Home And Away - The Ashes Tour: The 2nd Test

England rejoices, Australia despairs. Any Barmy Army supporter will have revelled in every single moment of the Adelaide test match and, to be honest, my words can't really add to what has been said before and can't do justice to how good the English performance was (and how bad the Aussies were!). But then, I'm self-indulgent, so I'm going to do it anyway:

2nd Test (Adelaide) - England 620-5d (Pietersen 227, Cook 148, Trott 78, Bell 68*) beat Australia 245 (Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51, Anderson 4-51) and 304 (Clarke 80, Watson 57, Hussey 52, Swann 5-91) by an innings and 71 runs.

1. England close 1st innings on 1-0. The most dramatic start possible to a Test match, with Australia, having won the toss and batted on a good-looking pitch, 2-3 at the start of the 3rd over. The collapse was catalysed by a shocking piece of running from a clearly injured Simon Katich, although England's fielding was spot on. Skipper Ponting followed with a perfectly pitched delivery from James Anderson, finding just enough movement to vex Punter. A fair recovery was mounted, although not without incident as England continued to keep the pressure on their esteemed hosts. Steve Finn was loose, but picked up the crucial wicket of Marcus North to spark a second collapse. Brad Haddin's counterattack was admirable but shortlived as a Stuart Broad bouncer did its job for a change. To bowl a side out at Adelaide on Day 1 is no mean feat and is equal testiment to England's control as it is Australia's lack of quality. England 1 Australia 0


2. England close 1st innings on 317-2. Oh no, not again, thought all England fans as Andrew Strauss left the third ball of the day and was bowled by Doug the Rug. A repeat of Brisbane's disappointing first innings effort. No such thing. Alastair Cook continued to look like he was never going to get out and displayed a stunning array of shots. Ditto Jonathan Trott, until he tried his trademark flick off the pads and popped it straight to Michael Clarke. Kevin Pietersen ensured no let-up and played his way back into form and ended up 85* overnight. England 2 Australia 0


3. England close 1st innings on 551-4. KP IS BACK! And in such imperious fashion. No ton for almost two years, then he dismantles a beleagured bowling attack, including his nemesis the left-arm spinner. Poor old Xavier Doherty couldn't control his line or length and so Pietersen latched onto him, including one monstrous straight six. The other bowlers tried to bounce him and got dispatched and could not deliver balls to the 7-2 field that Ponting had set for them. KP simply waited for them to drift into the pads and stepped across to flick them to mid-wicket. It was hilarious to watch as an England fan. Only Ryan Harris can hold his head up, bowling a couple of hostile spells and finally dismissing Cook. The rain saved the hosts from further punishment. England 3 Australia 0


4. Australia close 2nd innings on 238-4. For my money, England should have declared overnight, but they batted on at quite a rate, with Ian Bell continuing to look in the form of his life, even though he hasn't been required to be at his best thus far. Surprisingly, Australia continued the aggressive rate as Anderson failed to find the same penetration as first time around. Fortunately, Simon Katich is a left-hander, which left him at the mercy of Graeme Swann. 3 down after tea, there came a bit of a lull in proceedings as Clarke and Hussey battled to save the test. And could well have done so. Until, of all people, Pietersen struck with the last ball of the day to dismiss Clarke. England 3.5 Australia 0.5


5. Australia close 2nd innings 304. England win the test and go 1-0 up in the series. A terrific bowling performance as England wrapped things up in 90 minutes. Swann found massive turn with the new ball and went through his variations beautifully to pick up another 5fer. Anderson struck back after an expensive start, trapping poor old Ryan Harris for a king pair. Sadly, Stuart Broad pulled up with a stomach muscle injury the day before and is out of the tour. I'd pick Tremlett to replace him, such will be the pace and bounce in the Perth pitch. As for Oz, Katich is hurt and will be replaced by Phil Hughes. Doherty's Test career is over already and may be replaced by Nathan Hauritz or Steve Smith. Marcus North and Doug Bollinger are also said to be under pressure for their place. How much change can Australia afford to make without causing complete upheavel. Can they afford to write off the series that makes so much to the people in order to bring through a new batch of Test cricketers, if there are indeed guys good enough to cope at the top. England 4.5 Australia 0.5

I would go as far to say as it is the most complete performance in a Test match that I have ever seen from England. They batted and bowled almost perfectly and also fielded flawlessly. They outcompeted Australia in every department and thoroughly deserved the heavy defeat that they handed out. And how we celebrated. By braving the freezing cold air to go and get chips and cheese. It's what cricketers do - we get food when play has finished.

I felt it was all quite symbolic!
RM