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Shane on Five-wicket Warne sends England spinning
Updated: Thursday July 05, 2001 7:04 PM
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) -- England last wicket pair Alec Stewart and Andrew Caddick blasted 103 from 79 balls against Australia as the Ashes series got off to a spectacular start at Edgbaston on Thursday. England had subsided from 106 for one to 191 for nine shortly after tea on the opening day of the first test before Stewart and Caddick helped them to reach 294, Shane Warne claiming five wickets. But Australia, which won the toss, underlined what was an essentially good pitch by making a high-speed 133 for two by the close of a day which saw 236 runs scored from 35.3 overs in the final session. Michael Slater was unbeaten on 76. At the close, Mark Waugh was yet to score, after Matthew Hayden went for 35 to a brilliant catch by Craig White off left-arm spiner Ashley Giles and Ricky Ponting fell lbw to Darren Gough for 11. Stewart, who hit 65 off 82 balls, and Caddick, with his test best of 49 not out from 40 deliveries, provided a real sting in the England tail. Caddick hammered the vaunted pace attack of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee all around the ground while Stewart played with typical fluency to reach his 50 from 72 balls, including eight fours. The last time an England 10th wicket pair put on 100 was in 1980 when Peter Willey and Bob Willis added an unbroken 117 against West Indies in the fifth test at The Oval. Shane Warne had earlier snapped up five for 71 to give Australia the upper hand after it was initially shaken by a century stand between Michael Atherton and Mark Butcher at Edgbaston on Thursday. After losing Marcus Trescothick to the seventh ball of the match at Edgbaston, Atherton and Butcher counter-attacked with a second wicket partnership of 104 from 148 deliveries before Warne, supported Gillespie and McGrath, tilted the balance. Australia had made a perfect start when Gillespie, bowling the second over of the game, struck the initial blow with his first delivery. Trescothick edged it low to first slip where Warne scooped up the catch, the left-hander going to the second ball he faced. Trescothick has now been dismissed for a duck in his last three innings for England, having been bowled by both Pakistan's Waqar Younis and Australian Glenn McGrath in the recent triangular one-day series. Butcher, filling the key number three spot in place of the injured Michael Vaughan, got off the mark by edging Gillespie between wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and Warne for four. He continued in positive mood, straight driving and hitting fluently through extra cover in between one or two more fortuitous strokes. When Brett Lee replaced McGrath, Atherton caught the attacking mood by pulling the fast bowler's second ball disdainfully for four and cutting the fourth delivery for another four. However, Atherton escaped off the next delivery when Lee found the outside edge and the ball flew low to Gilchrist, who got the ball in his hand but was unable to cling on to it. The former England skipper was on 25 and the score was 64 for one. With Waugh maintaining attacking fields throughout the morning, Atherton and Butcher pressed on enterprisingly until the introduction of Warne for the last over before lunch gave Australia some much-needed respite. Butcher, having made 38 off 71 balls in 111 minutes, pushed forward at the leg-spinner's second delivery and was snapped up by Ricky Ponting at silly point. Atherton completed his first half-century against Australia in 17 test innings soon after lunch, taken at 106 for two, but to Australia's -- and particularly Gilchrist's -- relief, the wicket which the touring team prize most then fell to Gillespie. Having rapped Atherton on the hand, Gillespie's next delivery took the outside edge and Mark Waugh took a left-handed catch at second slip with his customary ease. Atherton faced 147 balls and hit 10 fours. Gillespie was rested after a second spell of 6-3-11-1 to be replaced by McGrath, who embarked on a productive third spell in which Nasser Hussain (13) was lbw offering no stroke and Ian Ward played a delivery down on to his stumps. Warne, who bowled unchanged between lunch and tea, snared two wickets in quick succession. He bowled debutant Usman Afzaal (4) with a delivery that turned sharply from outside the left-hander's off stump, then had Craig White (4) lbw sweeping.
England, which went to tea at 191 for seven, continued to decline afterwards as Warne made short work of Ashley Giles (7) and Darren Gough (0) before Stewart and Caddick turned the innings on its head. Warne happy to prove a pointShane Warne, adapting to a new role in Australia's side, was delighted to prove a point with five England wickets for 71 in the first Ashes test at Edgbaston on Thursday. "I worked pretty hard at the start of this tour on batting, bowling, catching and fitness. Sometimes you don't see the rewards but today I did," the leg-spinner said. "With the three quality quicks my role is different but you have to accept that, though it takes a time to get used to it. With the bowlers we've got you are going to share the wickets around most of the time. "So I wanted to prove a few things today and to get five wickets in the first test, including a wicket second ball, and a catch makes things pretty good, so I'm very happy with the performance. "I bowled the same stuff today as ever. I got a couple of wickets with good balls and I thought the ball to get [Usman] Afzaal was pretty good after deciding to bowl round the wicket. "And with Craig White I stayed around the wicket, tried to get him to sweep and then set him up with a straight one." Warne had a moderate tour of India earlier in the year, taking 10 wickets at 50.50 in the three-test series, but has a proven track record in England where he is making his third test tour. "I always enjoy playing here. It brings out the best in me," he said. "I was surprised how dry the wicket was but it was good to see the ball turning on day one, and there was a bit of bounce as well." Caddick deals with the rough stuffAndrew Caddick, the England pace bowler who was a batting hero in the first Ashes test against Australia on Thursday, is not bothered about being roughed up by their fast bowlers. Caddick, who hit a test best of 49 not out and put on 103 for the last wicket with Alec Stewart, suffered a hairline fracture of a finger during the recent triangular one-day series against the same opponents. "I went in with a preconceived plan of not getting my hand broken again," Caddick said in a reference to that injury. "I knew it was going to hurt but if I got a few runs on the board it would make it a little sweeter. "Me and Alec Stewart decided to be positive, knock the singles around, and if the ball was there to be hit we were going to hit it. I'm a pretty clean striker of the ball so when I hit it I made sure I hit it hard. "There has always been stuff written in the press about not being able to handle the pressure but it doesn't bother me. I'll just stand there and let it hit my body. You expect it as a lower-order batsman and quick bowler. "Once I knew what the pace and bounce was like I wasn't bothered about the ball hitting my hand. I was more than happy to let the ball hit my body. There was a little bit of pain when I was batting but when the adrenaline gets going you soon forget about it." England: Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain (captain), Alec Stewart, Usman Afzaal, Ian Ward, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Daren Gough, Andrew Caddick. Australia: Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh (captain), Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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