Monday 3 January 2011
Sydney Day 1: Australia 134 for 4. Rain stopped play. Monday dawned to dark, angry clouds obscuring the Sydney skyline but as yet no rain. Alas, the weather did not hold longer than mid-afternoon and 31 overs were lost to rain on this opening day of the 5th and final Ashes Test. Despite the overcast conditions, Michael Clarke boldly elected to bat after winning the toss. He was rewarded with a battling display by his openers Watson and Hughes, who rode their luck to grind out an unexciting but promising position of 55 for no wicket. After doing all the hard work, Hughes then edged a Tremlett delivery to slip in the last over before lunch. Usman Khawaja must have endured a nervous lunch interval knowing that he would shortly face his first ever ball in Test cricket. But England let him off the hook straight away as he raced to 15 off his first 8 deliveries, including an imperious pull for four which had echoes of David Gower's Test debut (one for the older reader!). Fortunately for England, Shane Watson obligingly edged to slip just when he looked set to break loose and finally outscore the overs bowled (he made 45 and was out in the 45th over). After a lengthy break for rain, the skies brightened long enough for England to enjoy further success by enducing Michael Clarke to play a poor shot straight to gully, thus continuing his unusually poor run with the bat. Despite the loss of his captain, Khawaja looked increasingly comfortable in the Test arena before he had a rush of blood and skied Swann for an easy catch - just as the rain was beginning to fall again. This evening's TV news here is already celebrating Khawaja's debut innings as a vision of the Promised Land. To put this into context, he scored 37 - a nice enough start but not a fifty or a hundred. And he played a stupid shot to get out just as it started to rain - if he had simply played Swann's last ball back down the pitch, he would still be batting tomorrow morning. Harsh? Welcome to Test cricket. Only time will tell if Khawaja will make the grade. In summary, Australia appear to have conceded a promising, fighting start to this game. At 105 for 1, they were looking good. At 134 for 4, they now face a real battle tomorrow to post a decent first innings score.
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