Ashes Day 1 Review - Up yours Hoggy!

"Hoggard, 28, challenged McGrath to make it to the end of the five-Test series in September. "It's going to be tough on the body, it'll be interesting to see if he is the world-class bowler he was..."
-Aussie age a target (Cricinfo)

Well Hoggy! Your top order didn't see enough of him today did they? What an incredible day of test cricket. Most news headlines today would say "Day 1 belongs to Australia" like they have for the past decade (barring another astonishing day in Edbagston '97). But this time it was different. Sometime after Harmison clanged Langer, Hayden and Ponting, it was pretty evident that this was the start of a refreshing change. The memorable opening overs in past Ashes have been the maulings Defraites and Gough got in '94 and '01. It is a little weird why the Aussies didn't buckle down for a bit after they lost their top 5. Giles didn't even get a bowl in the Aussie innings. Gilly played in the way he knows best and Warne flayed it around a bit. But they were never going to last long. Katich looked the most accomplished of batsmen on either side.

If Harmy bounced his way past the Aussies, Mcgrath homed in on his favorite line and length and let the pitch and the batsmen do the rest. It was good to see the two Ashes debutants, Jones and Pieterson make a superb fightback. KP finally proved that he belongs among the big boys in tests too, and Thorpe might book that ticket to NSW a little early. So was the pitch a nightmare? Mcgrath reckoned it was an ordinary first-day pitch but Harmy thought it wasn't bad enough for 17 wickets. The worry for the Aussies; Gillespie's continued lacklustre bowling. Final shot...

"Someone asked whether McGrath had seen all the pre-match hype about how the Australian fast bowlers were over the hill and ready for a pasting. He smiled. "Yeah, I had a bit of a laugh when I read it."

I'm following the match on BBC radio with Jonathan Agnew, Henry Blofeld, Mike Gatting and...hold yer breath lads...Merv Hughes!! Here are a couple of priceless moments.

Merv: "Aww c'mon! He was only a bit over..."

Aggers (in mild irritation): "He only needs to be a bit over, Merv."

-after Brett Lee had Giles caught off a no-ball

Blowers: "This is an excellent fightback by Vaughan...oh dear! Vaughan's not out there now, is he?"

-after Jones smacked Gillespie for another boundary, Blowers probably woke up for the first time after tea.