The first day of the Ashes 2009 is over and the analysis is pouring in. In his blog in Sydney's Daily Telegraph Robert Craddock hopes Australia stick with Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle even it means the end of Brett Lee and Stuart Clark.
None of the young trio have reached their full potential but they skittled South Africa and will test England to the point where Clark and Lee could be squeezed out for good if the frontliners remain uninjured. The only member of the attack who was vulnerable entering the Test was surprise selection Hilfenhaus and he was Australia’s best bowler, a man born to bowl in England with his natural swing. Johnson’s position is non-negotiable and Siddle’s close to it.
Hilfenhaus will get better the more he plays. He is the future as much as the present. I hope Australia gives him a decent run. Unfortunately there is no Shane Warne around to trim totals of 400 back to 310.
In the Independent Peter Roebuck writes that the limitations of Ricky Ponting's captaincy were increasingly exposed in the last two sessions of the day.
Far from seeking a fourth wicket, though, the tourists went into their shell after the break, relying for an eternity upon presentable spinners sent down by a specialist and a part-timer. Accordingly Pietersen and Paul Collingwood were able without any particular difficulty to rebuild the innings with sweeps and dabs to cover, shots indicating a reluctance to drive on a grudging deck. Inexplicably, Nathan Hauritz was retained for 14 overs. Presumably Ponting felt obliged to support him and the tactic was overdone. No wickets fell, or looked like falling, for two hours and still he did not intervene. Hilfenhaus was not called upon all afternoon. Upon his reappearance he produced the spell of the day, and was unjustly denied Pietersen's wicket.
In the Guardian, David Hopps declares Cardiff's debut as a Test venue a success.
Somehow this stadium works. It is intimate without being overly cramped, the atmosphere was lively without being crass, the crowd appreciative and knowledgeable. Never before have so many Welsh men and women gathered in one place to support England. They did so with no sense of shame.
Kevin Pietersen looked set for a big score when he tried to play a reverse-sweep to a delivery pitched outside off and top-edged an easy catch to short leg. In the Times Richard Neale asks whether KP is a cricketing genius who should be allowed a free rein or a selfish cricketer who puts himself above the team.
In the Courier Mail, Malcolm Conn writes that Pietersen's brain, or rather when it explodes, will prove the axis on which the series turns.
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