FIRST TEST - DAY FIVE

Cook and Trott salute the applause of the crowd after their huge stand

After the wonderful cricket of the first four days, day five turned into sheer overkill. A bit like force feeding yourself five Big Macs when one is more than enough.

The longer the English innings went, the worse the Australian bowling and fielding became. Five dropped catches by the usually sure handed Aussies. Some of the chances were hard to be sure, but others were so simple as to be harder to drop than to take. Clarke's embarrassing dropping of Trott off Watson was the piece de resistance in a forgettable day for the Australians in the field.

However, to focus on the ineptitude of the Australian efforts in the field would be to sell rather short the efforts of the English batsmen today. Cook and Trott both had days that will never come easier for them. It seemed as if the Australian bowlers were aiming for the middle of their bats, such was the regularity of the boundaries that flowed from their blades. Glorious stroke after glorious stroke flowed from Cook and Trott in a mammoth unbroken stand of 329.

Finally, Andrew Strauss called a halt to the slaughter by declaring with the English score on 1 for 517 and a lead of 297. Purely an academic figure as there were only forty one overs in which to chase down this unikely target and even the most optimistic Australian supporter would not seriously have entertained that.

Cook makes his highest first class score

Cook tallied up an unbeaten 235, while Trott also gorged himself on the Australian attack with a century of his own - a well constructed 135. It was an awesome display of batting and if it were a timeless test, I am sure the English could have given the Sri Lankan's record score of over a thousand a shake. Cook's stirring innings lasted 630 minutes having faced 428 balls in a display that was a study in concentration.

Trott played some powerful strokes in his century

As if to highlight the road like nature of the wicket, Australia raced to 1 for 107 off twenty six overs for the loss of Simon Katich for four when the respective captains called off the mutually assured destruction early. Watson remained not out on forty one and Ricky Ponting blazed an unbeaten fifty one off forty three balls as if to illuminate the benign nature of the pitch that was more a Karachi road than a traditionally seaming Gabba deck.

Ponting blazed an unbeaten half century before the close of the play

After promising so much on the first three days, the test fizzled out into a tame draw with the English having gained the moral ascendancy after the batting heroics of Strauss, Cook and Trott.

As insipid as the Australian effort was in the field in the second innings, the history books will show that there were three record breaking stands in a row in the last three days and given time, it is highly likely that Ponting and Watson would have added a fourth, such was the nonthreatening nature of the pitch. While bat-a-thons are de rigueur on the sub continent in order to satiate the public's clamouring for endless batting records to be tallied up from the Tendulkar's, Sehwag's, Sangakkara's and Samaraweera's of this world, elsewhere in the cricketing world the discerning cricket fan would rather see an even contest between bat and ball - and the lifeless nature of the pitch at the Gabba provided nothing for either teams bowlers.

Graeme Swann, hailed the best spin bowler in the world averaged over 80 per wicket during this test as there was not the slightest assistance for him, nor was there any for both teams seamers after day one, though Anderson bowled well during the day three morning session without luck.

So we move onto Adelaide where we have yet another pitch that has a reputation for being a batsmen friendly road and it seems we get no respite from these bat-a-thons that will ensure that all the tests go the full five day distance and the box office takings predictably huge, pleasing Cricket Australia no end, but leaving everyone else somewhat flat. Is this what test cricket really needs?

See you all on Friday.