Hoggard shines with traditional values

Only bowlers who have stuck to the old-fashioned virtues of line and length have prospered in the Adelaide Test.

England's bowling hero yesterday and today was Matthew Hoggard, with seven wickets.

And Stuart Clark has been the pick of Australia's bowlers, taking four wickets so far in the match.

Both have bowled with great control, putting batsmen under pressure by denying them scoring opportunities.

Most of their wickets have therefore come from frustrated batsmen being tempted to push at a ball they should leave or strike it to the boundary instead of playing defensively.

This trend is emphasised by the fact that eight of Hoggard and Clark's 11 victims have been caught.

But the second Test has been a batsman's match so far, which is why it appeared to be heading for a draw.

England must not be negative tomorrow, but they should remember that avoiding defeat is their first objective.

That is a shame because paradoxically their best chance of victory lies in offering Australia a chance of winning the game.

If England could set up an Australian run chase, they could hope to take wickets because the Aussies would need to keep a high scoring rate.

But the one thing England cannot afford to do is go two down in the series, so a pragmatic approach is likely.

The batsmen who have yet to make a half-century in the series - Andrew Strauss, Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones - should see tomorrow as an opportunity to get some welcome practice.

They can expect Shane Warne to prove a far more potent weapon on a wearing pitch, but a good innings against him would set them up well for the rest of the series.

www.robwightman.co.uk