'It was like 2005 all over again'
16-Jul-2013
On the night the first Ashes Test ended, Ricky Ponting took his children to the London Eye where two security guards chanted "14 runs, 14 runs" in his direction. In the Daily Mail, Ponting relives how he watched the Trent Bridge Test and voices his thoughts on DRS, Stuart Broad and Ashton Agar.
You'll not find an Australian cricketer criticising Broad for refusing to walk. Nothing would have been said to Broad out in the middle, and the truth is that probably 95 per cent of cricketers in the history of the game would have done what Broad did. I don't blame him at all -- though I had to admire his acting skills. Despite such an obvious nick, he just patted down the pitch, took guard again and went and talked to his mate at the other end. However, I can't understand why the focus was on whether Broad should have walked or not. For me, the issue was how such a terrible decision could have been made in the first place by Aleem Dar. I know that it was made to look worse because the ball ended up at first slip after cannoning off Haddin. But I can't remember a bigger deviation being missed in that way by a top-class official.
Glenn McGrath likes the DRS and wishes it had been there during his playing days because it might have saved him some cash, he writes in the Guardian. However, there is one aspect of it he does not like.
To me there's only one real issue with the current DRS system - lbw when it's hitting leg stump. At the moment if the umpire gives it out and the DRS shows the ball hitting any part of the stump, even just nicking the stump, then it's umpire's call - out. If the umpire says not out and HawkEye shows the same thing, then it's umpire's call - not out. You had a situation where Shane Watson and Chris Rogers were both given out when the ball was just clipping the stump and then Steven Finn given not out when the ball was hitting a lot more of the stump. So I don't like the umpire's call element - it creates a grey area and I think it's causing captains to call for the DRS when they shouldn't. I'd prefer it if it was clear cut. The way I would have it is that if more than half of the ball is hitting the stump then it's out - if less than 50% is hitting the stump then it's not out. It would draw a line in the sand.
In his column for the Telegraph, Shane Warne says England were lucky to win in Nottingham and sticks to his pre-series prediction that Australia will win the Ashes 2-1.
Let us break down the first Test; it exposed a lot of England's problems. It exposed some Australian issues too, but I think they gained more out of the match. England showed Alastair Cook's mindset in terms of what he thinks of his bowlers. He does not have full confidence in Steven Finn. Australia liked facing Finn. James Anderson bowled 13 overs straight on Sunday because he was the only bowler looking capable of taking a wicket. Anderson was superb. England look a little bit of a one-man show with the ball, not one of the other bowlers took a wicket, and they were bowling to tailenders on that last day.
In the Age, Greg Baum says "the composure of the English players was notable" even as their position of strength diminished on the final day at Trent Bridge.
It is hard to imagine that any team led by Alistair Cook will panic. It is hard to imagine that any team coached by Andy Flower will be so neglectful as to underestimate an opponent. To watch the way England nursed the ball between deliveries was to be reminded its meticulous attention to detail two years ago. Even a ball played back to the bowler would pass through the hands of Cook in the slips before it was returned to him.