Australia hangs on in Second Ashes Test despite controversy

After some more terrible umpiring decisions, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin have kept Australia in the second Test and the Ashes series with an unbeaten 185-run partnership for the sixth wicket, but they and the Australian tail will have to bat out the entire last day… or maybe make another 209 runs for a record-breaking victory.

The day’s play started with an England declaration overnight on six for 311, to leave Australia 522 runs to make in the fourth innings, and with Simon Katich (6) hitting a typically uppish shot to Kevin Pietersen in the gully off an Andrew Flintoff delivery that was shown on replay to have been an uncalled no ball, it looked like Australia’s poor run of umpiring and bad luck was going to continue.

The headlines for the day looked like being centred around the next dismissal, which was started by Phillip Hughes (17) edging Flintoff to Andrew Strauss’s bootlaces where he claimed a catch off the grass stalks. The umpires convened, central umpire Rudi Koertzen asked square leg umpire Billy Doctrove whether the ball had bounced, and the umpires mystifyingly did not take the option of going to the video umpire.

The video evidence showed more than enough evidence to suggest the ball hit the ground. However, Hughes was given his marching orders.

As if that wasn’t poor enough, Michael Hussey (27) was then given out caught at slip by Paul Collingwood from a Graeme Swann delivery that hit rough outside off stump and deviated strongly. Unfortunately, Hussey had not hit it, but Doctrove’s finger went up regardless, much to Hussey’s amazement.

The dismissals of Ricky Ponting (38) inside edging a ball from Stuart Broad that kept low and Marcus North (6) also inside edging an arm ball from Swann were more pedestrian, but the day was saved by Clarke (125 not out) and Haddin (80 not out) who batted together more more than two hours.

Day five will be a big task for the Australians but if the English bowlers can produce the sort of spells they were churning out in the first innings and at times during day four, they should wrap up the innings before any talk of Australia setting a new world record for Test fourth-inning comebacks.