Aussies start decider brightly

13 July 2008

England Deaf produced a stirring comeback on day one of the deciding second Ashes Test match to dismiss the tourists for 385 from 107 overs.

Australia, who had no hesitation in opting to bat after winning the toss, were sitting pretty at 278 for three in the afternoon at Colwyn Bay CC thanks to sizeable contributions from brothers Nick and Andrew Watkins.

However a flurry of late wickets for England, with Mark Woodman wreaking havoc with four dismissals, put the home side back in contention going into day two

The visitors, who were looking to improve after drawing the opening Test match at Southport and Birkdale CC last week, made a solid start as openers Grant Thomson and Justin Bergin saw off the new ball.

However, Bergin’s 47-minute knock came to an end when he was run out for 29 having struck six boundaries.

Nick Watkins’ arrival at the crease heralded an upturn in the scoring rate and although he lost Thomson (36), the Australian wicketkeeper soon notched up an unbeaten half-century.

Waktins, who has represented New South Wales in the Pura Cup, was joined at the crease by twin brother Andrew and the pair proceeded to fluently progress past the 150 and 200 marks.

Nick finally fell caught at the wicket for a well played 70 off the bowling of Stephen George with the score reading 238.

However England were yet to fully rid themselves of the Watkins family and twin brother Andrew progressed his way to a superb 113, including 10 fours and a single maximum, before being bowled by Mike O’Mahony.

The home side then ripped through the middle and lower Australian order, with O’Mahony picking up a further two wickets and opener Woodman returning to capture four wickets as the visitors lost their last six wickets for a paltry 78 runs.

Scorecard - England Deaf v Australia Deaf, 2nd Test, July 13-15 (52 KB)