Odds against England as wily 'Punter' puts Aussies on a winner

There he goes again: Matt Prior and Alastair Cook watch on in anguish as Ricky Ponting steers yet another ball to the boundary
David Lloyd10 April 2012

England never tried to kid themselves that winning back the Ashes was going to be easy. But now they know just how hard it will be to break down a new-look Australian side appearing every bit as determined as those of old.

The Aussies have lost half a dozen household names since smashing England 5-0 two and a half years ago.

One old foe, in particular, still remains, however, and - on the evidence of yesterday's chanceless century at Sophia Gardens - there is no sign of Ricky Ponting getting ready to give in gracefully.

Ponting plays down any suggestion that what happened in 2005, when he captained Australia to their first Ashes defeat for nearly 20 years, means he is more motivated than any member of his squad to make this tour a success.

A lot has happened since then, he says, including the whitewash series of 2006-7.

It's a fair point. But if Ponting, nickname Punter because of his fondness for a flutter on the greyhounds, was not a man on a mission during day two of the First Test then just pity England when he is fired up and ravenously hungry for revenge.

Simon Katich, Australia's other century-maker yesterday and Ponting's partner in a stand of 189 that led the visitors to 249 for one in reply to 435 all out, gave Andrew Strauss's team a couple of glimmers of hope.

Andrew Flintoff just failed to cling on to a low caught-and-bowled chance, then umpire Billy Doctrove rejected a leg before appeal from Graeme Swann for reasons only he can explain.

Ponting, though, only looked like getting out when he was desperately seeking a single to complete his 38th hundred (in 132 Tests) before close of play.

He made it, just, off the penultimate ball of the day after a couple of aborted attempts to reach three figures.

When you have scored as many centuries as Ponting has, what is so special about another? Perhaps he celebrated so enthusiastically because it was the first anyone had made at Test cricket's newest venue.

Or maybe, just maybe, his fist pumping salute to team-mates in the visitors' dressing room was because he had promised them an example-setting innings.

For England, a day that had begun so promisingly with 99 runs being added for the last three wickets ended in a weary trek from the field with shoulders slumped as low as they could go.

They had expected the new ball to swing, the older one to reverse and for spinners Swann and Monty Panesar to cause problems by getting a bit of slow turn. But nothing happened for them.

"A score of 249 for one probably sums up the way we bowled because we didn't put the ball in the right place often enough," admitted Swann.

"We talked about getting momentum with the bat at the start of the day, and how that would help us. We got that momentum but it just didn't help us much.

"We worked hard to get swing, traditional and reverse, but the ball has done nothing and we don't know why. We couldn't get it to do anything, and it is not turning much, either."

Kevin Pietersen pointed out on Wednesday night, when England were 336 for seven, that the team had enjoyed a better first day than those they experienced at the start of either the 2005 or 2006-7 Ashes series. By last night, it was not quite so easy to pursue that line of argument, although Swann tried.

"We are still nearly 200 runs ahead so it is not all doom and gloom by any means," he said.

And, just to show that Pietersen is not the only keen student of recent Ashes history, the spinner revealed that Flintoff had also recalled a match from four years ago to highlight how quickly things can change.

"Fred reminded us when we got back to the dressing room that the situation is very similar to the one at The Oval in 2005, and that it only takes one good spell to get right back into the game," said Swann.

On that occasion, Australia were 277 for two in reply to England's 373 all out and apparently odds on to forge a first innings lead that might well have set up an Ashes-saving victory.

What followed was not so much a spell of bowling as a superhuman performance with Flintoff operating for around two hours unchanged on his way to figures of five for 78.

Yesterday, Flintoff - in his first Test of the summer after undergoing knee surgery in April - bowled in shorter bursts and enjoyed nothing like the success of four years ago.

Yet he was the only man to pose Australia problems on anything like a regular basis.

Flintoff roughed up Phillip Hughes with some rapid bouncers before having the young left-hander caught behind, then he had Katich's wicket in the palm of his hand, albeit for only a fraction of a second, when Australia's senior opener had scored just 10.

And even the near perfect Ponting had to be on his guard whenever Flintoff was in action.

As for the other members of England's attack, though, it was a chastening day at the office.

Jimmy Anderson simply could not get the ball to swing at any stage, Broad looked innocuous on the slow, unresponsive pitch and neither Swann nor Panesar gained as much turn as Australia's spinner, Nathan Hauritz.

Days like yesterday are all part of international cricket, however, and it is how England respond during the rest of this match that really matters now.

What we know for certain is that Australia are here for a battle. They have already shown in one series this year - beating South Africa away in March after losing to the same opponents at home a few months earlier - that they will scrap long and hard for Ponting.

England have a big job on their hands and if anyone did not appreciate that a couple of days ago, they surely do now.

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