Butcher's confidence boost

Henry Blofeld on the opener who may just have done enough to keep his place

It was the most frustrating of Test matches and yet the cricket which was possible was never less than fascinating. In time to come, a brief glance at the figures will tell of a seemingly dull draw but that was far from the truth.

This last day's play was as full of character, class and challenge as anyone could wish to see. England were up against it, the Australians were sniffing an unlikely victory, the pitch was awkward and the Australian bowlers full of confidence.

The England openers had made six between them in the first innings and Mark Butcher knew that another failure might easily result in his not being needed for Old Trafford next week. Also, it was important that England should emerge from this last day with some of the psychological advantage regained.

As it happened, the pitch was now slower than when play began on Friday and this helped both Butcher and Mike Atherton early in their innings. Butcher should have been caught at slip by Mark Taylor when he was two and Glenn McGrath and Paul Reiffel were an awkward proposition in the morning.

Atherton did all that he could to encourage Butcher and to steady him down and his example provided his partner with the inspiration he needed. For the first two hours it was a desperate struggle for him and he became hopelessly enmeshed in the spin of Shane Warne. But he fought on, refusing to give the bowlers best and emerged after lunch as a batsman who, for the first time, looked at home at this level.

There was an interesting moment soon after lunch when a short one from McGrath got Atherton into a tangle. The Australians appealed vociferously for a catch behind but Srini Venkataraghavan rightly turned it down for the ball had come off Atherton's forearm.

McGrath has a low boiling point and was clearly most unhappy. It was the end of the over and wicketkeeper Ian Healy, knowing his man, strode down the pitch past McGrath to the umpire. He collected McGrath's sweater and cap and delivered them to the owner, avoiding a confrontation. Healy will soon be Australia's permanent representative at the United Nations.

By the time Atherton had trodden on his stumps, Butcher had learned to look after himself. His strokes after lunch, especially those he played through the off-side off the front foot, were a delight and seldom has one seen a batsman swell with confidence as he did in the course of a single innings. The day was made even better after tea by Warne's best spell so far in this series.