Hussey seizes the day

Peter Siddle obviously read my criticism of Australia bowling too short during his lunch break and began to pitch the ball up.

The result was career best figures and a test hat-trick.

It made it Australia’s day but the reality is had the rest of the Aussie bowlers followed Siddle’s lead the England total could have been a lot less.

England bowled a much better length in the first two sessions on day two than Australia had and no Aussie batter looked comfortable until Mike Hussey took a liking to Graeme Swann’s offerings.

Full credit to Hussey.

This test represented his descent into the last chance saloon.

Rather than spend it hiding in a corner trying not to get exposed, as he did to Australia’s detriment in India, he chose to go down guns blazing.

The batsman down the other end, Michael Clarke, may have had the tattoo reading Carpe` Diem but it was Hussey who seized the day.

By sending a few Swann deliveries to the boundary he changed the English approach to his own benefit.

Instead of maintaining their full length Steve Finn and even Jimmy Anderson, who had until then been a picture of precision and discipline, began to drop the ball short to Hussey.

The Australian bowlers, Mitchell Johnson, proved the folly of that plan on a slow wicket.

Hussey gorged on anything short, feeding his pull shot and saving his test career.

In Haddin he had a willing accomplice, who tailored his game to suit the circumstances, offering no rash shots and growing in confidence with time at the crease.

The game, and the series is just warming up.

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Jay Buchan is a sports reporter on the Queensland Times newspaper and will be blogging throughout the Ashes series.

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