Australia gear up for a fight to the finish

Kissing the badge: Michael Clarke celebrates scoring his hundred
10 April 2012

Who said it could never live up to 2005? With the Second Test in the balance here, we could be in for another Ashes thriller that goes all the way to next month's final chapter.

The final-ball stalemate of Old Trafford four years ago has already been repeated, at Cardiff, a week or so back with England's last pair hanging on for a draw, just like the Aussies did in '05.

And today, with all tickets sold and another capacity crowd expected at the home of cricket, no one could rule out the possibility of an Edgbaston repeat as Australia refused to accept that history — as well as Andrew Strauss's team — was against them.

Click here for live commentary of the final day of the Second Test

Four years ago, of course, the Baggy Green boys finished just three runs short of achieving a victory that would most probably have crushed England's spirit.

On that occasion, Australia were 175 for eight overnight, seeking an unlikely target of 282. But they so nearly made it with last-man Michael Kasprowicz falling to Steve Harmison when one more boundary would have broken home hearts.

By the time bad light halted play last night, guaranteeing that this summer's Second Test would go into a final day, the Aussies were shredding nerves again — recovering from 128 for five to reach 313 without further loss, thanks to Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin.

That still left them requiring a further 209 runs today, not to mention a world record in terms of the highest ever successful fourth-innings run-chase in 130 years of Test cricket.

Whatever the outcome at Lord's though, it looks as though we have another belter of an Ashes series on our hands.

England spinner Graeme Swann, for one, is delighted that cricket is once again capturing the public's imagination. Or at least he said he was last night before clocking in at Lord's this morning and walking back into a pressure cooker situation.

"I'm just glad that these first two Tests are living up to 2005," said Swann, who must have thought he had put England on the road to a reasonably straightforward victory yesterday by dismissing Mike Hussey and Marcus North in the space of 19 deliveries.

"The worst thing for me would be to play in my first Ashes series and it be a pile of sh*t."

No, Graeme, the worst thing for you on the cricket front, one suspects, would be to wake up tomorrow morning as a member of an England team that had failed to defend a victory target of 522, especially bearing in mind that the best ever Test run-chase has stood at 418 since West Indies shocked Australia in Antigua six years ago.

"I'm English so we get nervous about anything," said Swann, who can be relied upon to see the lighter side of most situations. "Your football team can be four up at half-time and you don't watch the second half. It should be a great day's cricket. It wouldn't be the Ashes if it wasn't like that."

England always knew it was not going to be easy to win back the urn. And Andrew Strauss's team suspected yesterday, even when they were on an umpire-assisted roll, that Australia would not crumble.

"When you play Australia you never expect them to lay down and die," said Swann. "And they didn't."

A few of the Aussies must have thought about throwing in the towel, however, when one decision after another went against them.

Simon Katich edged Andrew Flintoff to gully, fair and square, but umpire Rudi Koertzen failed to spot that the bowler had clearly overstepped
the crease and it should have been a no-ball. And the fourth wicket, that of Hussey, was also unfortunate because the left-hander hit the ground — not the ball — with his bat and didn't deserve to be given out caught at slip.

But it was the dismissal of young opener Phillip Hughes which must have had Australian blood boiling, even though coach Tim Nielsen later made only diplomatic responses when asked about the incident.

Hughes was quite probably cleanly caught at slip by Strauss, just like Ravi Bopara had been held at mid-on the previous day. But whereas the Bopara moment was referred to TV umpire Nigel Llong (and the batsman escaped on the basis of inconclusive evidence), Hughes had to walk after on-field official Billy Doctrove ruled that the grass-high chance had carried.

"I would have liked to have seen consistency," said Nielsen, a view echoed by former Australia spinner turned TV pundit Shane Warne.

Many teams would have come quietly after the rub of the green had gone against them on three occasions. But not the world's No1 Test side.

Captain Ricky Ponting may have lost a handful of superstars since he led Australia to a 5-0 whitewashing of England 30 months ago but he still has an outfit willing to scrap all the way.

It was no surpise to see Strauss gather his team together for a pep talk just before close of play last night. And it is little wonder that those spectators who arrived at Lord's this morning came prepared to witness just about anything.

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