Warwickshire excited by Rankin's form

Yorkshire 302 and 180 (Ballance 45, Woakes 5-42) drew with Warwickshire 309 and 3 for 0
Scorecard

Warwickshire's frustration was greater than Yorkshire's when only an hour's play was possible on the final day, when heavy overnight rain persisted well into the morning to leave the Division One leaders less vulnerable to defeat than they might otherwise have been. Even so, had the weather been kind to the defending champions after a 2.40pm start, they might still have pulled off a third win in a row.

As it was, after completing the first part of their assignment by prising out the three remaining Yorkshire wickets, they had no sooner begun the chase for the 174 they needed than the weather closed in again, after only two overs of the 36 that theoretically were available.

The draw enabled Yorkshire to reinforce their lead a little, extending the gap between themselves and Sussex from seven points to 10. Warwickshire, with five games left, have 37 points to make up if they are to catch Yorkshire and retain the title they won last year, although as was pointed out by Varun Chopra, still acting captain while Jim Troughton struggles to regain full fitness, the gap is as it was.

"It would have been nice to have closed the gap with a win but with Sussex and Durham losing, we have not lost any ground," he said. "And we are playing some very good cricket now.

"We dominated against Middlesex and Notts in our last two games, which is easier said than done, and we were favourites to win this game here. With five games to go we will be a match for most teams and if we could win four of those we would have the same number of points that won us the title last year."

It took 13 overs for Yorkshire's attempted resistance to collapse after resuming on 148 for 7. Chris Woakes finished with 5 for 42, his best analysis of the season, after uprooting Ryan Sidebottom's stumps with his yorker and Boyd Rankin's pace and bounce was too much for Steve Patterson and Jack Brooks, both caught on the leg side fending off rising deliveries. The big Irishman might have seen them off sooner but in questionable light Chopra was anxious not to give the umpires an excuse to take the players off and felt obliged to use Jeetan Patel from time to time.

Chopra feels Rankin could be Warwickshire's trump card on the run-in, compensating for the loss of the injured Chris Wright. "He had got something different to most county cricketers, with being 6ft 8ins, massive and fast. Standing there at slip, you can see it is hitting the 'keeper real hard.

"He is a better bowler this year even than last, with his areas and lines that he bowls. Last year you might have got the odd release ball from him but he is more at the batsmen this time and it looks very uncomfortable for anyone facing him."

It was not one of Yorkshire's better performances, an analysis with which their captain, Andrew Gale, did not disagree, although he is not alarmed enough to revise his view that three more wins, perhaps even two, will be enough to clinch the title for Yorkshire for the first time since 2001.

"I thought 300 was a little below par but the way we bowled on the second day put us in a good position," he said. "But that morning session on the third day, where we had our foot on the throat of the defending champions, we let them off the hook. We should have made more than 180 in the second innings, when our batting was a bit soft in places, and that put them in a commanding position.

"We cannot afford to have many sessions like that if we are to win the title but it might not have been a bad thing in a way as a wake-up call.

"From here I think two more wins will put us in the mix, especially if we can beat Sussex away and Durham at Scarborough, and three would see us home."

Gale, whose side were a batsman short with Phil Jaques and Joe Sayers both injured, says that Yorkshire have ruled out signing an overseas batsman for the closing weeks of the season, despite the threat of losing another one, Gary Ballance, to England.

"The club's finances dictate what we can and can't do and there is no money there, it is as simple as that," he said. "But Phil is well on track to be back for the next Championship match and Joe is back playing second team today so we should have a full squad next time."

Gale admitted he would be irked if he were to lose Ballance to the England Lions games against Bangladesh A, which clash with Yorkshire's clash with Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

"As far as Gary is concerned if England come for him we will have no say in the matter, of course, but I would hope we would not lose him for the Lions game," he said.

"If he goes and plays for England that's fair enough but if it is for England Lions I think he'd be better off playing for us, in the Championship, to be honest. With the three in the senior side and five in the Under-19s I think we've given our fair share to the three lions."

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Bowlers shine in rain-abandoned match

Match abandoned Bangladesh Under-19 145 (Shanto 30, Talat 2-13, Aftab 2-30) v Pakistan Under-19 38 for 4 in 17 overs (Hasan 2-3, Pradhan 2-9)
Scorecard

Incessant showers put a premature end to the opening match of the Under-19 tri-nation tournament between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Haslegrave Ground in Loughborough. The teams shared a point each, after rain arrived in the afternoon after 17 overs of Pakistan's innings, and refused to let off.

The rain might have just come in time for Pakistan, who were struggling at 38 for 4, chasing Bangladesh's modest 145. Medium-pacer Rifat Pradhan and offspinner Mehedy Hasan picked up two wickets each, but Hussain Talat and Kamran Ghulam held on for six overs, before the match was called off.

Bangladesh, put in to bat, struggled against left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Aftab and Talat, who took two wickets each. Nazmul Hossain Shanto top-scored with a 63-ball 30, but Bangladesh's next major source of runs came from the 29 extras which inclued 17 wides and seven no-balls. Their innings included three ducks and three run-outs.

The second match of the series will be played on Tuesday when Pakistan square off against England at Sleaford.

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Australia show their truer colours

The recent run of defeats has made people think Australia are worse than they are. Old Trafford was a fairer reflection on their standing, but they must continue to improve over the rest of this series

As the supervillain Hank Scorpio sagely observed while counselling Homer Simpson in his under-siege bunker, you can't argue with the little things. "It's the little things that make up life," he says, while his headquarters burns and crumbles around him. It is tempting to look at the past year and think Australian cricket is a similar smouldering wreck. At Lord's and in India, the resemblance was uncanny. Elsewhere in the Investec Ashes, and against South Africa last summer, the little things have hurt.

A better forecast here, another wicket there - it could have been a pretty good year for Australia. Of course, hypotheticals change nothing. Australia didn't beat South Africa, were embarrassed in India and have now failed to regain the Ashes. Since the start of their last home summer, Australia have played 13 Tests against four teams and have not won a match against anyone but Sri Lanka. The statistic is damning, but also damn deceptive. It doesn't tell how close they have come.

Yes, this is a squad whose worst is woeful and has been for several years. From 47 all out in Cape Town to a historic loss to New Zealand in Hobart, from a series of humiliations in India to another debacle at Lord's, it is a side that finds ways to sink to new lows. It is a team that also finds ways to threaten the world's best. They outplayed South Africa in Brisbane and Adelaide, but turned neither into a victory, and with a weakened attack were crushed in Perth.

On this trip, they were a Brad Haddin tickle away from winning at Trent Bridge, and a few rainclouds from a victory push at Old Trafford. They travel to Durham at 0-2; had a few quirks of fate fallen differently it could have been 2-1 to Australia. But that would have been misleading, as misleading as if they'd lost in Manchester and become the first Australia team in 125 years to lose seven straight Tests. They are not that bad. But nor are they 2-1 good.

The best reflection of where Michael Clarke's team stands is the ICC Test rankings, where they sit fourth. There is no shame in that, but no pride either. And they cannot expect to rise beyond that while their batting relies so heavily on Clarke. He is the reason they can compete with the teams above them. It was no coincidence that Australia's most threatening performance so far on this tour came when Clarke scored big at Old Trafford.

At times, he takes other batsmen with him. Against South Africa at the Gabba, his 259 was accompanied by hundreds from Ed Cowan and Michael Hussey. In the next Test in Adelaide, his 230 was supported by another century from Hussey and one from David Warner. Here, his 187 came alongside contributions, though not tons, from Chris Rogers and Steven Smith.

During Clarke's captaincy the only batsmen outside Hussey to score Test tons in an innings when Clarke hasn't have been Warner, Matthew Wade and Shaun Marsh. Warner is the only one to have done so against top four opposition - India at the WACA. Until the rest of Australia's batsmen find ways to score big when Clarke doesn't, they will struggle to beat the best sides.

Clarke said after the Old Trafford draw that he felt the gap between Australia and England was minimal. In bowling, yes. In batting, no. Clarke remains Australia's only centurion; England have had two tons from Ian Bell and one each from Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen. That the most prolific scorer of centuries in their squad, Alastair Cook, is yet to make one in this series only highlights England's batting depth and quality.

Shane Watson is Australia's second most experienced batsman but his role remains fluid, and for some time has been more water than wine. Rogers and Smith showed signs of batting big in Manchester but could not go on. Usman Khawaja is yet to make a serious impression on Test cricket and Warner's role needs to be defined.

For now, the Ashes are gone, but the next series starts later this year. The next two Tests at Chester-le-Street and The Oval are a chance for Australia's batsmen to show they are Test quality, to prove that players beyond Clarke can bat big. To give England pause for thought ahead of the return series. Using the next two Tests to settle on a batting order would help, for that has been as changeable as the Manchester weather.

Australia move on to Durham without the Ashes, but at least they are not in a smouldering wreck.

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Underwhelming way to secure glorious prize

Having been outplayed at Old Trafford, England retaining the Ashes was met with a subdued atmospshere

This is not what retaining the Ashes is meant to feel like. A generation of England supporters, raised on hubris and weaned on disappointment, who, until 2005, went 16 years waiting for this moment, might have found this like a sip of warm champagne. Anti-climax hung over Old Trafford as tenaciously as the clouds.

It was not just that it rained. We expected that. It was that, before the rain, England were disconcertingly outplayed. Their three best batsmen were all dismissed in the brief window of play possible and, of the two that survived, Joe Root was dropped during a torturous innings that underlined the concerns about his readiness to face the new ball at this level and Ian Bell sustained a blow to his thumb that briefly provoked fears that it may end his involvement in the series. England did not so much cruise past the winning line as collapse on it.

As it was, the ECB confirmed that Bell is not seriously hurt and is not an injury doubt for the fourth Test on Friday. The squad for the game is the XI that played here, plus Graham Onions and Chris Tremlett. Steven Finn remains surplus to requirements and, with Kevin Pietersen having proved his fitness, James Taylor is not required. Both Tremlett and Onions will, perhaps surprisingly, play for their counties in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals on Tuesday evening.

The pedantic might point out that the series is not decided. And it is true that Australia might yet leave the UK with a 2-2 draw. But they came to win back the urn, not share a series.

Perhaps England are the victims of their own expectations. They have, after all, retained the Ashes in the minimum number of games possible - a feat achieved only once before in a five-match series, in 1928-29 - and they were worthy winners of the first two Tests. There was a time when that would have been enough to warrant unstinting praise. Perhaps it still should be.

Certainly many England supporters will not care a jot how this result was achieved. After years of pain, retaining the Ashes in almost any manner is cause for celebration. To have held the Ashes after three successive series underlines the impression that this is a golden age for English cricket. No England side has achieved such a feat since the 1950s. Maybe it says everything about how far England have progressed in recent times that this result has not provoked caveat-free joy.

	"We have found ourselves in situations like this over the past couple of years. We knew we had experience to get through it and proving we are a hard side to beat." Alastair Cook

It would be wrong to diminish their success too. Series are decided across several weeks, not a few days, and England are not the first side to benefit from some assistance from the weather in such circumstances. It does not negate their achievement.

But England would be deluding themselves if they did not admit to some concerns after this game. The most obvious was the impression Australia's fast bowlers gained more from the pitch than England's. It is true that Australia won an important toss and first use of a good pitch but, even in Australia's second innings, England's seamers failed to find the bounce and movement available to the excellent Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris.

There are various reasons for that. One of them is simply that the Australian pair are stronger than their England counterparts and able to thump the ball into the pitch a little harder. Both attacks gained swing but Australia appeared to swing the ball later and gain more movement off the pitch.

The England attack also looked weary. Perhaps it was the nerves of appearing on his home ground, perhaps it was his workload - he has hardly looked the same since that 14-over spell at Trent Bridge - but James Anderson endured one of his least impressive displays of the last 18 months, while Stuart Broad is, albeit somewhat unfortunately, taking his wickets at a cost of 52.00 apiece so far this series. In the longer-term, Broad needs to strengthen himself considerably if he is to fulfil his potential. In the short-term, a case could be made to rest one or other of them from the team for the next couple of Tests.

The batting is also a worry. Jonathan Trott, in particular, and Cook, by their own high standards, look someway short of their best. Trott has fallen - almost literally - into an old habit of over balancing on to the off side when he plays to leg, while Pietersen should reflect more on his loose stroke, throwing his hands at a ball well outside off stump at a time when his side required him to resist throughout the day, far more than the reasonable umpiring decision that cost his wicket in the second innings. Jonny Bairstow might, in a different era, consider himself fortunate to retain his place.

England captains continue to be defined by their performance in Ashes series and Cook, in his first at the helm, has retained the Urn in the minimum amount of Tests possible. So you might have expected him to be in celebratory mood. Instead he appeared deflated and used a hardly euphoric phrase to describe the atmosphere in the England camp.

"The feeling in the dressing room is very pleasant," Cook said in the voice of a fellow on the phone to the Samaritans. "We wanted to keep the Ashes and we have done that. Now we want to go on and win them.

"It's a strange feeling. We've been behind the eight-ball in this game, but we've fought hard and if you had offered us this position 14 days ago, we would have snatched your hand off.

"We didn't play our best game here and were put under pressure by Australia. But we fought extremely hard, batting a long time. Avoiding the follow-on was crucial, so I can't complain how we have handled this week.

"We have found ourselves in situations like this over last couple of years: the last Test in New Zealand, when Matt Prior batted fantastically well, and in Nagpur, where the whole side batted well. We knew we had experience to get through it. We are proving we are a hard side to beat."

Indeed they are. But with Australia improving and England stuttering, the celebrations will be muted. Both sides head to Durham with something to prove.

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Cricket retreats to dark ages

An arbitrary decision about when it is safe to play has endangered Australia's chances of reclaiming the urn

Last year, the ICC legalised day-night Test cricket. It didn't seem to matter that a suitable ball had not been found. By the letter of the law, agreement between two countries is all that is required. If Pakistan and Bangladesh feel like playing from 6pm in Dubai with an orange ball, they can. If West Indies and New Zealand want to play from 2pm in St Lucia with a pink ball, that's allowed. Cricket wants to modernise at any cost, appeal to a wider audience. A television audience.

Perhaps cricket can start by satisfying the audience it already has. And they were far from satisfied on Sunday evening. The Ashes is Test cricket's shop window and over the past four days at Old Trafford, the players have delivered an enticing product. But at 4.25pm, Tony Hill and Marais Erasmus unilaterally put up the 'closed' sign. It was, they said, for the good of the players. Someone could have got hurt. But every ball lost from the match hurt the Australians far more than any James Anderson might have sent down in the gloom.

And it can only be the Australia batsmen they were worried about. That became clear when Erasmus confirmed that play would have continued had England bowled spin. The shadow, then, was not enough to endanger England's fielders, or the umpires themselves. A vicious Michael Clarke drive would have sent the red ball flying towards them as quickly off Graeme Swann as it would have off Anderson. No, this had to be about the safety of the batsmen.

The playing conditions stipulate that the umpires can abandon play when the light is "so bad that there is obvious and foreseeable risk to the safety of any player or umpire". But Australia's No. 9, Ryan Harris, didn't have much trouble handling Anderson when he faced what became the last few deliveries of the day. Clarke was seeing the ball fine. He made that clear to the umpires at length during an animated discussion after they had made their call.

"When we start losing it completely from square leg, we give the skipper an option, as we did out here, to bowl spin and he didn't want to do that," Hill said. Of course Alastair Cook didn't bowl spin. He is not an idiot. Every delivery lost from the match tightens England's grip on the urn. He'd have been happy with an 11.01am abandonment.

"For a while there the England fielders were asking about the light and the possibility for when they bat," Erasmus said. "It was fine, but it kept on dropping and dropping then we eventually told the captain to bowl spin and he decided not to which pushed our hand. There was a safety issue and we can't carry on."

Of course they could have carried on, and should have. Cricket wants to modernise but these judgements, these arbitrary decisions not to play, do nothing but hurt the game. Traditionally, batsmen were offered the choice of playing on or leaving the field due to bad light. But in 2010 the ICC altered the rule, in part so that batsmen could not make tactical decisions to go off. The change has sent cricket further back into the dark ages.

Handing control to the umpires is a common-sense approach only if the umpires use common sense. And there has been precious little of that shown by the officials in this series. Of course, if the abandonment costs Australia a chance at regaining the urn, it will do so only because of their own failings at Trent Bridge and Lord's. That is why they are in this position.

But the half hour lost on Sunday - rain arrived at 5pm - could make all the difference in a contest that might go to the wire on day five. Thirty minutes of moderate dullness could cast a gloom over the Tests at Chester-le-Street and The Oval if they become dead rubbers.

There was a frustrating postscript: from 7 to 8pm the sun was shining at Old Trafford and the rain had well and truly cleared. The conditions were perfect for cricket. But by then, the players and umpires were back at their hotels, perhaps with a tray of room service. If they had the TV on, they might have been watching themselves on replay, while millions of viewers could have been seeing them live in prime time.

The ICC seems to have a laissez faire approach to the day-night Test prospect. Perhaps it could throw a little of that flexibility the way of old-fashioned red-ball Tests.

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Warner laughs at Root repeat

David Warner saw the lighter side of his dismissal on Sunday, when he sent a delivery from Tim Bresnan to deep square leg. The man who swallowed the catch was Joe Root, the same man who Warner tried to punch in a Birmingham bar during the Champions Trophy, an incident that cost Warner his place in the side for the first two Tests.

"Hooked another one to Rooty," Warner said. "Of all the people in the field ... it's quite comical now. I can't wait to read Twitter a bit later."

Warner has revelled in his role as pantomime villain during this series, his suspension having cast him as a natural for the England fans to boo whenever he walks to the wicket or chases a ball in the deep. He didn't add to his reputation with the fans by asking for a review in Australia's first innings when he clearly edged behind. But it's all a bit of a laugh to Warner.

"I'm not well liked at the moment but this morning was actually quite entertaining down there on the boundary," Warner said. "I actually liked the trumpeter playing the Rocky theme song [when he went out to bat], it was actually entertaining. I had a little chuckle. It's not every day you walk out on the field and you get booed. You've just got to embrace it, know what your job is ahead of you, and that's all I can concentrate on."

For Australia's second innings, that role was to open the batting with Chris Rogers, a curious decision given the naturally attacking method of the incumbent opener Shane Watson. Warner made 41 from 57 deliveries before he sent the catch to Root and, while he expects to remain at No. 6 in the immediate future, he said it was pleasing to have another chance at the top.

"I was told before we went out there I'd be opening just to try and get the run rate going, get us into a position where we could maybe declare early," Warner said. "I would have liked a bit more of a hurry on, and we could have bowled tonight. I love opening the batting, that's where I started my career. I'm just enjoying being back in the team. All my misdemeanours are behind me at the moment and I'm just happy to be playing cricket."

	David Warner's press conference

As it happened, the Australians did not get a chance to declare early, in part due to the rain and bad light and partially due to their lead not growing as quickly as they would have hoped. Warner said he had noticed the England players taking their time out on the field, reluctant to move the game too quickly, and he was confident the ICC would step in if any excessive time-wasting had occurred.

"We expected that. We knew the bowlers were going to take their time," he said. "The one they were going to review off me was a massive time-waster because they walked into a circle and said 'let's just hold back a little bit', and Broady, as well, walking from fine leg to mid-off. He took his time.

"You've just got to get into your own rhythm. You've got to keep yourself occupied out there. Me and Ussie were talking about what we were going to have for dinner tonight. You've got to try and take your mind off it and just do what you can when the bowler comes into bowl.

"The captain suffers from that [if the over rate is too slow]. He can miss a game if he's time-wasting and the overs aren't bowled in the time allocated. That will come back to bite them on the bum."

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Northants cruise on Sales double

Gloucestershire 358 and 31 for 0 trail Northamptonshire 369 for 3 (Sales 255*, Coetzer 122, Hall 55*) by 178 runs
Scorecard

David Sales' magnificent double-century helped Northamptonshire to a massive total on a rain-affected third day their Championship match against Gloucestershire. Sales' sensational knock of 255 not out off 279 balls was the third-highest score of his career as Northants eventually declared on 567 for 4, giving them a first-innings lead of 209.

Andrew Hall also contributed an unbeaten 55 off 106 deliveries and Gloucestershire then closed on 31 without loss, but with a flat wicket and a poor weather forecast for tomorrow, a draw now looks to be inevitable.

Northants began the day on 369 for 3, 11 runs ahead of their opponents, with Sales resuming on 126 and Australia international Cameron White on 6. However, rain began to fall 10 minutes before the players were due out, which led to the entire morning session being wiped out and 33 overs being lost as play finally started at 2.15pm.

White was to then add 10 runs to his overnight total before he smashed Craig Miles to Benny Howell at deep midwicket in the fifth over of the day. But Sales hung around to reach 150 for the 17th time in his first-class career off 172 balls as he and Hall piled on another 170 for Northants' fifth wicket.

The 35-year-old club stalwart was to then complete the eighth double-ton of his career off 232 deliveries by hammering a four through point off the bowling of Miles. It was the first time he had struck 200 since August 2007, when he made 219 against Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay, and it helped the hosts to 493 for 4 at tea, with their lead now 135.

Gloucestershire still could not break apart the partnership in the evening as Sales reached 250 off 270 balls just before Hall completed his half-century off 102 deliveries. Northants captain Stephen Peters then waved his players off halfway through the 143rd over, leaving Gloucestershire to face 16 overs before the close of play.

Only two were possible before the umpires stopped play for bad light but thankfully the players were back out 10 minutes later with two more overs lost. Within three balls of the restart, Chris Dent was given a reprieve as he was dropped on 2 by James Middlebrook at third slip off the bowling of David Willey. He was to then last until stumps alongside his captain Michael Klinger and they will resume on Monday on 10 and 21 respectively.

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Roy, Curran dismantle Scotland

Surrey 303 (Roy 113, Solanki 63) beat Scotland 203 (Coleman 53, Curran 5-34, Ansari 4-42) by 100 runs
Scorecard

A cavalier 113 from Jason Roy was the highlight of a crushing 100-run win for Surrey in a Yorkshire Bank 40 Group B match against an outclassed Scotland at The Oval. The 23-year-old Roy completed his fourth List A hundred from just 77 balls and overall hit two sixes and 16 fours in his 86-ball innings as Surrey reached 303 all out from 39.1 overs before bowling Scotland out for 203.

Tom Curran finished with 5 for 34 from 6.1 overs and Zafar Ansari 4 for 42 as Scotland, given a decent start as openers Hamish Gardiner and Freddie Coleman put on 94 inside 18 overs, lost wickets in quick succession in a vain attempt to get close to Surrey's huge total.

Coleman made 53 before he was fourth out at 123, leg-before to seamer Curran, the 18-year-old son of former Zimbabwe allrounder Kevin Curran. It was Curran's maiden senior wicket, in his second YB40 appearance, and he soon added the scalp of Moneeb Iqbal who was bowled for 16 as Scotland's slide continued apace.

Later Curran returned to bowl Majid Haq, Craig Wallace for a 20-ball 35 and Calvin Burnett to return the best List A bowling figures for Surrey for four years.

Left arm spinner Ansari's victims were Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod stumped for 7, Scotland skipper Preston Mommsen and Gordon Goudie for a duck. Both Berrington and Mommsen were caught by Curran, who thoroughly enjoyed his afternoon in a game that will have no bearing on qualification for the YB40 semi-finals.

Surrey, indeed, were more interested in getting meaningful match practice ahead of Tuesday's important Friends Life t20 quarter-final against Somerset and after winning the toss they saw Roy, Steven Davies and Vikram Solanki take full advantage of an unthreatening Scotland attack.

Davies pulled Haq's off-spin for two sixes in the sixth over and there was also an early maximum for Roy as he raced to fifty from 39 balls. The pair had put on 91 for Surrey's first wicket inside 11 overs when Davies was caught off fast bowler Goudie for 31. Solanki then hit a six and eight fours in his 63 from 47 balls, adding a further 126 in 14 overs for the second wicket with Roy, who completed his hundred in the 23rd over.

Both Roy and Solanki were caught at long-on attempting to hit seamer Burnett into a sparse crowd and the rest of the Surrey innings fell away somewhat, with only Jon Lewis's 20-ball 25, a late six by Gareth Batty and a six-run penalty against Scotland for not bowing their 40 overs within a time limit taking them past 300.

Gardiner, a 22-year-old on his List A debut, pulled Lewis for six and also drove Batty over extra cover for one of his five fours in a promising 48 from 56 balls before being bowled heaving across the line at Batty, and Coleman also batted well for his 53 off 71 balls with six fours. Some late blows from Wallace and Burnett, though, were all that Scotland could offer as Curran and Ansari carved through the rest of their batting order, and the end came in the 36th over of their reply.

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No time for trepidation from England

England's attack, now including three bowlers with more than 200 wickets, is an outstanding unit despite their toil at Old Trafford but the focus shifts to the batsmen with a Test match to save

There was some irony in the timing of Stuart Broad's 200th Test wicket. The wicket, that of Michael Clarke, not only placed Broad within a select band of England bowlers to have achieved the milestone, but it meant that the England team, for only the second time in its history and the first time in more than 30 years, contained three men with over 200 Test wickets.

It is an impressive achievement. The last time it happened was in February 1982. In that game against Sri Lanka, Derek Underwood's final Test, the England team also contained Sir Ian Botham and Bob Willis; one of the more impressive trios in England's post-war history.

Now Broad, James Anderson and Graeme Swann have joined them. It is a milestone that, as well as the skill of the individuals concerned, underlines the wisdom of talent identification, central contracts and continuity of selection that have typified England cricket in recent times.

Both Broad and Anderson were identified unusually young by English standards and fast-tracked into international cricket. Both have had some bumps on the road but the selectors have ensured they have had the rest periods denied their predecessors and stuck with them through the inevitable fallow times. There is now every chance they will finish their careers as the top two wicket-takers in England's Test history.

Swann took a somewhat more circuitous route to success, but here claimed the 17th five-wicket haul of his Test career. Now only Botham (with 27) and Sydney Barnes (with 24) have taken more. In partnership with Broad and Anderson, Swann has played a huge part in helping England enjoy their most successful period in the modern age.

We might well, in years to come, look back on this as one of the best attacks England have had. It may not compare to Waqar, Wasim and Mushtaq, or McGrath, Warne and Lee or any combination of West Indies quicks but, by England standards, you have to go back at least 30 years to find anything comparable.

But there is no getting away from the fact that they reached the landmark on a trying day. It was a day on which Anderson recorded the worst analysis of his Test career - 0-116 from 33 overs surpasses the 0-111 he conceded in Johannesburg in 2010 - while Broad had laboured for 54.2 overs - that's 326 balls - between taking his 199th wicket and his 200th and eventually reached the milestone in the second most Tests of any England player.

This was also the highest score England had conceded since South Africa plundered them for 637 for 2 at The Oval in July 2012. The last couple of times they have conceded anything like such totals, both at The Oval and in Ahmedabad, when India scored 521, they lost.

That should not be the case on this occasion. This pitch is flat, though no flatter than The Oval track of July 2012, and there is a strong chance that rain will reduce the remaining playing time in the game. Bearing in mind that England will retain the Ashes if they draw this Test, then England will not be as unhappy as they might have been. Talk of 5-0, or even 10-0, whitewashes hardly matters.

England did not bowl badly. Anderson was, by his high standards, a little off his best and lacked potency and, in bowling only 20 maidens in the 146 they delivered, England failed to build the pressure they may have wanted on the Australian batsmen. But this is a fine wicket and Australia batted well. It would be wrong to read too much into it.

Some critics might suggest that England failed to 'make things happen' but that is to fail to understand England's method. While there was a little conventional swing and some decent turn, at least with the newer ball, England were unable to gain reverse swing.

They play, Kevin Pietersen apart, safety first cricket and know that they only need avoid defeat to ensure they cannot be beaten in the series and therefore retain the Ashes. They had no need to chase the game and lacked the weapons to take wickets in bursts on such surfaces.

It is not their natural method anyway. Instead, they aim to suffocate their opposition with tight bowling and sharp catching. But on this occasion Clarke, in particular, was too good for them and they were unable to bowl with quite the consistency required to build the requisite pressure.

Besides, for a while it appeared England would dismiss Australia for nothing more than a par total of around 450. By the time Peter Siddle was out Australia were 430 for 7, but Brad Haddin then added 97 in an excellent, unbroken eighth-wicket partnership with Mitchell Starc.

England should not have allowed it to happen. Haddin was badly missed on 10 when Matt Prior failed to cling onto an edge off Anderson. It was not the first mistake by Prior this series and a reminder of the sometimes capricious nature of sport. Only four months ago, Prior was named England Player of the Year for his sustained excellence in the previous 12 months. Since then, he has failed to reach 40 in eight Test innings and missed several chances.

Prior's place is quite rightly in no jeopardy at all. It is not just that England now understand the benefits of settled teams and continuity of selection, but that it is almost impossible to predict who his replacement might be.

England have reservations about the keeping of the limited-overs options - the likes of Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow - are unlikely to turn to the better keepers - the likes of Chris Read, James Foster and Tim Ambrose - while the keeper from the Lions' tour, Ben Foakes, is very much a work in progress with bat and gloves. Steve Davies or Craig Kieswetter are closer to Test cricket than many might think.

After play Swann suggested England could still win the game. Perhaps with the Adelaide Test of 2006-07 in mind - England scored 551 for 6 dec in their first innings and still lost by six wickets - he claimed England's aim was to gain a first innings lead and then utilise a deteriorating pitch to dismiss Australia cheaply in the third innings.

"We'll get a lead on day four and then bowl them out," he said. "It's a very good pitch and we've got some of the best batsmen in the world.

Such positivity sounds encouraging, but it is not always mirrored by England's actions. The decision to send in Tim Bresnan as nightwatchman with 30 minutes of play remaining was as flawed as it was negative. Jonathan Trott, England No. 3, should have relished the opportunity to bat on this pitch for as long as possible and is as well suited to doing so as anyone in the world. The decision to shield him can only have suggested fear and trepidation to Australia.

Swann did make one interesting point, though. He suggested that Bresnan's failure to call for a review after he was adjudged caught behind when replays suggested he had missed the ball supported the theory that, at times, players are genuinely unsure whether they have edged the ball.

Bresnan's departure meant that Trott and Alastair Cook will be at the crease at the start of the third day. With Kevin Pietersen seemingly struggling with his calf strain - the England camp insist he is fine, but he was noticeably inconvenienced in the field - England will need Trott and Cook to bat for a substantial portion of the day if they are make the game safe.

They are one strong batting performance away from retaining the Ashes and could hardly have asked for a much more benign surface on which to produce it.

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Bowlers finally given something to work with

Australia know their attack is their strength but feeble batting at Trent Bridge and Lord's made the bowlers redundant. Now is the time for Lyon and company to prove their worth.

Graham McKenzie was once dropped after taking ten wickets in a Test against India. Nobody could really explain why, but it was speculated that the board wanted a more competitive series than his bowling would allow. His next opportunity came in an Ashes Test at Old Trafford, where McKenzie helped bowl Australia to victory.

Nathan Lyon was once dropped after taking nine wickets in a Test against India. Nobody could really explain why, but it was speculated that the selectors wanted a more competitive series than his bowling would allow. His next opportunity came in an Ashes Test at Old Trafford. The next three days will tell if the stories continue to run parallel.

Like McKenzie, Lyon is easy-going and thus easy to let go. The quiet ones never kick up a stink. But there is no question that both men were part of their country's best attack at the time of their axing. Lyon did not pick up a wicket on the second afternoon in Manchester but he could have had Alastair Cook cheaply, had Michael Clarke at slip moved a little more fluently.

His flight, dip and turn left England's batsmen edgy, and he built pressure: 51 of his 60 deliveries were dot balls. Certainly he gave the selectors reason to regret leaving him out at Trent Bridge and Lord's. There, they had gambled on Ashton Agar, a 19-year-old still learning his craft. Agar failed to take a wicket at Lord's; who knows what Lyon, Australia's leading spinner since Shane Warne, might have done.

Lyon isn't the only member of this attack with a point to prove. Mitchell Starc was dropped after the loss in Nottingham and was outbowled by Jackson Bird in the tour match at Hove. When asked on the first morning at Old Trafford why Starc had been preferred over Bird, the coach Darren Lehmann said the main criteria separating them was that Starc would create footmarks for Lyon.

Starc must show that his spikes aren't all he brings to the side. He began well on the second afternoon, curling a few deliveries away from Cook and for the most part keeping things tight. Ryan Harris was hampered by a stomach bug that forced him temporarily from the field, but by the standards of the brittle Harris, that's an ailment Australia can handle.

While the pressure built elsewhere the man who reaped the first two rewards was Peter Siddle. For the first time in his Test career Siddle was not one of the first four bowlers used, relegated below Lyon and Shane Watson. After some stretches that made Merv Hughes' warm-ups look subtle, Siddle was given his chance and grabbed it.

Whereas Starc at times moved the ball too much to tempt Cook, Siddle made Joe Root play and straightened it just enough to tickle the edge. His bustle also accounted for the nightwatchman Tim Bresnan, and an edge from Jonathan Trott in Siddle's final over fell just short of Clarke at second slip. It was Siddle who challenged England on the first day of the series and Siddle who kept the pressure on them here.

Of course, only two wickets have been taken, but for the first time in the series the mountain of work asked of the bowlers has been preceded by a mountain of runs. A draw is of very little value, but Australia's bowlers must remain patient, building pressure, compiling maidens, maintaining their discipline. They must not get carried away by the runs behind them.

The last time an Australian made a Test hundred - Clarke, not surprisingly - the opposition responded by building a 192-run lead. The venue was Chennai, the assailant MS Dhoni, the victim Lyon. If he tossed the ball up, he was driven down the ground; if he went quicker and shorter he was dispatched square. Lyon's confidence was knocked, and he was dropped for the next Test.

Now, Lyon appears sure of himself. His first ten overs displayed skill and patience superior to any of Agar, Glenn Maxwell or Xavier Doherty, all of whom he has made way for this year. He might not do a McKenzie, but like the man they called Garth, the man they call Gaz has his chance at Old Trafford.

Australia entered this series knowing their attack was their strength but feeble batting at Trent Bridge and Lord's made the bowlers redundant. Now is the time for Lyon and company to prove their worth.

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