FIRST TEST - DAY FOUR

Andrew Strauss turns one to leg during his fighting 110

If Australia had made the running in the first three days of the first test, then it is fair to say that England owned the fourth day. Comprehensively.

With the game slipping away from England after the heroics of Hussey and Haddin in their mammoth stand that overlapped days two and three, Strauss and Cook strode to the wicket today knowing full well that it was do or die. An early rush of English wickets would surely see Australia take a one nil lead in the series and the high ground in the battle to wrest back the Ashes.

English supporters have been consulting meteorology reports praying for any signs of rain and fully prepared to perform a rain dance if there were no signs. It may not work - but, hey, there is always a first time isn't there?

Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?

Strauss and Cook stood firm against some capable Australian bowling that was testing, but not overly difficult on what appears to be morphing into a benign pitch. As a measure of how untroubled Strauss and Cook's advance was, nary a chance was created over the course of a whole day. Johnson dropped Strauss when the latter was on sixty nine, Siddle dropped Cook at fine leg with a diving attempted catch off an errant hook shot and Clarke dropped Trott after diving spectacularly to his left with the ball momentarily lodging between his index finger and his thumb. Predictably, the ball spilled out when gravity dragged Clarke crashing down to earth with a thud jarring his elbow on impact.

A typical Alistair Cook push during his stoic innings

With the exception of the stumping of Strauss by Haddin off the bowling of North which was caused more by a rush of blood by Strauss, no other full blooded chances were created. To be sure there were some close calls for all three English batsmen today...a skied shot here and there that bounced agonizingly close to a fielder, some close LBW shouts that replays showed where not quite close enough...but in practicality, England were rarely troubled as first they wiped off the deficit, and then motored on to commence building a lead.

As stumps were drawn early due to bad light stopping play, Cook and Trott left the field with the score 1 for 309 and a hard earned lead of eighty eight. A scenario almost beyond the dreams of the most optimistic English supporters.

Today Strauss was magnificent, punishing loose deliveries to the boundary with almost monotonous regularity. His 110 was a captains innings of the highest order - an innings that was born of desperation and executed with courage in the face of adversity. Alistair Cook also played his part to perfection, displaying a willingness to knuckle down to the task of saving the game. Cook played some wonderful shots, but his finest achievement was the level of deep concentration he gave to the task at hand. Even more so than Strauss, Cook curbed his natural attacking instincts for the greater good of the English cause. Trott also played his part and both he and Cook safely saw out the remainder of the day with a minimum of fuss.

At stumps Cook remained unbeaten on 132 and Trott on fifty four. A growing feeling that England having started the day attempting to save the test had now maneuvered their way to a position where they might be in with a shot of winning. There is still a long way to go in this test before any result will be determined, but today at least, England stood tall and roared back into a game that was seemingly lost - perhaps a harbinger of how the remainder of the series will play out.

Jonathan Trott gets in on the act too with an unbeaten half century

What of the Australian bowling? Perhaps the less said, the better.

Whilst the Aussie bowling was not insipid, nor did it appear threatening other than for very short periods. How must Ponting wish he could turn back the hands of time and throw the ball to a Warne or a McGrath to make an incisive break through? It has become de rigueur in Australian circles to criticize the Australian selectors for their seeming inability to identify the successors of the legacy of Lindwall, Lillee, McGrath, Warne et al who could take wickets at will, especially at key moments.

The truth of the matter is that the present reality is far removed from the past embarrassment of riches. Australia's achillies heal in it's steady slide down the world rankings over the last two years has been the bowlers inability to close out games that have been set up by the efforts of the batsmen. Today was another additional question to the continuing conundrum of how Australia can regenerate it's bowling stocks...and there seems to be no short answer.

Whilst a draw is the most likely result tomorrow after England's stoic efforts today, anything can happen.