Aussies in freefall

Dominant England on brink of retaining Ashes

England are three wickets away from retaining the Ashes after Australia’s batsmen failed in the second innings of the fourth Test at the MCG.

England seamer Tim Bresnan, called in to replace Steve Finn, snared three wickets in the evening session to leave Australia reeling at 6-169 at stumps.

The beleaguered hosts hopelessly need to survive the match’s remaining two days or conjure 246 runs to avoid becoming the first Australian team since Allan Border’s in 1986-87 to surrender the urn on home soil.

Umpires decided against extending play by 30 minutes despite No.9 batsman Ryan Harris’s inability to bat after he left the field in the first session with stress fractures in his left ankle.

Australia’s futile batting line-up again failed miserably, although opener Shane Watson was productive once again, topscoring with 50.

The rot started when Phil Hughes was needlessly run out for 23. Watson nudged the ball to Jonathan Trott at cover, who collected perfectly and delivered an equally good throw to wicket keeper Matt Prior to leave the left-hander short.

It was a pointless dismissal and a gift to England.

Bresnan then snared the first of three key wickets starting with Watson, who was given out lbw for 50 after shouldering arms to a full ball shortly after tea.

Out-of-form captain Ricky Ponting’s wretched series continued as Bresnan seamed a ball from wide on the crease that captured his inside edge and cannoned on to the stumps, sending him back to the sheds for a scratchy 20.

The skipper’s downfall brought utter delight from the England team and triggered another Australian middle order capitulation.

Mike Hussey (0) blazed at a Bresnan delivery but picked out Ian Bell at short midwicket without adding to Australia’s score.

Australia could have used the bowler-friendly conditions on the opening day as some sort of meagre excuse for their disgraceful first-innings total of 98.

But the third-day effort from England’s bowlers in benign batting conditions re-instated the difference in class between the two bowling attacks.

Spinner Graeme Swann picked up the wicket of run-starved vice-captain Michael Clarke (13) via an Andrew Strauss catch at second slip.

And James Anderson brought victory within sight by bowling Steve Smith (38) late in the day.

Earlier, topscorer Trott remained 168 not out as England were bowled out on the stroke of lunch for 513, a lead of 415, the second biggest in Ashes history.

Crowd favourite Peter Siddle, the shining light for Australia, claimed six wickets in a lion-hearted effort. He produced the first two wickets for the day after England resumed at 5-444 on Tuesday morning.

Siddle had Matt Prior out for 85 when Ponting pouched a catch at mid-on before Tim Bresnan edged to wicket keeper Brad Haddin for four.

Another Haddin catch delivered swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus his first wicket and sent the pesky Swann on his way for a quick-fire 22.

Hilfenhaus doubled his wicket tally when he bowled Chris Tremlett (4), while Siddle drew the innings to a close by knocking over Anderson (1) to finish with 6-75 from 33 overs.

Ponting apologises for Ashes umpire row

MELBOURNE, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Australia captain Ricky Ponting apologised on Tuesday for “overstepping the mark” in his confrontation with umpire Aleem Dar in the fourth Ashes test against England.

The 36-year-old was fined 40 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday after the extended discussion with Dar about a TV referral decision over an appeal for caught behind against England’s Kevin Pietersen.

“Yesterday was me overstepping the mark and obviously I apologise for the way that looked, it’s certainly not the way I want to be looked upon as a captain,” Ponting told Australia’s Channel Nine on Tuesday.

“I think it’s really important that if you are a captain of a senior or junior side you don’t look at what I did and think that’s right. It’s certainly not and I apologise for that.

“I understand that it didn’t look good. The facts of the matter are that I was charged last night with having a prolonged discussion with the umpires.

“The umpires made it quite clear to the referee and myself that in no way was I aggressive ... I just went on a bit too long. I accept that I was wrong.”

Ponting said he did not think his frustration at Australia’s poor position in a test they must at least draw to retain hopes of reclaiming the Ashes had contributed to the incident.

The hosts finally dismissed England for 513 just before lunch on Tuesday’s third day, a first-innings lead of 415 runs over Australia with more than 2 1/2 days remaining at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Ponting, who has scored just 93 runs at an average of 15.5 in this series, said he was not thinking about the pressure on his captaincy.

“My head’s about making runs in the second innings,” he added. “I can’t afford to look further than what I’ve got ahead of me in the next couple of days of this game.

“I’m enjoying cricket as much as ever, there’s no doubt about that. This series has been a tough one for me personally because I haven’t scored the runs I would have liked to.

“But I’ve just got to get out there and get the job done and if I do that, then there won’t be any talk about me.”

Australia to get a new manager after cricket World Cup

.Dubai, Dec 27 (IANS) Cricket Australia (CA) Monday appointed Gavin Dovey to be the new manager of the Australian team after 2011 cricket World Cup.

Dovey, an expatriate Austrlian, is currently Rugby Football Union (RFU) England team operations manager. He will replace long-serving Australian team manager Steve Bernard, who will be retiring from the role after the World Cup in the sub-continent starting Feb 19.

Bernard and Dovey will conduct a handover during the Australian team tour to Bangladesh, scheduled right after the mega event.

CA general manager Michael Brown said he was excited to have recruited an appointee of Dovey’s background and sports management expertise.

‘Not surprisingly, we had a large field of strong candidates when we sought a replacement for Steve but Gavin was the stand-out candidate,’ Brown said.

‘Steve Bernard has been an outstanding Australian team manager, is one of the most popular identities in world cricket, and we knew his would be big shoes to fill,’ Brown said.

Canberra-educated, Dovey worked for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority before moving to a role managing anti-doping with the RFU.

Dovey said he was looking forward to returning to Australia to take up a position he expected to be challenging but fulfilling.

‘The RFU has been great to me and I will always be grateful for the opportunities they offered me - I have learned a lot.’

‘I now look forward to taking up the challenge of replacing Steve and of doing my part to help support the sporting team that the whole nation follows,’ he said.