Hughes quick to get back in the groove
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday June 27, 2009
THOUGH he lost his middle stump for the second time in three days, Phil Hughes was at the heart of a much-improved Australian batting effort with a commanding 78 in the second innings of the tour game against Sussex.If the first two hits of Hughes's tour are any guide, English crowds will be on the edge of their seats when the 20-year-old batting prodigy marches to the crease with Simon Katich during the Ashes. The openers put on 93 for the first wicket and though Hughes was more subdued than in his first outing, when he crashed three boundaries in the first over before falling for 15, he was also more productive, with 11 fours including a trademark cut punched to the short boundary to bring up his half-century.Hughes has shown he will stick with the unorthodox but effective methods that brought him such stunning success in his debut Test series in South Africa, and during his amazing stint in county cricket. He was dropped at slip on 73 but his most extravagant shot proved his undoing he was bowled taking a swish at Sussex's South African recruit Pepler Sandri in a dismissal that was eerily similar to the first innings.Katich had already departed for 40 with a leading edge that was caught at mid-on. The top six batsmen were all keen to improve on a disappointing first innings to tune up for the first Test, and captain Ricky Ponting struck an emphatic half-century while working with Mike Hussey to extend the Australians' lead.Meanwhile, there could be room for a fourth paceman following the unconvincing display of Australia's only spinner, Nathan Hauritz, against Sussex but this was not the tourists' only bowling problem on the second day of the practice game, with the quicks warned that a disturbing tendency towards no-balls could cost them Test places.Though encouraged by the returns of recovering quicks Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, coach Tim Nielsen was tearing his hair out over a problem that threatens to turn into a pandemic of 2005 proportions. Nielsen's predecessor, John Buchanan, declared a zero-tolerance policy on no-balls after Australia bowled 22 of them in an innings at Trent Bridge, and the 2009 tourists matched that tally in Sussex's first innings on Thursday.Nielsen described the number of transgressions as "shocking" and said the pronounced slope at the county ground at Hove was no excuse. Clark and Katich were the only bowlers who did not overstep the popping crease, a sin that cost the Australians three wickets in the 2005 upset series defeat."Shocking weren't they, we're pulling our hair out about them. It's the only thing I'm a bit grumpy about," Nielsen said. "We don't bowl them in Twenty20, maybe because it's a free hit and the implications are greater. It is obviously something we have got to fix up."Competition among the bowlers is so intense that a few centimetres could make a difference when it comes to assessing Test contenders. "It seems to be wherever we play, the length between the stumps and the popping crease is the same, so we've got to get better at landing behind the popping crease," Nielsen said.Lee was the main culprit with eight no-balls, but Nielsen was otherwise happy with his performance and that of Clark. Both players improved as the day wore on and claimed 3-53 and 3-46, respectively.Hauritz, however, caused so few problems for the county batsmen that Australia may have to consider fielding four quicks for the first Test.Hauritz, the only spinner in the touring party ahead of the discarded Jason Krezja and Bryce McGain, returned an unflattering 0-98 in 18 overs, and was unable to deceive the batsmen or contain them. He created one genuine chance a stumping missed by Brad Haddin and was later upstaged by part-time wrist spinner Katich, who captured the only wicket to fall to spin.Lee enhanced his selection hopes by bowling with good pace and swinging the ball into the breeze in his second spell.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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