I don’t know who Stephen Fay is but he’s covering the Ashes for BS and today takes a shot at the likes of me:
This was a great day for spectators and a rotten day for forecasters. The weathermen got it all wrong for a start, allowing us to believe that the first day of the latest Ashes celebration would be played in the warm summer weather England sometimes receives at this time of year from the Azores. Not a bit of it. As visitors drew back the curtains they saw the sky was a leaden grey and the atmosphere was close and faintly damp.
Perfect conditions for swing bowling, and each team had a skilled man to exploit the conditions. Peter Siddle for Australia and Jimmy Anderson of England are two of the best opening bowlers in the business, and between them they made for a frenetic and absorbing day’s cricket in which 14 wickets fell for 290 runs. England were bowled out in 59 overs for a meagre 215; both Cook and Kevin Pietersen were out cheaply. Having lost four wickets already, including that of the captain Michael Clarke, for a duck, Australia is 140 runs behind.
The sides are evenly matched. One of them will win this game, probably before the scheduled close on Sunday evening. The other thing the forecasters got wrong was the balance of power between the two teams. Australia played today in a way that mocked the predictions of those who said this is such a weak team that the Ashes would be no contest.
With all due respect, this is more than a little premature. Last night’s play was in perfect swing bowling conditions. Peter Siddle bowled well but he’s generally a gun-barrel straight seamer. If he’s swinging it, conditions are over-ripe for bowling. Australia rolled England for probably about par given the weather. If we get better batting conditions then we’ll have a chance to build a first innings lead.
But we’ll need it. It’s a dry track, which is why we played two spinners. A bold move by Boof but a mistake. Steve Smith is no bowling weapon and if you’re playing him as a batsmen then that’s stupid.
I liked the look of a loopy and bouncy Agar though it’s early days. Why Phil Hughes is still in the team I’ll never know. Back Usman Khawaja’s superior technique with a moving ball.
England is still favourite for this Test with first day honours even and Swan bowling on a dry track in the last innings.
Scorecards from The Sun below:
