England Thwart Australian Dominance

A monumental batting display by England’s tail enders gave Andrew’s Strauss’s men an unlikely draw on the final day of the first npower Ashes test against Australia

James Anderson and Monty Panesar were left not out at the end of the day, as England were reduced to 233-9 with over 40 minutes of play still remaining.

Paul Collingwood top scored with a resilient 74, but when he departed for the ninth wicket England looked as good as beaten.

Ricky Ponting’s men threw everything they could at England’s batsman, but they fell just a single wicket short in a agonising climax of the match.

The finale brought back memories of the Old Trafford test match between the two in 2005, where the tourists tail enders defied England’s bowlers to salvage a final day draw.

Both sides are sure to take positives from the end result, with Australia outplaying England for four days, while the hosts will be glad they go to Lords unscathed after a disappointing start to the series.

It’s debatable that Australia couldn’t have done much more to win this most recent test match, with the wicket doing very little for the bowlers in the five days, and only England’s inept batting display being the reason behind Australia’s success with the ball.

For England plenty of ‘soul searching’ as Ricky Ponting put it will need to be done as well as some questions over selection for the second test starting on Thursday.

Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar could well miss out, with Steve Harmison and Graeme Onions looking set to replace the duo.

The fifth day did show that England have some grit in their side, and in Collingwood have a batsman that proved to be near invincible in Cardiff.

The Durham man has constantly been under pressure for his place in the side, with his defensive batting style always under scrutiny as the likes of Ian Bell continue to press their claim.

But it’s occasions likes yesterday that shows Collingwood’s worth to the side, and his world class ability to dig in was the difference in winning and drawing the test match.

No matter what you say about Anderson and Panesar at the back end of the innings with Collingwood’s five-hour knock the tail enders wouldn’t have stood a chance at saving the match.

Maybe now after this match-saving performance Collingwood will be appreciated as a significant member of this England test team, and all the ridiculous talk of him being dropped might finally be extinguished.