Session update stumps day one

Bill Lawry often says the pitch is perfect for batting when the sun is out, that seems to be his main factor in saying it.

I honestly don’t think this pitch is perfect for batting.

That said, Clarke, Roy, the tongue and Gilly all went out to sh1t shots, good pitch or bad pitch.

Clarke playing a 2nd slip no foot work drive, Roy a forced pull shot and Gilly a blatant slog from a ball so far outside off he did well to hit it straight up in the air.

Brad Hogg’s brain fade with the second new ball was a great metaphor for Australia’s innings, sure it was a half volley, but does a number 8 really need to play a flashy cover drive the first time he faces the new ball?

Probably not.

I’d love to say Anil was unplayable, but even though the commentators have been fawning all over him, this session he got two wickets to average balls. Then again he also should have had Mitchell Johnson out in what could only be described as a blatant bat pad decision.

He is bowling very prettily though, he is the difference between a 450 plus score and whatever Australia make now.

No one has scored over 410 on this pitch all year. It looks as flat as a tack, but it is not easy to score on, and one break through usually turns into 3 or 4 quick ones.

All that said, Australia has still made over 300, in a day, whilst losing wickets. It’s not really a collapse, but after their opening stand they would have expected to be less than 9 wickets down at this stage.

Great moment when Yuvraj got hit by a flick from Mitchell Johnson, he dropped like he’d been shot, but my old man summed it up better, “he went down like an Italian soccer player”.

Thank fu©k for tailenders like Stuart Clark. The man came out and played a shot a ball, some pretty, some ugly and some odd. He was seeing them so well, he then slowed down and played for stumps. So tomorrow morning there will be some lusty swipes.

This does open the game up nicely, before Jacques went out at looked like another 3 wicket day, and series over.

Now we all have a real test on our hands.www.cricketwithballs.com "the hooking & pulling specialists"