England hold on for nail-biting draw

First Test, Day Five: England (435 & 252-9) drew with Australia 674-6dec. England held on for a draw last night on the final day of the first Ashes Test of the summer, after James Anderson and Monty Panesar kept out the Australian bowlers for 40 minutes.

Earlier in the day England's recognised batsmen had fallen at regular intervals, with Kevin Pietersen (8), Andrew Strauss (17) and Matthew Prior (14) going before lunch. Andrew Flintoff (26), Stuart Broad (14) and Graeme Swann all provided invaluable support for Paul Collingwood, whose 74 took almost six hours and anchored the fightback.

There are just three days before the Second Test begins at Lord's, and after the inability of England's bowling attack to get the tourists out it looks certain Steve Harmison while rejoin the England team in London on Thursday.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Derek Pringle, Daily Telegraph: "Talk about fingernails scraping down cliff faces. England managed one of the great Ashes escapes by drawing with Australia here on Sunday, their last pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar clinging on for 69 balls to make the game safe after a day of gnawing drama and intensity. Both teams now travel to Lord’s for Thursday’s second npower Test with the series, if not honours, even, the first time since 1998-99 that an Ashes rubber has been level after the opening match."

Mike Selvey, the Guardian: "England can now go to Lord's for Thursday's second Test in better heart than might have been, although they would be wise not to gloat. Losing a session to rain on the fourth evening helped, with only eight overs made up yesterday, and they know that but for a brief time on the second morning, when the tail wagged and the Australians looked ragged, Ponting's side were in control. Australia will come at them just as hard again. Here, on a pitch that emasculated pace bowlers and spinners alike once the ball had lost its hardness, England were given a batting lesson by Australia's four centurions, one absorbed only by Paul Collingwood among the top order."

Mike Atherton, the Times: "English batsmanship - classic nose-to-the-grindstone, down-in-the-trenches, over-my-dead-body English batsmanship - finally showed its face on the fifth day in Cardiff. And what a welcome sight, in the ruddy features of Paul Collingwood, it was. Collingwood, unshaven, sunburnt and mired in sweat and dust, batted for 17 minutes shy of six hours, 245 balls of sheer bloody-mindedness and self-restraint, to take England to the brink of safety. Then, as if the cricketing gods had dreamt up the worst torture imaginable, he had to watch from the balcony, fully padded still and full of remorse after not quite seeing the job through, as Monty Panesar and James Anderson blocked out 69 balls to ensure that England go to Lord's on level terms, the Ashes still there for the taking." ·