da gbg bet： The spirit of Geoffrey Boycott was alive and well at Headingley today asEngland adopted a watchful but slow approach in their first innings on thesecond day of the Fourth npower Test Match
Kate Laven17-Aug-2001The spirit of Geoffrey Boycott was alive and well at Headingley today asEngland adopted a watchful but slow approach in their first innings on thesecond day of the Fourth npower Test Match.While the Ashes are lost, England need to salvage respect from the remainingtwo Test Matches and a second-day batting collapse in reply to Australia’s447 first innings total would have done little to help them recover lostground.So when both Mike Atherton and Marcus Trescothick departed shortly after teawith England’s score 67 for two, the alarm bells started to sound and thespirit of Headingley’s favourite son and England’s mulish opener wassummoned.Obduracy and courage, of Boycott-like proportions, was now required ofEngland’s captain Nasser Hussain and his number three Mark Butcher and theyresponded in a manner that would have made the Yorkshireman proud.Hussain’s arrival at the crease was accompanied by confusion all around theground when a third batsman in full England kit also started walking out.It turned out to be the same fellow who mysteriously appeared in theManchester United team photo some weeks ago but he got to within 30 yardsof the crease before turning round, pulling a mobile phone out of his pocketand wandering off, the phone attached firmly to his ear, to everyone’samusement.The 50 partnership came in 97 balls, after Hussain had taken 20 minutes toget off the mark but he was in no rush; having spent so much time out ofinternational cricket with his damaged digits, he seemed keen to get stuckin.By the close, he was unbeaten on 45 and Butcher, who had unleashed somelovely drives on both sides of the wicket, was three short of his halfcentury, the pair having put on 88 runs for the third wicket, in 178deliveries.Their teamwork increased England’s chances of saving the follow-on, the targetof 248 still 93 runs away, with eight wickets intact.Australia, resuming in the morning on 288 for four, made good progress inbuilding a formidable first innings total and suffered no alarms untilEngland took the new ball. Alex Tudor was preferred ahead of Darren Gough tosee what havoc he could wreak but it was Damien Martyn and Simon Katich whohad the last laugh when they picked off 23 runs in his two overs.Gough replaced Tudor and immediately started causing trouble. He produced anexcellent delivery that swung back in to Katich and clipped the top of hisoff stump, then before too long, he had dangerman Adam Gilchrist back in thehutch having been well caught in the covers by Trescothick.Gough’s war on wickets was given some assistance after lunch by someprofligate batting by the Australians, who had clearly had a pow-wow overlunch and decided to pile on the runs, quickly.Martyn kicked off a tense afternoon by reaching his second century of theseries. It came in just 125 balls, included 15 boundaries and a five and wasa show of high-class batting at its best.In the same over, Shane Warne went before scoring, then Brett Lee followedhim, again for a duck. Jason Gillespie was caught at first slip for five andMartyn, who by this time had made his way to 118, was last to go, caught byAlec Stewart after Atherton had helpfully deflected the ball in hisdirection.Gough finished with 5-103, a fine effort after an average early showingyesterday but it was Martyn who received the biggest cheer as the playersdeparted, to prepare for the next, and possibly decisive, phase of the game.