| Event: | England in Australia 2006/07 |
DateLine: 6th December 2006
The battle between bat and ball has been so unequal in the Ashes series it has prompted Australia and England not to take risks to the detriment of the contest, media pundits said Tuesday. By Monday's fourth-day stumps, 2,115 balls had been bowled in the Adelaide Test match, and only 17 of them had captured wickets, with 1,123 runs scored at an average of 66 runs per wicket. England won the toss and amassed 551 for six declared on the bat-friendly deck and Australia batted into the fourth day to score 513 in reply. A draw is the likely outcome on Tuesday's final day. The bat-a-thon in the second Test on one of the most benign Adelaide pitches prompted one writer to suggest the pitch has inhibited the adventurous. "The effect on this series has been to tilt the scales, usually so delicately balanced. Batsmen are running up huge scores. So, less happily, are bowlers," The Melbourne Age said Tuesday. For England, Steve Harmison has 1-273 in the series, James Anderson 2-280 and Ashley Giles 2-216. For Australia, Brett Lee has taken 2-301, Shane Warne 5-334, and Glenn McGrath, since his 6-50 in the first innings in Brisbane, 1-172. McGrath said after his career-worst figures of 0-107 in the first innings in Adelaide that the "ridiculous" pitch was the most lifeless he had encountered in Australia. "This is the flattest track I have ever bowled on in Australia and if the pitches are anything like this for the rest of the series, we are in for some attritional cricket in the weeks ahead," McGrath said. The Age observed: "In this match, sadly, the pitch has inhibited the adventurous. Australia, which leads the series and does not need to take risks, has taken none. England, which cannot afford the risk of falling 2-0 behind, has taken none, either." Results of batsman-friendly Sheffield Shield matches in Perth this season have sparked fears next week's third Test at the WACA Ground will be another endurance test for bowlers. The Sydney Morning Herald said the ground's wicket square seems to have lost its traditional characteristics owing to a recent change of soil. However, Perth groundsman Cameron Sutherland has promised a "reasonably traditional" WACA Ground pitch, once Australia's fastest pitch. "Once, each Test in this country was distinctive. Perth's was the bounciest, Brisbane's the seamiest, Sydney's spun furthest, Adelaide's gave everyone a chance, Melbourne's was hard work. Now they are homogenous," The Age said. "Perhaps the pitches are not entirely to blame. Nearly all the important wickets in this match have fallen to the new ball. Too quickly, it has dulled and softened, whereupon batsmen have formed long partnerships and bowlers have counted down the overs to the next new ball. Some believe the Australian balls soften and grow old too quickly, so disarming fast and slow bowlers alike. In any case, the bowlers are up against it. Perhaps they will form a guild and strike for better conditions."
