2010 Ashes update: Job still half done says Michael Hussey
If anyone thought that day one of the Ashes was full of action and thrill, they need to think again because the second day was even more teasing and entertaining. When the day started, it was obvious that the Aussies would try
to hit the English all around the park and England’s bowlers would try to create as much trouble for the Aussies as possible.
Just as the Aussie bowlers toyed with the English batsmen on day one of the match, it was now the visitors turn to get even with the hosts. The English bowling attack was spearheaded by James Anderson who disposed the dangerous
Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 after he scored thirty-six runs.
It is from this point onwards that the English bowlers had their tails up and everyone could sense that the day was going to end in a thrilling manner.
The pick of the bowlers for England was the 21-year-old Steven Finn. The youngster did not take as many wickets as he should have; however, he bowled exceptionally well, and created problems for every batsman that stood to face
his pace. Finn removed Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 (9 runs) and then Simon Katich (50 runs). Katich’s wicket was the most impressive as Finn removed him by taking an extremely low catch off his own ball.
At this point, the Australians were in a spot of bother and England was playing the dominant role. None of the Australian batsmen could stay on the wicket long enough to form a big partnership. Watching his side getting out quickly
must have been giving the Australian skipper Ricky Ponting Goose bumps.
For the Australians, someone had to take charge of the situation and who other than Michael Hussey could have understood what was required from him. It was Mr. Cricket, who rose to the occasion and became a force to reckon with
in front of England.
Hussey acted like a mild storm and did not start his onslaught from the word go. He took his time in the middle, being acclimated with the situation on the field, and then slowly he would tease the English bowlers by knocking a
four in almost every over.
Andrew Strauss quickly understood what Hussey was trying to do, and unleashed all the bowlers on the middle order batsman, one after the other. However, Hussey was not flattered and kept on playing his shots without giving away
any chances to the English.
Hussey played an unbeaten innings of eighty-one runs and established a challenging partnership with wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who remained unbeaten on twenty-two runs at the end of the day’s play. Both these players took the score
to 220 runs, before bad light stopped the day’s play.
The third day will be crucial for these two batsmen, as they will have to see off the new ball. Facing the new ball at Gabba is a tough task. Michael Hussey is aware of this fact and feels that if he and Haddin manage to face the
new ball, then later it will become easier for them to score.
Hussey knows that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 are not out of the woods yet and there is still a lot of hard work that needs to be done on the third day. He said, “We had to battle pretty hard throughout that partnership. We managed to get a good
partnership but it's probably not even half what we require, we've got some really hard work to do tomorrow morning. The second new ball is going to be a really challenging time in the game."
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