Thunder, lightning spoil UK-Aussie Test
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): There was thunder and lightning of both the natural and man-made kind on the fourth day of the second cricket Test between England and Australia as early morning electrical storms left the Lord's outfield awash.
Further heavy showers, as an early lunch followed an early tea, made another blank day a very real prospect. But the rains relented sufficiently by late afternoon to enable the ground staff to remove the covers and play eventually got underway at 5.40.
Fast runs were the priority for Australia, the object being to extend their 54 run lead to around the 150 mark by stumps. The subsequent adrenalin rush led to some injudicious play four wickets falling for the addition of just 28 runs.
Mark Waugh (33), Shane Warne (0) and Steve Waugh (0) all perished with the score on 147. Twelve runs later Michael Bevan (4) was caught behind by Alec Stewart attempting an ill-conceived pull and Australia had slumped to 159 for six.
The principal beneficiaries during this frenetic period of play were Andrew Caddick with three wickets and Darren Gough with one. It helped, too, that England held its catches, unlike Saturday, when five were dropped.
A short break for rain on the fall of Bevan's wicket left the tourists with time to regroup. On the resumption of play, Matthew Elliott and Ian Healy were far more selective in their assault.
Not that either had much to worry about as Gough and Caddick chose this moment to produce their most wayward bowling of the match. Disregarding the deteriorating light, Elliott smashed Gough for three consecutive fours, two thundering square cuts and a lightening hook through backward square.
Caddick was similarly dispatched as consecutive pulled fours propelled the opener into the 90s. A single off Robert Croft took Elliott to his maiden Test century in 228 minutes, off 171 balls with 18 fours. The classy Victorian eventually fell for 112, caught at deep square by John Crawley off Caddick.
In what could ultimately be the crucial passage of play in this finely balanced match, Elliott and Healy added 53 runs in 36 minutes. At stumps on the fourth day, Australia had taken its score to 213 for seven, a lead of 136 runs.
With skipper Mark Taylor set to declare overnight, the likelihood is that England will have to bat deep into the third session to save the match. No easy task given the unpredictable nature of both climate and wicket.