Blog

With a partisan crowd and white smoke billowing across the floodlit ground from numerous braais in the outer, it was a surreal atmosphere at Centurion, matched only by the jaw-dropping nature of the partnership between Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood, then Eoin Morgan's outrageous 67 off 34 balls.

You had to keep blinking to make sure it was really happening.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the batting was the ability of Shah and Morgan to clear the ropes, something England have often struggled with, whether it be Twenty20s or ODIs.

Twelve maximums in the innings was a new England benchmark, with Shah hitting six of them, one short of Andrew Flintoff's individual record.

Eoin Morgan smashed 67 from just 34 deliveries at Centurion Park

Shah and Collingwood also manoeuvred the spinners around beautifully, knocking ones and twos into gaps, running well between the wickets and then stepping on the gas for a rare onslaught in the last 20 overs.

Yes the pitch was flat, and South Africa bowled too short, but the punishment metered out was exceptional.

Speaking of exceptional, Morgan is making a lasting impression on fans and commentators from around the world who have never seen him play before.

He also kept wicket tidily for someone who had only kept in a couple of Middlesex 2nd XI games and an ICC Trophy match for Ireland before.

Apparently, he impressed Strauss when he stood in briefly for Ben Scott during a Middlesex Championship game this season. With England's place in the semis now assured, it at least gives Matt Prior a little longer to recover from his viral infection.

A mention must also be made of James Anderson, whose is probably bowler of the tournament so far for his economy and accuracy. He was Strauss' 'go-to' bowler against South Africa, coming on in the 41st over and taking the wicket of Mark Boucher when he hit the top of off stump with his first delivery.

As for sportsmanship, well Strauss' nose has got a little harder since he recalled Angelo Mathews during the Sri Lanka match.

His decision to refuse Graeme Smith a runner has become the talk of the match, and it's difficult not to have sympathy for Smith as runners have been allowed for batsmen with cramp before.

England, in particular, have benefitted when struggling with hot conditions in the subcontinent. I recall, for example, last year's one-day series in India when Shah and Prior were both cramping up in the second match in Indore. On that occasion, Ian Bell came out as a runner.

Strauss was perfectly within his rights to refuse Smith, but surely the bottom line is that cramp debilitates a player's ability to run and is not an injury a player comes into a match with, so therefore he should be allowed a runner?

The problem comes with judging at what point the cramp is genuine and at which point it eases, leaving a player capable of running for himself again.

However, a runner is rarely an advantage, usually creating more confusion than anything else. It is a grey area though, the real problem being consistency, which needs to be addressed.

Bell has now notched eight fifties against Australia without making a century. He has also failed to reach a hundred in 32 innings batting at three.

This time he looked like he'd cracked it. He'd looked far from convincing in seeing off a fiery spell from Peter Siddle, and was very nearly gone without scoring, a bumper from the snarling Victorian just missing the wristband of his glove.

Bell having slipped Siddle's clutches, Ricky Ponting then set a rabid Mitchell Johnson on his tail. And despite some hairy moments, Bell gutsed it out and emerged from his hole unscathed.

One stroke, a 'persuader' of a cover-drive off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus, was glorious. An airy waft moments later, shortly before lunch, had you asking which stroke should be considered 'classic' Bell.

Then, having done the hard work, he fell to his first ball faced after tea, playing onto his stumps. Bat crooked, dangling away from his body, that was 'classic' Bell.

It is probably unfair to single out Bell - he did, after all, top-score with 72 - it's just that the Warwickshire man's England career conveniently encapsulates England's troubles. Get in, look comfortable, get out. But some of his team-mates were far more culpable.

After a first session in which England scored 108 runs, the ball racing over the outfield at regular intervals so that you wondered whether groundsman Bill Gordon had concocted a grass with a gossamer weave, a par score looked upwards of 450.

There was nothing that happened in the ensuing five and a half hours to make you change your mind. It was just that England, the recidivists of world cricket, kept frittering away wickets.

Captain Andrew Strauss, who up until his dismissal had been giving an object lesson in leaving outside off-stump, nibbled when he didn't have to. Paul Collingwood, who is so badly out of form his left arm is almost superfluous, wafted and missed, wafted and missed, before finally wafting and nicking.

Matt Prior, as Matt Prior does, flashed and dashed before playing one shot too many, before Andrew Flintoff, eyeing a Hollywood plot in his final Test, fell cheaply to a stroke that would have embarrassed a blacksmith.

Jonathan Trott, in contrast, looked compact and solid, and only a sensational piece of fielding from Simon Katich at short-leg prevented the South African-born batsman from making a fifty on debut.

Siddle bowled at a decent lick, Johnson, in his first spell at least, was nasty. But mainly Australia's pacemen did little more than stick the ball on a line and length. They know by now they don't have to do much else.

But while it was Australia's day - surely eight wickets was beyond Ponting's wildest dreams - England still have a chance of winning the Test match and regaining the Ashes.

The hosts have won five of the last 10 Tests at The Oval, so the common belief that the ground fails to deliver results, in Test match cricket at least, is something of a myth.

In addition, the footmarks that had appeared after merely an hour's play had Phil Tufnell in the TMS commentary box clucking with glee. England off-spinner Graeme Swann should be similarly encouraged.

In 1997, Tufnell's spin helped England to an unlikely 19-run victory at The Oval, taking 11 wickets in the match and 4-27 in Australia's second innings as the tourists were dismissed for 104.

Having seen part-time tweaker Marcus North extract plenty of turn on a first-day pitch, Ponting may be regretting not picking his front-line spinner Nathan Hauritz.

So while Strauss will concede that the first day of battle was lost, he also knows he has a weapon in Swann who could do untold damage as the battle wears on. But, oh, for a few more runs...