Britain's media hail cricketers after last gasp draw

Britain's media have hailed most of England's cricket team as conquering heroes after they salvaged a draw against Australia in the first Ashes test in Cardiff.

James Anderson and Monty Panesar were praised for their gritty determination after the last-wicket duo saw out the final 40 minutes at Sophia Gardens during a 69-ball stand that took England to safety on yesterday.

"England tasted one of those glorious dramatic draws yesterday that only test cricket at the highest level of intensity can deliver," Simon Barnes wrote in The Times newspaper.

Bowler Panesar, for his part, said he just tried to stay calm and focused in the final minutes of the match.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Panesar also said he realised England had a "big chance" when Australia brought on part-time spinner Marcus North.

Paul Collingwood was also singled out in the press for his patient last-day innings of 74 which spanned nearly six hours.

"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," The Times' Mike Atherton, a former England captain, said.

But the press rounded on some of England's top-order batsmen for their poor performances, saving savage criticism for Kevin Pietersen who made eight in the second innings and 69 in the first.

"The rest of the England batting, as it had been for most of the match, was at times pitiful in its application or ability to absorb fundamental lessons," the Guardian newspaper's Mike Selvey - an ex-England pace bowler - wrote.

"Pietersen has run into real trouble in this test. Ritual defiance will not protect him from the suspicion that his lone wolf tendencies are now hurting his team," the newspaper also said.

There was also little sympathy for Australian captain Ricky Ponting, after he complained of time-wasting by the home side during the tense final stages of the match.

The Daily Telegraph said "in similar circumstances most teams would have pushed their luck" as well.

Ponting, writing in the same newspaper, described England's tactics as "pretty ordinary" but said the Australian team would not dwell on them ahead of the second Test starting at Lord's on Thursday.

"We will play by the spirit of the game and leave the England team to whatever they do," Ponting said.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald were not as kind.

"England stalled for time by sending 12th man Bilal Shafayat to the middle with a message, and he reappeared one over later with the physiotherapist Steve McCaig before both men were ordered from the field by the umpires," reported the paper.

But Ponting did not say the stoppages snuffed their chance of taking the game.

"I don't think it was required, he changed (the gloves) the over before, I don't think they'd be too sweaty in one over," Ponting said.

"I'm not sure what the physio was doing out there. I didn't see anyone call for the physio to come out. As far as I'm concerned, it was pretty ordinary, really, but they can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game, it's up to them to do what they want to do."

Under the headline, "Did the Poms cheat?", David Penberthy in The Australian concludes that, well, yes they did.

But despite the glove run and the physio sent out, Penberthy concludes that England are being hailed as heroes for drawing a match and said one or two may even be awarded a knighthood.

"Sadly that's the only thing we Aussies can take out of this game - a bit of juvenile teasing of the Poms for celebrating a game they didn't actually win, and which we should have."

- NZ HERALD STAFF