The first day of the Ashes was as exciting as it could get. England winning the toss chose to bat, but the Australian bowlers were all over the place. From the very first stroke it was War for the teams.
The crowd went frantic when the Aussies removed the in-form batsman and captain Andrew Strauss. With Strauss out of the picture the Australians acquired a great advantage at a very early point in the game.
None of the Aussie bowlers let England take the game away from them. And it almost seemed as if the Australian bowlers were on a mission to prove their critics wrong. Before the series, many believed that Australia lacked impressive bowlers in their squad
and because of that the Australians will be unable to beat the English.
For months everyone has been rating the English bowlers higher than the Aussies. But the very opposite of what was being said was observed. On the opening day the game purely belonged to the bowlers.
The bowler from Australia who did the most damage was the controversially selected Peter Siddle. Siddle took six wickets, which also included a hat-rick.
The selection of Siddle was the reason of a controversy in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, as there was a strong feeling that there were better options available than him. But with his outstanding performance he has managed to silence his critics.
Both sides have had players who have performed exceptionally well in the Ashes and this time it was the underdog, Siddle, who emerged as the star.
It was Siddle's 26th birthday as well, and the England team presented the birthday boy with a spectacular hat-trick. The performance was, without a doubt, his best so far. And the fact that it's was in the Ashes against England makes it even sweeter."I
don't want to be mean to parents and friends who have given me presents over all the years, but this is definitely going to be one of the best birthday presents that I'm ever going to get," he said. "It's an amazing feeling."
There was a general perception that there weren't many match winners in this Australian squad; it has obviously been discarded now.
Tags: