England resumed on 92-7 on the second morning with Kevin Pietersen (29*) their best hope of approaching Australia's first innings 190.

Pietersen looked the most comfortable of England's batsmen against Glenn McGrath on the first day, but he batted mainly in defensive mode. With only the tailenders at the other end, on a pitch showing variable bounce, he will need to be more aggressive this morning.

If Australia do knock over the final wickets quickly England will have to be all on to get back in a game that appeared to be there for the taking at tea on the first day. At that stage they had bowled out Australia for 190 and their opening batsmen had made a steady start.

To begin the Test series by knocking Australia over cheaply with an aggressive bowling performance, only to be cut to ribbons by McGrath, would knock the stuffing out of many sides. It is the first serious test of England's steelier resolve in the series so far and they must win the second day to get back in the match.

Matthew Hoggard has developed a solid forward defensive technique and that will be valuable if Pietersen can get his strokeplay going. The other two batsmen to come, Simon Jones and Steve Harmison, are more the species of tailender that likes to go after the ball.

22 Jul, 2005