Ashes 2nd Test Day 1 - The Edgbaston gang-bang

"I've been letting my side of the bargain down for a while now, haven't I, so it was nice to spend some time with him in the middle. If we bat together, I think we're going to score quickly. He's in fine form, and hopefully I'm coming into some myself."
-Andrew Flintoff

If God writes a script for the perfect start to a Test Match, then Lords would have been his trial production and Edgbaston would be his finished product. In keeping with the nature of this series, the opening day produced some of the most bizzarely thrilling moments seen in a test match since another day in Calcutta in 2001 when VVS Laxman weaved his magic. And somehow the Aussies seem to bring this quality out of opponents; the need to do the extraordinary to get on top. 407 scorching runs were scored in 79.4 overs and 10 wickets fell. And it wasn’t so much the run rate, which was an equally unbelievable 5.13, but the way they were scored, inclusive of 55 fours and 10 sixes. And it’s a tribute to this Aussie team that at the end of the day, most pundits believe that they have the edge going into the second day.

The day started bizzarely enough when Glenn Mcgrath was ruled out of the match having twisted his ankle after stepping on a cricket ball and then Ponting misread the pitch and invited England to have a bat. The decision probably came looking at the history of the ground where only twice before had a team batted first and won. Steven Rouse, the curator, was wary about the pitch but obviously the batsmen thought nothing of it as they battered Gillespie, Lee, Kasprowicz and Warne around the park. None of the batsmen, stung by some of the criticism heaped on them after Lords, took a backward step against this attack. Obviously they were blessed by the absence of Mcgrath, against whom this tactic might have backfired. But they also discovered the caveat with this approach when a day they could have ended at about 360/4 with some measured batting at the later stages, ended up at 407 all out. Flintoff and Pieterson produced the most breathtaking passage of play before tea, when they put on 103 runs in 17.3 overs. Flintoff was especially brutal on Brett Lee hooking him for three sixes, all of ‘em with his eyes closed, and conjured visions of doing another Botham. But it wasn’t to be and his knock reflected the England innings at the end of the day; short, but boy was it sweet.

The Aussies were given a painful glimpse into the future with life without Mcgrath and Warne. If not for Warne, the score might have been higher putting huge question marks on the rest of the bowling. Gillespie looked a lot better with a little extra responsibility and Kasprowicz was steady despite the madness around him. But Lee needs a lesson in defensive bowling, especially when he is losing the battle against a batsman. England should be disappointed at not batting enough when they had the Aussies on the run. And they need to pray for a huge cloud cover tomorrow for Hoggy, Harmy and co., as there is the very real danger of seeing Hayden or Gilchrist blast back to form on this pitch. And looking at the corker Strauss got, Warney might easily get his 600 in this match. Final shot...

"Yeah, it was a pretty amazing day all round," he admitted. "I turned up expecting to have plenty of coffee and tea, and cake - and end up playing in a Test match."
-Michael Kasprowicz

TMS quote of the day:

Selvey: “Hoggard’s last four innings have produced 0, 1 and that pair at Lords”
Maxwell: “Well, he’s due for a big one isn’t he?”
-as Hoggard prepared to take strike for his first ball