Friday, November 5, 2010

Broad on song in England warm-up

Tour match, Perth (stumps, day one of three):
Western Australia 242-8d v England 10-1

Match scorecard

Stuart Broad celebrates a wicket
Stuart Broad celebrates one of three wickets

Stuart Broad took three wickets before lunch as England began their Ashes tour with an encouraging bowling performance in their first warm-up match in Perth.

Putting out what could be their Test team against Western Australia, England fielded first in a three-day match.

Broad took two wickets in his first over, but WA recovered to reach 242-8 before declaring late in the day.

Alastair Cook was bowled by a delivery that bounced off his body onto the stumps as England reached 10-1.

Broad relished bowling with the new ball, nipping out Liam Davis and Michael Swart almost immediately for ducks, before Test batsman Marcus North (19) also departed to the tall Nottinghamshire seamer.

WA ground out their runs in the first session, reaching 45-3, before accelerating against the softer ball after lunch.

606: DEBATE
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Adam Voges (72) and Wes Robinson (62) put on 87 in 22.5 overs as England proved less of a force in the afternoon heat.

But James Anderson got through 22 overs, showing he is fully recovered from his broken rib. He had Luke Pomersbach caught behind by Matt Prior, while Steven Finn, Graeme Swann and Paul Collingwood each picked up a wicket as well.

England picked the 11 players who many judges expect to contest the first Test in Brisbane on 25 November, sticking to the four-bowler plan and with Ian Bell preferred to Eoin Morgan in the top six.

They lost the toss against a strong home side, but any disappointment that they were not batting first was swiftly put to one side as the second over of the morning produced two wickets.

One of the key factors in the Ashes is likely to be whether England can bowl effectively with the Kookburra balls used down under. Broad seemed to enjoy it when it was new.

He struck with only his fourth first-class ball in Australia, finding enough bounce to have Davis edging to second slip on the back foot - Swann making no mistake with a neat catch low to his left.

And Swart followed first ball, failing to avoid a short ball and looping a catch off the glove to Collingwood running in from third slip.

North kept out the hat-trick ball before England loosened their grip when Finn replaced Anderson at the Lillee-Marsh Stand end.

The Middlesex youngster struggled to find any consistency with his length. He gave both batsmen some awkward moments when he got it right but over-pitched alarmingly at times, driven straight back for four by Robinson in his first over and then serving up successive full-tosses in his next.

James Anderson
James Anderson took 1-48 and had a couple of strong appeals rejected

Anderson switched ends and was soon appealing for the wicket of Robinson, but umpire Ian Lock did not detect any edge to Prior.

Swann, famed for his knack of first-over wickets, was equally unable to part North and Robinson as England received an early lesson about the patience and hard work sure to be required this winter.

But Broad was not done with, and had North carving a back-foot edge to Swann high at second slip just before lunch.

Anderson and Swann each appealed for lbw decisions early in the afternoon session only to be rebuffed by the umpires.

And Robinson put pressure on Swann, sweeping the spinner for successive fours and hoisting him over long-on for six on the way to an otherwise painstaking half-century.

It was only when Andrew Strauss turned to Collingwood to fill in some overs that the latter's part-time medium-pace immediately brought Robinson's wicket, via a return catch.

But Voges was 54 not out at tea, and found further support from Pomersbach early in the final session.

After tea, Anderson was repaid for his discipline with the old ball when Pomersbach edged a flat-footed drive behind.

In the next over, Voges contributed to his own downfall only four runs later, taking off for an unwise single to cover and beaten to the non-striker's end by a direct hit from Collingwood.

Luke Ronchi stayed long enough to expose Finn's rustiness in a breezy 32 from 26 balls. He followed a straight-driven four with a hook for six, but got a little carried away and cut the next one straight to gully.

Swann picked up a heartening late wicket as well, Ryan Duffield edging an attempted cut behind, and a canny declaration came after just two overs with the second new ball.

Cook had cause to regret North's decision to terminate the innings as Steve Magoffin soon struck when the Essex left-hander failed to cope with a bouncy delivery.

Potenshöjande medel -

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