Trescothick was caught on the mid-wicket boundary while Kieswetter was bowled. And it got even better for home side when Michael Hogan bowled former Glamorgan captain Alviro Peterson as Somerset lost three wickets in seven balls.

Trego and James Hildreth tried to repair the innings and Somerset had reached 54 for 3 at the halfway stage of the innings. But they suffered another collapse. Hildreth was bowled attempting to sweep Nathan McCullum, while England's Jos Buttler played on to Dean Cosker to leave them 78 for 5 in the 15th.

Meschede put some late impetus into the innings with two massive sixes but Hogan's final two overs conceded a total of only 12 runs.

Glamorgan made a positive start to their reply reaching 38 for nought off the first five overs with Mark Wallace taking 14 from an over from Alfonso Thomas and then striking a six and a four in the next over off Yasir Arafat as the Welsh county brought up the 50.

But Arafat got his revenge bowling Wallace for 30 from 19 balls. Glamorgan continued in a positive vein reaching the halfway total of their chase in the eighth over and then 77 for one after 10 overs Cooke hit Trego for two sixes in one over as Glamorgan breezed to victory with 28 balls in the bank.

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