Right, that’s it from me. What a day. What. A. Day. Stick around on site for Mike Selvey, Vic Marks and Ali Martin’s reports from the Trent Bridge. And join us on the OBO again for tomorrow for more. But for now, cheerio!
This is what being Australian must have felt like in 1993. And 1989. And 94-95. And 2013-14. I could go on … #Ashes
— Tom Davies (@tomdaviesE17) August 6, 2015
Biggest 1st inns lead at end of 1st day: 286 SA v Zim CT 2005 233 Eng v Aus Lord's 1896 214 today
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) August 6, 2015
STUMPS
England 274-4 – England lead by 214 runs. Yes, you read that right. About as one-sided a day of Test cricket as you’re ever likely to see.
Updated
65th over: England 274-4 (Root 124, Wood 2)
Wood flicks one off the shoulder of the bat but doesn’t take the run available. And the next flashes past the outside edge. He does well to dig out an inswinging attempted yorker from the fourth ball of the over and similarly well with the next. The final ball … is left alone outside off.
64th over: England 274-4 (Root 124, Wood 2)
Wood takes a single off the second ball of Hazlewood’s latest. And a low edge from the nightwatchman just fails to reach the slips later in the over. He survives, though, and will face Mitchell Starc in the actual definite final over of the day.
Updated
63rd over: England 273-4 (Root 124, Wood 1)
Root sweeps Lyon for two (off the gloves) and then tickles for a single. And Wood pinches the strike for the final over of the day with a single off the last.
62nd over: England 269-4 (Root 121, Wood 0)
And despite being 209 runs ahead on day one, England send out Mark Wood as a nightwatchman.
Five minutes remain in one of the best days for the England cricket side in a long, long time.
“So Root now has over double the Australian total,” writes Duncan Innes. “What’s the highest ever ratio between a single player’s score and the opposing team’s total for an innings? Bonus point followup: has anyone’s single innings score ever been higher than the opposition’s match total?” Anyone?
WICKET! Bairstow c Rogers b Hazlewood 74 (England 269-4)
Hazlewood induces a play-and-miss outside off from Bairstow, who has ridden his luck at times in this innings. And then his luck runs out – a straightforward flick off his pad flies straight to Rogers at square leg.
Updated
61st over: England 268-3 (Root 121, Bairstow 74)
Lyon once more. Root plants the foot and heaves a slog-sweep into the stands at cow corner. Fine shot.
Updated
60th over: England 261-3 (Root 114, Bairstow 73)
Yet again Hazlewood begins an over with a four-ball – Bairstow driving a half-volley sweetly through the covers for four. He’ll have his sights set on a first Test century tomorrow if he can make it through to the close. Salt? Meet wounds – a bouncer soars high over Neville’s despairing dive and away for four byes that push the England lead past 200. On day one.
59th over: England 253-3 (Root 114, Bairstow 69)
Lyon returns for a little twirl before the close. Root waits brilliantly on a wide one and plays a cut so late it actually happens tomorrow to send the ball bobbling away for four.
58th over: England 249-3 (Root 110, Bairstow 69)
Hazlewood returns and finds himself immediately thumped to the cover boundary for four by Bairstow. That was a half-volley … and he follows it up with a gentle half-tracker to Root, who pivot-pulls to cow corner for four more. That brings up the 150 partnership off 180 balls. And an inside edge from the next flashes past the stumps for a single.
Updated
57th over: England 239-3 (Root 105, Bairstow 64)
Warner once more. Nudge and nurdle from Root.
56th over: England 233-3 (Root 101, Bairstow 63)
Johnson continues to bend his back but this is a forlorn Australia now. Thirteen overs remain today but we won’t squeeze them all in.
Most #Ashes Test 100s for England before 25 yrs 3 - Joe Root 2 - Len Hutton Note: Don Bradman by then had already made 7 100s #Ashes2015
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 6, 2015
55th over: England 230-3 (Root 101, Bairstow 60)
A century for Joe Root! He cuts Warner away for four to move to three figures and Trent Bridge rises in appreciation. It has been a quite sensational innings, one that gets you genuinely wondering about what lofty place he will find in the pantheon come the end of his career. That good.
Joe Root is the first batsman to score a century on day 1 of an Ashes Test batting in the 2nd innings of the match.
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) August 6, 2015
Updated
51st over: England 213-3 (Root 91, Bairstow 53) “A friend just texted me: ‘England should declare and claim the last half hour,’” writes my colleague (and Cricket Pitch host) Emma John.
Starc is pitching the ball up, giving everything as much chance to swing as possible but Bairstow keeps digging the ball away from middle stump. And Bairstow goes to his half century, his first since these opponents at Lord’s in 2013, with the faintest of deflections down the leg side. In fact, Snicko shows he’s nowhere near it.
54th over: England 224-3 (Root 96, Bairstow 59)
Johnson continues round the wicket to the two right-handers and yelps an appeal as Root is finally beaten by one that swings in. It’s doing too much, though – probably missing leg, though it wasn’t too far away with the naked eye. And a couple of balls later England are in full troll mode – a little hesitation as the batsmen come back for a second, Warner does brilliantly in the deep and Johnson collects before shovelling the the ball just wide of the stumps as Bairstow dives for the crease. He would’ve been out had the throw connected. Instead they run an overthrow.
53rd over: England 221-3 (Root 93, Bairstow 59)
Oh my word. Michael Clarke looks heavenwards and no wonder: Warner does indeed trundle in and with his first ball he induced Bairstow into a drive and finds the edge. It zips wide and over second slip in almost taunting fashion.
“I’m a Wednesdayite and I think Joe Root has just over taken Michael Palin as my favourite Blade,” writes Simon Jenkins.
52nd over: England 215-3 (Root 92, Bairstow 54)
Johnson continues and tucks Bairstow up just a touch with the third ball of the over but the batsmen aren’t troubled unduly. Australia just want this day to be over.
Meanwhile, David Warner is having a bit of a stretch. A couple of dibbly-dobbling overs may be in the offing.
@John_Ashdown seeing the ashes is now over can we not invite @BLACKCAPS back for a decider at the oval?
— dominic papineau (@dompapineau) August 6, 2015
50th over: England 209-3 (Root 91, Bairstow 49)
Johnson once more. Root stays watchful outside off.
“All this fuss about Stuart Broad,” writes Tom Levesley. “Everyone seems to be forgetting that Tom Levesley took 8-15 for the Brondesbury Casuals in 2001 to guide them to victory at Harrow Rec. I’ve wasted an afternoon looking for the non-existent online archives but someone should still have the scorebook.”
49th over: England 208-3 (Root 91, Bairstow 48)
Starc tempts Bairstow into driving away from his body … but he middles it and sends the ball crashing away through the covers for four.
“If watching Australia bat was like watching the highlights live, then watching Joe Root bat today has been like watching a career highlights reel,” writes Adam Hirst, who’s not wrong.
48th over: England 197-3 (Root 90, Bairstow 39)
Johnson strays wide. Root cuts for four! And again! Pick your own superlative, they’re all good. That takes Root into the 90s and the partnership past 100.
47th over: England 189-3 (Root 82, Bairstow 39)
A reprieve for Bairstow, who gets in a right tangle as Starc bangs one in short. Somehow the top-edge lobs over the slip cordon. And there’s a moment of worry when he starts shuffling down the track in search of a silly single and has to dive back to his crease when Starc picks up and throws at the stumps.
Statistics like these are what I watch Test cricket for #YouBeauty #Ashes #WhatAFind pic.twitter.com/6z7WKRRtL4
— Cricket Gandu (@CricketGandu) August 6, 2015
Updated
46th over: England 184-3 (Root 81, Bairstow 35)
Oof! Root unfurls a cover drive so majestic it should really have its own throne and sceptre. Or wine shop. He’s now the leading runscorer in the series (and the next three names on that list are Australians, which probably says something about something). Bairstow joins the fun with a clumping drive through mid on for four more. Hazlewood looks dejected, as well he might.
Updated
45th over: England 175-3 (Root 76, Bairstow 31)
The selectors couldn’t really have foreseen the extraordinary events today, but the decision to omit Mitchell Marsh is looking a stranger one by the minute. Starc, who has all three wickets thus far but must be feeling a little tired, returns for another blast. Both batsmen nudge singles.
Updated
44th over: England 173-3 (Root 75, Bairstow 30)
More good stuff from Hazlewood, who sends down a maiden at Root.
Only previous England batsman to outscore Australia having batted second at the end of day one was Bobby Abel at Lord's in 1896
— Benedict Bermange (@Benedict_B) August 6, 2015
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43rd over: England 173-3 (Root 75, Bairstow 30)
SHOT! Root skips down the track to Lyon and calmly plants him wide of mid on for four. And tickles the next for a single. Bairstow isn’t finding life quite as straightforward out there, though, and he is forced to fend off a few.
Updated
42nd over: England 168-3 (Root 70, Bairstow 30)
When your luck is out, it’s out. Bairstow edges the improving Hazlewood clean through the gap between second and fourth slip. And he follows it up with an odd, one-kneed pull shot for a single. And Hazlewood ends the over by beating Bairstow’s outside edge once more. Comfortably his best over of the match.
In more worrying news for England, Joe Root is struggling a touch with his back.
Updated
40th over: England 161-3 (Root 69, Bairstow 25)
Bairstow brings the paddle-sweep out of his box of tricks and tickles Lyon fine for four. That takes the England lead past 100. Before 5pm. On day one.
Updated
39th over: England 156-3 (Root 68, Bairstow 20)
Hazlewood, who has gone back to line-and-length basics to some extent, keeps things tight at Bairstow. Root nabbed a single from the first, though, to deny the bowler a maiden.
38th over: England 155-3 (Root 67, Bairstow 20)
Lyon returns as Clarke looks for something, anything, to get his side back into the game. He doesn’t find it here though – three from the over.
38th over: England 152-3 (Root 64, Bairstow 20)
It’s been a big week for Joe Root. First he finds out that if you leave Championship Manager running for 1,000 years his beloved Sheffield United turn into the greatest team in history. And now he’s outscored the entire Australia XI. He’s done it in some style too. He adds one here and Hazlewood finally draws a play-and-miss, Bairstow driving slightly wildly outside off and connecting only with Nottinghamshire air.
Updated
37th over: England 151-3 (Root 63, Bairstow 20)
The England run-rate is still a very healthy four-an-over, and it’s been over five in the last 10 overs. They’re all over Australia here. Bairstow brings up the 50 partnership with a pull for three as Johnson continues and Root picks up four from the next, paddling a pull to fine leg as the bowler struggles to get his bouncer up above waist height. That moves Root past Australia’s total.
Updated
36th over: England 142-3 (Root 57, Bairstow 17)
The inconsistent Hazlewood returns to the attack. Again the over features a four-ball … and Root isn’t going to miss out, chopping past gully for four. He’s in Bell 2013-esque form here.
In fact, let’s poor ourselves a glass of something strong and indulge in some Root love:
Christ, that highlight reel of Root's fifty. You could eat off some of those shots. #Ashes
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) August 6, 2015
Since he was dropped in 2013-14, Root averages 80 from 16 Tests. And he might be be the world's best batsman by Sunday.
— 100 Ashes Quotes (@100ashesquotes) August 6, 2015
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35th over: England 137-3 (Root 52, Bairstow 17)
Whump! Bairstow’s bottom hand comes to the party – the first ball of Johnson’s next over is a bit of a nothing delivery and is shovelled down to cow corner for four. A thick inside edge from the next though is a whisker away from clattering into the stumps. That was an escape. A bumper later in the over flies away for four more. Fourteen from the over.
Here’s Paul Griffin: “This, from the OBO of the first NZ test barely two months ago, seems a very different era...”
Wow. I remember writing that. And it was true at the time. But, yep, it seems a million years ago now.
Updated
34th over: England 123-3 (Root 52, Bairstow 7)
Root brings up his half century with yet another glorious stroke – a luxury, full-fat, triple chocolate cover drive smothered in caramel and deep fried until golden. Four runs.
“In 2010 at MCG after we bowled out Aussies for 98 we were 59 ahead at the end of day one,” notes Tom Bowtell. “Our lead just passed 60 and there are 35 over left today …”
Updated
33rd over: England 119-3 (Root 48, Bairstow 7)
Bairstow v Johnson again, and this time the bowler has him in trouble. The batsman keeps planting his foot down a little early and trying to play around that front pad – difficult. It takes an inside edge to save him from the fifth ball. A maiden.
Think I might have been the only person to miss this earlier
We're receiving reports of Aussies in trouble...👮 #Ashes2015 https://t.co/BPILyDDqTj
— Notts Police (@nottspolice) August 6, 2015
Updated
32nd over: England 119-3 (Root 48, Bairstow 7)
Starc’s turn to pepper Bairstow with some short stuff. He escapes – though that’s not really the right word: he’s playing perfectly well – to the non-striker’s end with a push through the off side and Root thrashes Starc’s final ball backward of point for four. In this form, Root pretty much makes you tingle with excitement.
“The point about ‘schoolboy (or girl) cricket’ is the stupendous mismatch that sometimes happens,” writes John Starbuck. “A bowler is right on the money in a game and is simply too fast/artful for the opposition, or racks up multiple centuries while all around collapse. Because games at school level often haven’t had the filtering effect of stronger competition, a side can walk all over another one week and fold themselves the next. Hang on, that sounds familiar …”
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31st over: England 112-3 (Root 44, Bairstow 4)
Johnson v Bairstow II. Johnson again looks for that throat-ball and Bairstow just manages to cope with it, glancing off the ball off his gloves and taking enough speed off it so that it doesn’t sting too much when it cannons into his ribcage. Another fearsome bouncer rips past his nose. Both men look up for this contest and Bairstow stands frim, flicking the next off his kneecaps for a single. Root, playing like a dream, punches wonderfully through the covers for a couple more from the next.
Updated
30th over: England 107-3 (Root 41, Bairstow 2)
“Getting slightly perturbed by the constant mention of Broad’s 8-15 figures as ‘schoolboy stuff’,” writes Tsiloon. “Maybe we were very mediocre but we never had anyone take eight wickets in an innings, personally would have been happy with that many in a season.” I know what you mean – although, ahem , I did once take four for 18 for the school side. Heady times. Root has started gorgeously after tea – he flicks one off middle stump and away for four through midwicket and follows it up with an even better shot, a glorious tippy-toed punch through the covers for four of the most aesthetically pleasing runs you’re ever likely to see.
Updated
The players are back out. Off we go again.
TEA
England 99-3. And there are still 40 overs remaining in the day …
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29th over: England 99-3 (Root 33, Bairstow 2)
Root takes care of the first three deliveries, scampering a single off the third to give Bairstow potentially a trio of Johnson balls to cope with before tea. The first he clips off middle stump away for a couple to get off the mark, the second he bunts away outside off. And the third … is a bouncer outside off that Bairstow swerves calmly away from. And that’s tea. England have a lead of 39 with seven first-innings wickets remaining.
Updated
28th over: England 95-3 (Root 32, Bairstow 0)
An odd dismissal that. Cook seemed to play for swing that didn’t materialise and ended up missing a straight one. Bairstow sees out the remainder of the open, but Mitchell Johnson is coming on at the other end. We’ve just seen a replay of the ball that did for Bairstow at Edgbaston – it’s still a terrifying delivery.
Updated
WICKET! Cook lbw b Starc 43 (England 95-3)
The England captain departs! Starc beats Cook with a full one that careers into Cook’s pad slap-bang in front of middle stump. The very definition of plumb.
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27th over: England 95-2 (Root 31, Cook 43)
Lyon has changed ends and sends down a maiden at Cook, the most notable moment of which sees Root send a few stewards scurrying towards a van that is parked in a gap between the stands and is causing a few windscreen reflection issues. A couple of towel are rustled up from somewhere, though the whole operation is delayed by someone switching the wipers on. Cricket, ladies and gentlemen.
Updated
26th over: England 95-2 (Root 31, Cook 43)
Starc returns for another blast as this pair look to bed in until tea. Five dots before Root pounces on a hint of width and pushes through the covers for a couple.
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25th over: England 93-2 (Root 29, Cook 43)
Hazelwood again mixes it up a little, some decent line-and-length and one hideous leg-side delivery that might have been called a wide.
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24th over: England 91-2 (Root 28, Cook 43)
Lyon keeps Cook honest for three balls but then drops too short and allows the England captain to free his arms and cut gleefully through backward point for four. The Australian bowlers just can’t string together a succession of decent deliveries – every couple of dots is followed by a four-ball.
Updated
23rd over: England 86-2 (Root 27, Cook 39)
Hazlewood again tempts Root with a floaty wide one but this time the batsmen misses out, mistiming his drive. Better from Hazlewood in general though.
Meanwhile, the young match mascot has turned up in the third man chair in the Sky commentary box. Ricky Ponting nicks his sweets … then slightly disappointingly gives them back.
Updated
22nd over: England 84-2 (Root 26, Cook 38)
Nathan Lyon gets the chance to turn his arm over for the first time today. A little control would do for Michael Clarke at this stage. Just keep the batsmen pinned down for an over or two. Cook nurdles a single behind square on the leg side. Root pushes for a couple that take this pair to their 50 partnership. It’s taken them only 51 balls to get there.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: “What would Dr Karl Kennedy off of Neighbours make of this Australia performance?” Well …
OMG Australian Cricket what have you become? #Ashes #TrentBridge #BroadSide
— Alan Fletcher (@doctorkk) August 6, 2015
Updated
21st over: England 81-2 (Root 24, Cook 37)
Back-to-back boundaries for Root as Hazlewood returns to the fray. His first is filth – full, wide, floaty … and crashed to the cover point boundary by Root. The next is clipped off the hip and beats Johnson’s slightly bungled dive down by the midwicket fence. Root rattles on to 24 from 23 balls
Updated
20th over: England 73-2 (Root 16, Cook 37)
Dropped! Starc squares Cook up with a beauty that catches the edge and flies high into the gap between second and third slip. Smith dives to his right from third but can only palm the thing away to the boundary – Clarke was tumbling to his left from second slip and was probably in the better position to take the catch. It was a tough one but it certainly goes down as a missed chance. Cook is playing a few shots here but not beating the field – a pull echoes noisily around Trent Bridge but flashes straight to mid on. From the last, though, he cuts past point for four. Fine shot.
A little note of caution for England: it’s only three years since they bowled a team out for less than 100 in the first innings of the match and went on to lose: v Pakistan in Dubai in February 2012.
Updated
19th over: England 65-2 (Root 16, Cook 29)
England lead! Root glances Johnson to fine leg for four then follows it up with a thumping pull for another boundary.
“Re: James Soper’s query (12th over),” begins Kieron Shaw. “Adam Lyth currently averages lowest out of all the serious openers we’ve tried out in the last five years. That’s not good. Personally, I think Michael Carberry wasn’t given enough credit for battling well through a very tough Ashes series Down Under, and he’s been in reasonable form for Hants lately.
“But here’s a more interesting stat: Over the last five years, there have only been 15 opening pairs in all of international Test cricket (minimum 15 innings or more together). In terms of average stand among those partnerships, the current rankings are:
#5: Gambhir & Sehwag (average stand 44.91)
#4: Rogers & Warner (48.15)
#3: Vijay & Dhawan (50.20)
#2: Cook & Compton (57.93)
#1: Kayes & Iqbal (64.00)
“It’s a thinker, isn’t it? Compton fought hard, got 2 centuries in 9 matches, then was jettisoned. Admittedly, he’s not exactly banging on the door with current form, but then nor is Adam Lyth anymore.”
Updated
18th over: England 56-2 (Root 9, Cook 28)
Cook has a little nibble at one outside off but fails to make contact but the batsmen run a bye as Starc strays to leg with the next. Then … shot! Starc finds the sort of late inswing that did for Ian Bell but Root watches it beautifully and punches authoritatively down the ground for four with a bat so straight in could be involved in some sort of military parade.
If you haven’t seen it, the front page of tomorrow’s Courier Mail is a doozy:
#PhantomMenace @StuartBroad8 can barely contain himself as #Australia makes worst #Ashes capitulation since 1936 pic.twitter.com/OXMejJwwWo
— The Courier-Mail (@couriermail) August 6, 2015
Updated
17th over: England 51-2 (Root 4, Cook 28)
Hello all. John Ashdown here, stepping in to the OBO breach after a profitable spell of 12 for 104 from the estimable Mr Miller. He heads off for a graze on the midwicket fence and Mitchell Johnson rumbles in once more. Root gets off the mark as the bowler drags one down and wide – his cut zips away backward of point for four. And he tucks a leg bye off his pads from the penultimate ball of the over to bring up the England 50 – they trail by just 10 runs.
Updated
16th over: England 44-2 (Root 0, Cook 26)
Cook gets four with what we’ll generously call a ‘late cut’, but in reality was probably a thick outside edge. Cook cuts one to gully that bounces off the fielder and they take a single, from a no-ball too. Decent line from Starc to Root though, encouraging him to play at most things he should and a few that he shouldn’t.
Dave Kalucy writes: “In response to the “are Australia always this bad…Well I’d like to say no, normally we’re not. What’s happening here could count as an anomaly, but as our performance seems to always drop when faced with England in England I can only think it comes down to the supremacy that England hold on the psychological front.
“NO one loses with such a sense of self-deprevation as they nor do they win with such a sense of moral superiority. It really puts me off my carrot soup. My poor daughter is unfortunately taking the brunt of it all, as our castle made of carton has been reduced to a heap of cardboard on the floor as I failing search for answers…”
Updated
15th over: England 38-2 (Root 0, Cook 21)
Hazlewood gets away with a wide so wide that even Shane Warne thought it was. Cook rides some in-swing to flick a couple through mid-wicket, then drives one down the ground that Warner fields splendidly to keep them to just one.
Updated
14th over: England 34-2 (Root 0, Cook 18)
Root flaps a little at a full, wide one, much like the shot he nearly got out to at Cardiff, when Brad Haddin dropped the Ashes. Well, sort of.
Jake Patterson writes, inbetween mouthfuls of apple pie and twinkies: “Emailing from the US. I got into work this morning and wondered why it showed England trailing even though they are batting. I just got into cricket so I am very confused what is going on. Is Australia normally this bad? Does this mean our cricket team could beat the Aussies in a test match?”
Updated
WICKET! Bell lbw b Starc 1 (England 32-2)
...and it was just clipping leg stump.
Updated
Review...
Starc bowls a toe-crusher to Bell and he’s given out lbw, but will it stand...?
13th over: England 32-1 (Bell 0, Cook 17)
Hazlewood has changed ends, and he sends down a rather neat maiden to Cook.
Meanwhile, some English introspection among the joy, from James Soper:
“So, Pietersen’s looking like he’s right and Lyth is indeed a walking wicket. So what do we reckon? One more chance at the Oval? One more series? Or let one of the half dozen or so of opening batsmen in from at the moment have a crack?”
Updated
12th over: England 32-1 (Bell 0, Cook 17)
Bell’s in, and Shane Warne has upgraded the Warwickshire man from ‘the Sherminator’ to ‘Stifler’ - and in Warne’s brain, that is indeed an upgrade.
WICKET! Lyth c Nevill b Starc 14 (England 32-1)
Mitch Starc has the ball from the Radcliffe Road end, and Lyth drives a full one down the ground for two, but then one on a slightly better length induces the nick, and Australia have their first wicket. There’s a momentary pause as they double-check Starc hadn’t over-stepped, but he was just - just - OK.
Updated
11th over: England 30-0 (Lyth 12, Cook 17)
Decent ball from Johnson, going wider on the crease and getting the ball to shape away, causing Cook to fence at it without much conviction. The rest of the over is a bit wide, although Cook flings the bat at one of those wide ones, missing by a distance.
10th over: England 30-0 (Lyth 12, Cook 17)
Hazlewood continues around the wicket to Cook, who collects a slightly lucky single off an inside-edge out to fine-leg. So much has been happening that it’s taken Sky til after lunch to note that Trent Bridge, and Nottingham’s two football grounds are quite close together, AND for David Lloyd to have a pop at someone in the crowd for being fat.
Updated
9th over: England 29-0 (Lyth 12, Cook 16)
Mitch is bowling to Lyth now, and he just misses the top of off after the Yorkie opener leaves on length. Lyth tucks a couple off the last ball of the over, down to deep square leg. This now feels a bit more like normal Test cricket, after the madness of this morning.
8th over: England 27-0 (Lyth 10, Cook 16)
Hazelwood tries around the wicket and gets a certain amount of success, beating Cook’s inside edge and going up for lbw, but it was hitting marginally outside the line and going over. A maiden, though.
An answer for Mike Voss, sort of, from Alex Burton: “Sorry Mike- nearest place is Tashkent...
Timur British Pub is a great bar in the heart of Tashkent with relaxed surroundings and an intimate feel. Ideal for: banquets, meetings with friends, guests, business lunch, business meetings, birthdays, corporate parties, lunches, dinner, watching sports, romantic dates, family holidays.”
“Hope you make it in time :).”
7th over: England 27-0 (Lyth 10, Cook 16)
Johnson flings one in at some pace, but it’s on Cook’s leg stump, and he flicks it away rather adroitly to the square leg fence. One more single from the over.
Sounds like it’s all kicking off on Channel Nine...
I'm a bit delirious but did Warnie just say he became a Chelsea supporter when a fan attacked him with a knife on the tube?
— Russell Jackson (@rustyjacko) August 6, 2015
6th over: England 22-0 (Lyth 10, Cook 11)
Hazlewood is a little more on point with a nice yorker that Lyth keeps out, but then drifts legside, Lyth clips straight at Rogers but he misfields horribly, and they nab a single. Bit of in-dip from the last ball as Cook is slightly tucked up, but gets a thickish inside-edge to fine leg for one.
Mike Voss has an extremely niche request: “I just arrived in Bukhara in Uzbekistan and popped into a hostelry with WiFi for a beer and to check emails etc. My Ashes whatsapp group had a number of cryptic messages and when I asked what was happening the Aussie simply said “it’s lunch”. Looks like I might be stuck here awhile as my hotel’s WiFi is iffy. Unless someone can recommend a cricket friendly pub here???”
5th over: England 20-0 (Lyth 9, Cook 10)
Here’s Mitchell Johnson - can he spark something in this Aussie performance? There’s a bit in this pitch still, getting an edge from Cook that doesn’t carry, but from the last ball he drops too short and wide, and Cook cuts betwixt slips and point to the boundary.
The Observer’s Emma John has an addition to the bill for those Guardian Live Cricket Pitch events: “I can EXCLUSIVELY reveal to you that for the show on the 18th August we will also be joined by The Last Leg’s Adam Hills and McBusted’s Harry Judd.
“Let’s hope Hills’s famous sense of humour hasn’t deserted him by then...”
Steve Smith shadow-batting a leave just then my new favourite moment of the day.
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) August 6, 2015
4th over: England 15-0 (Lyth 8, Cook 6)
Hazlewood, who’s supposed to be Australia’s Mr Consistency, is a bit all over the show again, and Cook tucks a couple off his pads and down to fine leg for two. However, he comes back splendidly by sticking two in a row exactly where you should bowl to Cook, outside off, and the England skipper fishes at both.
And we’re back. The sun is out and Australia have quite the task on their hands. Here’s Hazlewood...
Updated
A note of caution/pessimism for England, from Shankar Mony: “It’s been hard work but I have found a stat to give England fans concern – I know they happier when worried:
“Only twice in cricket history has a team lost two wickets in the first over before – Eng v NZ(Astle made 200+) and Pak v India(Pathan took a hattrick). On both occasions, the team went on to win! It should be noted that neither Eng nor Pak were dopey enough to be skittled for 60!”
“According to the national rail website,” Andrew Benton writes, promisingly, “it takes not less than 7hrs and 49 minutes to travel from Criccieth (Gwynnedd) to Bat and Ball (near Sevenoaks in Kent) - so, the Aussies probably got as far as Machynlleth in their first innings.....and long may they stay there.”
Since the English among you will be in rather good moods, how about you have a look at some of the Guardian Live Cricket Pitch events over the next month. Here are the details:
- Kia Oval, London,17 August, guests include Matt Prior, Simon Jones and Ebony Rainford-Brent.
- Kia Oval, London, 18 August, guests include Gladstone Small and Charlotte Edwards.
- Spiegeltent Colombino, Edinburgh, 27 August, with Andrew Flintoff
And more from Katy - here’s the Guardian’s report from Lord’s in 1896, when Australia were bowled out for 53 in 75 minutes. REMARKABLE BREAKDOWN OF THE COLONIALS!
Splendid work here from Katy Stoddard, the Guardian’s media librarian who has dug out this gem of a match report. The last time an England bowler took eight wickets before lunch was SF Barnes, as mentioned before, in 1913 against South Africa in Johannesburg. He got 8-56 all in.
“If I’m right (and I’m a bit of a Statsguru novice so I might not be),” caveats Timothy Colyer, “then Australia’s innings of 111 balls is the shortest first innings by any team in the history of test cricket. Two balls shorter of the 1896 Lord’s test (also Australia).”
Also...
Australia's innings the 7th shortest all-out innings ever in Tests. They played positive cricket today. Bad, positive cricket.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) August 6, 2015
What a morning. It seems ages ago that someone emailed in, mentioning that they were following the OBO in Borneo. It seems like a ripe riff at the time, then all that cricket started happening. But here are a few people following the cricket from exotic locations.
“How about following you at work in Equatorial Guinea?” - David Shaw, Honorary British Consul, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
“Can’t compete with OBO in Borneo, particularly not with the quite important baby factor, but I do feel nostalgic for the days when following Test cricket was arguably even more of a challenge. TMS via short wave radio was the only way, a great friend of mine managing that from an uninhabited island in the Philippines - just him and his then girlfriend, so I’m sure she was delighted. Still, they have been happily married for over 20 years” - Dom.
“A slum in south-west Delhi, in 36 degree heat, shooting a short Bollywood-style film with a bunch of excited local kids. Chaos barely begins to describe it. Come on Australia!” - James Lane (you OK James?)
“I am sitting in rainy Manila and following the OBO as I have done for the last 10 years from various locations. Surely this will not be the most exotic place you hear from, but it’s pretty far away from Trent Bridge” - Eva.
Lunch: England 13-0, after Australia were bowled out for 60
3rd over: England 13-0 (Lyth 8, Cook 4)
Lyth looks like he’s going to just leave everything in the last over before lunch, but from the final ball Starc gives him a lovely half-volley that he nails to the square boundary. Stick your feet up and have a sandwich chaps, you’ve earned it.
2nd over: England 9-0 (Lyth 4, Cook 4)
Lovely start by Cook, flicking a rather generous, floaty number through straight mid-wicket, which gently plops against the boundary marker. Hazlewood is then no-balls, and complains at reasonable length about the decision, but he was a good few inches over the line. One would think they have more to worry about than a correctly penalised over-step.
While this isn’t offering excuses for them, Australia will presumably be cursing the weather - after cloud cover for the majority of their rather perfunctory innings, the sun is now shining over the glorious city of Nottingham.
1st over: England 4-0 (Lyth 4, Cook 0)
Starc goes full, full, full, but the second ball is driven rather nicely through the covers by Lyth and to the boundary. Lovely shot, that, and England already have their noses ahead by surviving the first over...
Teams bowling 1st and batting by lunch on day 1 of a Test: Eng v Aus Lord's 1896 SA v Ind Ahmedabad 2008 SA v NZ CT 2013 Eng today
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) August 6, 2015
Updated
They’re back out. Starc has the ball, and Adam Lyth will face up first.
Stuart Broad finishes with figures of - get this - 9.3-5-15-8. It is, it should probably go without saying, his best analysis in Test matches. His best in first class cricket, actually, bettering the 8-52 he managed for Nottinghamshire against Warwickshire in 2010.
Updated
Australia all-out - all-out! - for 60 (sixty)
WICKET! Lyon c Stokes b Broad 8
Flashy from Lyon, who gets a thick edge over the slips and to the boundary. “That’s four more,” says Shane Warne, with adorable and admirable positivity. But that doesn’t last, as next ball he edges to Stokes in the gully and Australia are skittled, 20 minutes before lunch. Simply extraordinary.
18th over: Australia 56-9 (Hazlewood 4, Lyon 5)
“I am emailing from the US,” says Andy Hall. “Is 54-9 good?” That very much depends, Andy.
Finn has a leg before shout against Lyon, but that was going way down leg. They then take a single off a no-ball, meaning that extras have now rocketed ahead as the Australian top-scorer, on 14.
Of course, we can't really judge this pitch until Australia have batted on it.
— Jonathan Liew (@jonathanliew) August 6, 2015
Updated
17th over: Australia 54-9 (Hazlewood 4, Lyon 4)
A few people have been asking what the shortest ever Test match is, and in terms of balls it seems to be Australia beating South Africa at the MCG back in 1932, a match which lasted just 656 balls but, rather curiously, was spread over four days (including a rest day). A wicketless maiden for Broad, although to say Hazlewood looked uncomfortable is quite the understatement.
Updated
16th over: Australia 54-9 (Hazlewood 4, Lyon 4)
Shot! Nicely played by Lyon, driving straight back over the bowler’s head, not perfectly timed but it just trickles into the boundary. Four runs! That’s nearly ten percent of the total in one shot!
15th over: Australia 50-9 (Hazlewood 4, Lyon 0)
Broad’s current best Test analysis is 7-44, against New Zealand at Lord’s a couple of years ago. He comes close to bettering that, with Hazlewood backing so far away to leg that he’s basically in West Bridgford as the ball glides past his outside edge every time.
The cheapest Test seven-for is Harmison (7-12), the cheapest Test eight-for George Lohmann (8-5). http://t.co/kSQW8d5nfT
— 100 Ashes Quotes (@100ashesquotes) August 6, 2015
14th over: Australia 50-9 (Hazlewood 4, Lyon 0)
Huge cheers, admittedly largely from the England fans, as Hazlewood flicks three runs through mid-wicket, thus bringing up the 50 for the tourists. Boof looks decidedly unimpressed on the balcony. Finn gets one to lift a bit on Lyon, who edges towards Stokes but it bounces inches in front of the Durham all-rounder.
13th over: Australia 47-9 (Hazlewood 1, Lyon 0)
It’s impossible to know what to say.
Updated
WICKET! Johnson c Root b Broad 13 (Australia 47-9)
That old adage about not troubling the scorers is shown to be nonsense once more, as another load of work for the chaps with the pencils is offered. Johnson repeats, almost exactly, Starc’s dismissal, which leaves him level with extras for Australia’s top-scorer.
Updated
WICKET! Starc c Root b Broad 1 (Australia 46-8)
And there’s another. Again, it’s slightly tricky to work out if this is sensational England bowling or terrible Australia batting. Probably both, but Starc drives airily and unnecessarily outside off, edging to Root at second slip who takes a comfortable catch.
Updated
12th over: Australia 46-7 (Starc 1, Johnson 13)
A flurry, nay a flood of runs for Australia, with a couple of relatively streaky fours through gully for Johnson. The comeback is on!
11th over: Australia 38-7 (Starc 1, Johnson 5)
Johnson flicks a couple over square leg, taking Australia past their lowest ever Test score, which was 36 against England in 1902. Another leg-bye, and they’re cooking on gas now. Drinks!
A recap of those 7 (SEVEN) dismissals from the last hour of play... #Ashes pic.twitter.com/eH6CDgPlo1
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) August 6, 2015
Updated
10th over: Australia 35-7 (Starc 1, Johnson 3)
Starc is the latest lamb to the England slaughter, and he waves needlessly at the first ball, before getting a single first up with a push into the covers. Johnson clips a single of his own as Australia creep towards the significant milestone of their half-century.
Cathering writes: “I am taking a print of this OBO for my work’s hovel cubicle wall for posterity. With a bit of cunning editing I’ve got the first forty minutes encapsulated on a single A4 piece of paper…now on my wall. Don’t let my boss know that the headphones are cricket and not a Very Important Online Training Module.”
Updated
WICKET! Nevill b Finn 2 (Australia 33-7)
And Finn joins in, bowling an uncertain Nevill through the gate. Early lunch, anyone?
Updated
9th over: Australia 32-6 (Nevill 2, Johnson 1)
Some more smart leaves from Johnson, and a couple of singles, one from each batsman, and it;s a reasonably uneventful over.
Amanda in Adelaide writes: “Watching the cricket while in the early stages of labour. Can guarantee none of the contractions have been as horrific as this Aussie order collapse. Midwives are recommending distraction and denial to ease the pain. How wise they are.”
Apparently the 19 deliveries in which Broad took his five-fer is the equal-quickest in Test history. Australia’s Ernie Toshack is the other one, against India in 1947. Not only is ‘extras’ Australia’s top-scorer, but it’s responsible for 38% of their runs so far.
8th over: Australia 30-6 (Nevill 1, Johnson 0)
Cook’s clearly not happy with how England have been bowling so far and has made a change - Finn replaces Wood, and he nearly digs out Nevill with a couple of splendid yorkers, that are pretty well played by the rookie keeper. As is the next ball, which he clips to fine leg for a single.
“Right, who’s got The Fear then?” writes Nigel Steel, tapping into the darkest parts of every England cricket fan’s psyche.
7th over: Australia 29-6 (Nevill 0, Johnson 0)
Johnson plays out the rest of the over rather sensibly, with some stout defence and judicious leaves. Dave Espley’s plans are ruined, slightly: “My daughter’s getting married on Saturday at 2pm. I was quite looking forward to peppering my “father of the bride” speech with humorous references to trying to keep informed of the test score during the ceremony. Bah.”
A couple of stats from John Ashdown, who’ll be on duty after lunch, assuming the Test lasts that long:
25 - The fall of the fifth Australia wicket came after 25 balls – the earliest the fifth wicket has ever fallen in a Test match.
1913 – the last time an England bowler got five wickets before lunch in a Test. Sydney Barnes v South Africa in Johannesburg. Broad had five inside the first 40 minutes.
@NickMiller79 Some positive news for Aussies? Well, you're five wickets down, but you've still got two reviews left...
— Richard (@theskiver) August 6, 2015
WICKET! Clarke c Cook b Broad 10 (Australia 29-6)
A five-fer in Stuart Broad’s fourth over! And this is due to an absolutely heinous shot from Clarke, throwing everything at a wide halfish-volley and edging to Cook, who jumps high to take a good catch. Just the most sensational scenes, and here comes Mitchell Johnson.
Updated
6th over: Australia 29-5 (Nevill 0, Clarke 10)
A shot! A convincing shot! Clarke gets what amounts to a bit of a long-hop from Wood and is on it quick-smart, pulling through square leg and to the fence. Apologies if I’ve ignored your email by the way, but as you can imagine my inbox has exploded with people saying “I’ve got tickets to the third day!” But to the bloke who’s just written in requesting that I type faster - pipe down, son.
5th over: Australia 23-5 (Nevill 0, Clarke 5)
I mean, it’s swinging a bit out there, but these Australian batsman are playing like this pitch is a sticky dog from the 1950s. Apparently the last man to get five before lunch in a Test was SF Barnes. Nevill takes a couple of leg-byes, then leaves one that hoops in and goes just over off stump - only two types of leave, as the old saying goes.
“To be fair, the run rate’s not too bad,” notes S.Ward. Take the positives, Australia.
WICKET! Voges c Stokes b Broad 1 (Australia 21-5)
What. A. Catch. Voges goes, driving squarely to Stokes’ right, but it’s miles away from him so he can’t possibly grab it can h...OH HOLY MOTHER HE CAN! Sensational grab, and Broad’s figures currently read 2.1-1-6-4. Decent.
Updated
4th over: Australia 21-4 (Voges 1, Clarke 4)
Clarke lucky to escape as Wood bounces him, the Australian skipper attempts a cuffed hook which flies in the air, but falls just short of Finn at fine-leg. Voges then gets a single with a rather more controlled shot to the same man. That’s a whole over without a wicket. This is bull, England.
@NickMiller79 do you know that your commentary is the Guardian Australia's commentary? Less celebrating, more 'what a disaster' please!
— Frederico Gonzales (@FredGonzales) August 6, 2015
Nope! Sorry! Parochialism rules!
Updated
3rd over: Australia 19-4 (Voges 0, Clarke 4)
Broad drifts onto the pads and it flies down to fine leg for four leg-byes. No wickets in two balls, though. Booooooooo.
Updated
WICKET! Marsh c Bell b Broad 0 (Australia 15-4)
Thing is, wickets falling starts to get a bit samey now. Yeah, yeah, England, that’s lovely but try something different now. Broad gets Marsh driving outside off, and the drive...well it doesn’t go that well, as he edges to Bell in the slips.
“This just isn’t fair or funny now,” complains Tim from Swindon. “I’ve got Sunday off to relax and watch the Cricket at home, looks like I’m off to trudge round a shopping centre at this rate.”
Updated
“What the hell is happening? Is this real?” writes NZ Trav. It bloody is you know.
2nd over: Australia 15-3 (Clarke 4, Marsh 0)
Scenes. I hope nobody has tickets for the third day. Maybe even second day at this rate. Clarke very nearly goes second ball with the most tentative, uncertain of drives outside off that he inside edges and it zoots past the stumps and to the boundary.
WICKET! Warner c Buttler b Wood 0 (Australia 10-3)
OH MY EFFING DAYS! WHAT A START! Wood gets shape straight away, and second ball he gets one to fly back in at Warner who inside edges through to the keeper. TEN FOR THREE AFTER 1.2 OVERS!
Updated
1st over: Australia 10-2 (Warner 0, Marsh)
What. A. Start. Warner hasn’t faced a ball and Australia are two down.
WICKET! Smith c Root b Broad 6 (Australia 10-2)
Smith is in early doors, and he’s not hanging around. He gets off the mark with a push to mid-on that Steven Finn misfields and they come through for a couple, then a wider one is driven through point for four. But then he’s gone! Remarkable scenes as Broad squares up Smith and he edges to Root in the slips! GONE! THAT’S OUT! GOT ‘IM! BAD LUCK YOU AUSSIES!
Updated
WICKET! Rogers c Cook b Broad 0 - Australia 4-1
Australia are away with four leg-byes as Broad drifts onto Rogers’ pads, but the next ball is a belter, shaping away on off from round the wicket and catching the edge, the catch taken comfortably at knee-height by the skipper. That’s 300 wickets for Broad, and both he and the home crowd are delighted.
Updated
The sun’s out, Stuart Broad has the ball, Chris Rogers has taken guard. Let’s play.
A couple of slightly contrasting views on KP, for that is what he’s best at now he isn’t being brilliant at cricket quite so much.
Jonathan West writes: “The problem with KP seems always to have been that he has a huge talent for making a good point badly. His latest comment is a perfect example of its kind. I suspect that the real reason for his being cast into the outer darkness was that he made thoroughly justified criticisms of the way the team was being run. If he had been wrong, management would have been able to say indulgently “there goes KP off on one of his rants again”, waited for everything to calm down, and then carried on as before. It was the combination of his being both abrasive and right which was intolerable to them.”
Stuart Cherry: “I haven’t read KP’s blog, but from the extracts quoted in the Guardian article on it, its tone seems a lot less sensational than the Guardian’s headline makes out. So perhaps it is your headline writers that are being less than constructive?”
There’s just a smidge of rain in the air - not enough to make a significant impact on play, but enough to delay the start by five minutes.
They’ve just had a minute’s applause for the recently and sadly departed Clive Rice at Trent Bridge. Here’s Paul Weaver’s obituary for the great man:
The New Yorker magazine once described the polymath Clive James as “a brilliant bunch of guys”. Well Clive Rice, who died on Tuesday aged 66 after suffering with a brain tumour, was a brilliant bunch of cricketers: a pugnacious batsman, a challenging fast‑medium bowler, a safe slip fieldsman and, above all else, a leader with the heart and mind of a true warrior; Hannibal would have vacillated before him.
Updated
“I have nothing witty, erudite or strangely surreal to stick in my email,” begins Ian Ratcliffe, promisingly, before ramping things up a notch or two, “but I am reading the coverage from the rain forests of Borneo whilst waiting for the birth of my second child. It’s peeing it down with rain and baby seems disinclined to make a speedy appearence - much to my wife’s disgust. Still, Come on England!”
Bloody hell. Can anyone beat that, in terms of exotic places they’re following/have followed the OBO? Almost certainly not, but have a go.
Ian Palmer’s been on, which what smells an awful lot like a riff for the day.
“Christopher Benn has got it all wrong. Cook is not the Emperor he is Princess Leia. Steely minded and idealogical fighting an evil in the universe.
“That makes Farbrace Chewbacca - Everyone loves him - but looks like he could tear someone’s arms out of their socket if they lose. KP then becomes Anakin Skywalker - the prodigal child who has gone to the dark side, but will come back to us in the future to save us all. Bayliss - Yoda. Jimmy Anderson - Han Solo. Root - Luke Skywalker.
“Lyth is presently Wicket - the Ewok that smacks himself in the face with a sling when fighting the storm troopers.”
Just time before the start of play for Mike Selvey’s scene-setter. The pressure is on Australia, says the big man:
All the pressure is on Australia. This is make or break for them, a situation very few beyond the most steadfast England optimists would have anticipated before the series began. Michael Clarke’s team can afford not to win the fourth Test but they must not lose or that will be the Ashes gone for the fourth successive time in England. On the other hand, England can lose the match and still eventually take the series but they would rather not have a shootout at the Kia Oval. Such is the frenetic pace at which these matches have been played that unless the weather intervenes massively, which looks unlikely, the draw can be considered an anachronism.
By next Monday evening, it will either be 3-1 to England and the prospect of a dead rubber at the Kia Oval, or 2-2 and the imperative back on England to make the running in what would then be seen as perhaps the most remarkable switchback series of them all. You can’t take your eyes off it for a moment.
Pup means business.
Michael Clarke just did the trademark "David Cameron walk swiftly away from interviewer with purpose signalling intent" manoeuvre. #ashes
— daniel norcross (@norcrosscricket) August 6, 2015
“I had hoped that Cook had spent the week creating a Bill and Ted-style evil robot Jimmy Anderson,” writes Matthew West.
Totally bogus that he didn’t, dude.
Team news
England
Cook*, Lyth, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler (wk), Ali, Broad, Wood, Finn.
Australia
Warner, Rogers, Smith, S.Marsh, Clarke*, Voges, Nevill (wk), Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood, Lyon.
Updated
England win the toss and will bowl...
...with all that cloud cover and grass on the pitch and whatnot.
“I know it hasn’t quite happened yet but re the toss,” says Christopher Benn, brother of Sulieman, I assume. “I fully expected Alistair Cook to come out for the coin toss wearing the Emperor’s cloak declaring to Michael Clarke that his team have failed and that they would now witness the fire-power of a fully armed and operational Jimmy Anderson. Boo.”
Fire at will, commander.
“I agree with Vic Marks about the unpredictability of this series,” writes Any Pease. “That’s why I just went down the bookies and put a bet on Aus to bat first, 568 all out. England 650-2d in response. Aus to be 159-0 at tea on the 5th day and the captains shake hands.
“The chap behind the counter must have been new because he gave me spectacularly generous odds. I could barely stop myself from laughing as I put next month’s mortgage money down.”
Word around the campfire seems to be that Shaun Marsh is in for Mitchell Marsh, with Michael Clarke dropping to five. Watto denied.
“Morning Nick, hope you’re well,” begins Paul Ewart. “Always good to start the day with a snarky remark about KP but did you read the piece? It was genuinely constructive, indeed just the sort of advice an England fan would give to a struggling opening batsman: how best to play Australian bowlers. Who’d have thought?”
Of course I read the piece, and there were some constructive bits in there, but England’s most high-profile ex-player telling an already under pressure current player that he’s a walking wicket and he’s hampering the rest of their batsmen is not especially constructive, I’d say. It might be true, but a) Lyth most certainly already knows that and b) did Pietersen really need to say it in a blog for Paddy Power?
And while we wait for the toss...
@NickMiller79 kill some time before play starts with my article about the history of the ashes at Trent Bridge http://t.co/P96Duknicl
— Gav Squires (@GavSquires) August 6, 2015
Preamble
You wonder why we’re all here, really. That’s not supposed to be an existential statement - why is anyone here, when someday soon our star will explode and we’ll all turn to dust? - but about this Test match. Because England have the Ashes wrapped up, don’t they? It’s all done and dusted, right? Tear that precious wee urn from the uncouth, brutish grasp of the Australians and put it in its rightful place - England! England! England!
(Of course the actual urn is quite literally always in England, remaining in the museum at Lord’s on the apparent basis that it’s too fragile to fly to Australia, because they’d probably spray tinnies on it on the plane. Or something like that. But anyway.)
This seems to be the sense with some England fans, anyway. The convincing win at Edgbaston apparently also acting as a mind-eraser, no chaser, eliminating the memory of, oh, well, the previous Test match at Lord’s when Australia of course ripped down England’s pants and gave their collective bottom a sound thrashing with a wet slipper. And this of course was the Test after England did more or less the same, the other way around. It’s a topsy-turvy series and no mistake, the explanation for which you can say is these are two just not terribly good/consistent teams slapping each other, for a couple of months, so one of them is going to fall down occasionally.
So who will win this one? Well, of course, we do not yet know, but the good thing is there are enough weaknesses in both sides to mean a calamitous and frankly hilarious collapse is possible, and even likely for both teams. For Australia we have that middle order, plus the curious disappearance of the control in their bowling attack in Birmingham, and for England there is Adam Lyth (on the receiving end of a constructive pep-talk from keen England fan Kevin Pietersen this week), and of course the absence of Jimmy Anderson.
There should be some jiggery pokery with both sides, particularly that Aussie middle order (could Shane Watson come back in? Well, no, probably not, but we can dream), but we’ll find all that out shortly. Keep ‘em peeled, we’ll be with you shortly with it all. It is most definitely on, on, on.
Nick will be here shortly. While you’re waiting, here’s Vic Marks on why we can expect the unexpected at Trent Bridge.
Perhaps it will be close this time. It is getting serious now; possession of the urn can be decided in Nottingham, which should concentrate the minds of both sides. So far in this series only one team per match has had their eyes on the ball. Maybe both teams will turn up on Thursday.
Moreover recently Trent Bridge has witnessed two climaxes sufficiently nerve-racking to prompt the unwitting chewing of umbrella handles. Two years agoJimmy Anderson took 10-158 in the match, which helps to explain why Australia are favourites, and England just prevailed by 14 runs despite the heroic efforts of Brad Haddin, who is also likely to be an interested spectator this time.
Ashton Agar laughed off being dismissed for 98 (batting at No11) with the thought that there will be other chances to score a Test hundred down the line. After that astonishing innings, which kept Australia in the game, Agar played one more Test, the next match at Lord’s, and has been on the sidelines ever since. Given that he is still only 21 there is time to return but the game will never be as joyously simple for him as it was in July 2013. Agar is currently in Chennai playing for Australia A.
Read the full article here.
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