Australia v England - 2nd Test, Day 4

Lunch

England's decision to bat on this morning is a curious one, especially in the light of the weather forecasts. A storm front with heavy rainfall is currently tracking over the Spencer gulf and will begin to affect Adelaide Oval soon after tea and is likely to cause the same result as the storm which ranged in from the north yesterday and washed out the last session. Further to this front is the prediction for up to 40mm of rain tomorrow which will almost certainly claim the whole day. Therefore, its not the Australian's Strauss should be trying to beat but more likely the rain. If Australia is six or seven down at stumps, I wonder if the England captain will reflect on lost opportunities this morning.

Ponting certainly made Strauss task much easier this morning, bringing Doherty into the attack as soon as it was clear Bell and Pietersen were on the move and his four overs cost 56 for the gain of Pietersen's wicket. Hitting out as directed, his dismissal was an ugly shot to such a pretty innings. Bell finished with the red ink and some of the best batting of the entire innings. Those who still needed convincing of Bell's quality should have seen enough by now. Doherty finished with 1-158 from 27 overs and if common sense prevails, Hauritz will replace him in Perth. It's to be hoped the mauling the Englishmen have given him won't be his only chance at this level but before he returns,he needs more variation, more flight and better control of changes in pace.

Katich hobbled to the centre with Watson and the pair took to Jimmy Anderson , taking seven 4's from his five overs as Australia raced to 44 off nine overs. Broad switched ends and Swann came on and the game changed, with England creating five of six chances which as easily gone to hand as found the safe little holes in the field. Finn relieved Broad after the big pace man had kept pressure on for Swann and although he was spanked for four fours, he almost had Watson twice. Swann created at least five chances for wickets in his eight overs before lunch and by lunch, Watson looked a relieved man. Swann just needs to have patience and time, the latter quantity his Skipper may have robbed him of with his decision bat on this morning. Katich's injured Achilles tendon caused him pain but he is a resilient character. It does however create another question mark over an Australian side which seems to have its fair share of injury clouds hanging over it.

In a few hours, other clouds may be providing good news.

This Session: Shared
Sessions This Test: England 8, Australia 0, Shared 1
Sessions This Series: England 14, Australia 6, Shared 4

Stumps

Andrew Strauss may well rue his decision to bat on this morning, after showers this afternoon robbed England of an additional 40 minutes at the Australians for whilst this pitch is improving its bag of tricks against batsmen, it will still require diligence and luck to remove the remaining Australians. He went someway to alleviating the burden of lost opportunity by throwing the ball to Kevin Pietersen late in the day to try something different. His height extracted the extra bounce which went from the inside edge of Clarke hitherto flashing blade, to thigh pad and on to Alistair Cook. Two double century makers combining to remove a resurgent Australian vice captain and swing the game back towards England. Clarke and the now reliable again Mike Hussey had spent the afternoon in between showers batting Australia out of its troubles and giving those on the hill something to say back to the Barmy Army.

Clarke batted with great purpose and his battle with Swann, one so anticipated before the series, delivered great entertainment for purist and Punter alike. Both batsmen sued their feet well, something Hussey has been doing from the outset in Brisbane but Clarke was so quick and assured getting down the track to Swann that off spinner had to dig deep into resume to combat him. Despite a few close calls, Clarke won the battle only to lose the war to Pietersen.

Hussey resumes tomorrow with Haddin, man who has already spent hours in his company surrounded by Englishmen and they will do so with the knowledge that should either of them fall, the tail will be exposed with little protection against Swann who has shown himself to be an executioner of those in the lower order.

The end of the day was timely for Swann who had bowled 34 probing overs during the day, with none except Clarke comfortable. He claimed the key wicket of Ricky Ponting, keeping him pinned down for nervous minutes before he scored ad then turned ball after ball back at him before serving up a half volley which Ponting crunched to the mid wicket boundary. Next ball, he sent down another which thought would snake back at him from outside offstump, sent it straight on instead and Collingwood took an excellent low catch at first slip when the ball caught the outside edge of Ponting's bat as he turned inside out and stumbled forward.

This great player is on his last legs. His team, the opposition and the expectations of his country have just about broken him and if England win the series, these will be his last matches. Here's hoping for one last glorious innings to cheer him off. Despite his short comings as a captain, he has been a legend of Australian cricket.

Australia's 12th man, the former Spannish whurlwind, El Nino, may yet, unjustly, save this lot but them Strauss would have to answer for a poor decision overnight. Rain will interven tomorrow, likely delaying the first session and for certain in the last. At best, England might get four playing hours to take the six wickets they need to twist the screw on the Australians. They just need to be patient with the time they have left and hope chances go to hand. The law of probability is heavy in their favour.

Despite the last ball loss of Michael Clarke, at least Australia won a session in this Test.

This Session: Australia
Sessions This Test: England 8, Australia 1, Shared 1
Sessions This Series: England 14, Australia 7, Shared 4