Ponting gets it right

If ever the marginal nature of the difference between batting form and lack of it was highlighted, it was on day one of the fourth Test between England and Australia.

In his last six Tests, Ricky Ponting had made 77 runs at 7.7 and generally looked pretty awful in doing it. Since being shifted to No. 3 for the Ashes series, Ponting's woes were compounded against the new ball as he regressed to lunging forward and overbalancing while playing drives.

On day one at Headingley, the Tasmanian's form slump looked set to continue when, on zero, he strode forward to his third ball from Andrew Caddick and was seemingly caught from the resultant edge by Mark Ramprakash at third slip. But Ponting held his ground and when the decision was referred to the third umpire earned a fortunate reprieve, as the ball appeared to touch the ground as Ramprakash scooped it up.

In a demonstration of the vicissitudes of cricket, Ponting then proceeded to lash 144 from 154 balls against a hapless England seam attack, as a rampant Australia ran up 288/4 by the close of play. Making the total impressive was the fact it was scored from only 66.3 overs after rain caused the start of play to be delayed until 35 minutes after the scheduled lunch break.

Stand-in Australian captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch resembling something you might see in the back garden. A variegated and patchy green strip hardly appeared the kind of surface on which to bat first but with a lack of moisture in it and variable bounce forecast, the intent was to ensure England batted last.

The public utterances from both sides in the lead-up to the match were that there was no such thing as a dead rubber - Australia supposedly treats each Test the same as every other and was seeking a 5-0 whitewash; England had all-important pride to play for. But as the day wore on and the dominance of the Ponting-Waugh partnership intensified, there was little evidence of any of that pride on display.

England went into the match with what appeared to be its strongest side of the series, with Hussain back as captain, seven batsmen, and an all-seam attack comprising Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Alex Tudor and Alan Mullally. For Australia, Simon Katich became its first batting debutante for more than three years (Darren Lehmann vs India, 3rd Test at Bangalore) in place of injured captain Steve Waugh.

Despite the alarming pitch discolouration, there was surprisingly little seam movement generated in the initial overs from Gough and Caddick. In what was perhaps an indication of the day England were to have, Slater was dropped on 13 when he pulled Caddick powerfully to square leg only for Mullally to have the ball burst through his hands. There was minimal damage done, however, as Slater (21) shuffled across his crease to Caddick to be trapped lbw. Slater played across the line to the full length delivery, which deviated slightly away off the seam to strike him marginally in line with off stump in a questionable decision.

After Ponting's fortuitous reprieve, Hayden was struck plumb in front by Caddick on the front foot but escaped, only to be dismissed in virtually identical fashion next ball. Hayden, who has reportedly been battling tendonitis in both knees and had to pass a fitness test to play at Lord's after jarring a knee during a tour match, collapsed to the ground as he played forward but did not distract umpire Venkat from his job, leaving Australia 42/2. Caddick had removed both openers, who have only one half-century between them in the series to date, in consecutive overs.

Ponting's recent anguished innings have often been punctuated by a couple of glorious drives before he has invariably attempted one too many, let down by judgement or execution. Here he was still determined to hit himself back into form, but this time without the fatal lapse. Ponting's technique seems inextricably linked to confidence and time spent at the crease and finally he enjoyed plenty of both.

Going to tea on 32, Ponting became increasingly authoritative, especially playing the hook and pull, which all of England's bowlers fed all too regularly. With Mark Waugh in tow, Ponting pasted the attack to most parts of the ground as Gough, Caddick and Tudor failed to exert any semblance of pressure by bowling too short and wide. Mullally maintained a tighter line and length but at significantly reduced pace, never presented a danger.

Ponting displayed the form he had been in during the one-day games and tour matches but had hitherto been unable to convert to the Tests. In the hour after tea, Ponting and Waugh not so much seized the initiative as throttled it, scoring 82 runs as Hussain searched vainly for an effective bowling combination.

The rapid acceleration in scoring and England's loss of control over proceedings prompted a bodyline approach to Waugh, with a short leg, leg gully and silly point installed and Gough and Caddick instructed to deliver a bouncer barrage. It was a sure sign of desperation and, although Waugh was struck once on the helmet, not particularly likely to dismiss him. In a second sign of the batsmen's supremacy and the reversal of Ponting's fortunes, a deep cover was briefly stationed for the No. 3 - less than fifty overs into day one of the match.

In Ponting's century, made from 113 balls, 63 per cent of his runs to that point were scored on the leg side, with the majority of those in the region of square leg. It was both testimony to the strength of his pulling and hooking and the undisciplined length Gough, Caddick and Tudor bowled to him.

The dry wicket and the lack of penetration by the seam bowlers led to the question of why England had not selected a spinner. In the third Test, Robert Croft bowled a total of 3 overs for 10 runs and 1 wicket - that of Ponting, in his solitary second innings over. With no off-spinner to examine him, once Ponting overcame his difficulty against the pacemen he never had to change tempo, until the part-time and benign spin of Ramprakash was used to no effect.

Although England were often overwhelmed in the first three Tests and hindered their own cause with aspects like dropped catches, the commitment of the bowlers and intensity in the field was not in question. For the first time the defeats appeared to have had an affect on attitude, as bowlers and fielders were increasingly lethargic as the runs mounted.

The third-wicket partnership had closed to within eight runs of the record 229 for Australia against England at Headingley when Tudor dislodged Ponting with a delivery that lifted disconcertingly from short of a length and brushed the gloves through to Alec Stewart. It was the proverbial wicket from out of nowhere and halted England's downward spiral. Emphasising the inconsistent bounce that had been seen on occasion throughout the day - usually with the odd ball taking off from a short length - Caddick's next ball to Martyn kept low and found the edge safely into the ground.

Caddick dismissed Mark Waugh, very much junior partner in comparison to Ponting but still quite fluent and severe on bad bowling, in the last over of the day. The persistent short-pitched bowling eventually paid off, as Caddick dug the ball in at Waugh's ribs and the batsman offered a simple catch off the splice to Ramprakash in the gully.

Despite that wicket, Australia has already established a stranglehold on the match in effectively little more than two sessions and it is rare indeed when they do not convert such a position into a comprehensive victory.