Day 2 at Old Trafford was, for the Aussies, a good day that they would have liked to be better. For the first time in a while, the Aussies passed 500. They managed to bat five session, and may have batted longer if they wished (after all the key 10th wicket partnership never got to bat). Five of the eight batsmen got passed fifty. The area that the Aussies need to improve is the fact that only one went onto a hundred. Admittedly, both Haddin and Starc were batting well enough to get there given more time. But then again, Rogers and Smith looked that good in the 60s too. Clarke has now scored two of the three centuries the Aussies have managed this year. The other was Wade's hundred against Sri Lanka.
The bowlers did well at the end of the day, snaring a couple of wickets and almost having one or two more. If Clarke had been able to readjust after being wrong footed, and get to Cook's edge, the day would have been even better. However, there was a bit of luck with Bresnan's dismissal. Cook did not let Bresnan review even though it was fairly clear he did not hit it.
England's use of the DRS in this game has put Australia's use of it in the first two tests into perspective.
They have been praised for their judicious use of the system, and knowing how to use it to their best advantage. This stood in contrast to the Aussies who wasted reviews on close calls, and then did not have them when they were needed, or did not use them when they should have. However, in this test, when the pressure was on, England made the same mistakes. As Smith and Clarke were getting going, and the game was getting away from them, they wasted their views on close calls, and did not have them when they could have had Smith. Then in an act of over caution, they lost Bresnan when they did not need to, just like the Aussies lost Rogers at Lords. The Aussies only made one mistake so far in their use of the DRS (Khawaja's referral was not a mistake, only the decision was) in this match. As it turned out it did not cost them. Perhaps the DRS is easier to use well when you are not under the same pressure. It is similar to the observation that the close decisions tend to go to the team in the better position. The Aussies will hope that this trend continues today.
My final observation for today is that I am starting to wonder if this year is Swann's farewell tour: his Swann song so to speak. The amount of gifts he is being given this series would seem to indicate that it might be. He is the leading wicket taker in this series, but by my reckoning he would not be if the gifts he has been given by the umpires and the Aussie batsmen in the last couple of matches were removed. In this innings Smith gave him one, and the umpires gave him Khawaja. A few of the Aussies gave him gifts like Smith's at Lord's, and the umpires gave him Rogers with the help of some bad use of DRS. Swann is a good bowler who has not really bowled to his own high standards this series. Looking at the tally of wickets, you wouldn't know it.
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