Well to go two nil up is fantastic
Jason Gillespie24-Jul-2001Well to go two nil up is fantastic! Another strong team effort by the lads and with a win or a draw in the next Test at Trent Bridge we will retain the Ashes once again. Of course we are looking at winning each Test as it comes along but of course winning and retaining the little trophy is the most important thing.Here is my diary of the second Test at Lord’s:Pre-match:Steve Waugh stated in the post match interviews that he believed the toss did not make much difference. ‘Tugga’ sometimes says that he hopes he loses the toss so that he doesn’t have to decide what to do! The wicket looked pretty good but because it was overcast, Steve thought that our bowlers could exploit the conditions.Day One:The opening day was a tricky one as there were a few interruptions. In my second over Mark Waugh appeared to lose sight of an edge from Trescothick off a no-ball and at that point the umpires felt it was time for a spell because it was too dark.I was bowling from the Nursery End and as we all know from where I was running in there is a slope from my right to left.Too much is made of the slope at Lord’s. At the end of the day, a bowler still needs to hit the right areas time and again to build pressure on the batsman. If a bowler is thinking about run-up, slope, breeze etc. he is not concentrating on the job at hand.During the first innings Steve Bucknor was at my end. Steve Bucknor does not say much, but he has a great sense of humour and when he does have a chat, it is usually funny and leaves you with a smile on your face.When we came back on we made some great inroads into the England top order. After another interruption or two England closed the day at four for 120-odd, with Ramprakash going just before bad light intervened again.During one of the delays we all met Her Majesty the Queen. During the day she had presented the BBC Radio commentators with a cake and when Colin Miller was introduced the Queen (surprise, surprise) asked Funky about his pink hair.Day Two: It was great to wrap up England for under 200. ‘Pigeon’ [McGrath] bowled superbly and got a nice ovation once he bagged his fifth wicket. The crowd seem to warm to our new idea of the bowlers showing the ball and Glenn did his traditional thumbs up to the four corners of the ground.Early in our innings we lost ‘Haydos’ and ‘Punter’ but in walked Mark Waugh and what a knock he played!When the pressure is on, there are not many better players around than Mark Waugh. He always stands tall and his 108 was a masterful knock. Some of his shots on the leg side were such that only Mark Waugh could possibly have played them.He had a big partnership with Steve, before unfortunately getting run out. At the close we had a handy lead, which hopefully ‘Marto’ and ‘Gilly’ would build on tomorrow.Third Day: The Saturday crowd at Lord’s was fantastic. It was a great atmosphere and certainly one to remember. England had their chance to make early inroads with ‘Gilly’ getting dropped.He didn’t let it faze him and went on to make 90 and with ‘Marto’ getting 50 a lead of over 200 was great!There has been talk in the media over here (I believe by one of the England players) that Australia are a lucky side. Well, we are of the belief that you make your own luck. So ‘Gilly’ got dropped a few times in his 90 runs. England weren’t unlucky; they had their chances. It is just not good cricket to let a player like Adam Gilchrist off the hook like that.So with a big first innings advantage it was great to have England three for 50 at tea after some sharp bowling from Brett Lee. Then Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash played well and nearly got to stumps before Ramprakash went lbw for 40. Again we were in a strong position and hopefully with some good bowling we could win sometime tomorrow.Final Day: Well ‘Pigeon’ made some early inroads, knocking over Stewart and Ward and we were away. Apart from some strokeplay from Craig White all we needed was 14 to go two up.Personally, getting five-for is always satisfying but it is a small bonus on top of winning the Test match and a bit of reward for the effort.The man of the match award was fully deserved by Glenn who really set the tone and put us in a great position by getting five wickets in the first innings and claiming another three in the second. Mark Waugh was the other contender with his brilliant hundred and his world record for catches taken.We celebrated in the rooms for about seven hours, awesome stuff!Lord’s, as I mentioned earlier, was a great occasion and it was great to see some ex-players over here. Merv [Hughes] and Pistol [Reiffel] were here with their tour group and Heals [Healy] with his. It is great to have these guys over here and catch up with them and seek out their advice.Well we are off to another tour match and then to Robin Hood country inNottingham where hopefully the score line will read 3-0 in a fortnight or so!