Cricket: Aussies claim tons

On the surface, Marcus North looked a picture of composure on 98 in Cardiff.

On the inside he felt anything but calm.

Being in the nervous 90s turned into some of the most worrying times for Australia's batsmen in Cardiff, with four of the seven scoring tons in their first innings.

And North showed he was no different as he came back for a second run to bring up his hundred. Instead of running through to the crease, he produced a dramatic dive to make sure he reached his ground.

"Leading up to that I could hardly breathe, I was that nervous," he said. "I guess the emotion had kind of taken over a little bit.

"Looking back on it now I don't know why I put the big dive in. I wasn't even looking at the ball.

"It was probably more panic than anything else, and relief to get there.

"Just realising I brought up a hundred is something that's pretty special."

The Ashes-ton debutant North held his bat to be on 125 when Captain Ricky Ponting declared for Australia to finish the first innings on 6-674.

Ponting had earlier scored a century, finishing with 150, while Simon Katich (122) and Brad Haddin (121) also claimed tons.

England were on 2-20 at the close of play yesterday.

- AAP