London, July 18: A shell-shocked Australia was in damage control on Friday night after a string of batsmen went down swinging, leaving the tourists in deep trouble in the second Test at Lord’s.
Five of the eight Australian wickets to fall on a dramatic second day came following reckless pull or hook shots as England’s strategy of short-pitched bowling paid handsome rewards.
Michael Hussey, one of only three Australian batsmen not to fall victim to a cross-bat shot, could not explain how quickly the game swung in England’s favour.
“I haven’t had time to digest it all really but probably a mixture of everything really,” said Hussey, who made 51 before being bowled shouldering arms to Andrew Flintoff.
“The pull shot’s a very instinctive shot. You try and pick up the length as quick as you can and instinct takes over and your reflexes take over.”
“Unfortunately today we had a few dismissals with the cross-bat shot but maybe it was a plan of theirs.”
“They seemed to bowl a lot of short balls and they had two back and a short leg and things like that.”
“That’s something we’re going to have to rectify in the second innings.”
The treacherous batting conditions were more a result of dense cloud cover than anything to do with the wicket, Hussey said.
“At a ground like Lord’s and maybe Headingley, to a degree as well, you’re better to look up than look down at the pitch,” he said.
“The pitch was really good, but with the overcast conditions it can move around a bit more. Next time we bat we’ll want as much sun as we can get.”
England paceman James Anderson, who turned the game with figures of 4-36, admitted the hosts did plan on bouncing out several of the Australians.
“A couple of their guys we targeted with the short balls and a couple of guys we bowled quite tight,” Anderson said.
“And Marcus North, we dried him up for runs and he ended up playing a false stroke.”
“We knew there was enough in the pitch if we put the balls in the right area and asked enough questions of their batsmen and we got some rewards.”
—–Agencies