Match Report

Representing something of a change from the pattern established in the two previous matches played in Adelaide over this extended holiday weekend, the bowling team - England - has made a great start to the tenth match of the Carlton & United Series this afternoon. After importantly removing the dashing Adam Gilchrist (0) in the first over, Darren Gough and Alan Mullally have each discovered some early bounce and swing to leave their opponents placed at 1/13 at the completion of 5 overs. Unbeaten are Mark Waugh (10) and Greg Blewett (3).

Under cloudless skies, England's bowlers have stolen the early running from the home team on Australia's national day. Gough (1/8 from 3 overs), opening proceedings from the River Torrens End, struck a vital blow from the fifth ball of the match when he produced an excellent in-cutter which beat an unattractive looking shot from Gilchrist and cannoned into the top of his off stump. The Yorkshireman followed his success with a fast straight ball to the incoming Blewett, who looked a little fortunate to survive a vociferous lbw appeal.

On a day when activity off the field has again so far commanded as much - if not more - attention than events on it, Australia has named an unchanged side from the one which convincingly defeated Sri Lanka here two days ago. England has made two changes - replacing Vince Wells and Adam Hollioake with Dean Headley and John Crawley.

Meanwhile, this morning's International Cricket Council code of conduct hearing (which was convened to hear five charges brought against Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga following Saturday's drama-laden match against England) lasted for about ninety minutes before being indefinitely postponed. No public statements have been made to this stage by any of the parties involved in the hearing and Ranatunga and his Sri Lankan teammates are about to fly to Perth to prepare for their next games in the series. And in another bizarre twist, rumours are growing that controversial umpire Ross Emerson - the man at the centre of Saturday's sorry events - has sustained some form of stress-related illness. The extent of the illness (and when it specifically arose) is currently unclear and there has been no announcement to this point in time from the Australian Cricket Board as to whether the Western Australian will still be officiating in the two upcoming games at the WACA.

Gough maintains some fine English momentum

With Darren Gough in excellent early form, England has continued to build on its convincing start in its match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval this afternoon. Although the Yorkshire fast bowler left the ground after bowling five overs - appearing to be suffering from some form of back strain - his effort in following up Adam Gilchrist's dismissal for a duck with the scalp of Greg Blewett (4) has given his team some terrific early impetus. After 15 overs, the home team is placed at 2/70; the incredibly consistent Mark Waugh on 47 and Darren Lehmann on 19.

In truth, Blewett's dismissal did not come as a surprise after a stay in which he looked nervous throughout. He weathered three huge lbw appeals during his 15 ball innings and played edgily at the ball on a number of occasions. His demise ultimately came in the ninth over when he was beaten by a scorching ball from Gough which crashed through the gate between bat and pad and uprooted a clearly frustrated Blewett's off stump.

Gough (2/17), his opening partner in Alan Mullally, and Dean Headley have all found an excellent rhythm in the early overs here. Perhaps enlivened by Glenn McGrath's hostile fast bowling exhibition at the same venue on Sunday evening, they have all found some early movement and bounce. The only period when the Australian batsmen have looked vaguely like threatening to pose problems for them came in the thirteenth over - bowled by Headley - when Waugh drove him imperiously for one boundary and a pair of 2s in the space of four balls.

For Australia, it once again appears that a significant amount of responsibility is going to be placed upon the shoulders of Waugh and Lehmann in this match. It is indeed likely that at least one of these two - arguably the home team's best batsmen in this tournament - will need to play a long innings if their team is to set a potentially winning score on a ground still appearing to be offering good (albeit slightly more difficult than those of Saturday and Sunday) batting conditions.

Waugh and Lehmann again rescue Australia

With Mark Waugh continuing his sublime form in this competition, Australia has overcome an indifferent start to the tenth match of the Carlton & United Series to gradually work its way back into the game. At the halfway mark of their innings, the Australians are at 2/109 with the right hander on 62 and a belligerent Darren Lehmann on 44.

Although he has had some recent moments of good fortune - surviving a run out chance in the 23rd over and also luckily dropping a high shot off a leading edge just in between three fieldsmen converging toward a wide deep mid wicket position from Alan Mullally's bowling in the following over - Waugh has essentially been in serene touch today. Already averaging over 75 in the series, he has chalked up his sixth half century of the series (off only 58 balls) and has effortlessly stroked the ball through the field in the course of what has been a fine hand to date. Of a number of excellent shots, the highlight was probably a sumptuous drive to the cover boundary from the second ball of the thirteenth over - also bowled by Headley.

Waugh has once more been supported brilliantly by local star Lehmann. The left hander, who has also been a model of consistency in this tournament, has played one French cut but has generally looked untroubled. As he has done in virtually every one of his innings in this competition to date, he played one contemptuous stroke - today from medium pacer Mark Ealham - over mid wicket early in his exhibition; and he also smashed a ball from the same bowler to the backward point fence in the 22nd over to underline the fact that he is in a typically attacking frame of mind this afternoon.

For England, a sequence of generally unsuccessful bowling changes have served to blunt the effectiveness of the early inroads made for them by Darren Gough. Headley and Ealham have both failed to make an impression in recent overs, and Robert Croft has also struggled to find any turn in his two overs to date. Whilst their spirits have been buoyed by the fact that Gough has overcome an early problem with his back and returned to the field, their last ten overs have been disappointing. The fact that Stewart has been forced to bring Mullally back into the attack is as good an indicator of any of their suddenly pressing need to capture a third wicket.

Croft spins England back on top

Off spinner Robert Croft has seized two prize wickets to put England back on top of Australia as the tenth match of the Carlton & United Series continues at the Adelaide Oval this afternoon. Coupled with another success from Mark Ealham, Croft's scalps have reduced the Australians to a scoreline of 5/167 at the end of 40 overs. Against an England attack tightly restricting their progress, Damien Martyn (23) and Shane Lee (19) are the current not out batsmen.

Croft (2/36 off 9 overs) landed two huge blows for the Englishmen by first dismissing Mark Waugh (65) in his third over and following it with the wicket of Lehmann (51) in his fifth. After an excellent innings in which he scored effortlessly to most parts of the ground, Waugh fell when a shot hit hard off his toes was smartly caught by Nasser Hussain above head height at mid wicket. Lehmann, who had adopted the arrogant pose of taking guard well outside the line of his leg stump throughout his display against Croft, then tried once too often to scythe an arm ball from the Glamorgan off spinner through the off side and was comprehensively bowled. Ealham then made his contribution by inducing Stuart Law (3) to flash at a ball outside off stump and edge it to Alec Stewart, who took a catch low to the ground.

At that point - early in the 32nd over - Australia had lost its way to be 5/134. However, Martyn, who was lucky not to be out twice before he had passed the score of 3, and Lee have begun to post a partnership of some substance and look to be giving their team a chance of rectifying their position during the closing ten overs.

Australia ends its innings competitively

Generally well restricted by England's bowlers but allowed to score freely toward the end of their innings, Australia's batsmen have completed their 50 overs at the competitive total of 8/239 in match ten of the Carlton & United Series at the Adelaide Oval this afternoon. After having been dominated early by speedster Darren Gough - and contained by a solid mid-innings exhibition of off spin bowling from Robert Croft - the Australians fought back well on the back of handy contributions from four of their players.

In a repeat of the tactic which they utilised unsuccessfully against Sri Lanka at the ground on Saturday, England's bowlers again lost their way to some extent toward the close of Australia's innings as they generated a veritable sequence of overly full deliveries during the final overs. Highlighted by a raging beamer from Dean Headley in the 46th over - which actually attracted the gloves of highly surprised batsman Damien Martyn and was caught by wicketkeeper Alec Stewart before it was signalled as a no ball - the English pacemen lost control of their length as they surrendered an advantage that Gough (2/51) and Croft (2/40) had fought hard to assume for them during the early and middle sections of the afternoon. Notwithstanding the notion that Headley was able to remove Shane Lee (41) and Brendon Julian (0) in successive balls in the 49th over, Australia's batsmen performed well at the end - mustering a freewheeling 72 runs from the final ten overs.

For Australia, two excellent partnerships were the key to their display today; one of 93 between the ever-consistent Mark Waugh (65) and Darren Lehmann (51) for the third wicket and another of 90 for the sixth wicket between Martyn (59*) and Lee during the closing stages. However, it remains to be seen how challenging their target will be on a strip still appearing to offer far more to the batting than the bowling team.

In further off-field news late this afternoon, it has been announced that the Australian Cricket Board chairman, Mr Dennis Rogers, will be holding a press conference during the break between innings. There is growing speculation that the subject of the conference will be the withdrawal of controversial umpire Ross Emerson from each of the two matches to be played in Perth over the upcoming weekend.

England's openers begin cautiously

Chasing the target of 240 for victory, England's openers have made a watchful beginning to their innings as their match against Australia continues at the Adelaide Oval this evening. After 5 overs, they find themselves at a score of 0/18. Nick Knight is on 9 and Alec Stewart currently has 8.

Tight bowling from Glenn McGrath and Adam Dale - with some early movement in evidence - has made it difficult for the two openers to score heavily, but the two Englishmen have sensibly indicated their clear awareness of the notion that the preservation of wickets through the early part of this innings will be the key if they are to extend their lead on the Carlton & United Series table by the end of this contest and they have accordingly looked to defend for the most part. The only hint of a dismissal came when Knight offered a clear run out chance to Stuart Law taking the boldest of singles to short cover in the fourth over but the Queenslander failed to hit the stumps at the bowler's end with a wayward throw.

In yet more sensational (and scarcely conceivable) off-field drama, it was revealed by Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chairman, Mr Dennis Rogers, during the innings break that umpire Ross Emerson has been stood down from officiating in games scheduled to be played at the WACA ground in Perth on Friday and Sunday. Emerson, who initiated incredible scenes here on Saturday when he called Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing, suffered a major embarrassment as it was revealed that he had not informed the ACB prior to his appointment on Saturday that he has taken leave from his paid job in Western Australia as an investigator over the last four weeks on account of the fact that he has been suffering from a stress related illness.

England continues its slow and steady strategy

Despite the loss of skipper Alec Stewart for another low score, England's top order is still making steady progress as its match against Australia continues at the Adelaide Oval tonight. By the end of the fifteenth over, the English total has reached 1/68, with Nick Knight on 32 and Graeme Hick 25.

Against some excellent nagging line and length from Adam Dale, some predictably short bowling from Glenn McGrath and some modest medium pace from both Shane Lee and Brendon Julian, the English batsmen have predominantly sought to work and nudge the ball and have abandoned the rash attacking strategy which they have pursued on a number of previous occasions in this season's Carlton & United Series. A surprisingly negatively-inclined Stewart (1) was dismissed when he was excellently caught by wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist from the bowling of medium pacer Adam Dale - a catch that was made all the more meritorious by the fact that the gloveman was standing up to the stumps at the time. The English captain's error came as he appeared to try and push a ball that seamed sharply away from him into the cover point region.

Knight and Hick, meanwhile, have both begun patiently. Amidst an innings in which he hs played a great number of defensive shots, the former's best stroke arguably came in the 13th over when he carved Lee through point for a boundary. During his short stay, an again ominous looking Hick's most memorable blows came when he nonchalantly guided the ball over mid wicket for four from Dale in the 14th over and hit a blazing square cut to the backward point boundary in the following over - bowled by Julian.

Knight and Hick give England the upper hand

Although they have now lost both of their openers, England remains right on top of Australia as the teams continue their one-dayer at the Adelaide Oval this evening. At the halfway mark of their pursuit of the Australian score of 8/239, the Englishmen are well placed at 2/105; with Graeme Hick (44) and Nasser Hussain (3) currently together at the crease.

Galvanised by a highly effective partnership of 80 in quick time for the second wicket between Hick and Nick Knight (43), the Englishmen have been well on top of the Australian bowling for the majority of this innings. Hick, surely the player of this series to date, is once again playing with the demeanour of a man displaying little regard for the bowling. He has played some wonderful shots in the course of his hand - foremost among them a sublime lofted on drive off Shane Warne in the sixteenth over - and appears well on his way to adding another significant contribution to the 348 run tally he has already compiled in the tournament.

The left handed Knight also played well for his score, despite appearing to be hampered by a leg injury for much of his innings. He was particularly severe on medium pacers Shane Lee and Brendon Julian but was troubled to some degree by Warne. Indeed, it was the aggressive leg spinner who ultimately claimed his scalp when he was beaten in the flight and bunted a simple return catch in the 22nd over.

Other than the work that has been done for them by Warne and Adam Dale, this has been a subdued effort from Australia to date; moreover, this is proving to be a night of frustration for them. They are generally struggling to greatly trouble the batsmen, and other than one vociferous but unrewarded leg before wicket appeal against him from Warne's bowling in the 18th over, the spectre that they will be able to claim Hick's wicket has consistently seemed to be particularly distant.

England still on top but McGrath lifts Australia

In front of a sellout Adelaide crowd, England's batsmen continue to remain on top in their match against Australia in the teams' Carlton & United Series fixture tonight. With Graeme Hick again rampant on 88 and John Crawley with him on 8, the visitors are at 4/187 - just 53 runs shy of their victory target of 240 with 10 overs left to come. But another hostile spell from Glenn McGrath is threatening to undo their position of dominance as the match enters an engrossing phase.

During recent overs, McGrath has boosted Australia's flagging aspirations by taking two wickets - namely, those of Nasser Hussain (21) and Neil Fairbrother (10). The former was out in the 35th over when he was trapped in front by a delivery which pitched on off stump and straightened. Fairbrother, meanwhile, was dismissed in the 37th over when he played outside an in-cutter, only to watch the ball just shave the top of his off stump. Responding to the removal of the two players, Australian captain Shane Warne signalled his approval of his spearhead's work by also ushering Adam Dale back in an urgent effort to run through the English middle and late order in quick time.

However, whilst McGrath - who has been brought back early as the Australians desperately mount a late bid to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat - has been able to take the two quick wickets and to provide his team with some hope in the process, the ongoing presence of Hick at the crease appears to be affording England enough security for it to assume that it is still in the driving seat. The right hander - who has struck an exceedingly rich patch of form in recent weeks - has played excellently, executing a number of magnificent shots. Among them, one imperious shot to the long off boundary in the 33rd over (bowled by Damien Martyn) stands out as a real highlight of the entire weekend's play in the South Australian capital.

Indeed, an excellent indication of the extent to which Australia's bowlers have generally been battling during this innings is the notion that Warne has been forced to turn to each of eight players in the course of re-arranging the configuration of his attack tonight. In the overs prior to McGrath's return, he was even moved to introduce the highly unfashionable combination of Martyn and Stuart Law. The Australians have also not been at their sharpest in the field tonight and one bad miss by Greg Blewett in the 34th over as he inexplicably found himself five metres inside the mid wicket boundary as a shot from Hick (then 70) off Darren Lehmann's bowling just cleared his head and dropped over the fence for a lucky six - could prove very costly.

It's McGrath again as Australia records an unlikely win

Ignited by another hostile effort from their irrepressible fast bowler Glenn McGrath (3/40 off 9.3 overs), Australia has stormed to an unlikely 16 run victory over tournament pace setter England - dismissed for 223 chasing 8/239 - at the Adelaide Oval tonight in the tenth match of the Carlton & United Series. On their country's national day, the home team's players used a spirited mid-innings display from their spearhead as the catalyst for a victory that had looked improbable for much of the contest. Notwithstanding that England's Graeme Hick was yet again the obvious choice as man of the match (his 109 was another superb effort), the Australians indeed deserve the greatest of credit for snatching this win in the second last over of the game.

Unlike in his performance against Sri Lanka at this venue on Sunday, McGrath was a little tardy in his opening spell tonight, failing to claim a wicket as he bowled too many short deliveries. But, reintroduced into the attack intelligently by captain Shane Warne in the 35th over, the lanky paceman chose to reinvigorate an Australian side that had appeared to have made far too few runs to have ever been truly confident of victory. Bowling a deadly three over cocktail of pace and movement, he shook the foundations of a previously untroubled England chase - claiming the vital wickets of Nasser Hussain (21) and Neil Fairbrother (10) - and exposing a lower order that proved totally incapable of appropriately supporting the indomitable Hick.

Revived by McGrath's spirit, the rest of a previously ordinary Australian attack also rose to the occasion. Leg spinner Warne - who has experienced a long and frustrating struggle throughout this summer to recapture his best after his celebrated injury problems - similarly fought back magnificently, taking two vital wickets (to finish with an impressive 3/39 off his 10 overs) late in the innings and containing a floundering England lower order with appreciable spin and control. After a mediocre series, left armer Brendon Julian (2/44 from 10) played his part too, seizing an amazing caught and bowled chance in his outstretched left hand to dismiss a stunned John Crawley (11) off the last ball of the 41st over to continue the momentum established by his fellow bowlers.

Whilst it was not made as belligerently made as either of his two previous centuries in the tournament, Hick's third hundred of the series was an excellent one and looked, for most of the night, to be setting his team well on the way to victory. Such was the effectiveness of his performance that it looked, even with his team struggling some 25 runs short of victory and with only two wickets left, likely that a bad dropped catch in the 48th over by Stuart Law at long off with the right hander on 101 would prove fatal for the Australians. Moreover, it was only when Hick was finally run out in a tragic mix-up with Dean Headley in the 49th over that England's victory claims genuinely disappeared.

Earlier in the day, the Australians' batting effort was another unexceptional one. Mark Waugh (65) and Darren Lehmann (51) again highlighted their immense value to their team with a 93 run stand for the third wicket after the early losses of Adam Gilchrist (0) and Greg Blewett (4) had, for once, ensured that a batting team was unable to make a flying start to a Carlton & United match in Adelaide. Damien Martyn (59*) and Shane Lee (41) also did well, adding a valuable 90 runs for the sixth wicket after their team had been in peril at the highly unflattering score of 5/134 in the 32nd over. To their credit, the English bowlers performed well; Darren Gough (2/51) and Robert Croft (2/40) the best in a solid all round effort.

And with Australia's stunning win, so ends this unforgettable weekend of cricket in Adelaide. Whilst Sunday's game between Australia and Sri Lanka lost plenty in comparison both to this high standard game and the consistently dramatic events of the astounding England-Sri Lanka encounter on Saturday, all three of the matches played at this venue over the last four games have provided moments which will remain talking points throughout this summer - and in some cases, even beyond. Not only have these matches given Australia's stocks a significant boost in this competition, but they have again - whilst not necessarily for all the right reasons - made the sport the focus of wide debate in Australia, not to mention the remainder of the cricketing world.

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