Clarke holds court

Bob Willis gives his ruling on Michael Clarke's knock on day three in Cardiff as Australia advance.

Failure to build pressure cost England dear, says Bob

Twenty minutes or so before lunch England had a clear route back into this Test but after picking up three wickets for 32 runs they couldn't press their progress home. I was so impressed with the way Michael Clarke and Marcus North fought back for Australia and they can both be very proud of their efforts. Together they shut the door on the hosts and saw Ricky Ponting's side into a strong position. What stood out most for me though was the manner in which Clarke performed. Although Australia had lost those wickets he was still prepared to go down the pitch to the spinners, whether it was to attack or defend. Even his captain Ponting, who as I wrote yesterday is a great player, didn't have the courage to play in that manner. Advancing down the track to play the spinners is a fantastic and a very special skill. It was a marvellous exhibition and undoubtedly the highlight of the day for me.

Composure

I don't want to underestimate North's contribution though. He was determined not to give his wicket away and was a model of composure at the crease. North has played for five counties during his career so it's clear that the English finishing school is working well for Australia again! It's just a shame there doesn't seem to be any reciprocal arrangement Down Under! After a very scratchy start to the tour he filled his boots at Worcester and carried that form into the Test. Sure, he isn't the player Clarke is but chances in the Aussie batting order don't come along very often and Andrew Symonds' stupidity seems to be working to his benefit.

Slower

Clarke and North didn't get bogged down after lunch because our spinners, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, didn't bowl well enough to them. That was a big minus, I thought. In fact, the bowling wasn't great throughout the day which was hugely disappointing because the pitch offered more assistance today. There was a bit of swing with the new ball and thankfully Andrew Strauss did give it to Andrew Flintoff but there was still a worrying lack of penetration in the attack which needs sorting out. There is no point playing two spinners if England cannot make the most of the pitch and I'm of the view that Graham Onions will be back in the side for Lord's. England bowled the wrong length in the first hour; overall there were far too many four balls bowled, particularly from Swann which was very out of character. As a result England could not build any sustained pressure. I'm not sure Panesar and Swann are bowling at the right speed on this pitch. I think you either have to bowl a lot quicker or slow it down. Nathan Hauritz got more turn than both of them when he bowled it a bit slower so that could be the way to go.

Profligate

Seamer Stuart Broad keeps running in and was rewarded for his efforts with the wicket of Clarke late on but he is too profligate, he concedes too many runs. He's going at near enough four-an-over which is too many, especially if you are opening the bowling for England. If you are an express paceman you are likely to concede more runs but a fast-medium bowler should have better control than that. You would have thought that after bowling on those flat pitches in India and the West Indies last winter that he and James Anderson would be bowling tighter than they are. Of course, it didn't help that every bad ball they bowled got despatched! It looks now as though England are going to have to take a third new ball, although a lot depends on the weather on Saturday - the latest forecast that I've seen from Sky News weather is appalling! If a lot of time is lost in the game that will affect things but I still think Australia's plan is to bat themselves into 200-run lead and then have a go at England but that will be weather dependant.

Shadows

I was lucky enough to be royally entertained by the chairman of Glamorgan CCC today, who is quite rightly very proud of the county's achievements in staging this Test. We saw another first for Cardiff, and indeed the UK, today when the floodlights came on. Unfortunately the umpires seem to think that the floodlights are fine as an enhancement to natural light but as soon as they take over from the natural light - i.e. that there are shadows on the ground - they don't consider the conditions to be satisfactory. It is another thing that the poor old ICC are going to have to address. You do have to make the effort to play as much cricket as you can, which they did today, but the umpires clearly have to be happy that the combination of shadows and the use of a red ball does not give one side an advantage.

BOB'S PLAYER OF THE DAY: Michael Clarke

It's another easy decision. I really, really love watching Clarke bat against the two spinners - it was a real education and something you don't see English batsmen doing. He looked very well-set indeed and on course for a deserved hundred until he suffered a little lapse of concentration towards the end of the day.