ENGLAND BELATEDLY TURN UP

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Flintoff - more convincing with the bat.

By Andrew Ramsey

Over the past two weeks, it's been quite easy to forget that the England Test team is still on tour in Australia.

The glut of tributes and testimonies trotted out for a trio of retiring Australian players that began in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test has continued unabated.

Even when the eulogies were interrupted by a Test match in Melbourne, it was so one-sided and brief it was scarcely as if the opposition had bothered to turn up.

But here came a reminder that not only is Andrew Flintoff's team still in town, it is also not willing to concede a 5-0 scoreline without having some meaningful input.

Belatedly, the England top order placed value on their wickets and worked at building partnerships in conditions that were best suited to the Australian seam attack which has dominated all series.

And the reason why England enjoyed one of its better days of an utterly forgettable tour was that it doggedly refused to let the Australian bowlers dictate terms.

Andrew Strauss, who can legitimately claim to have suffered more rotten luck than poor form in this campaign, decided he would play his shots from the outset.

He and Alastair Cook were rewarded with their best opening stand of the series to date, although Strauss' aggression also proved his downfall when he aimed one cut shot too many at a ball that was too full and close.

The most notable change in attitude and strategy came from Kevin Pietersen, who was under more scrutiny than any of his team-mates coming into this match.

Pietersen obviously decided that the best way to disrupt the Australians' bowling strategy was to attack them with his entire being, not just the bat.

As a result, he regularly took one of two steps down the pitch before the likes of Stuart Clark and Glenn McGrath released the ball.

The effect was that the normally metronomic pair became frustrated and, at times, lost their carefully-hatched plot.

Clark regularly drifted on to a previously uncharted leg-stump line. McGrath became so unnerved at one point that he clean forgot to release the ball and it dribbled to mid-on having stuck in his fingers.

It was a worthwhile exercise, made even more beneficial by the fact that Pietersen played sensibly for the most part and - having advanced down the track - was content to work the ball around the field for ones and twos.

Eventually he lost his head and, in surrendering his wicket needlessly, briefly opened the door for an Australian attack that had been serviceable if uninspired on a pitch that offered slow bounce and little lateral movement.

But just as an all-too-familiar collapse threatened, Flintoff produced his most convincing batting effort of the series that was characterised by his willingness to play his natural, adventurous game.

It was refreshing to see the England skipper bearing some resemblance to his 2005 self. And a nice reminder that his team has not totally vacated this series.