Smith, Warner put Australia on top

Day one of the fifth Test at The Oval in south London finished with Australia 3-287 and captain-in-waiting Steve Smith stealing captain-in-transit Michael Clarke’s limelight with an unbeaten 78.

That there will be a day two, and – at the current pace of proceedings – very likely a day three and even four has already served to defy predictions about the vengeful character of the strip that was characterised as more of a toxic swamp than a cricket pitch in days leading into the match.

The fact that it lay – stewing and fermenting - under hermetically affixed covers even during the fleeting moments of British summertime sun earlier in the week had spooked Clarke into forecasting on Test eve that the match would be done in "two or three days".

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Australia were sent in to bat first // Getty Images

The sight of yet another Test strip that blended like the edges of an airbrushed photo with the lush, verdant grass on all sides led to Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann suggesting on radio back home that Test venue curators were being "directed by the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) on what (pitches) to produce".

And so manifestly hazardous was this 'pitch of doom' that many a commentary box critic – well, ex-Test spinner Shane Warne really – frothed with incredulity about Australia’s decision to include line-and-length seamer Peter Siddle ahead of fast-and-fresh Pat Cummins as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood.

READ: Warne lets rip at selection processes

Who has reportedly come down with a nasty case of the niggles.

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Siddle and Clarke in the warm-ups // Getty Images

Whether Warne or the national selection panel – which once again found itself squarely in the increasingly hirsute leg spinner's cross hairs – are to find themselves vindicated will have to wait for at least another day or two, when Siddle takes the ball.

That's because England’s Alastair Cook saw the coin land tails-up when it came to rest on the carpet of calamity this morning and did well to control a bout of horror movie-style manic laughter as he pointed a crooked finger at an ashen-faced Michael Clarke and croaked "you will bat".

Or words and actions to that effect.

If Australia had been rolled for 60 in less than 20 overs and a session on a pitch for which no public health warning had been issued two weeks earlier, surely they would fold in a couple of overs against the same bowling attack on a track of even greater evil?

But unlike the nightmare in Nottingham, no wickets fell in the opening over.

In fact, all 10 remained intact after the first hour even though Australia’s openers Chris Rogers (in his final Test) and David Warner (in his first as vice-captain-in-waiting) as England’s seamers found the ball looped rather than leapt from what suddenly seemed more jolly green giant than wicket witch.

WATCH: First session highlights here

Emboldened like teenagers creeping out from behind the couch once the killer’s been caught, Rogers and Warner began executing the occasional attacking shot as it dawned on England’s bowlers that it was going to require toil rather than hubble, bubble and trouble to get wickets on this.

Watch highlights of Warner's innings (restrictions apply)

By lunch, the Australians had more than trebled their scoring from the first hour and rested comfortably at 0-82, their most productive first innings start of the series in their last outing as a first-wicket couple.

And when the breakthrough did arrive half an hour after the interval, it was delivered by England’s trusty line-and-lengther Mark Wood, not by the strike pair of Stuart Broad and Steve Finn who had proved unplayable at Trent Bridge yet unmasked at The Oval.

But ended this day without a wicket between them.

Rogers was clearly annoyed at his decision to flirt at a delivery angled across him after England had clearly abandoned their plans to lure him forward and instead had decided to push him back by targeting his upper body.

But his irritation paled alongside that of Warner who, in his earlier, pre-leadership incarnation as a provocateur, would surely have given himself a gobful having played so diligently and doggedly to lift himself within his first Test century since his emotional day one hundred at the SCG last January.

The man who will provide Steve Smith with counsel and wisdom when Clarke walks away from the game at Test’s end had been a model of circumspection, waiting more than an hour to strike the first boundary and looking more assured than any Australia batsman since Lord’s.

When the tour was so sunny, and the Ashes so tightly held.

Perhaps it was another rush of caution that caused Warner such angst as he pushed defensively forward at Moeen Ali, the England spinner who would have been targeted mercilessly throughout the campaign had Australia’s batsmen not toppled like skittles to the seamers.

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Moeen all smiles after taking Warner's wicket again // Getty Images

Or just plain fury at lapsing into the habits he and his fellow batters had clearly fought so hard to curb by pushing hard, out in front of his body, only for Moeen to find sufficient spin to catch the edge and for the chance to dolly to slip.

Watch how Australia's openers were dismissed

If the pitch was to bare its fangs it would surely be when Clarke came to the crease, such has been the script that has played out for him in this series and England’s preparedness to find a yard, a will and a way at the sight of Australia’s out-of-sorts skipper.

WATCH: England's guard of honour for Clarke

But while the occasional delivery would veer in the air, and the odd one jag off the still dormant surface, Clarke appeared unfazed if still a little uncomfortable.

Against Moeen he was keen to get down the pitch in a show of intent that yielded him a sweetly hit boundary over mid-on that briefly revived memories of that debut century in Bangalore that remains vivid despite the passing of more than a decade.

Against the seamers he was less sure-footed, weight on his heels as if expecting the pitch that he had outed as a villain a day earlier to produce something that would rise up from the mist and snuff out his final cameo.

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Clarke evades a short ball // Getty Images

So it proved after he had batted for almost 45 minutes and at times raised hopes that the class and the courage that will always define his career could be summoned one last time, but ultimately ended in painfully familiar, if anti-climactic fashion.

A ball that reared towards shoulder height, an almost involuntary waft of the bat that yielded a hearty appeal behind the wicket, an equally unconvincing call from Clarke to review his fate and video evidence that would hardly convince Judge Judy showing sufficient cause to uphold his dismissal.

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Clarke gets the faintest of edges through to the 'keeper // Getty Images

Smith was still there on 30, and through a testing final session punctuated by failing light, a short delay for drizzle and more than a few body blows as the second new ball beckoned and the pitch showed occasional hints of misbehaviour, he remained in occupation.

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Small>Smith will be eyeing another ton // Getty Images

To resume in the morning with a trusty lieutenant Adam Voges, more senior than Clarke by a year, more junior by more than 100 Tests and with 47 not out to his name.

On the pitch of death, no less.

Highlights of Smith's valuable knock

The rain that is forecast to arrive on Sunday and become even more of a factor on Monday could prove as decisive as the suddenly genial nature of this most fearsome pitch in dictating whether Australia’s captain gets to play one last Test innings.

Either that, or – as has seemingly been the case in previous Tests when it comes time for the identity of the batting team to change – the strip undergoes some sort of Jekyll and Hyde transformation that instead sends England’s batsmen screaming back to the sheds twice in as many days.

With only the Ashes to cling to for reassurance.

Australia: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke (c), Adam Voges, Mitch Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon,

England: Adam Lyth, Alastair Cook (c), Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, Steven Finn