Ashton Agar’s half-century on debut overshadows James Anderson’s heroics on Day 2 of 1st Ashes 2013 Test

James Anderson took five wickets, before 19-year-old Australian No 11 Ashton Agar had to break records one after the other to rescue his team, who took lunch on Day Two at 229 for nine in the first Test of The Ashes played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

James Anderson (right) took his 14th five-wicket haul in Tests on the second day of the first Ashes Test © Getty Images

By Jaideep Vaidya

Jul 11, 2013

James Anderson took five wickets, before 19-year-old Australian No 11 Ashton Agar had to break records one after the other to rescue Australia, who took lunch on Day Two at 229 for nine in the first Test of The Ashes played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Australia lead England by 14 runs.

Anderson added to the two wickets he took on Wednesday as he ripped through the Australian middle and lower order in the morning session of the second day. Caught Prior, bowled Anderson, became the order of the session as the Australian batsmen managed to find the edges of their blade with nagging regularity.

It was a bright, sunny day in Nottingham, quite unlike the first day which was overcast. But Anderson still managed to generate reverse swing enough to leave the Australians clueless.

Steven Smith, unbeaten on 38 overnight, had earlier provided Australia with a positive start and was looking extremely confident with his stroke-making. He added a couple more boundaries to his tally, reached his fourth Test half-century and looked set to carry his team past their deficit, only for Anderson to run in and find his edge on 53.

From here, there was no turning back as Australia collapsed from 108 for four to 117 for nine, thanks to Anderson and Graeme Swann. Or was there? Agar, the debutant at No 11, certainly thought there was. Along with Hughes, Agar wrested the game away from the hosts as the duo brought up their 100-run partnership at just under a run-a-ball.

Agar played like a seasoned pro and made proficient use of a consistent line of shot-pitched bowling from the Englishmen, Steven Finn in particular. The pulls, the cuts and the drives were were a delight to watch and you couldn’t believe this was a No 11 at play. Agar brought up his half-century — the first ever by a debutant No 11 — at a run-a-ball and then brought the scores level with a couple of glorious boundaries. It wasn’t the only record wiped off by the youngster, as he soon went past Glenn McGrath’s 61 which was the previous best by an Aussie No 11. His fifty was also the second fastest on Test debut by an Australian, taking him four balls more than Adam Gilchrist

Hughes, who scored an inconspicuous half-century himself, was happy to watch from the sidelines. It was only the fifth time in Test history that Australia had achieved a 100-run partnership for the 10th wicket.

Brief scores:

England 215 (Jonathan Trott 48; Peter Siddle 5 for 50, James Pattinson 3 for 69) trail Australia 229 for 9 (Ashton Agar 69*, Phil Hughes 63*; James Anderson 5 for 70) by 14 runs.
 
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