Ashes First Day : Peter Siddle's Hat-Trick !

So the action is finally underway. And what a start to the series it was! All the pre-match talk from Andrew Strauss about not letting the occasion get the better of you, ultimately, fell upon his own deaf ears. As he cut a ball far too close to him (admittedly it did jag in off the seam considerably) to Michael Hussey in the gully, who made no mistake with the catch.

It was the worst possible start for England. I am sure I was not the only England fan with my head in my hands, praying that it would not be 2006/07 all over again. Thankfully, Jonathon Trott soothed some of my nerves during his stay (apart from the LBW review which was painfully close). He looked calm and assured at the crease and looked well set for a ton. That was, until he played a rather uncharacteristically loose drive to an in ducking Shane Watson delivery.

This was now the most intriguing moment of the day for me. With Kevin Pietersen walking out, would Ricky Ponting bring debutant Xavier Doherty straight into the attack? If it was me, Watto would’ve been told go have a rest after his arduous 1 over spell and Doherty would have been straight on at Pietersen. Surely this would have played on his ego and he probably would have looked to dominate Doherty (not a bad plan but doing this from the off against a spinner is very dangerous). Instead, he was allowed to get his eye in against the friendly pace of Watson. Once Doherty was introduced he was already well set and looked at ease with the bowling. On the whole, Pietersen looked very good today (much like the skunk hair-do KP of 2005) and it bodes well for the rest of the series. I do think Ponting missed a trick today. It would have said to KP, ‘you have a weakness, and we are going to exploit it’. I feel perhaps the only reason Ponting did not call on Doherty straight away, was to dispel the feeling in the media (and just about everyone else in the world) that he was only included to get Pietersen out. In my view it’s the only plausible explanation as to why Ponting did not try and exploit such an obvious weakness in KP’s game. Either that or it’s just the fact that Ponting is a rubbish captain. Come to think of it, it’s probably both.

England were finally looking on track to post a big score with Bell and Cook at the crease after Tea. We were 197-4, the bowling was wide (literally, as the extras racked up). Both batsmen looked completely at ease. Then came Peter Siddle (argggghhhh Peter Siddle, I’m sorry I just don’t like the bloke. No idea why, he just gets under my skin. It mystified me as to why he was included ahead of Bollinger). Well shows what I know, as he bowled a brilliant spell to dismantle England’s innings. First, he exposed Cook’s fallibility outside the off-stump once again, as he nicked to first slip. He then bowled a peach of an in swinger to Matt Prior (the shot was questionable but take nothing away from the bowling) to set up the hat-trick. He then had a while to wait, as the understandably rushed Stuart Broad tried to regain some composure after hurrying out to the crease. In the end the hat-trick ball was perfect. Yorker on leg stump. It was too quick for Broad who could not get his bat down in time and Siddle was handed the perfect birthday present.

After this, England’s lower order did not offer much resistance. Ian Bell played some more glorious shots to give the travelling England fans something to cheer about and Jimmy Anderson’s reverse sweep for four brought a few laughs. But it did not last long, as England were bowled out for 260.

At the lunch break I thought that if we got to 300 it could be considered reasonable and I stand by that. The ball swung throughout the day and there was plenty of seam movement. Australia are ahead but they are not dominating. The cockiness of the Aussies at training tonight was back in full force after their previous downcast assessments. If England have a good day with the ball tomorrow this game could be set up very nicely.

To all you England fans. Whose optimism ahead of the series has been dashed by this difficult first day, I plead patience. This is by no means a catastrophic first day and there is plenty of scope for a recovery. There were some positive signs to take from the day. Cook’s gritty innings, Pietersen seemingly finding his mojo (Yeahhhh baby! Bad joke, I know, but I couldn’t resist). And Ian Bell proving his nickname, ‘The Sherminator’ can finally be shredded and his new one, ‘The Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice’ or ‘The Hammer’ for short, can be applied.

I am hopeful of a positive day tomorrow where England can wrestle back the initiative. 24 days to go now and if they’re all as good as this one. We’re in for a hell of a series!