Peter Siddle scraped into the Australian team for the 2010 Brisbane Ashes test ahead of Doug Bollinger and his hat-trick tipped the advantage Australia's way after tea on day one at the Gabba. Siddle's hat-trick was the first in Ashes Tests since Shane Warne struck at the MCG in 1994. First to go was Alistair Cook, caught by Shane Watson at second slip for 67after the ball briefly appeared as if it might break free. England keeper, Matthew Pryor, was caught on the crease and bowled between bat and pad and after a delay as Stuart Broad rushed to put on his protective gear, the tall left hander was hit on the toe plumb in front and lbw.
Perfect Yorker Gives Siddle Hat-trick:
Siddle had bowled the perfect yorker length hat-trick delivery, beating Broad for pace but admitted after the day's play he had gotten the length wrong, intending to hit the top of off stump instead. Broad's departure was also delayed as England referred the decision to the video referee, hoping that Broad may have gotten some bat on the ball before it cannoned into his boot, but the forensic evidence confirmed the Siddle hat-trick with England slumping to 7-197.
Siddle followed up with his sixth consecutive dismissal. Graeme Swann also trapped lbw for 10 after another unsuccessful referral to the third umpire with the score on 229. Siddle finished with the figures of 6-54, his third haul of five wickets or more in Test matches. At one stage his figures stood at 6-46, reminiscent of Jeff Thomson's haul at the Gabba against England in 1974. Even more remarkable was the fact that November 25, 2010 was Siddle's 26th birthday.
In a bizarre situation shortly after Siddle bowled to Ian Bell with one slip and all the other fielders in the deep.With only tailenders Jimmy Anderson and Steve Finn remaining, Bell had made his intentions clear by dancing down the wicket to Mitchell Johnson and attempting to smash him over the infield.
Test debutante, Xavier Doherty, ended the day well by removing Bell, who had played superbly, caught at deep cover by Watson for 76 and then bowling Anderson for 11. Brought into the team in place of Nathan Hauritz despite an unflattering first class average of 48 runs per wicket because of Kevin Pietersen's perceived weakness against left arm orthodox spinners, Doherty finished with 2-41. Pietersen who has fallen to this type of bowling 17 times in Test matches attempted to dominate the young Tasmanian early in his innings but Doherty kept his head in a tidy display, even after dropping Cook at point when he misjudged his jump for the catch above his head shortly before lunch.
England was all out for 260 giving the Australian openers an uncomfortable period of about 25 minutes to bat before stumps. They negotiated the remaining overs to be 0-25 at the close of play with Simon Katich not out on 15 and Watson on 9. Earlier Watson had given another demonstration of his value to the team as an all rounder by removing Jonathan Trott, bowled for 29 off the last ball of his first over.
Strauss Out Third Ball Of The Day:
In a day of fluctuating fortunes England had recovered from a poor start after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Andrew Strauss fell to the third ball of the day, cramped for room by a short ball from Ben Hilfenhaus and hitting the Kookaburra straight to Michael Hussey in the gully. From 1-0 England had established a solid base at 4-197 early in the third session after a resolute innings from Alistair Cook and classy strokeplay from Bell.
The pair added 72 runs for the fifth wicket after Pietersen (43) and Collingwood (4) had been dismissed in consecutive overs from Siddle after lunch. Siddle has been criticised for bowling too short in the past but by pitching up he was able to find the edge for sharp catches to Ricky Ponting and Marcus North in the slips.
Welcome To Country Before Start Of Play:
Before play began the crowd and players paused in a moment of silence for the victims of New Zealand's Greymouth mining tragedy. Fittingly at the Gabba, from the Aboriginal word Woolongabba, meaning a place of waterholes, the two teams were welcomed to country by a member of the local indigenous population who reminded the audience that this site was once a place where Aboriginal groups met to resolve disputes.
First Test Australia v England, Brisbane 2010, First Day Scores:
England 260 (Bell 76, Cook 67, Pietersen 43, Trott 29, Siddle 6-54, Doherty 2-41, Watson 1-30, Hilfenhaus 1-60) and Australia 0-25 (Katich 15no, Watson 9no.)
Stuart McCulloch - From the idyllic location of a national park in Tasmania Stuart McCulloch writes about his interests of sport, movies and history and ...
