He is well organised and has a wonderful array of shots, most of which came out once he passed 100. The 23-year-old does not appear to be the sort to be intimidated by the opposition either. For most of the day he received a barracking from a section of the crowd as well as the odd word from a frustrated fast bowler. Neither had any effect.One bowler, the New South Wales medium pacer Stuart Clark, seemed to take exception to Key and continually chipped away at him throughout his innings. This may have had something to do with the fact that he was the bowler when Key gave a sharp chance to leg-gully on 87, but rather than be dragged into a war of words the right-hander chose to reply with his bat and a smile which infuriated Clark even more.It did the trick. After one little exchange Clark dragged the next ball down short of a length.

Key on 96 latched on to it in a flash and savagely pulled him through midwicket for four. It brought up his first England century and knocked the wind out of Clark.As well as Key’s effort at the Bellerive Oval, England also owe John Crawley a huge debt of gratitude for enabling them to leave Hobart with a draw. The key to England’s escape was an unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 176 between these two. Batting together for more than four and a half hours, on a pitch that flattened out, the pair showed fight and application, characteristics that had been sadly lacking from England earlier in the game.Crawley, who to many was fortunate to be selected on this tour, is starting to prove those doubters wrong every time he bats. Playing with patience and the straightest of bats he has batted for over 11 and a quarter hours in his last four innings without once being dismissed through his own shortcomings – the run-out in the second innings at Brisbane was not Crawley’s fault.For a player who is supposed to have technical frailties outside off stump he showed wonderful patience in only playing at balls when he had to. This innings, and his 43 not out on Saturday, may not have been crowd thrillers – but they were exactly what England needed.Their partnership was only broken when the Hampshire batsman was forced to retire hurt at tea after edging a pull shot on to his right hip bone. Crawley was in a great deal of pain and struggling to run, but with England then on 250 for 3 the game had been saved.

Thankfully for England the injury is only heavy bruising and he expects to be fit for the second Test on Thursday.Crawley’s failure to reappear after tea did, however, give Andrew Flintoff and then Craig White the chance to spend some quality time at the crease. Both of these all-rounders, who have so far done little on the tour to suggest they are automatic Test selections, failed to make the most of their opportunities.After a lusty straight drive Flintoff hit a hard catch straight back to Nathan Hauritz, bowling his off-spin, before White was out when he carelessly cut a wide long-hop to backward point. This was the last of the action before both teams decided to shake hands and call it a day at 5.20pm.Yesterday will not cover up the work that England need to do to pose Australia any sort of threat In Brisbane they played well on the second day Here in Hobart it was on the third. Brian Kerr, the Football Association of Ireland’s technical director, has said he would be happy to succeed Mick McCarthy as manager of the national side if approached about the job. Kerr is viewed by bookmakers as an outsider, but the FAI’s technical director, who is also in charge of the association’s youth teams, has received backing in the Irish media.”Of course I would think about the job,” Kerr said. “Any sensible person would think about being offered the chance to coach their national team, though the FAI certainly haven’t approached me.”I haven’t shouted out about the job because that’s not the way I operate.