London, Aug. 20: A flurry of wickets in the final session spoiled what could have been a great opening day for England in the fifth Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval here on Thursday.

From 180/3 at tea, the hosts slumped to 268/7 in 75 overs to squander the gains from Ian Bell’s measured 72. Mitchell Johnson’s two wickets, along with the run out of Test debutant Jonathan Trott late in the day, gave Australia an opening early in the game. At the 75-over mark, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann were batting on 9 and 0 respectively.

At tea, Bell was batting on 72 after a second session where England lost both captain Andrew Strauss (55) and Paul Collingwood (24) in a match they had to win to regain the Ashes but one where Australia need only a draw to retain them.

Trott, a Warwickshire colleague of Bell’s, was unbeaten on three after taking 12 balls to get off the mark. England were 108/1 at lunch with Strauss, their best batsman in this series, batting on 50 and Bell unbeaten on 41.

But in the third over after the interval England lost Strauss when the left-handed opener, diligent in the morning session, limply hung his bat outside off-stump against Ben Hilfenhaus and was caught behind by wicket-keeper Brad Haddin.

Strauss’s stand of 102 in 142 balls with Bell had taken England from 12/1, following the early loss of Alastair Cook for 10, to 114/2. His departure saw the experienced Collingwood come in at number four, one higher than his usual position.

However, with regular No 4 Kevin Pietersen out of the series with an Achilles injury following the second Test and England fielding a newcomer in Trott, in for dropped No 3 Ravi Bopara, Collingwood’s promotion made sense.

Collingwood, along with the rest of England’s victorious 2005 Ashes side, received the MBE (Member of the British Empire) medal despite appearing only in the Oval Test. Australia great Shane Warne wrote in his Times column on Thursday: "He owes England a match-winning hundred; perhaps then he’ll deserve the MBE he collected for scoring seven and 10 four years ago."

But Collingwood, rarely assured on Thursday, made 24 before slicing paceman Peter Siddle to Michael Hussey in the gully for 24. England were now 176/3.

South Africa-born Trott avoided a golden duck on his debut by playing a solid forward defensive shot against Siddle, a stroke cheered by England fans. But it was Bell, much criticised for failing to make runs when England needed them most, who rather than Collingwood or Trott was best-placed to deliver the big innings around which a significant total could be built.

His leg-glanced four, his eighth boundary, off Ben Hilfenhaus saw Bell, promoted to No 3 in place of Bopara, to a 73-ball fifty. However, what England wanted now from him was a maiden Test hundred against Australia in his 13th Ashes match.

Bell then cover-drove left-arm quick Johnson who was, as happened earlier in the series, struggling with his line, for a resounding four. With England 171/2, Australia — who in fielding an unchanged side had stuck with the four man pace attack that bowled them to an innings and 80-run fourth Test win at Headingley that levelled the series at 1-1 had again omitted off-spinner Nathan Hauritz — turned to part-time slow bowler Marcus North.

And it was against North that Trott scored his first Test run. England were in trouble when Cook was caught at second slip by Australia captain Ricky Ponting off Siddle after Strauss had won the toss.

But Strauss, batting in the composed, "emotionless" fashion which he said on Wednesday would be vital to his team’s chances of success, completed an 89-ball fifty featuring 10 fours but without taking any undue risks. — AFP