LONDON, (Reuters) – Australia recovered from stage fright at the most celebrated theatre in world cricket to fight their way back into the second Ashes test against England yesterday.
After conceding runs at an alarming rate in the opening session at Lord’s, Australia took wickets late in the day to restrict England to 364 for six.
“It was a pretty poor start,” wicketkeeper Brad Haddin told a news conference.
“Maybe the occasion got to a few of us, I know personally I tensed up a little bit in that morning session.
“The whole occasion of Lord’s got to a few of us. I thought at the end of the day we started to build a bit of pressure and started to get a bit more into our work.”
Mitchell Johnson, Australia’s destroyer in South Africa this year, could not settle before lunch, either dropping short outside the left-handers’ off-stump or over-pitching on their legs.
He leaked 53 runs from eight overs before lunch but bowled with more rhythm later in the day to take two wickets. “A few of our bowlers struggled a bit in that early session,” Haddin said. “Ben Hilfenhaus was good all day, he swung the ball consistently from the first over to the end.
“I think with Mitch, late in the day we saw him bring the ball back into the right-handers which is a very good sign.
“So with a bit of luck he got everything back in order and where he wants it to be.”
Australia were also forced to turn to the occasional off-spin of Marcus North after Nathan Hauritz dislocated the middle finger of his bowling hand trying to hang on to a fierce drive from England captain Andrew Strauss.
Hauritz received treatment in the pavilion before returning to field for the final hour.
“We’ll see how he pulls up tomorrow and hopefully we can get through the first innings without needing him,” Haddin said.
“We were looking down the barrel of a pretty bad day. We fought back well but as well as we fought back there is 360 on the board and it’s a massive first session tomorrow morning.”
