Australia make hay after late start at Edgbaston

Australia progressed rapidly to a promising 126-1 after play was delayed until the early evening on the opening day of the third Test.
 
Showers and a sodden outfield prevented play until 5pm, and after Ricky Ponting won the toss he was forced to draft in wicketkeeper Graham Manou as a late replacement for Brad Haddin, who injured his hand in the warm-up. A

But when play did begin Australian openers Simon Katich and Shane Watson, making his Ashes debut, attacked a lacklustre England bowling attack. England's only breakthrough came when Katich was trapped LBW for 46 by Graeme Swann. Watson finished unbeaten on 62.
 
Earlier in the day the action had taken place off the pitch, as Ricky Ponting got into a war of words with England skipper Andrew Strauss and Australian opener Phil Hughes blotted his copybook by leaking details of the tourists' side on social networking site Twitter.

Batsman Hughes was told he had been dropped before the team was announced, but then let the cat out of the bag by announcing his axing on Twitter, writing: "Disappointed not to be on the field with the lads today, will be supporting the guys, it's a BIG test match 4 us."

Former Australian batsman Dean Jones blasted Hughes' unprofessionalism, saying the opener needed a "foot up the backside" for his actions.

Meanwhile Ponting responded to Strauss's claim that Australia had "lost their aura" by remarking that England were some way short of having any kind of aura themselves.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:Mike Selvey, the Guardian: "A little over two hours of play were possible, but time enough for England to surrender any initiative they may have gathered from their win at Lord's. Until Graeme Swann intervened with a wicket in his first over, the four England pacemen had been plastered all over Edgbaston's sodden turf by Simon Katich and Shane Watson, the replacement for Twitter's own Phillip Hughes and Australia's first right-handed opening batsman in the eight years since Michael Slater retired."

Simon Briggs, the Daily Telegraph: "When Brad Haddin injured his finger in the warm-up, Andrew Strauss sportingly agreed to let the Australians field a replacement player, even though the teams had already been named. While Strauss did not hesitate to okay the recruitment of Graham Manou, Australia's deputy wicketkeeper, there are some England captains who would surely have insisted on the letter of the Law... Until Thursday, there may have been some concern about the atmosphere surrounding this series. The Cardiff Test featured a debate over England's time-wasting in the final session, and at Lord's there were concerns over low catches. But this moment of sportsmanship should have eased any tensions between the teams."

Richard Hobson, the Times: "Confusion over time differences was blamed for the posting on Hughes’s Twitter page, with Neil D’Costa, the player’s agent, who is in India, taking responsibility for the message. To compound the embarrassment, D’Costa subsequently revealed while explaining the mistake to a journalist that Ben Hilfenhaus, the swing bowler, was battling against stomach trouble to play." ·