Ashes Fiasco: How the tables turned against the lion in his own den (Part 2)
The Aussies were persistent in their onslaught; they made sincere efforts to recover their lost pride. The entire day, they kept wearing their baggy green caps and sweaters that happened to be a relic of the old days of Waugh and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915. However, these artefacts
no longer possessed the magic they once held. It was as if they had run out of their magical spell, it was as if they no longer had the fairy god mother to look after them.
Siddle began the match in great style; he removed the two openers early on with brilliant bowling. He managed to thwart the threat of Pietersen just when the latter seemed to look threatening. England, momentarily were disconcerted. Punter’s man, Siddle
then managed to take some running catches at fine leg only a few overs apart to give Mitch a couple of wickets. For a moment, one would have thought that this might just be Australia’s day.
However like most Test matches, this match was also riddled with the inherent curiosities that define each day’s play in Test cricket. They are frequently quite detached from the last day. Each day of Test cricket brings its own moments. It was like what
happened at Lords earlier in the summer, when the teenage fast bowler from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, Mohammad Aamer dislodged the top order of the England batting line up to expose the tail. However, Trott stuck in and made a record breaking partnership with Stuart Broad.
Who could have in their wildest dreams thought that England would make such a comeback? Yet it happened once again. There is a saying, “Fortune favours the bold”. I disagree. I think, “Fortune favours the strong” and this had been reflective in the innings
that England played and in the ton that Trott scored.
Mitchell Johnson had Prior out on five, Prior succumbed to a delivery with a thick woody edge. As Prior was making his way back to the pavilion, Aleem Dar referred his own decision to the third umpire for his gut told him that Johnson bowled a no ball. The
replay showed clearly that Johnson had over-stepped. Australia did not protest this time. They could not have, for deep down they knew that the verdict had been achieved. The right verdict.
In the last three hours of the match, England only suffered one blow, which too was self inflicted. Trott edged a ball on to his knee cap to collapse in pain.
''It was one of the most painful things I've felt in my life. I asked for the runner to put the pads on and see how it went. I gave it 20 minutes to see if it stiffened up. It stiffened up a little bit … that'll teach for me inside-edging it,'' Trott said.
However, soon enough he stood up again and took upon himself the responsibility of delivering the last rites. For the rest of the day, he played swashbuckling drives, willowing the ball all around the ground, hurting Australia with the blade of his bat.
Prior, who had been spared once, flourished as the sun continued to shine and the two batsmen made ‘hay in stacks’.
Footmarks on the pitch appeared like the bruises on Australia’s debilitated pride. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 had exhausted their options and brought in their hobby spinners to bowl at the Englishmen who damaged the Aussies. Ryan Harris bowled a leg stump half volley to
Trott who then dispatched the ball on the on-side. This stroke gained him his century. Ricky Ponting could not do anything but watch as he saw his own prolific career fade under the burden of three Ashes losses, something that has never happened under any
other Australian captain.
''Each hundred you get is in different circumstances. This is definitely an important Test match and one I'll definitely savour. They're all pretty special but Boxing Day, [with] the hype around it and the support from the English fans, it would definitely
be right up there,'' Trott exclaimed.
Continued in Part 3...
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