Cow Corner Blog

Swann spares England's blushes

Sun Sep 20 07:18PM

Graeme Swann's five-wicket haul helped England to avoid the ignominy of suffering the first ever 7-0 series whitewash in a one-day series at the hands of Australia in sunny Durham.

Swann's exploits with the ball helped skittle the tourists out for 176, before Andrew Strauss and Joe Denly ensured that a wicket did not fall until the 29th over, by which point the hosts were left to assure themselves that 6-1 was 'better than it could have been'.

Surprisingly, England won the toss and elected to field first - surprising, only in the sense that Andrew Strauss sent the Aussies in to bat first: it was the hosts' sixth toss-win in seven matches.

Strauss has long been hailed as a coin-tosser of staggering repute, with the England captain's much-vaunted record giving him an aura and presence out in the middle which is revered by other international skippers.

Graham Onions made his ODI debut in place of the beleaguered Ryan Sidebottom and Australia's batsmen must have wondered why he has been serving out Lucozade all series. The Durham paceman bowled with an economy rate to make Glenn McGrath look profligate.

Shane Watson made a fleeting appearance before edging to Swann off James Anderson's bowling and Onions had Tim Paine caught behind to leave Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke to repair the damage with both openers back in the hutch. (Anderson's 146th wicket in an ODI moved him above Ian Botham into third place in the all-time England standings behind Andrew Flintoff and Darren Gough.)

Ponting was cavalier as he racked up a swift 53, and he played two fierce pull shots which made Tim Bresnan appear to have all the mobility of a vintage Sunseeker yacht as he was left flat-footed on the square-leg boundary. The Australia captain moved past 11,741 runs to become the third-highest run-scorer in ODIs behind only Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.

Meanwhile, Clarke looked as if he was batting with a dud 1973 Gunn and Moore Purist as he pottered along to reach three off 24 balls with a painfully obdurate approach. He finally conceded defeat in the 28th over and ran himself out for an 81-ball 38.

Swann bowled with authority in his sleek black shades as he triggered a procession of wickets in what became only the sixth time an England spinner has taken five wickets in an ODI innings.

Australia mustered just 80 runs as they lost their final eight wickets in the manner of a West Indies second-string, with the those present on the tourists' balcony looking about as bothered as umpire Asad Rauf when he forgot to change the filthy white ball.

England got off to a flyer in their innings, and not due to an abundance of aggressive strokeplay. Brett Lee and Ben Hilfenhaus racked up more extras in the first four overs than Ridley Scott uses in one of his epics.

Indeed, Hilfenhaus showed precisely why he has been confined to a watching brief up until this point with a no-ball tally which would have caused the scorers to hastily draft in a second book to tot them all up. The seamer's dismal showing included one beamer which even Douglas Jardine would have been in two minds as to whether to applaud.

Strauss finally fell for a shocking reverse-sweep with Nathan Hauritz getting his 'bunny' out yet again to an ill-judged variation of the paddle. Strauss grinned ruefully as he departed, but his sloppy departure triggered a collapse of England-style proportions as the usual suspects all fell cheaply.

Bopara was trapped leg-before with the slow-medium bowling of Watson proving more than enough to rap him heavily on the pads, but only after England's number three helped contrive to run-out Denly for 53.

Perhaps Bopara was working on his reverse-sweep when Ponting ran-out two England batsmen in the previous game, but taking a swift single to the point fielder was as ill-advised as asking Peter Siddle if he purchased his beaded necklace from Accessorize.

After Australia's rally with three wickets in 13 balls as England semi-imploded, Tim Bresnan and Collingwood coolly steered the hosts home with more than nine overs to spare, sparking scenes of subdued handshakes and sheepish smiles all-round.

It was a fitting end to a low-octane encounter with yet another Hilfenhaus no-ball handing England victory, but Strauss's side will be heading to South Africa for the Champions Trophy with all the confidence of Ian Bell batting without a mattress under his shirt.

STAT OF THE DAY: England may be relieved at having only lost the series 6-1, but that result has only be replicated four times in the history of the game - England twice having been on the receiving end. India suffered at the hands of West Indies in 1987/88; England capitulated against South Africa in 1995/96; while West Indies went the same way against the Proteas in 1998/99; and Sri Lanka against India in 2005/06.

SHOT OF THE DAY: After getting over the initial shock of seeing Shah skip in to the crease to bowl his jaunty off spin, Hussey unfurled an exquisite reverse-sweep-dab behind point for four, moments before holing out on 49 with only Hilfenhaus for company.

USER COMMENT OF THE DAY: "When will England learn that Shah and Bopara can no more bat than I can tap dance? When will the selectors stop playing golf and actually come and watch one of these pathetic performances from the pair? England won today which is great but those two must not get anywhere near boarding a plane to South Africa," (Whiteroseyorks).

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