England fail by comparison

The pitch at Headingley has played better than its curiously mottled appearance had suggested it would. For all that, Australia's first-innings total of 447 owed much to the England fast bowlers' inability to make the best use of it.

Andy Caddick was the worst culprit, bowling too short and allowing the batsman to leave the ball too much. It seems obvious that on a pitch with movement and awkward bounce, the batsman will always be more vulnerable when brought forward on to the front foot.

Darren Gough was also at fault although the five wickets he picked up at the end of the innings may have disguised the fact. When it mattered, early in the innings, he was as wayward as Caddick.

It was almost as if the two of them had perversely taken the wrong view of the way to use the pitch and were too obstinate to change their minds. It is difficult to believe that two such experienced Test cricketers were unable to bowl where they wanted. Nor is it easy to believe they could not work out where they should have been bowling.

The Australian batsmen found life made far easier for them than it should have been. This was underlined when it was Australia's turn to bowl. Mike Atherton and Marcus Trescothick put on 50 for England's first wicket on Friday afternoon, but their problems greatly exceeded those the Australian openers had encountered. Being a yard faster than the English bowlers also made Glenn McGrath and Co a much nastier proposition and better able to exploit the conditions.

It would be hard to imagine a bowler better suited to these conditions than McGrath. His metronomic accuracy enabled him to keep the ball fractionally short of a length and down that awkward line on, or just outside, the off stump. His height (6ft 6in) was another factor in his success because it allows him to bang the ball into the pitch and make it lift dangerously when he finds the right spot.

Although he may not have been at his best on Friday, his consistency made him a constant threat. He cut the ball back into the right-hander and also found the spot from which one kept horribly low to Nasser Hussain who, ironically, would have been better off forward than back. With the ball always pitching in the danger area, batsmen could never relax against McGrath.

Jason Gillespie also has the advantage of height but for some reason was not such an awkward proposition. Judging by the length of time he took to walk back to his mark, he was a strangely reluctant contributor. It was a long time before Adam Gilchrist gave Brett Lee a chance and he also might have brought on Shane Warne before he did because Mark Butcher always has problems with him. When Lee charged in from the Kirkstall Lane End, it was with great ferocity and he often generated a pace of 90mph.

It was his naked venom and sheer pace rather than help from the pitch which discomfited the batsmen. He saved his fastest and most ferocious for Caddick, who has a genius for upsetting the opposition and had obviously got under Australian skins.