Oval Test, Day 2, Lunch
Friday, August 24, 2001

The word that springs to mind this morning is carnage. That's what's happening out there. Steve Waugh looks as if he's determined to make a few headlines with another hundred, and he's also hammering home how much he wants to get out there and play for Australia. You can't help comparing that with the struggles England have had to get 11 fit blokes onto the field.

The Waughs have been helped by the bowlers, who have been average today. The ball swung, and it has bounced, but they haven't got it in the right place two balls running. There's not much you can do as a captain when that's happening, except get into the bowlers' ears and try to talk them into bowling better.

What England should be doing is falling back on flat-track tactics. Bowl wide of the stumps, and only aim at the pads or the stumps once or twice an over. If you bowl a foot or more outside off, the batsmen are going to have to try to reach the ball if they want to score runs, and they might make mistakes. The wicket and the conditions don't seem to be helping England much, so they've got to try the patience of the batsmen and starve them. Mind you, the impact balls - the bouncer and the yorker - have got to be spot-on then or the batsmen will just milk them as they're doing now.

The trouble for England is that they'll be looking ahead and thinking of the task ahead of them in avoiding the follow-on. Nasser Hussain even mentioned that last night. Really it's been a textbook Ashes day so far - very typical of recent years. England just haven't bowled well enough for long enough. Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia, and was on the winning side in the last six Ashes series. His comments will appear on Wisden.com at the end of every session of the Oval Test. He was talking to Steven Lynch.

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