The "Pad First" View of the Fifth and Final Ashes Test
kirby August 24, 2009
Even the most nostalgic writer couldn't have scripted this any better. Australia and England, locked in the eternal battle for that most coveted of trophies: the Ashes. As it stood, the two teams were locked at 1-1 in the best of 5 series going into this final Test at the Brit Oval, and both teams had their reasons for winning outside claiming the sacred urn. The English side, attempting to prove they are a team on the rise, were also looking to farewell crowd favourite Andrew Flintoff from Test cricket, while the Australian side, seeking to consolidate their mantle as the best cricket team in the world, were looking to give captain Ricky Ponting the only thing he hadn't achieved during his reign as skipper: an Ashes win in England. The stage was set, and the players ready.
Match Summary:
The curator at the Brit Oval seemed determined to give England every chance to win this final Test match; upon early inspection of the wicket, the quality seemed substandard.
Unsurprisingly, the condition of the wicket made the decision to bat first that much easier for England skipper Andrew Strauss upon winning the toss, but, as has happened many times in this series, the English lost Alastair Cook early, edging Peter Siddle into the safe hands of Ricky Ponting at second slip. This bought the under pressure Ian Bell to the crease to join his captain. Both players made half-centuries, to form a solid platform from which the English middle order could take advantage. But despite the work of Bell (72) and Strauss (55), the middle order could not capitalise on the Australian attack; Strauss went early after lunch, unfortunate that Billy Bowden's mind was still with his cucumber sandwiches (he missed a 6-inch no-ball from Hilfenhaus), Collingwood was again undone by a disciplined Australian bowling plan outside his off stump, Bell edged one onto his wicket, Matt Prior failed to pick a Mitchell Johnson slower ball, and Flintoff failed to deliver a last-match fairytale, slashing wildly at Johnson. Only debutant Protea Jonothan Trott was able to provide some resistance in the middle of the innings, leg-glancing his way to 41 before he was runout by Simon Katich's brilliant reflexes at short leg. The rest of the English innings was easy meat for the Australians, with the exception of stubborn lower-order batsman Stuart Broad (37), before he too succumbed to the lure of quick runs, and edged Hilfenhaus into the slips. Peter Siddle was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, taking 4/75 and ripping through the English middle order.
The Australian innings started calmly enough, with a watchful Katich and a lucky Watson (he survived a couple of LBW shouts) steering them to 61 at lunch. But the introduction of Stuart Broad after lunch led to one of the most surprising spells in the series. Bowling 12 overs straight, Broad first dismissed Watson, fittingly, LBW, then drew a false stroke from Ponting, a piece of poor judgement from Mike Hussey, a checked drive from Clarke, and finally produced a ripper to skittle Brad Haddin. He eventually claimed 5/37, and ripped the heart out of the Australian middle order to allow Graeme Swann (4/38) to clean up the Australian tail. The Aussies were dismissed for 160, with only Katich (50) and Peter Siddle (26*) providing any resistance to Broad's swing and Swann's hand grenades.
The English second innings started slowly, with Strauss and Cook crawling along to 27 before Cook edged a Marcus North delivery that spun out of the rough. Mitchell Johnson then gave the Aussies a bit of momentum at the end of Day 2, getting both Bell and Collingwood to fend bouncers to Simon Katich at short leg. But Day 3 dawned, and Strauss and Trott hammered the advantage home for England. Strauss continued on his way, making his second half-century of the match before being dismissed by North just before lunch for 75. Trott found some support from Flintoff (22), Broad (29), and Swann (63) before he became the 18th "Englishman" to score a century on Test debut. After Trott (119) became Stuart Clark's only victim for the match, Strauss decided to pull the pin on the England innings, declaring at 9/373, and leaving the Australians a mammoth 546 runs for victory in just over 2 days.
Just as England's deficit at Headingley proved completely insurmountable, so did this mammoth fourth innings target for the Australians. They made a good fist of it though. Katich and Watson took the score quickly along to 80 by the end of Day 3, but both were dismissed leg within 10 minutes of the start of Day 4, one each to first innings heroes Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. This bought Ponting and Hussey together, and they put on 117 before Ponting (66) was run out after ambitiously taking on Flintoff's arm. Clarke went next, run out in a manner eerily similar to Jonothan Trott's dismissal in the first innings, and when Marcus North was stumped off Swann, the game was up. Mike Hussey, playing for respect and his place in the side, notched up his 10th Test century, and was last man out with Australia still 197 runs adrift. Brad Haddin (34) was the only lower order player able to show some resilience, as Swann (4/120) and Steve Harmison (3/54) finished off the tail.
Player Ratings:
Australia:
- Ricky Ponting (c): 7.5
8 & 66. Played an intensely characterful knock in the second innings, but tried for one quick single too many and was run out.
- Simon Katich: 8
50 & 0/9 off 5, 43. Provided resistance in both innings, but unfortunately couldn't capitalise on a start in either.
- Shane Watson: 7
0/26 off 5, 34 & 40. Fell in exactly the same fashion in both innings, LBW caught on the crease, being late on the ball. Still needs to work on his bowling.
- Michael Hussey: 8.5
0 & 121. Looked better in his century than he has for at least 18 months. Was patient, played mainly to his favourite scoring areas, and he was rewarded accordingly.
- Michael Clarke: 2
3 & 0/20 off 3, 0. A disappointing end to the Test series for one of its best batsmen. Barely troubled the scorers in both innings, being dismissed rather loosely.
- Marcus North: 4
0/33 off 14, 8 & 4/98 off 30, 10. Couldn't make runs, but took wickets in England's second innings. Was desparately unlucky in his first dig, but has only himself to blame in the second, attempting a rather ambitious sweep shot.
- Brad Haddin: 5.5
3 dismissals, 1 & 1 dismissal, 34. Provided some resistance in the second innings, but was ultimately fighting a losing battle. Was tidy, as always, with the gloves.
- Mitchell Johnson: 7
2/69 off 15, 11 & 2/60 off 17, 0. Bowled with pace and venom in both innings, and threatened in the second to cause an England collapse.
- Peter Siddle: 7
4/75 off 21, 26* & 0/69 off 17, 10. The pick of Australia's bowlers in the first innings, taking out a large chunk of England's middle order. Couldn't repeat the dose in the second innings.
- Stuart Clark: 3
0/41 off 14, 6 & 1/43 off 12, 0. Couldn't repeat his accurate, nagging performance from Headingley, and looked rather impotent in both innings.
- Ben Hilfenhaus: 6.5
3/71 off 21.5, 6 & 1/58 off 11, 4*. Took wickets in both England's innings, but wasn't overly impressive, because the conditions weren't conducive for his swing.
England:
- Andrew Strauss (c): 8.5
55 & 75. Again proved the rock at the top of the England innings in both innings, but definitely should have scored a century in one of them. Cashed in on the pads every time Australia bowled there.
- Alastair Cook: 3
10 & 9. Ended what must be considered a poor series on a sour note, not looking at all comfortable against the Australian bowlers in either innings.
- Ian Bell: 7
72 & 4. Oscillated between edging through slips and (just) avoiding bouncers in the first innings, before settling down enough to pass 50. Really only looked good after passing that milestone. Finally did what he has threatened to do all series in the second innings: get undone by a Johnson bouncer.
- Paul Collingwood: 3.5
24 & 1. In the first innings, again succumbed to the Aussie trap of getting him caught in the slips. Got a ripsnorter from Johnson in the second innings, becoming the second English batsman caught at short leg.
- Jonothan Trott: 9
41 & 119. Trott's assuredness at the crease was a stark contrast to Ravi Bopara's perpetual tentativeness that led to the latter being dropped for this final Test. Looked supreme on the front food and off his pads, and it was only by a brilliant piece of fielding by Simon Katich in the first innings that denied Trott a century there too.
- Matt Prior: 5
18, 1 dismissal & 4, 1 dismissal. Couldn't make the impact with the bat that he has throughout most of the series. Made the only stumping of the series, to dismiss Marcus North, in Australia's second innings.
- Andrew Flintoff: 3
7, 1/35 off 13.5 & 22, 0/42 off 11. A very quiet final Test match for the England hero, but at least he went out on the right note.
- Stuart Broad: 9
37, 5/37 off 12 & 29, 1/71 off 22. Bowled brilliantly in the first innings, and it was his spell that won the match for England. Made handy late-order runs in both digs.
- Graeme Swann: 8.5
18, 4/38 off 14 & 63, 4/120 off 40.2. Took more wickets in this Test than in the rest of the series, and England's performance reflected his influence.
- Jimmy Anderson: 2
0, 0/29 off 9 & 15*, 0/46 off 12. A pretty poor Test match from Anderson, going wicketless.
- Steve Harmison: 6.5
12*, 0/15 off 4 & 3/54 off 16. Cleaned up the Australian tail in the second innings after going wicketless with limited opportunities in the first.
The Pad First Man of the Match:
After my less than glowing summation of his performances at Leeds, I was as surprised as any that the Pad First Man of the Match award can go to no one else than Stuart Broad. Bowled with a cleverness I thought never to see from him, keeping the ball full and bowling a mixture of swing and cut. It was his five-wicket haul in Australia's first innings that won England the match.
Interesting Fact: Upon being dismissed LBW to Hilfenhaus in the first innings, Jimmy Anderson finally ended his England record streak of 54 Test innings without a duck.
The Pad First Man of the Series: I thought seeing as this is my summary of the final Test, I may as well add my candidate for Man of the Series. I know it's customary for man of the series awards go to a player on the winning side, but I award it to Michael Clarke. Clarke made 448 runs at 64.00 in the series, with 2 centuries and 2 fifties, and it was only in this final Test that he wasn't able to pass 80 in either innings. A disappointing end to the series for him, but just like Shane Warne in 2005, he put in one of the best performances of his career on a losing side. Honourable mentions to Andrew Strauss, the player who was given the official Man of the Series award, and Ben Hilfenhaus, the best bowler on both sides all series, who only went wicketless in one innings all series.
One Final Comment: Infinite excuses can be made for why Australia lost this series, popular ones including the state of the Oval wicket and the standard of umpiring, but at the end of the day, the team must accept responsibility. Throughout the series, the Australians dominated both the batting and bowling statistics, and yet the series was still alive going into the final match. There is only one explanation for this: a lack of application in the key moments of the series. If you are to look back on these key moments, you will see that they nearly all belong to England. By all rights, the Australians should have gone 1-0 up after Cardiff, but a combination of toughness from last pair Monty Panesar and Jimmy Anderson, and poor captaincy from Ricky Ponting allowed them to scrape a draw. And in the two Tests the Aussies lost, they had horrendous first innings batting collapses after the English had mounted sizeable totals before them. By statistics, the Aussies deserved the Ashes, but on pure grit and determination from some players, a key understanding of selection matters, and effective utilisation of the conditions on offer, the kudos have to go to England. All that's left now for the Aussies is to discuss how much it hurts to see Andrew Strauss and the rest of the English side covered in confetti and champagne, the Ashes urn in their midst. Congratulations England.
Match Summary:
The curator at the Brit Oval seemed determined to give England every chance to win this final Test match; upon early inspection of the wicket, the quality seemed substandard.
Unsurprisingly, the condition of the wicket made the decision to bat first that much easier for England skipper Andrew Strauss upon winning the toss, but, as has happened many times in this series, the English lost Alastair Cook early, edging Peter Siddle into the safe hands of Ricky Ponting at second slip. This bought the under pressure Ian Bell to the crease to join his captain. Both players made half-centuries, to form a solid platform from which the English middle order could take advantage. But despite the work of Bell (72) and Strauss (55), the middle order could not capitalise on the Australian attack; Strauss went early after lunch, unfortunate that Billy Bowden's mind was still with his cucumber sandwiches (he missed a 6-inch no-ball from Hilfenhaus), Collingwood was again undone by a disciplined Australian bowling plan outside his off stump, Bell edged one onto his wicket, Matt Prior failed to pick a Mitchell Johnson slower ball, and Flintoff failed to deliver a last-match fairytale, slashing wildly at Johnson. Only debutant Protea Jonothan Trott was able to provide some resistance in the middle of the innings, leg-glancing his way to 41 before he was runout by Simon Katich's brilliant reflexes at short leg. The rest of the English innings was easy meat for the Australians, with the exception of stubborn lower-order batsman Stuart Broad (37), before he too succumbed to the lure of quick runs, and edged Hilfenhaus into the slips. Peter Siddle was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, taking 4/75 and ripping through the English middle order.
The Australian innings started calmly enough, with a watchful Katich and a lucky Watson (he survived a couple of LBW shouts) steering them to 61 at lunch. But the introduction of Stuart Broad after lunch led to one of the most surprising spells in the series. Bowling 12 overs straight, Broad first dismissed Watson, fittingly, LBW, then drew a false stroke from Ponting, a piece of poor judgement from Mike Hussey, a checked drive from Clarke, and finally produced a ripper to skittle Brad Haddin. He eventually claimed 5/37, and ripped the heart out of the Australian middle order to allow Graeme Swann (4/38) to clean up the Australian tail. The Aussies were dismissed for 160, with only Katich (50) and Peter Siddle (26*) providing any resistance to Broad's swing and Swann's hand grenades.
The English second innings started slowly, with Strauss and Cook crawling along to 27 before Cook edged a Marcus North delivery that spun out of the rough. Mitchell Johnson then gave the Aussies a bit of momentum at the end of Day 2, getting both Bell and Collingwood to fend bouncers to Simon Katich at short leg. But Day 3 dawned, and Strauss and Trott hammered the advantage home for England. Strauss continued on his way, making his second half-century of the match before being dismissed by North just before lunch for 75. Trott found some support from Flintoff (22), Broad (29), and Swann (63) before he became the 18th "Englishman" to score a century on Test debut. After Trott (119) became Stuart Clark's only victim for the match, Strauss decided to pull the pin on the England innings, declaring at 9/373, and leaving the Australians a mammoth 546 runs for victory in just over 2 days.
Just as England's deficit at Headingley proved completely insurmountable, so did this mammoth fourth innings target for the Australians. They made a good fist of it though. Katich and Watson took the score quickly along to 80 by the end of Day 3, but both were dismissed leg within 10 minutes of the start of Day 4, one each to first innings heroes Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. This bought Ponting and Hussey together, and they put on 117 before Ponting (66) was run out after ambitiously taking on Flintoff's arm. Clarke went next, run out in a manner eerily similar to Jonothan Trott's dismissal in the first innings, and when Marcus North was stumped off Swann, the game was up. Mike Hussey, playing for respect and his place in the side, notched up his 10th Test century, and was last man out with Australia still 197 runs adrift. Brad Haddin (34) was the only lower order player able to show some resilience, as Swann (4/120) and Steve Harmison (3/54) finished off the tail.
Player Ratings:
Australia:
- Ricky Ponting (c): 7.5
8 & 66. Played an intensely characterful knock in the second innings, but tried for one quick single too many and was run out.
- Simon Katich: 8
50 & 0/9 off 5, 43. Provided resistance in both innings, but unfortunately couldn't capitalise on a start in either.
- Shane Watson: 7
0/26 off 5, 34 & 40. Fell in exactly the same fashion in both innings, LBW caught on the crease, being late on the ball. Still needs to work on his bowling.
- Michael Hussey: 8.5
0 & 121. Looked better in his century than he has for at least 18 months. Was patient, played mainly to his favourite scoring areas, and he was rewarded accordingly.
- Michael Clarke: 2
3 & 0/20 off 3, 0. A disappointing end to the Test series for one of its best batsmen. Barely troubled the scorers in both innings, being dismissed rather loosely.
- Marcus North: 4
0/33 off 14, 8 & 4/98 off 30, 10. Couldn't make runs, but took wickets in England's second innings. Was desparately unlucky in his first dig, but has only himself to blame in the second, attempting a rather ambitious sweep shot.
- Brad Haddin: 5.5
3 dismissals, 1 & 1 dismissal, 34. Provided some resistance in the second innings, but was ultimately fighting a losing battle. Was tidy, as always, with the gloves.
- Mitchell Johnson: 7
2/69 off 15, 11 & 2/60 off 17, 0. Bowled with pace and venom in both innings, and threatened in the second to cause an England collapse.
- Peter Siddle: 7
4/75 off 21, 26* & 0/69 off 17, 10. The pick of Australia's bowlers in the first innings, taking out a large chunk of England's middle order. Couldn't repeat the dose in the second innings.
- Stuart Clark: 3
0/41 off 14, 6 & 1/43 off 12, 0. Couldn't repeat his accurate, nagging performance from Headingley, and looked rather impotent in both innings.
- Ben Hilfenhaus: 6.5
3/71 off 21.5, 6 & 1/58 off 11, 4*. Took wickets in both England's innings, but wasn't overly impressive, because the conditions weren't conducive for his swing.
England:
- Andrew Strauss (c): 8.5
55 & 75. Again proved the rock at the top of the England innings in both innings, but definitely should have scored a century in one of them. Cashed in on the pads every time Australia bowled there.
- Alastair Cook: 3
10 & 9. Ended what must be considered a poor series on a sour note, not looking at all comfortable against the Australian bowlers in either innings.
- Ian Bell: 7
72 & 4. Oscillated between edging through slips and (just) avoiding bouncers in the first innings, before settling down enough to pass 50. Really only looked good after passing that milestone. Finally did what he has threatened to do all series in the second innings: get undone by a Johnson bouncer.
- Paul Collingwood: 3.5
24 & 1. In the first innings, again succumbed to the Aussie trap of getting him caught in the slips. Got a ripsnorter from Johnson in the second innings, becoming the second English batsman caught at short leg.
- Jonothan Trott: 9
41 & 119. Trott's assuredness at the crease was a stark contrast to Ravi Bopara's perpetual tentativeness that led to the latter being dropped for this final Test. Looked supreme on the front food and off his pads, and it was only by a brilliant piece of fielding by Simon Katich in the first innings that denied Trott a century there too.
- Matt Prior: 5
18, 1 dismissal & 4, 1 dismissal. Couldn't make the impact with the bat that he has throughout most of the series. Made the only stumping of the series, to dismiss Marcus North, in Australia's second innings.
- Andrew Flintoff: 3
7, 1/35 off 13.5 & 22, 0/42 off 11. A very quiet final Test match for the England hero, but at least he went out on the right note.
- Stuart Broad: 9
37, 5/37 off 12 & 29, 1/71 off 22. Bowled brilliantly in the first innings, and it was his spell that won the match for England. Made handy late-order runs in both digs.
- Graeme Swann: 8.5
18, 4/38 off 14 & 63, 4/120 off 40.2. Took more wickets in this Test than in the rest of the series, and England's performance reflected his influence.
- Jimmy Anderson: 2
0, 0/29 off 9 & 15*, 0/46 off 12. A pretty poor Test match from Anderson, going wicketless.
- Steve Harmison: 6.5
12*, 0/15 off 4 & 3/54 off 16. Cleaned up the Australian tail in the second innings after going wicketless with limited opportunities in the first.
The Pad First Man of the Match:
After my less than glowing summation of his performances at Leeds, I was as surprised as any that the Pad First Man of the Match award can go to no one else than Stuart Broad. Bowled with a cleverness I thought never to see from him, keeping the ball full and bowling a mixture of swing and cut. It was his five-wicket haul in Australia's first innings that won England the match.
Interesting Fact: Upon being dismissed LBW to Hilfenhaus in the first innings, Jimmy Anderson finally ended his England record streak of 54 Test innings without a duck.
The Pad First Man of the Series: I thought seeing as this is my summary of the final Test, I may as well add my candidate for Man of the Series. I know it's customary for man of the series awards go to a player on the winning side, but I award it to Michael Clarke. Clarke made 448 runs at 64.00 in the series, with 2 centuries and 2 fifties, and it was only in this final Test that he wasn't able to pass 80 in either innings. A disappointing end to the series for him, but just like Shane Warne in 2005, he put in one of the best performances of his career on a losing side. Honourable mentions to Andrew Strauss, the player who was given the official Man of the Series award, and Ben Hilfenhaus, the best bowler on both sides all series, who only went wicketless in one innings all series.
One Final Comment: Infinite excuses can be made for why Australia lost this series, popular ones including the state of the Oval wicket and the standard of umpiring, but at the end of the day, the team must accept responsibility. Throughout the series, the Australians dominated both the batting and bowling statistics, and yet the series was still alive going into the final match. There is only one explanation for this: a lack of application in the key moments of the series. If you are to look back on these key moments, you will see that they nearly all belong to England. By all rights, the Australians should have gone 1-0 up after Cardiff, but a combination of toughness from last pair Monty Panesar and Jimmy Anderson, and poor captaincy from Ricky Ponting allowed them to scrape a draw. And in the two Tests the Aussies lost, they had horrendous first innings batting collapses after the English had mounted sizeable totals before them. By statistics, the Aussies deserved the Ashes, but on pure grit and determination from some players, a key understanding of selection matters, and effective utilisation of the conditions on offer, the kudos have to go to England. All that's left now for the Aussies is to discuss how much it hurts to see Andrew Strauss and the rest of the English side covered in confetti and champagne, the Ashes urn in their midst. Congratulations England.
