Story 2010/11 Vodafone Ashes Series- Adelaide Test begins!

[Roofrom50]

Thanking you all for the wonderful response for the KFC Classic catches. I am just glad i have so many wonderful readers who comment constantly on the work that i produce.

Clearly Mitchell Johnson's catch was a standout winner, so everybody who voted for Johnson will recieve some reputation points from myself. The next update will be coming soon, we look back on what was a sensational first test from Brisbane with player interviews and "fan centeral"

 

[Dutchmen]

I've D in my bag (if it is still open)

 

[Roofrom50]

I've D in my bag (if it is steel open)

Still open and comments are always welcome from you Reps coming your way!

 

[AkshayS]

steel open

oh yea.

 

[Dutchmen]

oh yea.

Oh-uh I meant still

 

[Roofrom50]

Match Review​

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the match presentation here in Brisbane. We have just concluded 4 days of some wonderful cricket here in the first Vodafone Ashes Test match between Australia and England, which saw the Australian's come out 238 run winners. We saw some wonderful wickets taken, some splendid catches and just some awesome stroke making by a lot of the players, and we didn't really expect anything more. Australia showed they are still the number 1 team in the competition wether it be, One day internationals or in the Test matches.
We will be joined a little later by both captains, Ricky Ponting of Australia and Andrew Strauss from the loosing side and see what they have to say about the Test match here in Brisbane. We have already had a little look back at the Test match that was, right from the beginning of the match, when Australia won the toss, they really didn't look like loosing. A big century from Michael Hussey set up the first innings total with some solid contributions from the top order.

The fans were able to see some wonderful individual performances, from both sides. Michael Hussey making 104 in the first innings for Australia with the bat. The old timer, Andrew Flintoff took 5 wickets for the visitors in the England bowling innings, as Flintoff is saying goodbye for the last time in this Ashes series. Wicket keeper, James Foster made the England top order look useless, when he made 88 comeback, giving the English some hope in this first test match, and Monty Panesar made a quick fire 42 to help him out. Mitchell Johnson was on song with the ball, taking 4 wickets for the home team to knock over the English for 318 in the first innings.
Another top notch display from the Australian top order helped them to another solid total. Michael Clarke top scored with a unbeaten 102 on a pitch that was starting to deteriorate. Monty Panesar made use of the conditions and took 4 wickets in some great display of spin. The last England batting innings with a bismal, as they were bowled out for 169, as Collingwood top scored for the visitors with just 34. Ben Hilfenhaus made the use of the new ball and took 5 wickets for the innings and ended the match with Australia winning by 238 runs.


We will now call the loosing captain of England, Andrew Strauss to the seat, now welcome Andrew, very disapointed of course, what do you think went wrong out their in this first test match?

Thankyou Simon, and well there are plenty of reasons why things went wrong out their throughout the test match. Australia were just too good in the end when it mattered the most. Their bowlers certainly bowled in the right spots and made our batsmen play the ball when they should have just let the ball go through to the keeper. Myself is included in this theory, as i decided to play stupid shots that were wide of the stumps and i got caught everytime, and edged the ball to the keeper. Hilfenhaus and Johnson were both bowling well, and it was hard to get through the spinners of Hauritz and Bollinger bowled well in the depth overs as well.
We will certainly need to go back to the nets and get our top ordered batsman to find some form with the bat, including myself. If it wasn't for our tail enders in both innings, we wouldn't have posted the score that we did. James Foster was sensational in the first innings and tried to back it up in the second but the game was well and truly gone by that stage.
Myself and Alastair need to get our team off to a good start in the next match, so we can post a solid total for our team.

I think our bowling was good, certainly at times, and some of our bowlers had some good individual afternoons. As Flintoff took 4 wickets in the first, and Panesar took 4 in the second innings, but we just need to get our bowlers like Anderson and Sidebottom to start firing and bowling well all the time.

So you say that your openers including yourself need to find some form and just get themselves in and see the ball more often, so do you think there will be any changes from this test match to the next. Will there be any changes to the side?, or will you try and keep the same team throughout the whole series to see if they can pull this series win off. Obviously one win doesn't show anything, but you are now 1 match behind, and will need to play well in the next following test matches.

I guess that would have to come down to the selectors. We would have some players playing well in their county matches. Jonathan Trott seems to be in some good form, and Matt Prior the keeper batsman has always been handy with the bat coming in at number 7. James Foster certainly wouldn't be out of the occasion, because he has been our best batsman so far in this series. I just think that our top order needed to watch the ball a little more and not play shots that are wide of the stumps. We need to be patient and not try to score runs quickly.
I don't think there will be any changes to the side for the next test match, but if there is, it's obviously gonna be good for the team.

Well we thank you for your time Andrew and we wish you good luck for the next test match in this series. We will now welcome to the seat, the winning captain, Ricky Ponting for Australia. Now Ricky, unlike the English, all your top ordered batsman seemed to be in some nice touch. Yourself, Watson, Katich and Hussey all scored well in the innings. Michael Clarke made 102 in the second innings, so it's safe to say that your batsman are in some good form. Your bowlers have also done well and this win certainly was a all rounded effort. No one really stood down, as everyone made a influence in their own single way

Thanks Simon, and yeah i believe that our batsman are in some good form. It's good to have a right and left handed combination at the beginning of the innings. Watto and Katich both played well and scored well together to get us off to a decent start which is crucial for us. Then with Huss and Clarkey coming in at number 4 and 5, our top order certainly goes down lenghty and we have plenty of options if one fails. Northy was probably the only batsman to not score as fluently as the rest, but he certainly did his job down the order as well. It's good to have North and Haddin come down at the lower order and come out swinging if we need them. Both players can score quickly, but then again, if we need them to hang around, both could provide that too.
I was very happy with the whole team in the Test match actually, as you said, everyone played their part and made a difference in every single way. Hilfenhaus was quiet in the first innings but did the trick in the second. Johnson bowled well for the whole match, while Bollinger was economical. Nathan Hauritz didn't take many wickets but went for only just the 2 runs per over, so everyone did their job and that's why we came away with the win.

Well they certainly did do their jobs and i don't think there will be any changes to the Australia side for the next test match. Thanking you Ricky and well done on the display. Australia go 1-0 in this 2010-11 Vodafone Ashes series.

Series Statistics​

So we have a look at the leader run scorers in this Test series so far. We have a very close contest at the moment, with James Foster leading the way making 116 runs in the 2 innings he played. 88 runs in the first innings from Foster he played a sensational knock to get England back in this match.
Second comes Michael Hussey of Australia. Hussey didn't make too much in the second innings but it was his first score that blew the crowd out of the ground. 104 from Hussey in the first innings now take his series total to 115.
Michael Clarke is 3rd in the list, and like Hussey has made a big score in one innings and then perished cheaply in the next. First innings Clarke only made the 10 runs, but in the second innings, Clarke put on a show of hitting and smacked a unbeaten 102 from 100 balls. Simon Katich and Captain Ricky Ponting round off the top 5 batsman of the series so far. So Australia dominating the batting scoreboard, with James Foster the only England player leading.

When then now take a look at the leading wicket takers of the Series. Of course, after the brilliant display with the ball in the second innings, Ben Hilfenhaus is leading the wicket takers, taking 6 wickets, where he only took the 1 wicket in Australia's first innings. Mitchell Johnson has thrown under the radar and has bowled well in both innings, taking 5 wickets. Johnson has bowled well, and has taken wickets at the crucial times, Johnson can swing the ball into the right handers and away from the left. He is a very dangerous bowler and can take the wickets obviously without having to dominate.
Andrew Flitnoff who is in his last Ashes series, comes in at number 3 taking 5 wickets for himself. Flintoff dominated seedings in the first innings taking 4 of those 5 wickets. Monty Panesar used the conditions of the pitch to his advantage in the second innings when the pitch was deteriorating and took 4 of his 5 wickets as well. Dougy Bollinger rounds off the top 5 for the wickets taking.

 

[Roofrom50]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen and i welcome you to the beautiful Adelaide Oval. We are here for the second test match in this Vodafone Ashes series between Australia and England, and what a fine afternoon we are experiencing here in Adelaide.
I am Mark Nicholas and i thank you for your company for the start of this second test match. Australia have taken a 1-0 lead against England with a astounding 238 run in Brisbane just a week ago. A few changes to the sides, and now we have a completely different test match on our hands.
Australia played superbly in the first test match, not having to rely on too many individual performances to get them over the line. Michael Hussey was good with the bat, so was the rest of the Australian top order. While their bowling attack was lead by Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson. The Australian side couldn't of found a fault in their side in the first test match, but they have made a few changes for this second match.

We have a absolute wonderful day starting off here in Adelaide. The sun is shining and the weather bero suggest that it will get into the mid 30's by about 3.00pm here in Adelaide, so it's gonna be hot out in the middle for the players, and it's going to be a hot start to this test match as well. The wicket looks hard and is looking to be going to have good carry through to the wicket keeper. The pitch looks good for the batsman, however there is a little faint of grass on the pitch throughout. It will be a interesting coin toss here this afternoon, and it'll be interesting to see what the winning captain does.

So let's now have a look at these 2 sides and see what has compared to the first test match just a week ago in Brisbane. First we'll have a look at the home side, Australia. Australia's batting order was immense in the first match in Brisbane. You couldn't of found anybody who under performed or didn't do their job. Shane Watson and Simon Katich are named as the Aussie openers. These 2 men are playing well together after the departure of Matty Hayden and Gilchrist. Watson is known to come out and be a little slow in his approach, he can also, depending on his mood, come out and smash the ball around. Katich we all know has a wonderful mindset and can be out in the middle for a long time if he can get himself settled and on song.
Captain Ricky Ponting comes in at number 3 he's usual position, and he made some solid contribution with the bat in the first match. Michael Hussey who was Australia's best batsman in the first match edges out Michael Clarke in the number 4 position, while Clarke comes in at number 5. Marcus North was in the number 6 position in Brisbane, but he has been omitted, while the young, Callum Ferguson has been renamed for this Australian team and is given the chance to do some damage. Brad Haddin comes in at number 7 and we all know he likes to come out and smack the ball around the park, just like Gilchrist did when he was playing at number 7. Mitchell Johnson 8, and Nathan Hauritz 9 round out the batting line-up for Australia.
Ben Hilfenhaus comes in at number 10, while the Victorian, Peter Siddle has been given a callup talking the position of Doug Bollinger, who didn't do too much wrong in a lot of peoples mind. Siddle will need to perform well, otherwise Dougy would be right back in this side.

So a few changes to the Australia line-up with Callum Ferguson and Peter Siddle coming into the side, while Marcus North and Doug Bollinger have been rested for this match. It'll be interesting to see how the 2 boys go in this winning team, if they can make a difference to the side that won by 238 runs in the first innings.

And now we'll go on and take a look at the England side. No change to this England side from the loose in Brisbane, which is a interesting call from the coach and the selectors. So here is the team.
Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss both had dissmal match in Brisbane. The new ball wasn't working for either of them and both of them couldn't make a impact at the start of the innings. Both men will be looking to get their country off to a solid start here in Adelaide, Strauss really needs to play well for his country as he is the Captain of the team. Ian Bell comes in at number 3, he has a lot of potential and talent, and he didn't show it in Brisbane, he also needs a big game here for England to win the match.
Kevin Pietersen comes in at number 4, and the weather here would suit the big fella. We all know of Kp's talent, so he will need to put them on show here whenever he gets the chance to bat. He was solid in the loss against Australia in the first game, but he will be looking to top that again.

Paul Collingwood comes in at number 5, and the old timer was good in the second innings for England. He has been consitant with the bat in the first match, even though he didn't make a big score in either innings, he was solid throughout. Again he will need to make a bigger contribution if England are going to win. Freddy Flintoff comes in at number 6. He was good with the ball Flintoff, but when it came he's time to bat he was hopeless. A big innings from Flintoff with the bat and ball are needed here in Adelaide.
Jimmy Foster was easily England's best batsman of the Brisbane match. Leading the runs in the series for the first match, so England will be hoping he can bring that form into Adelaide. Stuart Broad comes in at number 8, with Monty Panesar coming in at number 9. Panesar was solid with the bat and made a handy contribution both innings. He will be looking to do the same here in Adelaide as well. While Sidebottom and Anderson round out the England team which has been untouched from the loss in Brisbane just a few ago.

So the story is here, that England have won the toss and they have elected to bat first on this good looking wicket. A bit of grass as i mentioned has appeared on the strip, but looks to me as it won't play too much affect on this test match.
We will run down to the ground now and we see that the England opening batsman are coming to the middle of the ground. Alastair Cook the 26 year old, was very dissapointing in the first match in Brisbane. Only made the combined total of 2 runs. He will be looking to get England off to a good start here. We know he is a good hitter of the ball, and he's concerntration is top of the line. The left hander averages around the 50 mark, so he knows how to start an innings off, i think he was just having a bad afternoon in Brisbane. 24 fifty's and 16 hundreds from Cook, so maybe here in Adelaide will be his day to make that 17 hundreds to his name.

Alastair Cook takes guard​

Joining Cook at the crease is his Captain Andrew Strauss. Strauss was like Cook in the first match, very dissapointing and he knows that. He knows his performance was unexceptable for his country and for his own form, and he will be pumped and looking to score some quick runs here this afternoon. Strauss just averages over the 40 mark for his Test career, which is 82 games long now. He is a good opening batsman, probably one of the best in the world, even though the first match didn't provide that.
Strauss's strike rate is hovering around the 50 mark, so he knows how to get going and when to slow his pace down when things are starting to get a little tough for the team. Over 6000 runs in test matches, now that would be something to brag about in just the 87 matches. Strauss will need to have a big opening innings here if his team is any chance of winning this match and leveling the series to 1-1

Captain Strauss settles in

Australia has gone to the leading wicket taker from the first Test, in Ben Hilfenhaus to open the bowling here for Australia. Hilfenhaus will be looking to swing the ball into the left handers which both these batsman are.
Hilfenhaus's test match career is only 18 matches long, so he is still quiet new to the test arena, and he has taken 55 wickets in those matches. He's economy rate is very good just hovering above the 3 run per over mark and his best figures in the one innings were 4/57. Hilfenhaus proved a huge danger in the first test to these 2 batsman, can he work them out again and take a early wicket?

Hilfenhaus will try and swing the ball

So here we go, we are about ready here for the first ball of the day and the first ball of the second Vodafone Test match between Australia and England. Alastair Cook is on strike to Ben Hilfenhaus who will be looking to swing the ball into the left handers. This is promising to be a blinder of a test match, so let's get stuck into the first session of play....

 

[Aditya]

I'm hoping for a better performance from the English side. One of the two opener's to smash a century!

 

[hedger_14]

Just read the last few updates and amazing work Roo. KUTGW. Good to see Ferguson in the side and hopefully he and Australia can do well in this second test.

 

[AkshayS]

Wow, Ferguson is playing. Hope to see a fine performance from him.
And I hope England would put up better fight this time rather than getting owned.
Waiting for the action to begin.

 

[Meet]

Good update dude.Well done with gfx too.
England need to put up at least 350+ to put themselves in a comfortable position and to make themselves feel that they have a chance to win this test match and give a fightback to the aussies.For this to happen, the openers need to lead from the front.

 

[Roofrom50]

We have reached the lunch break here in Adelaide. England won the toss and elected to bat first here, and with Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook at the crease, 2 players who didn't perform in the first match, anything could of happened at the beginning here. Ben Hilfenhaus was given the ball and looked to be Australia's number 1 bowler in this series so far.
The new man to the Australian test side for this contest is Peter Siddle, and the Victorian was given the new ball from the other end by Ricky Ponting. Siddle comes into the side for Bollinger who has been rested in this match.
Siddle has been given the chance to make a name for himself here, he is constantly bowling around the 135-140km mark, so he will be looking to trouble the batsman with pace and bounce early on here in Adelaide. So with Hilfenhaus steaming in from one end, using the swing of the ball back into the left handers, and with Siddle coming in from the other end, pitching the ball just outside the off stump and tempting the batsman to play anything that has a little bit of width, this is going to be a interesting start here in this test match.

Siddle takes the new ball from the opposite end

It was a very immense start from the England batsman. Both innings in the first test, Strauss and Cook lost their wickets early, they weren't seeing the ball properly and got out too quickly. It just shows what a week can do in cricket. Both batsman were watching the ball here on the first day in Adelaide. Strauss wasn't playing anything that is wide, he just leaves the ball to follow through to the wicket keeper. Cook was seeing the ball as well, but was playing with a little more flare and grace, knocking the ball around the place.
It was a solid start from the two opening batsman. Both players seemed to be playing a lot better, watching the ball like we know they can do. Andrew Strauss moved onto the 7 runs, while Cook was looking solid and made 10 before the first wicket fell. It was the England Captain, Strauss who was dismissed off the bowling of Hilfenhaus. Hilfenhaus who is the leading wicket taker in the series so far, bowled a beautiful bouncer, which Strauss saw early and went to play the pull shot, as the field was up and only the 2 men were on the on side.
Strauss saw the ball early and played through, but the ball flicked the edge of the bat at the highest peak, and the ball sailed through to Haddin who took the catch. The first wicket has fallen, and England are 1/17.

Strauss is out for playing the pull shot

Strauss faced 20 balls for just he's 7 runs, and it's Hilfenhaus again who has proven havic for the opening English batsman. He picks up the wicket of Strauss for the 2nd time in these test matches, certainly can say that Hilfenhaus has been on top thus far.
Ian Bell is the new man to the crease for England. Bell hasn't been able to make a solid contribution to the scores in the test series so far, so could today be the day that he makes a difference. The pitch is good for batting, so Bell will be looking to make a big score here. Ian Bell has only made the combined total of 22 runs in this series so far, certainly below he's normal standard, and we all know what a player Bell can be when he's on his game.
Bell has made a high score of 199 in a test match before, so he can certainly score big. 26 50's and 12 centuries to his name, he just needs to find his form again, and produce on the big stage here, with England one down, and that being the captain, Bell needs to stand up with Cook who is looking good on 10 at the moment.

Ian Bell arrives at the crease, big innings needed

England have started off fairly well here, heaps better then their first 2 innings in Brisbane a week ago. Alastair Cook is playing nicely, and with Strauss gone for 7, and Ian Bell at the crease, England might have a little more power to make a big total here. Hilfenhaus and Siddle have been bowling well though to all the batsman. Hilfenhaus took the wicket of Strauss for 7, and after bowling 7 overs, and making 1/15, Hilfenhaus was taken out of the attack, and the left hander, Mitchell Johnson was brought on.
Johnson, who is known to be the Australian's number one bowler, would love having the freedom coming in at number 3 on the bowling attack and then troubling the batsman once the ball is around 10-15 overs old. Johnson has the big swinging left arm that can do a lot of damager to any of the best batsman. Johnson has taken 181 wickets in his 42 game test career, with his best efforts coming at 8/61, such a wonderful spell of bowling in the one innings.
And now with a right and left hander at the crease for England, they can rotate the strike and not let the bowlers get settled and maintain their rhythm.

Johnson brought into the attack to produce a wicket or 2

Ricky Ponting then decided to keep changing things around. The field kept changing a lot, to try and throw the batsman off guard, especially to Cook who is looking pretty good at the crease at the moment. Peter Siddle finished off his 8th over, going for 20 runs and not taking a wicket, he has bowled really well here in the replacement of Bollinger.
Shane Watson has been brought into replace Siddle for the spell. Watson who is not known for his big spell of overs, he isn't really known for his bowling what so ever, but he get's a couple of overs here and there, and when he gets the opportunity, he really makes the most of it and produces the goods. 43 wickets taken in the 27 test matches Watson has appeared in, so he is certainly worth a couple of wickets a game, but certainly not a big amount. His best efforts were 6/33 in a test match, so he certainly is handy with the ball as well as the bat. A top class cricketer is Watson, and now we will see him at his work here this afternoon.

Watson's on, can he produce a wicket for the Aussies?

With 2 bowling changes from the Captain, Ponting, Alastair Cook for England has started playing some wonderful shots and starting to hit the ball around the ground a little more. Cook has survived the difficult stage, seeing off the new ball and is now in a comfortable position to start playing some shots when the ball is there to be hit.
But before Cook could really get settled and trouble the scoreboard, he was walking back to the pavillion looking sorry for himself. A beautiful pitched up ball from the bowling off Watson made Cook play the cover drive, which found the edge and sailed back through to Haddin who took the catch simply in his gloves. Australia have their 2nd wicket here in the morning session, and England are now 2 down for 45. A little better start from the England openers, but Cook will be kicking himself for not going on and making a bigger score as he looked settled and relaxed at the crease, but was driven into playing a shot from Watson.
Cook makes 28 from 64 balls before he is dismissed, 2 boundaries in that innings, and now England are back to level playing fields.

* I am very sorry, but their is no video footage of the wicket of Cook, as i accidently deleted the footage, so please bare with me*​

England are now 2 batsman down in the morning session here on day 1 of the Adelaide test match. Andrew Strauss has been dismissed for 7, while Alastair Cook was the most recent wicket, falling for 28 by Watson.
The big figure of Kevin Pietersen now walks to the crease for England. This is a huge innings for this man. Pietersen hasn't been the worst performer for England thus far in this Ashes campaign, he has made 50 runs from the 2 innings, but he will need to perform a hell of a lot better here this afternoon as we are closing near to the lunch break. Ian Bell is still newish to the crease but he is sitting on 8, and now with the 2 right handers at the crease, and with Watson and Johnson bowling reasonably well, the start has been rather level for everyones liking.

Danger man Pietersen walks to the crease

After the wicket of Cook, you would think that Australia would be on top here early on. But things started to go England's way. Ian Bell had been slow in his build up, but a really bad over resulted in Bell to score big, making 16 runs from the one Johnson over. Bell is moving nicely and is playing some glorious shots, hitting 4 boundaries in this Johnson over. Some bad balls got punished from Johnson, as Bell and Pietersen have put on a little mini partnership.
Apart from the one bad Johnson over, Johnson's bowling has been superb. 8 overs, 4 maidens and gone for 26 runs, which 16 of them came from that one over. So take away that terrible over, and Johnson has only conceeded 10 runs from the 8 overs and 4 maidens, it's been a top class piece of bowling. Both to the right handers, Johnson has pitched the ball just outside the off stump, tempting the batsman with something wide, something a little too wide has been pounced on by Bell, but most of the time, has been let go and left to travel through to the wicket keeper.
Here is a pitchmap of the bowling from Johnson to both right handers, Bell and Pietersen.

And so we reach the lunch break here on the first day, with England 2/78. A much better start from their first match in Brisbane, where they were 3/21 at the lunch break.
Strauss and Cook are the two batsman out for England, Strauss gone for 7 after a nice bouncer from Hilfenhaus as Strauss tried to play the pull shot which found the edge. Cook looked a little better, and made 28 before he was dismissed by Watson who also found the edge of the blade from Cook which was caught behind by Haddin.
Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are now at the crease and going along nicely. Bell smashed Johnson off the one over making 16 runs from a poor over of bowling by Johnson. Other then that, Johnson has bowled sensationally well. Bell is sitting on 31, and is looking in the best shape he has been in on this tour, while Pietersen is still new to the crease, but is sitting on 7 off 14 balls. The game is on level terms here, both teams have had their moments, and we look forward to the afternoon session here from Adelaide

 

[Meet]

Brilliant update I should say- both in terms of writing as well as gfx.I know how tough its to produce an hawk eye.
As far as match is concerned, captain strauss would be disappointed on another failure, while on the other hand Cook failed to continue the start he got.Bell have looked classy with his 31* who is successful to make up the first test failure.I hope Pietersen will support him and later he too will score something big.

And I guess something is missing in this sentence.

It just shows what a week can do in cricket.

 

[Aditya]

Strauss was not even able to reach to the double figures, he'll be disappointed. Cook, on other hand, got off to a good start but didn't go on to play a big innings. Bell has got off to a good start, hopefully he'll play a big innings and for that he will need the support of Kevin Pietersen.

Brilliant update there, Roo.

 

[formula1man]

just something ive noticed. When a team is bowled out you keep putting 10/ in the scorecard, just put the score without wickets lost. Also why are your graphics from WIN, they are the country broadcaster in Oz, the city one is Nine.

Apart from that your story is extremely good.