By Derek Pringle in Cardiff Published: 9:31PM BST 12 Jul 2009  Honours even: James Anderson (left) and Ricky Ponting shake hands at the end of the first Test in Cardiff Photo: PA  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.  England’s joy, after finishing the game on 252 for nine, was Australia’s frustration and afterwards their captain, Ricky Ponting, complained that England had stretched the spirit of the game by twice sending on 12th man Bilal Shafayat with spare gloves for Anderson – a classic time-wasting ploy. Ponting has whinged before about England using 12th men for sharp practice (remember Gary Pratt at Trent Bridge), but in similar circumstances most teams would have pushed their luck.  The drama was intense with every ball the pair survived over a riveting final 40 minutes cheered to the echo by another sell-out crowd. In terms of atmosphere, it recalled the tense draw played out between these two teams at Old Trafford in 2005, when thousands of spectators were locked out and Australia’s last pair held on for four overs to save the match.  On that occasion, the Aussies’ raucous celebrations were seen by England’s men as signs of a growing vulnerability, which is perhaps why none of Andrew Strauss’s team streamed on to the pitch to show their gratitude in Cardiff, despite the unlikelihood of their deed.  Anderson and Panesar were picked to be England’s saviours with the ball, not the bat, but their excellence would have needed to be multiplied by several factors without the monolithic innings of 74 played by Paul Collingwood, who occupied the crease for almost six hours.  Collingwood contributed just 17 for his MBE in 2005 but after digging the main tunnel for England’s escape, his elevation to the Prince of Wales must surely be a possibility. He is also Panesar’s batting buddy, though none of the effete flourishes Monty used to defend against Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz have come from Collingwood’s batting style which, with its minimal backlift, was the epitome of dour pragmatism.  Collingwood’s obduracy was at variance with many of his team-mates, whose choices of shot failed to match the severity of the team’s situation. Yet stoically well that Collingwood played, there was no doubt, as the clock ticked down, that Australia’s bowlers became as tense as their counterparts had been earlier in the match.  In particular they wasted the second new ball, which was taken with just under 18 overs to play, and with them needing to take three more wickets. Mitchell Johnson took it with Ben Hilfenhaus, who, after three overs with it, had Graeme Swann, almost peppered into submission earlier by Peter Siddle, lbw after Swann missed a pull shot.  Johnson, who judging from the absence of any fingernails is a nervous cove, sprayed the ball so wildly that Ponting had little choice to return to Siddle, his faithful pitbull terrier. His trust was repaid, too, when Collingwood played a rare loose shot and was caught in the gully, at the second attempt, by Michael Hussey. But thereafter the expectation that had made England’s bowlers tighten at crucial times afflicted both him and Hauritz to the point where Ponting turned to the part-time spin of Marcus North.  Such a tight finish was always a possibility after England began the final day 219 behind Australia, their options essentially limited to surviving the 98 overs scheduled, eight more than usual due to time lost to rain the previous day. Coaches often emphasise that batsmen should approach saving matches just as they might set them up in the first innings, but that is often easier said than done. Fear of failure, especially acute in Ashes encounters, can play havoc with even the best most outwardly confident players, as Pietersen’s submissive dismissal revealed.  England needed a long innings from him but he lasted only until the fourth over of the day when he was bowled off-stump by Hilfenhaus, padding up to a ball that scarcely deviated from the moment it left the bowler’s hand.  After getting out in the first innings to a ball he could barely reach three feet wide of the stumps, there is an irony (though his critics might call it poetic justice) to him leaving one that is fired straight at the stumps. Two things could have accounted for this: firstly he is more sensitive than he lets on when he does his Edith Piaf press conferences about not regretting his occasional self-indulgences at the crease, and secondly, it might have been an over-reaction to the iffy drive off Hilfenhaus the previous ball, which had almost found its way into short extra cover’s hands.  Whatever the reason it had the opposite effect of stunning England and lifting Australia, though it was not until the introduction of Hauritz, in the eight over of the morning, that further wickets looked like falling. Billed as the worst spinner to play for Australia, Hauritz immediately got the ball to bite and spin more than England’s pair of twirlers.  Australia’s dominant position in the match and the relative hardness of the ball would have been factors, but the drift (from leg to off against the right-handers) that Hauritz was getting through the air, is a sure-fire indicator that the seam is canted at the best angle for his off-breaks to bite into the pitch. Neither Panesar nor Swann got that drift.  No such trickery did for Strauss, who, shaping to cut a short ball, feathered an edge to Haddin. You could argue it was a rash shot for a skipper with a Test to save but at least it was short and wide, unlike the one that got Matt Prior, which was neither; he won the KP 'muppet’ award for bad shot of the innings.  Andrew Flintoff joined Collingwood and applied himself for 90 minutes until pushing at a reverse away-swinger from Johnson he did not need to play at.  Stuart Broad then did his bit for the cause, lasting just over an hour before falling lbw to Hauritz.  Broad’s poor bowling here makes him vulnerable for Lord’s, where he will be under pressure from Graham Onions. The selectors will announce their squad on Monday and unless they have been underwhelmed by the firepower on show here, on a very sluggish pitch, Steve Harmison is unlikely to be added to the same 13 who assembled here a week ago.
Read a match report from the first Ashes Test in Cardiff, where England (435 &amp;    252-9) drew with Australia (674-6) at The Swalec Stadium on July 12, 2009.