England finds confidence in drawn Tour match

Some spirited batting from trump cards Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pieterson coupled with a fiery spell of bowling by paceman James Anderson have ensured that the English cricket team will go the First Ashes Test full to the brim with confidence.

En route to a draw with New South Wales on the third day of the final tour match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Pieterson staked his claims as the man the Australians will fear most this summer with a fast-paced 122 from 171 balls, including 18 fours and two sixes, while Flintoff looked the part in striking 62 before he lost his stumps to a Stuart Clark delivery.

Australian pace quartet, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken, all shared the wickets, with former national one day international off spinner Nathan Hauritz snaffling the other wicket.

McGrath managed to sweep aside any remaining cobwebs from his winter furlough, while Clark showed no ill-effects and little rust from his injury-educed layoff.

After Pieterson and Flintoff fell, the Blues quicks managed to knock off the tourists tail with relative ease, taking a six run buffer into the second innings.

The English were able to gain plenty from the final two sessions, causing the home teams top order plenty of headaches, with Anderson the chief destroyer, perhaps booking his ticket to the Gabba in nabbing three wickets at the cost of 40 runs from his ten overs.

New South Wales stumbled early, reduced to 2/18 by some nifty fielding by Sajid Mahmood, who ran the indomitable Phil Jaques run out for four, and the feisty Matthew Hoggard, who snared the wicket Ed Cowan, caught behind for eight.

Skipper Simon Katich paired with Michael Clarke to steady the ship, steering the side 100 runs further ahead before the former retired hurt at the tea break. His departure proved untimely, with Anderson running rampant in trammelling Aaron O’Brien, Daniel Smith and Moises Henriques in the space of 38 runs, paving the way for left arm spinner Ashley Giles to take his first wicket of the innings, that of the classy Clarke, who fell for a well constructed 68.

Any hopes of a morale boosting victory were scuppered by spin twins Nathan Hauritz (20) and Beau Casson (12) adding another 29 runs to the tally to round off the match at 6/194, guiding their state to the inevitable draw.

With the First Ashes Test now only days from its beginning, all focus now switches to the selection table, the onus falling on the Australian selectors, who will need to make the call on the third paceman behind McGrath and Lee, Bulls bolter Mitchell Johnson, South Australian slinger Shaun Tait and Blues brothers Bracken and Clark the four in contention.

New South Wales - first innings: 9-355 dec.

England - first innings:
M TRESCOTHICK b Lee 8
A STRAUSS c & b Clark 50
A COOK lbw b McGrath 59
I BELL c Smith b Clark 0
K PIETERSEN c Lee b Bracken 122
A FLINTOFF b Clark 62
P COLLINGWOOD c Jaques b Hauritz 5
G JONES b McGrath 13
A GILES b Lee 9
M HOGGARD not out 7
S HARMISON b Bracken 2

Extras (1b, 3lb, 7nb, 1wd) 12
Total: all out for 349

Fall: 1-9, 2-95, 3-95, 4-166, 5-282, 6-289, 7-330, 8-332, 9-346, 10-349.

Bowling: G McGrath 18-2-63-2 (1nb), B Lee 13-2-57-2 (5nb), S Clark 17-1-50-3 (1nb, 1w), N Bracken 14.4-1-51-2, MC Henriques 3-0-24-0, B Casson 11-1-50-0, N Hauritz 14-2-50-1

Batting time: - minutes. Overs: 90.4

New South Wales - second innings:
P JAQUES run out (Mahmood) 4
E COWAN c Jones b Hoggard 8
S KATICH retired hurt 55
M CLARKE b Giles 68
A O'BRIEN c Strauss b Anderson 2
D SMITH b Anderson 0
M HENRIQUES lbw b Anderson 12
N HAURITZ not out 20
B CASSON not out 12

Extras (6b, 5lb, 2nb) 13
Total: 6 wkts for 194

Fall: 1-4, 2-18, 3-132, 4-132, 5-156, 6-165.

Bowling: M Hoggard 7-2-24-1, S Harmison 5-0-27-0, M Panesar 13-2-38-0, J Anderson 10-1-40-3, A Giles 8-0-32-1, A Flintoff 4-1-11-0 (2nb), P Collingwood 4-1-11-0

Batting time: - minutes. Overs: 51

Result: Match Drawn
Toss: New South Wales
Umpires: R Goodger and D Orchard.
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground
Summary: Day Three

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