Ashes fortunes ebb and flow in classic tradition

By John Mehaffey

CARDIFF (Reuters) - Fortunes ebbed and flowed in the best tradition of Ashes cricket on Wednesday after the heady but less substantial delights of the Twenty20 World Cup last month.

Wales welcomed the first Ashes test staged on neutral territory with anthems, a warm sunny day and a pitch which could decide the destiny of the first test between England and Australia.

At the end of the opening day, honours were pretty much even with England 336 for seven after selecting two spinners and electing to bat first.

The consensus before the match, based on county games this season, was that the pitch would be slow, low and take spin.

Both captains clearly agreed after examining the wicket carefully over the past two days. England included Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, two men who turn the ball in different directions, while Australia picked off-spinner Nathan Hauritz even though his two wickets on tour had cost 260 runs.

Ricky Ponting did not call on Hauritz until the afternoon session after his pace bowlers had knocked over the England top three. Kevin Pietersen (69) and Paul Collingwood (64) responded by adding 138 for the fourth wicket and batting throughout the afternoon session.

Their dismissals after tea gave Australia the edge before England seized the initiative again with a lively partnership of 86 between Matt Prior (56) and Andrew Flintoff (37).

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