Rain hits Headingley Test

By Ted Corbett

LEEDS, AUG. 16. For a few minutes at Headingley today it seemed Australia was in serious trouble for the first time in four Ashes Tests. The stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist won the toss and batted while wise Yorkshiremen shook their heads and muttered about this ``funny'' pitch without cracks being ideal for seamers.

Andrew Caddick grabbed two wickets and might have had a third but the two hours' play possible before tea brought Australia to 86 for two. These dangerous men play their cricket with only one principle in mind. When in doubt, attack. How effective, how rewarding.

We had to wait three hours after the scheduled start before the rain cleared, fitful sunshine appeared and the ground, reshaped by the new West Stand, was ready for play. England brought in Alan Mullally to see if left-arm over would improve on Craig White's blistering pace in their unhappy attempts to restrain the Australian batting.

The Aussies created a ceremony out of presenting a baggy green cap to Simon Katich, their replacement for Steve Waugh. Katich looked suitably modest as Richie Benaud handed him the cap; Waugh was already hitting slip catches, proof that his boast of recovery by the fifth Test is more than propaganda.

Nasser Hussain went to the toss because it would be rude not to; and lost again. He has not won a toss in this country since May 2000 against Zimbabwe at Lord's and won only one of 14 since; and none in 2001. Presumably Gilchrist thought it did not matter what he did, that Australia was on course for 5-0 anyway.

Mullally let Michael Slater's pull off Darren Gough's first wild ball slip under his body for four and the bookmakers immediately slashed Australia's price by five points.

A chance from Matthew Hayden off Caddick dropped short of Marcus Trescothick at third slip and gave the large crowd its first opportunity to gasp. Gough got a ball between Hayden's bat and pad without catching the edge, Slater went through with a cover drive but made no contact and Caddick hit Slater's pad outside the off-stump.

So far a lot of huff and puff signifying nothing, but with 21 scored in eight overs, Mullally at square leg dropped Slater off Caddick. The shot was shoulder height but Mullally made a feeble attempt to catch a ball White would have swallowed.

After all these minor incidents, inevitably a wicket came. Slater walked in front of his stumps, the ball seemed to hit the bat outside the off-stump but umpire Venkat gave him out and the Australians were 39 for one. Three balls later, it took five replays before Ricky Ponting was given not out to a catch close to the ground by Mark Ramprakash. Caddick also beat Ponting twice more in the over; one of his finest.

Hussain asked Mullally to bowl the 13th over in place of Gough on the basis he would do less damage when he was not in a vital fielding position. Caddick got Hayden to tip one delivery in the air but away from fielders, let out a violent appeal for lbw and then had him plumb as he fell to his knees. As he limped off at 42 for two it seemed Gilchrist had made an error and his team was in trouble. Ponting used a traditional remedy. He attacked. Within 70 minutes he had 32, his highest score in six Tests.

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