Perth Test, Day 1, Lunch
Friday, November 30, 2001 Glenn McGrath was looking for a big day today. He's had an unusually quiet series by his standards, but at the same time it's been a tough series to judge by stats alone. There's been so much rain around that the bowlers haven't been able to get a settled rhythm from one session to the next.

I've heard that Australia's pacemen have been doing a lot of hard work in the nets since they arrived in Perth. They know that of all the grounds in Australia this is their wicket, and the onus is on them to get the breakthroughs. It's just possible that McGrath was overworked before the match, and he's picked up his back strain as a result.

But things were certainly going to plan for Australia in the early overs. The new ball is vital at Perth. The shine can go very quickly on these hard pitches, but early strikes can expose the middle-order, who are less well-suited to the conditions. That said, it is a true wicket, and 15-20 minutes of solid, safe batting can get you set up, as Fleming and Vincent have proved. Australia have fielded pretty well. Ponting's been good at mid-on, and Brett Lee's shown some commitment in the deep. But if two batters can get set on the Perth wicket, there's not a lot that fielders can do. The outfield is so quick that even mishits go for four. Not that there have been many of them in this innings.

Shane Warne was into the attack early, partly because of McGrath's injury, but partly because of his record on the ground. He's always worth a bash early on – if there's a bit of moisture in the wicket he'll exploit it. The quicks were also having a few problems with the wind. Gillespie was struggling up into the breeze, McGrath was bowling with the wind behind him - to help his rhythm – but it was pretty blustery and throwing them out of their stride. Today's breeze was coming across the desert from the east, so it should have been a hot wind, but for some reason it was cool. Australia's weather continues to confuse us all this summer!

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments will be appearing on Wisden.com at the end of every session in the series. He was talking to Andrew Miller.

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