English teams of both males and female persuasion found themselves in front in their respective matches yesterday with the lights and pink ball shining into the night. While the men warm up for a series that increasingly appears will be fought out by teams both battling to find a cohesive eleven, the women battle out the one Test match that falls in the middle of their Ashes series and have probably taken the points on an even first day.
The gala opening to the Women’s Ashes Test match came with five debutants across both teams, and the seriousness of the contest was obvious, as England crawled along early in the afternoon, revealing how important this match is to both teams. With the longer form of the game almost non-existent in the women’s game, the rare opportunities to play in such a match was brought to bear as both sides avoided making any mistakes. While the first hour was slow, it was enthralling in this way, with the England batters looking to hold their ground. Perhaps it wasn’t as exciting as the one dayers had been, but it showed how much this opportunity to play in a Test match meant to the players.
England held the ascendancy for much of the first day’s play, with only a late flurry of wickets at the end bringing Australia back to parity. There were two brilliant catches made by the Australian’s, first by Nicole Bolton to get rid of Winfield, and then by Ellyse Perry as a caught and bowled that removed the dangerous presence of Sarah Taylor. Both were marvellous examples of reflex catching and is a credit to the coaching of the team. At 4/214 with ten overs to go in the day’s play England looked to be in the box seat, but those three late wickets to be 7/235 has given Australia the chance to keep the lead to about 260. And then their hard work begins with the bat.
In Adelaide the England bowlers had their chance with the pink ball after their batsmen had been dismissed for 293 early on day two. Against the young Cricket Australia XI batting line up they did their job, reducing them to 5/57 and ensuring that teenagers such as Will Pucovski and Jason Sangha realise how tough the job ahead of them is if they want to succeed at this level. The senior pros in Tim Paine (52) and Matt Short (45), along with a swashbuckling 50 from Simon Milenko, allowed them to declare at 9/233 and have five overs at the England openers, which they negotiated without loss.
Jimmy Anderson and Chris Woakes both found their radar early, and showed they will be a handful with the pink ball in a few weeks’ time, as indeed they will all series. They both have a lot of importance on their shoulders with the ball this summer, and so far they look to be tuning up nicely. Jake Ball rolled his ankle and was taken from the field, signalling more trouble for the Test team’s back-ups, while leg spinner Mason Crane also picked up three wickets and looked to have the ball coming out nicely.
While England may feel they are not getting the warm-up games they would have liked in regards to the strength of the opposition, they have been pushed on all four days of their tour matches so far, which at least has given them something to work on. They will be looking for long hits from Cook and Root especially today, before hoping their bowlers can finish the job in the final innings to give everyone a good run before they reach the main event in less than two weeks.
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