Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has said that lessons learned from the 2009 Ashes series loss have ensured that there will be “no excuses†if his team succumbs to England again during the 2010-11 series which starts in Brisbane on Thursday. “It’s always been in the back of our minds. Since the Ashes loss everything has [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Simon Katich’
‘Chastened’ Australia ‘geared to getting everything right for Ashes opener’: Watson
November 24th, 2010 |
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Spinner Hauritz to be part of Oz squad against Windies
November 25th, 2009 |
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Australian captain Ricky Ponting has confirmed that off-spinner Nathan Hauritz will be a part of the first Test squad taking on the West Indies at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday.
Pacer Doug Bollinger will be the 12th man, while the other quicks featuring in the team would be Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus, [...]
Beauty queen Rachael Finch enters Celebrity MasterChef semi-finals
October 30th, 2009 |
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Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch is turning on the heat with her culinary skills- she has entered the semi-final on Celebrity MasterChef.
The beauty beat SBS Dateline host George Negus and Sydney Swans player Ryan O”Keefe to reach the next stage.
Finch apparently wants to get rid of the stereotype that models generally don’t have a preference [...]
Watson fancies being Australia’s long-term opener
August 3rd, 2009 |
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After top scoring for Australia in the first innings of the third Ashes Test with 62 and remaining unbeaten on 34 in the second innings of the same match going into the fifth and final day, all-rounder Shane Watson believes he can be Australia’’s long-term opening solution.
Watson, who came in for Phillip Hughes, said he [...]
Flintoff eyes Edgbaston victory
August 3rd, 2009 |
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All-rounder Andrew Flintoff is confident England can win the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Monday and take a 2-0 lead in the series.
England led Australia by 113 after their first innings and then reduced the Aussies to 88-2.
Flintoff, who top scored with 74, said: "We need to take quick wickets in the morning, but this is a game we can win.
"We’ve got to believe we can do it. The first session is massive and we will have to be patient – who knows"
Flintoff made his highest score on home soil since the 2005 Ashes in a superb knock from only 79 balls as he tipped the balance of the game in England’s favour.
Oliver Brett Blog
Graham Onions then removed Simon Katich and Graeme Swann bowled Ricky Ponting to leave Australia 25 runs behind at the close of play with eight second-innings wickets in hand.
"This is one of the few grounds I get runs at," added Flintoff. "I’ve done well in the past here and feel comfortable and it was nice to have a partnership with Matt Prior.
"It was a strange way to get out, caught off my glove off Nathan Hauritz, and I would have liked some more runs, but Stuart Broad batted brilliantly and we got a decent lead.
"Onions and Swann bowled great spells too and we’re in this game. We know Australia fight all the way down and they will be thinking if they can survive the first session, they’ll be able to save the game.
"But if we start well in the morning and get some momentum we believe we can win the match."
Australia fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, who took 4-109 in England’s innings, has backed his team-mates to save the game on Monday.
"We’ll look to bat for as long as we can, hopefully we won’t get bowled out but if we do hopefully we’ll have enough runs on the board to hold on," he told BBC 5 Live.
"Shane Watson is in fantastic form with the bat at the moment, he’s playing really well so hopefully I won’t have to bat at all.
"I enjoyed having a bowl out there – when it swings around a bit I think the conditions are a bit better for me and the wickets are slower so you need to bowl a bit fuller.
"You’ve always got to learn, that’s the nature of the game. They played some shots this afternoon and got away with it for a while, but we didn’t execute our plans too well either."
England lead the series 1-0 and there are two Test matches remaining after Edgbaston – at Headingley and The Oval.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Swann confident of Lord’s victory
July 19th, 2009 |
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Graeme Swann insists England are still favourites to win the second Test against Australia, despite a fine stand between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin.
The duo guided the tourists to 313-5, 209 runs adrift of the 522 victory target after a superb unbeaten 185-run fifth-wicket partnership at Lord’s.
But Swann said: "They will have to break a world record to beat us.
"We still have a new ball with Andrew Flintoff roaring in at 90mph and James Anderson swinging it at the other end."
After declaring without adding to their overnight total of 311-6, England – who have not beaten Australia in a Test at Lord’s since 1934 – reduced the tourists to 128-5, with Marcus North the final wicket to fall as he misjudged a Swann arm ball.
But vice-captain Clarke found excellent support from Haddin to record his 11th Test century, ending the day 125 not out, with the wicketkeeper unbeaten on 80.
Although no team has ever scored more than 500 chasing a fourth-innings target in Test cricket, Australia coach Tim Nielsen believes his team can create history.
"I think the only reason no team has chased 521 before is because the game usually does not move as fast as this game has," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"As far as we were concerned it was absolutely, no question, a catch"
Graeme Swann on Phillip Hughes’ dismissal
"At some stage in the future a team will chase down 500 – I hope it’s us on Monday."
However, Swann believes England’s seamers can utilise the overhead conditions to their advantage as they seek the all-important early breakthrough.
"Our bowlers are going to come charging in and do what has happened with the new ball on most days," said Swann, who finished with figures of 2-62.
"Wickets tend to fall in groups, so if we get one then two will be close behind. It wouldn’t be an Ashes Test if it wasn’t nail-bitingly close."
Three of England’s wickets were tinged with controversy after television replays questioned the legitimacy of the dismissals.
Simon Katich appeared to have been caught off a no-ball from Flintoff, while Andrew Strauss looked to have taken a catch on the bounce at first slip to remove Phillip Hughes.
But Swann defended his captain’s right to claim the catch.
"Straussy said he caught it and I was stood at third slip about two metres away and I saw it go straight in," he said.
"As far as we were concerned it was absolutely, no question, a catch.
"These days the word of the fielder doesn’t stand for much. It’s acceptable if the batsman stands his ground, but the umpire (Billy Doctrove) had a clear sight at square leg and gave it out."
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Swann was also involved in the third controversial wicket when Mike Hussey was caught at slip by Paul Collingwood, although replays suggested there was no contact with the bat when the ball spun sharply in the footmarks.
"It was the sound, deviation and that fact it went to slip – and the sheer excitement of getting one past the bat after Cardiff," said the 30-year-old.
"If it didn’t hit his edge then unlikely to Huss, who is a good mate of mine, I’m sure he didn’t deserve that. But as far as we were concerned it was a legitimate catch."
Nielsen paid tribute to Clarke, whose innings featured 13 boundaries from 198 deliveries.
"Michael talks regularly about if Punter misses out, then he’s the one that has to stand up and lead the batting side of things," he added.
"That’s his 11th Test match hundred, so he’s up into double figures and he was supported very well by Brad.
"He hasn’t played a huge amount of Test cricket but he’s a good thinker of the game and he showed that by playing a nice, positive support role.
"The big challenge will be tomorrow morning to set us up again and if we get started, we have still got a good chance of winning this game."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Clarke and Haddin hold up England
July 19th, 2009 |
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Second Ashes Test, Lord’s (day four, close):
England 425 & 311-6 dec v Australia 215 & 313-5
Match scorecard
By Oliver Brett
BBC Sport at Lord’s
A superb marathon stand between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin kept England frustrated as the home side chased victory in the second Ashes Test.
Andrew Strauss’ men seemed poised to go 1-0 up against Australia with a day to spare when Marcus North was bowled by Graeme Swann in the first hour of the afternoon session on Sunday.
At that stage, England needed just five further wickets to win. But Clarke (125 not out) batted for four and a quarter hours and Haddin (80 not out) for more than three.
And when the last 11 overs were lost to bad light, Australia were 313-5, needing another 209 to pull off what would be an extraordinary victory.
Following a short, heavy shower just before the scheduled start, play was delayed by 15 minutes. Strauss declared England’s innings on their overnight 311-6 which left an astronomic target of 522 for Australia to chase down.
Two debatable wickets for Andrew Flintoff in the first 10 overs left Australia in dreadful shape and England confidently scenting further success.
First, Simon Katich felt for a ball he might have ignored outside off stump and edged to Kevin Pietersen, one of two gullys posted. But replays later showed that Flintoff had marginally overstepped the crease – so umpire Rudi Koertzen should have called no-ball.
Phillip Hughes was uncharacteristically dropped by Flintoff at second slip off the immaculate James Anderson, but he failed to make England pay.
Flintoff, in the middle of a furious spell of 2-9 in seven overs, pitched another ball in the perfect area for testing a left-hander’s defences, and the edge travelled low to Strauss at first slip.
Strauss claimed the catch, Hughes lingered at the crease and was told by Ponting to stay where he was. Now, standing umpire Koertzen asked his counterpart at square-leg, Billy Doctrove, whether the edge had carried – and the West Indian said yes it had.
In the circumstances, Koertzen could no longer refer the appeal to the third umpire, though if he had done Jeremy Lloyds would have seen pictures that were inconclusive as to whether the catch was a fair one or not. In such an event, Hughes would have probably been reprieved.
From 34-2, Ponting and Michael Hussey did their best to weather the storm, though neither man ever looked particularly secure. Even when the support seamers, Graham Onions and Stuart Broad, came on, the batsmen were frequently beaten or hit on the pads.
Lunch came with Australia 76-2 from 22 overs, and Ponting departed early in a cold, dank afternoon session. Trying to thump Broad off the back foot through the covers he succeeded only in chopping onto his stumps.
Broad celebrated maniacally, the Lord’s crowd – though slightly depleted by those on late lunches – simultaneously roared its approval and despite the leaden, ominous skies the odds seemed to favour an England win with a day to spare.
That impression only intensified when Hussey and Marcus North both fell to Swann in the space of six overs, though Hussey did not appear to nick the ball that was sharply taken by Paul Collingwood at slip.
North was comprehensively bowled through the gate. Nevertheless, Australia would have been entitled to feel hard done by given that three of their first four dismissals were shrouded in controversy.
The rest of the day belonged entirely to the tourists.
Clarke, who had come in at the fall of Ponting’s wicket, was the only Australian batsman who played with a degree of comfort from the start. Though he was about two inches away from being bowled by Broad’s first ball, he subsequently raced along with some fine drives through the off side.
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Flintoff produced another aggressive spell from the Pavilion End and was unlucky not to remove Haddin in an over in which the Aussie wicketkeeper almost gloved to Matt Prior and then edged through the vacant third slip area.
Clarke’s 58-ball half century finally gave the Australian fans something to cheer about and suddenly England were searching for wickets when before they had fallen into their lap.
By tea, the score was 178-5 and as the final session started both batsmen made patient, serene progress. As England counted down the overs to the second new ball, Swann and Collingwood – neither looking likely to create a breakthrough – were the men entrusted with the bowling.
One ball after Haddin had cut Swann for a single to reach 50, Clarke – whose second 50 had occupied 101 deliveries – flicked the spinner through midwicket for his 11th Test ton.
Finally, as the floodlights flickered into action, the second new ball was taken just before 1800 BST with 18 overs still left in the day.
But there was no immediate reward for Anderson and Flintoff, though a couple of edges off each batsman flew tantalisingly just out of reach.
Monday, which will begin with the new ball only six overs old, will be a tense occasion for both teams. The draw looks out of the equation, but although the odds still favour an England win, nothing will be taken for granted.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Superb England dominate Australia
July 17th, 2009 |
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Second Ashes Test, Lord’s (day two): England 425 v Australia 156-8
Match scorecard
By Oliver Brett
BBC Sport at Lord’s
James Anderson took four wickets as England seized control of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s with a tremendous bowling display late on the second day.
Replying to England’s 425, Australia had recovered from a poor start in which they slid to 10-2 and soon after tea had reached a solid position of 103-2.
But an outstanding running catch by Stuart Broad at fine leg to end Simon Katich’s innings on 48 triggered a collapse in which the Aussies crashed to 152-8, losing six wickets for 49 in 15 overs – a passage of play that will live long in the memories of those who witnessed it.
At stumps, with bad light having finally suspended Australia’s agonising slump, Australia were still 269 runs behind on 156-8, and needing another 70 to avoid the follow-on.
With a five-man bowling attack at his disposal captain Andrew Strauss will be tempted to impose the follow-on should he have the option to do so on Saturday.
Anderson, swinging the ball both ways under a thick blanket of grey cloud, ended the day with 4-36 having started it with a boisterous 29 in a 47-run partnership for the last wicket with Graham Onions.
Anderson was well supported by the other three seamers in England’s attack, and it was Onions who took the vital wicket of Katich, before Andrew Flintoff added an equally important strike, removing Michael Hussey for 51.
The excitement built as a capacity crowd stayed long beyond the scheduled 1800 BST finish – the delay imposed following two half-hour breaks for rain between lunch and tea.
And, to the delight of the home crowd, the wickets kept coming, with floodlights – used for the first time in a Test at Lord’s – permitting the play to continue.
England’s eventual first-innings total from an overnight 364-6 did not look outstanding on paper. But given that Strauss failed to add to his overnight 161 (bowled second ball by Ben Hilfenhaus as he shouldered arms), and that both Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad were swiftly despatched, it was not a bad result at all.
Anderson struck five boundaries off the inconsistent Mitchell Johnson, with some inventive shot-making through the off-side.
Ominously, the ball was swinging, but it was just that Australia were bowling poorly at England’s 10 and 11. However, the crowd’s fun was finally ended when Johnson switched to round the wicket and Anderson edged to gully.
Johnson ended with expensive figures of 3-132 from 21.4 overs. Here, as at Cardiff, he had been comfortably outshone by his new-ball partner Hilfenhaus (4-103).
The cricketing gods were certainly shining on Anderson, who removed Phillip Hughes for four in his second over, the third of the Australia innings, as he unluckily gloved a poor ball down the leg-side to Matt Prior.
And he also bowled some fine deliveries at Ricky Ponting, arrowing several balls at his off-stump, while also swinging some away. It was the non-swinging delivery that ended the innings of the Australian captain – in curious circumstances.
Anderson sent down a full-length ball which hit Ponting’s pad in front of the stumps, and the bowler immediately appealed for lbw. The ball then cannoned into Strauss’s hands at slip and there was a secondary appeal – for a catch.
Umpire Rudi Koertzen consulted his colleague at square-leg, Billy Doctrove, who agreed the catch had carried to Strauss – and Ponting was duly given out caught. As it happened, the replays showed it was lbw as no bat was involved, but the Australian captain was not exactly thrilled with the outcome.
The afternoon session began 10 minutes late to account for the fact that the players had been presented to the Queen, and was otherwise filled with showers and some doughty batting between Katich and Hussey.
Hussey was the more fluent of the two Aussie lefties, his cover-drive for four off Broad bringing up the 50-run stand.
606: DEBATE"To enforce the follow-on, or not Bat on, make at least 250 and set them a near impossible target"
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Onions was the last of the four seamers to be given a go but, just as Broad before him, struggled for rhythm and when tea was taken late at 1620 BST Australia were in much better shape at 87-2.
Things improved further for the tourists when they raised the team 100 without further loss in an Onions over costing 10, but Strauss gave the Durham man another over and he repaid that faith with a well-directed bouncer at Katich.
Broad, at fine-leg, picked up Katich’s top-edged hook early but had to sprint 20 yards to his right to get to the chance, and, when he did, took the ball on the dive with both hands for a stunning catch.
Flintoff had been intelligently rested since lunch and in the midst of a ferocious six-over spell picked up the next breakthrough – the massive one of Hussey, who chose to leave a delivery pitching just back of a length, which hurried on and crashed into the top of off-stump.
Just four balls later, Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke was making the long walk back to the pavilion, after flicking Anderson’s inswinger to short midwicket, where Alastair Cook took a good, low catch and at 111-5 Australia were in big trouble.
Brad Haddin played brightly, but Marcus North’s contribution was a 14-ball duck, which ended when he bottom-edged a pull off Anderson onto his stumps.
Johnson has developed a reputation as a fearless lower-order hitter but only bothered the scorers for 11 deliveries, whereupon he hooked Broad straight to deep square-leg.
Cook easily swallowed that catch before collecting his third of the session when Haddin, who had played really well for his 28, completely misjudged his own pull shot and lobbed another easy chance to the Essex opening batsman.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Oz batsmen move up Reliance Mobile ICC player rankings
July 13th, 2009 |
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Australia’s batsmen are on the move in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen with three of them achieving career-best rankings after a nail-biting finish in the first Ashes Test against England at Cardiff.
Opener Simon Katich, middle-order batsmen Marcus North and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin all scored centuries to help Australia declare its first innings at [...]
Michael Clarke piles on the pain
July 10th, 2009 |
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England 445; Australia 479-5
It was a silent crowd that wended its way along the banks of the Taff, through Sophia Gardens, thismorning. Gone, from those not sporting the green and gold favours of Australia, was the chatter and the anticipation of a good day to come, and it had been replaced by a sullen gloom. They might have been going to a wake.
For a brief while in the morning, while the second ball was new and there was something in the air and off the pitch, the spirits were lifted. Simon Katich went for 122 to end a second-wicket partnership of 239 with Ricky Ponting, and so too did Mike Hussey for a bargain-basement price. Both fell to James Anderson. And then Ponting went as well, for 150, chopping Monty Panesar on to his stumps with the only duff shot he played in five and a quarter hours. Three wickets for 32 runs in the space of 10 overs represented a fair return for a more spirited England effort and with Australia’s first-innings deficit still 104, there was a glimmer of hope for Andrew Strauss.
There, though, the feelgood factor ended. Michael Clarke and Marcus North, run-scorers in the warm-up match at Worcester and nicely in tune as a result, landed another right-left combination punch during the afternoon. They batted their way through to tea and beyond, until rain showers interrupted proceedings with the fifth-wicket stand worth 132. After the rain-break Clarke was caught behind by Matt Prior off Stuart Broad for 83 but Australia, 44 runs ahead when the teams finally trudged off , still have this match by the scruff.
If England were to force their way back into the match, it had to be with the advent of the second new ball, available to them after nine overs of the morning. For all the dominance of Ponting and Katich on day two, Australia were still 186 runs adrift when play began. Games can turn on a single, inspirational spell of bowling.
If Anderson’s first efforts with the new ball were off beam as he strained too hard, perhaps, then just as suddenly he began to find his rhythm. With it came movement. Katich, who could have claimed squatter’s rights on his off stump, so immovable did he seem from the vicinity, suddenly found a fast yorker swerving into him to elude his bat and strike him full on the toe. Billy Doctrove thought about it, as if to give a hint that the spirit of Steve Bucknor is dead, but raised his finger nonetheless.
The England celebrations were of relief as much as joy and in an instant there was a spring in the collective step that had not been evident before. At the other end, Andrew Flintoff had begun his day with a wide every bit as preposterous as that propelled so infamously by his best mate, Steve Harmison, in Australia last time out, but now he began to rumble in, five and a half ounces of ball hitting the bat as if five and a half pounds. Yet it was Anderson who took a second wicket, this time of Hussey, who like North came into the match with a confidence-boosting hundred to offset memories of a career that has plummeted since a prolific start. But he had made just three runs when he nibbled outside off stump as Anderson slanted the ball across him and Prior took the low catch.
Four overs later, the prized wicket of Ponting went to Panesar. The second day had not seen a happy England return for the Northamptonshire spinner, who was unable to find the right pace for the pitch, too readily dragging the ball down to be cut to ribbons. Today Ponting recognised the need to unsettle him once more. Panesar’s fifth delivery was short, if only fractionally, but this time Ponting’s forcing shot was mistimed, the inside edge deflecting on to his stumps.
If the Australian captain was furious with himself for an indiscretion, then he had produced a batting master class – scarcely a sweep, no extravagance and just one shot lifted from the turf. That one, a hook as Flintoff dropped a no-ball short, flew over the head of Panesar at fine leg for six. It was the sort of display that should be compulsory viewing for all aspiring batsmen, even those in the England dressing room unable to grasp that the simple things often work best.
For England that was as good as it got. The ball got softer, movement ceased, the pitch reverted to a nature as sluggish as the river beyond the boundary and batting became easier once more. Clarke and North, in reaching 74 and 51 respectively by the time the rain came, played with a freedom that Katich and Ponting had denied themselves. Only one bowler, Paul Collingwood, threatened, his medium pace cutters gripping and ripping. Don Shepherd, the pride of Glamorgan, might have been unplayable.
There is some mystery surrounding the condition of Anderson, however. After lunch, he reappeared for five minutes and then left the field, not to return for a further half hour or more. Officially, there was nothing wrong with him, which begs the question of why the umpires allowed him off in the first place. Then it was said that he had been taking on fluids, as if this was Colombo and he a camel. You do not leave the field specifically to take on fluids and especially not after a 40-minute lunch break. If, as seems likely, he is carrying an injury, a bit more honesty would be helpful.
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Clarke & North make England toil
July 10th, 2009 |
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First Ashes Test, Cardiff (day three, stumps):
England 435 v Australia 479-5
Coverage: Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave, Red Button and BBC Sport website, plus live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles. Live on Sky Sports
Match scorecard
By Oliver Brett
Australia maintained their solid position on day three in Cardiff, leading England by 44 runs with five wickets in hand in the first Test.
Rain knocked 22 overs off the day’s play, leaving the Aussies on 479-5 after an historic late-evening session played under floodlights.
Three wickets did fall in the morning, Australia going to lunch on 348-4 from an overnight position of 249-1.
But Michael Clarke (83) and Marcus North (54) then put on 143 in 42 overs.
The left-handed North batted calmly and patiently on his Ashes debut, and will be there again on Saturday morning after facing 131 balls thus far.
Clarke showed his acumen against spin and was generally unperturbed against the seamers too as he played a more positive role.
TOM FORDYCE BLOGTom reports from Cardiff
But late in the day he was surprised by a Stuart Broad bouncer which he gloved behind as he attempted a pull, leaving him just shy of a first Test century in England in his sixth appearance.
While Friday’s rain was largely unexpected, further heavy showers are forecast from around noon on Saturday – so the odds favour a draw despite Australia’s dominant position.
However England, whose chances of going 1-0 up with four to play appear to have completely evaporated, may yet find themselves battling to avoid defeat on the final day.
Friday dawned brightly in south Wales, with Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich resuming their marathon partnership.
Aussie skipper Ponting soon advanced his score with two boundaries, flogging a Monty Panesar long-hop through the covers and driving a Graeme Swann full toss down the ground.
Katich leant into a cover-drive off Panesar for his first boundary of the morning, and followed up with a square-cut off Swann that sped to the ropes. Australia were quickly re-establishing their dominance.
Nine overs into the day the second new ball became available and the scoring remained rapid, although Ponting had a bit of good fortune when steering an Anderson ball just wide of Kevin Pietersen in the gully at catchable height.
Finally, the stand was ended by James Anderson, Katich falling lbw for 122 to a yorker-length ball from Anderson that actually swung, unlike anything sent down by England on day two. Katich and Ponting had been together for 70 overs, adding 239.
Flintoff was bowling extremely quickly and his bouncers were not played with any ease by either Ponting or the new man Michael Hussey. Ponting top-edged one hook just over Panesar at fine-leg for the first six of the series, though it was a no-ball, and both men received painful blows.
But it was Anderson who picked up the second wicket of the morning, persuading Hussey to drive outside off-stump, the left-hander tickling an easy catch to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Skipper Ponting continued to make progress, until Panesar picked up his first Test wicket since the Trinidad Test in March, the slow left-armer’s fifth ball of a new spell providing the biggest prize of the day.
Ponting, on 150, could only get a bottom-edge to crash into his stumps as he attempted a cut shot, and at lunch Australia were still 87 runs behind and perhaps no longer targeting the sort of huge score that had been in their sights at the start of play.
But the session between lunch and tea in this Test has proved a graveyard shift for the bowlers – and so it proved once again with not a wicket to be had. In three days just one man has been dismissed in the middle session – Phillip Hughes on day two.
North got off the mark with a crisp on-drive for four off Broad, who was also cover-driven elegantly by Clarke. Frankly, Broad was not much of a threat but Andrew Strauss persisted with him.
At the other end Panesar had his moments, but Clarke hit him for an effortless straight six, and when Swann came on another fine drive, this time for four, brought Clarke his half-century.
North, patient against the seamers, started to play freely against the spinners and when Clarke pulled Flintoff powerly to the midwicket fence Australia moved into the lead.
At tea the Aussies were sitting very prettily indeed on 458-4, with Clarke on 70 and North on 50, but just three overs and five runs later the rain came down.
It took nearly two hours to get the players back out again, whereupon Clarke punched an exquisite back-foot drive off Flintoff to the extra-cover boundary.
Six overs were played under the Cardiff lights – it was the first time a Test match in Britain had been artificially lit – and while North continued to accumulate tidily, England had the consolation of removing a very dangerous-looking Clarke.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.