UR TV CAST

He was sawn off in mid-flow as if he were a piece of four-by-two. At last, he was locating the sweet spot on the bat again, refusing to be cowed because of a blip in form and technique.There was no discernible foot movement, but then there never has been. He had just scored three fours in an over from Brett Lee – an edge and two fiercely timed square drives – when he was at the other end facing Stuart MacGill.The England opener decided to sweep with the leg-spin and made himself safe from a leg-before decision by making sure he placed his feet outside off stump as he played the shot. It is a man-oeuvre that batsmen practise as a matter of routine.There was an element of risk, because MacGill spins the ball so much that there is invariably a chance of hitting in the air with a cross-bat, but Trescothick is an attacking player. As it happens, he missed the ball, which hit his back leg several inches outside off stump.The Zimbabwean umpire, Russell Tiffin, standing in his 34th Test, replied swiftly to the appeal. It was an awful verdict.But in truth it was only as dreadful as some of the shots England had played to put themselves into another parlous state, and it would be difficult to make a realistic claim that it altered the course of the match.Their first innings had been symbolic of a side who are being so outplayed by the opposition that they are not playing up to their own standards any more They are being intimidated Andrew Caddick was further evidence of this.

He was severely reprimanded before play began for a gesture he made to the crowd after being no-balled. They, like the Australian players, had got to him.Most of England’s finest managed to make a start without much suggestion that they were in it for the long haul. Three wickets went down swiftly in the morning, including that of Robert Key for a duck. He received a fizzing yorker from Brett Lee which hit him full on the toe: this series is positively refusing to let him show what a good player he can be.The last four wickets put on 152, which was thanks in large part to White and no thanks at all to John Crawley. Until he injured his hip, Crawley was having an optimistic tour. He had barely played a false stroke, but the ugly shot across the line he essayed against Gillespie which ended up in mid-wicket’s hands ill became a professional batsman.White salvaged affairs.

He decided not to be shackled and hit sixes to leg and straight. His unbeaten 85 was 58 more than his previous highest against Australia. White used to come to the Boxing Day Test as a boy, having been brought up down the road in Bendigo. It was a lifelong ambition to play in one.He was offered earnest support by James Foster, the reserve wicketkeeper who was drafted in for Alec Stewart on the first morning. There can be nothing to gain, surely, by playing Stewart in Sydney this week, save giving Help The Aged an encouraging start to the New Year.Trescothick and Michael Vaughan were as bullish as they have been all winter when they began England’s reply. For a while it was last summer again, until the Somerset left-hander was given his marching orders. Vaughan played some crisp strokes, most watchably to leg, and scored a half-century from 94 balls while losing Mark Butcher, and almost Hussain, before the close.The day’s attendance was 32,057, which brought the total figure for the first three days to 146,697.