Shane Warne helped Australia save the follow-on with his Test-best score against England as rain washed out most of the third day of the third Test at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.
Australia, after only 14 overs’ play was possible, closed on 264 for seven, having got past the follow-on target of 245, and were 180 runs behind England’s first-innings 444.
Leg-spinning great Warne, who on Thursday became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets, was 78 not out, having faced 104 balls with one six and 10 fours. Jason Gillespie was seven not out.
But he was twice-missed by wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, who in 18 Tests has dropped 10 catches, bungled three stumpings and conceded 189 byes.
Warne should have been out for 55 when, having gone down the pitch to left-arm spinner Ashley Giles and been left several yards out of his ground after missing a ball that spun away from him, he saw Jones fumble a routine stumping opportunity.
And in the final session of the day’s play, the ‘keeper missed a far easier chance when Warne, on 68, edged a delivery from all-rounder Andrew Flintoff that came through waist-high only for the ball to go between Jones’s gloves.
But England coach Duncan Fletcher, who has consistently backed the Australia-raised Kent ‘keeper because of his superior batting to that of rivals such as Test predecessor Chris Read, said he was happy to stick with Jones.
”It was unfortunate that Geraint Jones missed those chances. All game Australians have dropped catches, we’ve missed a couple of chances and we’ve just got to make sure tomorrow [Sunday] morning we get in there, forget about it, and make sure we get those three quick wickets.
”Sometimes, you just have these lapses and it’s very hard to explain.”
The sun was shining into the players’ eyes when Jones dropped Warne, but the 29-year-old glove man was wearing sunglasses at the time and Fletcher added: ”The sun was very low. You could see Andrew Strauss, at mid-off, shielding his eyes even with glasses on. It might have been that but at the end of the day, I’m sure Geraint expects to catch those. He’d be disappointed.”
But having seen Australia’s Adam Gilchrist drop two chances earlier in this match, Fletcher said: ”I’ve seen Gilchrist drop his, I’ve seen Mark Boucher [South African ‘keeper] drop many, I’ve seen Kumar Sangakkara drop many.
”Most sides look as though they want to go for a batter who can keep wicket. If you go for that sort of policy you’ve got to expect, now and again, a couple of chances to go begging,” insisted Fletcher, whose push for Jones was in opposition to ex-England selector and legendary Australia ‘keeper Rodney Marsh’s support for Read.
Australia, while they were sat in the dressing room on Saturday, had four runs added to their total following an official correction after umpire Steve Bucknor had failed to signal on Friday that a Simon Jones no-ball had also crossed the rope for four.
That meant Australia were 214 for seven, 31 short of avoiding the follow-on when play started after tea and 230 behind an England score that featured captain Michael Vaughan’s 166, the opening century of the series.
However, Fletcher indicated that England were unlikely to have enforced the follow-on because of the prospect of batting last on a deteriorating pitch, where Warne would be in his element.
Warne resumed 45 not out and Gillespie four not out after Giles had dismissed three of Australia’s top four on his way to figures of three for 66 on Friday and pace-bowler Jones taken three for 30.
England were looking to build on their dramatic two-run second Test win at Edgbaston, the closest victory in Ashes history, which levelled the five-Test series at 1-1.
But they knew Warne — who earlier this season scored two first-class hundreds for Hampshire — was in good batting form after making 42 at Edgbaston where Brett Lee, still to bat, made an unbeaten 43 that so nearly saw Australia go 2-0 up after their 239-run first Test win at Lord’s last month.
Warne, who on Thursday became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets, completed a 70-ball fifty with one six and six fours with a single off Giles.
And an initial session lasting just 32 minutes ended when Warne struck the spinner for a straight four that saw Australia avoid the follow-on.
When play restarted, Warne and Gillespie survived some rising deliveries from Flintoff, bowling on his home ground before the players, in bright sunshine, left the field for the last time on Saturday to a chorus of boos from the crowd, many of whom had waited for several hours to watch their heroes. — Sapa-AFP