The Ashes: 2nd Test Day 1

England 289/7 (89.0 overs)
Day 1 Stumps

The second test match at Lord's got underway after all the players were greeted by the Queen before play. Ryan Harris must have been inspired the most as he came out all guns blazing, and with Shane Watson chipping in as well England were on the backfoot early. After a terrible start from James Pattinson, Michael Clarke swung a surprise by putting Shane Watson on to bowl. Perhaps he was sick of standing next to him at slip, but Clarke's move payed off when Watson had Cook dismissed lbw. Erasmus coming out of the video box to join the action in this test had a long hard look before raising his finger. Cook didn't review, which he was right to do as he HawkEye had the ball hitting into the stumps quite easily.

Harris then joined in the act by getting rid of both Root and Pietersen in the next over. Root was given out lbw by umpire Dharmasena, yet Root decided to review. It was incredibly close with extreme slow-motion images seeming to indicate that the ball either just hit pad before bat, or at least at the same time. As the umpire's call was out, I think it was fair enough that the decision stayed this way as there was certainly not substantial evidence present to overturn the original decision. There was no problems with Pietersen four balls later though with a regulation edge to the keeper.

At 28/3, the Queen had enough and decided to leave, which must have released a pressure valve for England as Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell went about repairing England's innings. They made it to lunch unscathed and things were going well after lunch until Trott was inexplicably out to a poorly timed pull shot. It came out of the blue as the Australian bowlers had started to waver a bit with Siddle and Pattinson struggling. Bairstow came in and looked okay without dominating before drama struck when was on 21. He was comprehensively beaten by a Siddle ball which sent the stumps flying and started to walk off before the almost inevitable no-ball check. Despite all the others in the series being okay, this one wasn't as Siddle has narrowly failed to land any of his foot behind the line. Some Australian fans are complaining about that it is only the Australian bowlers having the no-ball checked, and while that is true, I think there may be some precedent behind it. The umpires are probably aware of Australia's history of overstepping on wicket-taking deliveries and are therefore more likely to ask for a review, than to the England bowlers. Nonetheless the fact is that you have to stay behind the line, to not do so, like Siddle, is undisciplined. Seriously, how hard is it to keep behind a line!

Meanwhile Bairstow and Bell kept going along nicely with some nice strokes being played. Pattinson struggled all day as he offered off way too many bad balls. Bell though kept putting them away and brought up his century half-way through the last session. It was another incredible knock from him and he has now only the fourth Englishman to score three consecutive hundreds in Ashes tests matches, with his first coming at the SCG in 2011.

Just when us cricket fans thought England were going to go to stumps with the momentum, another twist took place in the form of Steven Smith. After not bowling at all at Trent Bridge he was thrown the ball by Michael Clarke before the new ball was due late on Day 1. Smith certainly repaid the favour as he preceded to take three wickets to turn the day on its head. First he dismissed Bell with a perfect leg break to get a catch at slip. Bairstow played a terrible shot minutes later to gift his wicket to Smith. A full toss by Smith was patted back to him for a caught and bowled. To complete the trifecta, Prior was out caught behind by a delivery which seemed to skid on a bit quicker. Jimmy Anderson was sent in next as a nightwatchman of sorts. A nightwatchman at no.9 to protect fellow tailenders is an interesting one, but Stuart Broad does have the ability to score big runs.

Hero of the Day: Ian Bell (England)
Ryan Harris and Steve Smith campaigned hard for Australia, however it  was Bell who stole the day for England with another superb century. He is now only the fourth Englishman to score three consecutive centuries in Ashes test matches.

Villain of the Day: James Pattinson (Australia)
It was a poor showing from the Australian quick with way too many balls being hit to the boundary.  He went at 4.38 at an over and definitely struggled with the unusual slope at Lord's which has claimed many a fast bowler over time.

Who won the day? Australia (just)
An excellent start and three late wickets pushed them just in front, however Ian Bell ensured that England can still post a decent total. It is a good batting pitch so England will want at least another 70-80 runs, however with Australia's fragile batting line-up, they might not need it. It was another good day of test cricket on Day 1, continuing what has been a ripping Ashes contest so far.