So that’s that for today. Be sure to join us again tomorrow for what should be a thrash-fest of a morning session. But for now, cheerio!
STUMPS
Australia 108-0. So the tourists lead by 362 with all 10 second innings wickets remaining and two days left to play. A useful position, it’s fair to say.
26th over: Australia 108-0 (Rogers 44, Warner 60) Much mirth on the field as the cameras follow a woman down the steps who then misses her seat as she attempts to sit down. Cheers from the crowd. Root is chuckling. Warner is chuckling. Even Rogers has had to take a moment to compose himself. She’s fine, I’m glad to report, getting up to take a bow after the slow-mo replay on the big screen brings even louder cheers. With six balls to go in the day, Australia need to switch their concentration back on. And that they do – Warner tickling Root to fine leg for four. The final ball of the day is … blocked. And that’s stumps.
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25th over: Australia 103-0 (Rogers 43, Warner 56) Shot! Warner drives sweetly down the ground for four runs that take the partnership into three figures. A little Warner waft at the last interests Wood for a moment, but a wry smile is all he gets.
24th over: Australia 99-0 (Rogers 43, Warner 52) Joe Root gets the chance to turn his arm over. Warner flicks fine for three. Well, he doesn’t actually - he misses the ball – but the umpires think he’s hit it so the runs go in his name rather than as leg byes. And then they’re taken away, the umpire changing his signal and causing some scribbling in the scorer’s book. Rogers pokes one through point for four. Seven from the over.
23rd over: Australia 92-0 (Rogers 39, Warner 52) Grimmer and grimmer for England. At least it’s nearly over for today – just four overs remain. Wood returns and Rogers pulls fine for one. And Warner brings up his half century – he missed out in the first innings so he’s clearly keen to make up for that here. It’s taken him 71 balls.
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22nd over: Australia 88-0 (Rogers 38, Warner 49) A good stop from Buttler as Stokes strays to leg side and the ball deflects away off Warner’s pads. But there’s runs from the next ball, which is jabbed through the covers for a couple. And from the next, which is too wide and chopped away to third man for four. And he repeats the trick from the last.
21st over: Australia 76-0 (Rogers 38, Warner 37) Rogers flicks Moeen past Ballance at short leg for one and Warner drives off the back foot for the same.
20th over: Australia 74-0 (Rogers 37, Warner 36) Stokes once more. Warner shovels a pull to deep midwicket and the batsmen scurry two as they continue to amble comfortably in the general direction of a declaration.
19th over: Australia 72-0 (Rogers 37, Warner 34) Some turn! Moeen tweaks one past Rogers outside edge. That’s not necessarily great news for England, but at least it gives Moeen something to work with. A late chop brings Warner three more.
18th over: Australia 69-0 (Rogers 37, Warner 31) Nine overs remain today. England might squeeze them in if Moeen continues. Ben Stokes, though, has replaced Mark Wood. His first is a loosener, a half-tracker that Rogers paddle-pulls away for four. That’s followed by a flick for two more. Worryingly, there’s the hint of a hobble as Stokes walks back to his mark. He still sends down a brilliant leg-cutter at Rogers, that has him playing and missing and the ball zipping past the inside edge.
17th over: Australia 63-0 (Rogers 31, Warner 31) Moeen continues. There’s no turn. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. But just a single from the first.
16th over: Australia 62-0 (Rogers 30, Warner 31) Lord Gower has just used the phrase “for real” on the Sky Sports commentary. These are end times. Or maybe that’s when he says “for realsies”. Wood looks for a back-of-the-hand yorker but it’s too full and Rogers squirts it out for four to third man.
IMPACT: In-line PITCHING: On point HITTING THAT: Would pic.twitter.com/upFvM8BcV7
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) July 18, 2015
15th over: Australia 56-0 (Rogers 25, Warner 30) Warner takes a couple of strides down the track but scuffs a drive then can’t beat the field with a late cut. Clearly the plan for this pair is to Build A Platform. Although, that platform is already built. They’re really constructing a launchpad.
14th over: Australia 53-0 (Rogers 25, Warner 27) Wood gets one to rear up a touch at Rogers, but the batsman rides it well. A maiden.
He's no James Taylor... https://t.co/HpiPA5qkBq https://t.co/Ywpuz9Vcte
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) July 18, 2015
13th over: Australia 53-0 (Rogers 25, Warner 27) Rogers gets the sweep out and Mark Wood has to stretch his legs to prevent a boundary at fine leg. They run three, in any case. But otherwise it’s good probing stuff from Moeen.
12th over: Australia 50-0 (Rogers 22, Warner 27) Already there’s a sense of comfort for this pair. Neither is looking to be overly aggressive, but nor are they remotely tied down. Warner demonstrates the point with a punchy drive through the covers for four to take the Australia lead to 300. And he follows it up with a little tickle to fine leg for four more. Fifty up.
11th over: Australia 41-0 (Rogers 21, Warner 19) Moeen once more and Warner welcomes him with a crunching drive through the covers for four. But those are the only runs from the over.
10th over: Australia 37-0 (Rogers 21, Warner 15) Mark Wood replaces Broad at the Nursery End. He’s a little wide of off stump from over the wicket, so opts to come around in an attempt to bring lbw into play. Rogers, via a couple of thick inside edges, plays out a maiden.
9th over: Australia 37-0 (Rogers 21, Warner 15) Now then. Moeen Ali gets the chance for an early twirl. He starts with a juicy full toss that Rogers can only skew straight back to him, but the opener does pick up a run from the next. That brings Warner onto strike – he smashed two fours and was then caught in Moeen’s first over of the first innings. He keeps his powder dry for three balls then skips down the track and shovels Moeen through the covers for four.
8th over: Australia 32-0 (Rogers 20, Warner 11) Broad strays to the pads twice and is twice whipped away to square leg, where there is a man patrolling in the deep to keep things to a single. And from the last Rogers punches down the ground for three more, giving Anderson a leg-sapping chase to the boundary in the process.
7th over: Australia 27-0 (Rogers 16, Warner 10) Anderson puts one right into the slot for Warner, who biffs a drive through the covers for four. “Beautiful weight-transference,” cheers Ricky Ponting it the commentary box. Anderson bites back with a cracker that seams away prodigiously and misses the outside edge by a whisker.
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6th over: Australia 22-0 (Rogers 15, Warner 6) “An eccentric Yorkshireman in our stand is loudly exhorting the crowd to ‘Get behind the bowlers and ‘ave a do’, in the style of a warm-up artist,” reports Robert Wright. “It’s like having our very own Peter Kay. Funny-annoying.” Broad keeps things tourniquet-tight at Warner, and even though the last is a little wide the moustachioed one misses out. A maiden.
5th over: Australia 22-0 (Rogers 15, Warner 6) Anderson gives Moeen a bit of a glare as a misfield at fine leg allows Rogers to come back for a second run. I’d be avoiding Jimmy in the dressing room this evening – he’s not a happy bunny. And this won’t improve his mood – Rogers, clipping of his hip for four more.
4th over: Australia 16-0 (Rogers 9, Warner 6) That drop from Lyth gets uglier and uglier with each replay. He got himself into an awful position. Rogers nurdles Broad for three and Warner nudges him round the corner for two, each one an extra grain of salt in England’s wounds.
3rd over: Australia 11-0 (Rogers 6, Warner 4) Too full from Anderson and Rogers is able to plonk his drive straight of mid off and away for the first boundary of the innings. The bowler follows it up with a beauty, though, just back of a length and seaming past a groping outside edge. A leg bye brings Warner on strike … and Anderson beats the outside edge once more with another cracker. And the last of the over does catch the edge and should be caught at fourth slip but Lyth drops a fairly simple chance. Not what England need. Warner should be back in the hutch, instead he’s off the mark with four.
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2nd over: Australia 2-0 (Rogers 2, Warner 0) These must be horrible circumstances to bowl in. It’s a hiding-to-nothing situation. Broad, though, almost picks up Warner without him troubling the scorers, a slower ball chipped just short of midwicket. A maiden and a very fine one.
Michael Clarke has had 4 opportunities to enforce the follow on and declined each time. Leads 332, 398, 207 & 254.
— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) July 18, 2015
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Rogers 2, Warner 0) England have a maximum of 26 overs this evening. Anderson bowls the first of them and after five dots, Rogers clips one off his hip to square leg for two.
So Warner and Rogers stride to the crease – Sky have just had a “Best of Enemies” montage for the pair, which seems a bit of a stretch from their team-mates describing them as very different personalities, but still.
So England trail by 254 on first innings. Australia will presumably have a two-session thrash and look to declare at some point before tea tomorrow with a lead of 450-odd.
England 312 all out
Clarke has opted not to enforce the follow-on.
WICKET! Broad c sub (S Marsh) b Johnson 21 (England 312 all out)
Another slash outside off from Broad and this time Johnson finds the edge and Shaun Marsh takes a sharp catch at second slip.
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90th over: England 312-9 (Anderson 6, Broad 21) Shot! Anderson thumps Hazlewood through mid on for four, then dabs square for two.
89th over: England 306-9 (Anderson 0, Broad 21) Play-and-miss. Play-and-miss. Play-and-miss. A hat-trick of sorts outside off for Johnson at Broad. There’s a bouncer next up, but then a fourth play-and-miss. And a fifth. A maiden, but one that could’ve been a touch straighter from Johnson perhaps.
88th over: England 306-9 (Anderson 0, Broad 21) The over had begun in decent fashion for England with Broad finding the boundary with a full-blooded club over the covers for four. Hazlewood produced a very good ball to Wood, though, one that seamed back towards the right hander and seared through the gate.
How many Woods would a Hazlewood bowl if a Hazlewood could bowl Woods? #Ashes
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) July 18, 2015
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WICKET! Wood b Hazlewood 4 (England 306-9)
Another inside edge, another death rattle.
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87th over: England 301-8 (Wood 4, Broad 16) Starc attempts to surprise Broad with a yorker, but it’s a little too full and the batsman is able to bunt down the ground for a couple. Starc’s lost his line a little here too – all a bit leg-side. A paddle pull from Wood brings him four runs to get off the mark. And take England to 300.
86th over: England 294-8 (Wood 0, Broad 13) That was a cracker from Hazlewood. Just a matter of time now. And then it’ll be decision time for Michael Clarke.
WICKET! Ali lbw b Hazelwood 39 (England 294-8)
CLONK! Broad whups Hazlewood to cow corner … for two. DOOF! And he attempts a hook from the next, bottom edging into the deck and taking himself off his feet. He gets up and gets a single. OUT! Ali is trapped in front by a Hazlewood inswinger. Dharmasena’s finger goes up … and rightly so. Moeen reviews, because why not, but it pitched on middle and was going on to hit middle two-thirds of the way up.
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85th over: England 291-7 (Moeen 39, Broad 10) And it’s Mitchell Starc from the Pavilion End. Broad gets lucky, attempting to drive off the back foot but squirting just over Warner at point for two. It’s little more than a game of survival for Broad at the moment, but one he is winning.
84th over: England 288-7 (Moeen 39, Broad 7) Hazlewood comes into the attack for the first over after the break. He’s a little leg-side to Broad and is eventually tapped to midwicket for a single. Moeen works the next forward of point for similar. And Broad adds another single from the last. Three off the over.
Hello again everyone. The players are back out.
Tea
So we will head into the final session of the day with England needing 82 more to avoid the follow on. So long as Moeen is still there and Broad shows the tenacity to survive that he did in those 20 balls before tea, then it’s still very possible.
John Ashdown returns for the final session, so direct all your missives his way. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Cheers for all the emails and as ever, sorry I couldn’t squeeze them all in. Bye!
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83rd over: England 285-7 (Moeen 38, Broad 5) Moeen rocks back and plays an odd shot, a lofted back-foot off drive of sorts with an angled bat, past Starc’s head and down to wide mid off for three. Starc goes fuller to Broad, who drives from outside off for two – England are happy to entrust Broad with the strike here. Normally you would say that Australia need to be straighter to him, but he is playing his shots. A bouncer then flies over Broad, over Nevill and down to the boundary for four. The final ball before tea is full-ish, on off and pushed into the off side for one more. Broad survives then.
82nd over: England 275-7 (Moeen 35, Broad 2) It’s Johnson from the other end. He’s not been quite so effective today as he was in the evening session on day two, but he’s going to be a real threat with a hard, shiny ball. Moeen plays the swivel pull to his first ball – inevitably a short one – off his chest and round to long leg for one. So it’s Johnson v Broad, which might not last long. A steepling bouncer to begin with, of course, but still we haven’t seen anything that Broad’s had to play. Ah there we go, he finally hits one, a back foot defensive, to ironic cheers from the crowd. Broad is off the mark with a fend past the misfield at gully for two.
81st over: England 272-7 (Moeen 34, Broad 0) No surprise, the new ball has been taken, with Starc taking it. Four slips and a short leg for Ali, who pushes to mid off but can’t get the second run, exposing Broad to the new ball for up to four deliveries. He tries banging in a short one to begin with, but it doesn’t even get up to waist-height, although it nips away off the seam a touch. Broad plays down the wrong line at the first two, before Starc whangs one down a mile outside off stump that Broad has a massive slash at, connecting with naught but London air. Final ball is in the channel and brings another play and miss.
Alastair Cook is the first player to be dismissed 3 times at Lord's in the 90s (via @OptaJim) http://t.co/lai8D0R97E pic.twitter.com/NsQr55AE7X
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) July 18, 2015
80th over: England 271-7 (Moeen 33, Broad 0) Moeen won’t die wondering and comes dancing down the track to Lyon’s first ball, smashing it wide of the bowler’s despairing dive and down to wide mid off for four. A single brings Broad on strike and he looks about as comfortable as a teenager watching The Wolf of Wall Street with his parents. He survives easily enough though. New ball is now due.
79th over: England 266-7 (Moeen 28, Broad 0) You can stop emailing me about players carrying their bat now. Sorry, Alastair. Broad has a drive at one that leaps nicely past the bat and is lucky to miss it; there was a noise, but it was bat on pad. Broad then ducks for a wide one that went about waist-high from the medium pacer, before driving at thin air from the last.
Lorraine Rees asks: “My laptop has died so I can’t check Statsguru but didn’t Rahul Dravid carry his bat against England during the summer India got thrashed?”
You’re absolutely right, he did, in 2011, at The Oval if I remember right. [Yep, I do remember right].
@DanLucas86 we forgot to include our drinking game rules earlier. Doh! If anyone wants to play along, they're here: http://t.co/qpONjpniAV
— Shot Selection (@shotselectors) July 18, 2015
Wicket! Cook b Marsh 96
Awww fffffff. Cook reaches for a wide one angled across him, the bat twists in his hand a touch, he misreads the slow pace and a huge inside edge sees the ball crash into leg stump.
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78th over: England 266-6 (Moeen 28, Cook 96) “I’m not going describe anyone getting runs on this featherbed as ‘batting’ very well,” says Michael Holding. “If you can’t get runs on this give up the job and find another profession.” I want Michael Holding to narrate my own life.
We’ve got a review here for lbw against Moeen. It’s given not out, but it looks very close. Struck on the front pad playing forward down the wrong line, but it’s umpire’s call hitting leg stump. Just. Moeen celebrates his reprieve by going back and cutting dismissively through point for four.
77th over: England 262-6 (Moeen 24, Cook 96) Nice shot for two from Cook as Marsh comes round the wicket, stepping across early and meeting it with the full face to push it back past the bowler and down to long off. He moves to within a stroke of his century from the final ball, again getting across well and clipping through square leg for a crisp boundary.
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76th over: England 256-6 (Moeen 24, Cook 90) “Put yer feet up for a bit before the new ball, Mitch,” says Michael Clarke. Or words to that effect, as Johnson is replaced by Lyon. Cook nudges him to midwicket for the single that takes him into the 90s and takes England up to 250. Ali though goes five better from the final ball, hitting straight back over the bowler’s head with an elegant swing of the bat that takes the ball all the way over the rope.
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75th over: England 249-6 (Moeen 18, Cook 89) Not a lot happens in this maiden over, so here’s Andy MacDougall with some further anecdotes on South Africa v England 1889.
“It appears that Montague Parker Bowden only played 2 tests and was only captain due to the fact that the usual captain Aubrey Smith had been unable to get to the test in Cape Town in time and then stayed in South Africa to follow the Gold Rush with Smith, went to Rhodesia as part of the Pioneer Column before ending up as a liquor smuggler!
“The official cause of death was listed as epilepsy but the fact that he had fallen from his cart and been trampled by his own Oxen must certainly have contributed to his death.
“The Tragic Tale of Monty Bowden”
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74th over: England 249-6 (Moeen 18, Cook 89) Single to Cook as he flicks behind square on the leg side for one, before Ali drops to mid off for the same.
“On the subject of carrying one’s bat through an innings, what (a) is the highest innings score when a bat has been carried through and (b) the highest bat carrying individual score?” asks Ilona Turnbull.
The answer to the former is 428, made by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe in 1999, when Marvin Atapattu made an unbeaten 216. He just about misses out on the highest individual score though, which was 223 by Glenn Turner for New Zealand against the Windies in 1972.
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73rd over: England 247-6 (Moeen 17, Cook 88) It’s a double change, with Mitchell Marsh getting another go. He overpitches a touch with his fourth ball and Moeen drives nicely out to deep extra cover, perhaps not timing it perfectly, and the sweeper comes round to keep them to two. Two balls later he flicks Moeen’s pocket and it rolls all the way down to the rope for four leg byes.
“I’d certainly put them in again,” writes Janet Stevens. “One - it rubs England’s noses in it. Two - it gives them less chance to bat it our for an unlikely draw. What’s not to like? Let’s hope still that it doesn’t come to it. Stranger things have happened.”
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72nd over: England 241-6 (Moeen 15, Cook 88) A post-drinks change of bowling, as Johnson comes in for a final burst with the old ball. He tests Moeen out with a short one, but it’s slow and doesn’t get up, so Ali pulls it easily between two men on the on side for one. Johnson switches to round the wicket for Cook, angles it across him and the cap’n rocks back and slides a terrific cut through backward point to the fence. Johnson goes shorter, so Cook shuffles across and hammers a pull out to deep square for one; Mitch responds with some chat about being aggressive. Moeen nudges for a single off the last.
“On the bat-carrying following-on question,” writes Duncan Innes, “Desmond Haynes also managed that feat in the Oval match in 1991 when Phil Tufnell took the rest of the Windies batting order apart - he got 75 in the first innings and then 43 in the second.”
I actually have another Statsguru-help request: does anyone know how to find out the latest point in an innings – in terms of FoW – that a particular batsman’s wicket has fallen?
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Cheers John. I’ll be here for the next hour or so as England battle for the further 133 runs they need to avoid the possibility of following on. Apparently it’s unlikely to be enforced, though I’d put them in again if I was Michael Clarke, given that there’s a week between this Test and the next. Thoughts? Email ‘em to dan.lucas@theguardian.com or tweet @DanLucas86.
71st over: England 234-6 (Moeen 13, Cook 83) Hazlewood strays onto Cook’s pads and gets tucked away for two wide of midwicket. But then there’s the first mistake in an age by Cook, who pushes nervously at one outside off. Ball and edge do not meet, however.
And with that I’ll return you to the capable hands of Dan Lucas, who will take you through until tea.
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70th over: England 232-6 (Moeen 13, Cook 81) Shot! Moeen has come out all guns blazing here. After four dots he thunks a sweep away to midwicket for four.
“Love the match notes in that game you linked to when Bernard Tancred was the first to carry his bat regarding the England Captain MP Bowden,” writes Andy MacDougall. “’Bowden, aged 23 years 144 days became England’s youngest captain three years before dying in Umtali Hospital - a glorified mud hut where his body had to be protected from marauding lions prior to being interred in a coffin made from whiskey cases.’ And Chef thought he had it tough!”
69th over: England 228-6 (Moeen 9, Cook 81) Hazlewood returns and looks to test Cook with a slower-ball bouncer, but Cook pulls pretty safely for four. And there’s four more from the next – a wide one outside off swerving away from the diving Nevill and flying past Clarke at first slip before heading off for four byes.
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68th over: England 220-6 (Moeen 9, Cook 77) One of Lyon’s latest. The highlight of that over, though, was a lovely replay of umpire Dharmasena during that Buttler wicket – he was mid-headshake and as Buttler walked he seamlessly transitioned to a nod. Weirdly reminiscent of this:
67th over: England 219-6 (Moeen 9, Cook 76) Shot! Moeen gets down on one knee and powers a drive through the covers for four – one for the cameras, that. He picks up four more a couple of balls later in far streakier fashion, chipping just wide of Rogers at midwicket.
“I’m one of the brave team of north London irregulars taking part in the drinking game you mentioned earlier,” writes Nick Tebbutt. “After that over (small red wine raised for a glorious cover drive for four, a large G&T for a dropped catch and a shot of bitter for a pulled boundary) we’re starting to pray for rain.
“Two questions for the OBO crew. 1) What’s the best snack to see us through this horrible onslaught of action? 2) What’s the appropriate forfeit for the team member who’s turning up three hours late? Argh, Cook’s just played ‘the shot of the day’ according to TMS. That’s something from the top shelf...”
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66th over: England 211-6 (Moeen 1, Cook 76) Buttler’s decision to walk there confused everyone, not least Steve Smith who was still appealing when the batsman was halfway to the pavilion. Anyway, England are back in the seriously sticky stuff, not that they were ever really out of it. Moeen gets off the mark with a single.
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WICKET! Buttler c Nevill b Lyon 13 (England 210-6)
Lyon returns and immediately makes another breakthrough. Buttler lunges forward and feathers the faintest of edges through to the keeper … and he walks!
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65th over: England 210-5 (Buttler 13, Cook 76) Cook leans into an on-drive as Starc overpitches – four runs. And then guides a cracking drive through the covers for four more.
“Has anyone in a Test carried his bat but, having failed to save the follow-on, had to go straight in again?” wonders John Starbuck. “If so, how did they fare? If that were to happen to Cook, or any batsman, no-one would blame them for deciding to come in again at No4, say.”
Dan Lucas has been on the Statsguru case and he’s come up trumps. South Africa’s Bernard Tancred was the first man to carry his bat in a Test match … and also the first man to then follow-on. It wasn’t a good game for the Saffers, though.
64th over: England 202-5 (Buttler 13, Cook 68) DROPPED! Cook hammers a pull at Steve Smith at square leg but the fielder can’t hold on. That was travelling like a rocket but still goes down as a chance to dismiss the England captain, who adds the salt with a tickle to fine leg for four runs that take England past the 200 mark.
“Mitchell Johnson is on the boundary right in front of where I’m sitting in the Compton Stand - and he’s got his own hamper!” reports Robert Wright. “No wonder he’s so well built. I wonder if he’s got those chicken drumsticks with spicy sauce ...” If there’s no pork pie in there, it has no place at a cricket ground.
63rd over: England 197-5 (Buttler 13, Cook 63) Cook blocks Starc down the ground to pick up a couple – it’s just the fifth scoring shots since in the six overs since lunch.
62nd over: England 194-5 (Buttler 13, Cook 61) Johnson again looks to tempt Buttler outside off but there’s no ill-judged-bat-dangling from the batsman this time around. And from the last there’s a sweetly-timed drive through the covers for four.
61st over: England 190-5 (Buttler 9, Cook 61) Starc offers Cook a hint of width and the England captain is onto it in a flash, gleefully tucking through backward point for four.
Here’s Dan Lucas, utterly putting the kibosh on Cook:
Sorry for the inevitable curse, but...
• The last man to carry his bat in a Test match was David Warner against New Zealand in Hobart in 2011
• The last England player to do so was Mike Atherton, also against New Zealand, in Christchurch in 1997
• The last player to do so in an Ashes Test was Geoff Boycott in 1979 at Perth when he made 99*
60th over: England 186-5 (Buttler 9, Cook 57) Trouble here! Johnson fields off his own bowling and Cook sends Buttler back … but Johnson is quick as whippet in turning and throwing at the stumps. He misses, so no embarrassing departure for Buttler, but the bowler clearly has his dander up. Cook does get his single a ball or two later, and Buttler plays-and-misses outside off.
But from the last ball of the over, Johnson thinks he’s got his man. Buttler edges and the ball flies low wide of Nevill, who dives in front of first slip as the ball dies. I have to say on first viewing it didn’t look like he had managed to keep the ball up and the third umpire confirms it. The wicketkeeper got there, but the angle of his glove meant the ball briefly dragged along the ground. Australia are seriously unimpressed by that decision but I reckon it’s the right one.
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59th over: England 185-5 (Buttler 9, Cook 56) Mitchell Starc from the Pavilion End. He keeps a tight line outside off, looking to drift the ball across the right-handed Buttler from over the wicket. Buttler stands firm then cuts for four as he’s offered the merest hint of width.
On commentary Shane Warne has got himself into a bit of a verbal grammatical tangle as the cameras show Rodney Marsh in the stands: “No, that’s not a Rodney Marsh lookalike, that’s Rodney Marsh, and on his right his lovely wife Roz, the chairman of selectors for Australia.”
58th over: England 181-5 (Buttler 5, Cook 56) Mitchell Johnson continues after the break and he continues to test the England captain by mixing up his length. Cook digs out a couple of yorkers but can’t get the bowler away. A maiden.
The players return to the field.
Intriguing: “As the England batsmen dig in to survive, a few chums and I are digging into an incredibly convoluted cricket-themed drinking game,” writes Chris Tebbutt. “My front room has been converted into the Lords playing field (albeit with shot glasses rather than fielders), we’ve created extensive laws of the game (with no less than 40 possible action-related drinks) and plenty of sausage rolls to keep us alive.”
This can only end in tears.
England are still 186 runs short of the follow on, but the general consensus seems to be that the 366 mark is a pretty irrelevant one as Australia will bat again anyway.
Hello everyone. Do give me a shout with your views on john.ashdown@theguardian.com or tweet @John_Ashdown. Incidentally, speaking of tweeting, just before lunch I discovered that the individual who forced me into utilising an underscore in my Twitter ‘handle’ hasn’t exactly made the most of the wonderful and weird world of social media …
Lunch
Well that late Stokes wicket really did sour what was almost a confidence rebuilding effort from England. He and Cook looked secure, but just one lapse can do for a batsman and indeed that was the case here. Just as hope might have been creeping back into English minds, a bloke called Mitchell ensures that they have another big job on their hands to avoid the follow-on. Again.
John Ashdown is going to be your glorious leader for the first hour after lunch. You can email him on john.ashdown@theguardian.com or tweet @John_Ashdown.
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57th over: England 181-5 (Buttler 5, Cook 56) Starc comes back on for the final over before lunch. Buttler drops his first ball into the off side to get off strike. Cook, utterly delighted at the prospect of facing five balls from the fast bowler, thinks “to hell with this” and gets back off strike with a sharp single of his own. Starc is putting it in a good channel outside off stump, with four slips waiting for Buttler’s instincts to get the better of him. They don’t though as he plays only at his final ball, blocking it back down the wicket.
A first: I’m getting sent pictures from Lord’s. Which is kind of cruel, given that they’re chaining us up in a bunker in King’s Cross.
@DanLucas86 Stokes's lunch will taste like sawdust after that. Enjoying the bubbles #Ashes2015 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/1lMNsy07Wq
— Diana Hofmann (@DollyheartsG) July 18, 2015
56th over: England 179-5 (Buttler 4, Cook 55) So it’s all about surviving the next nine minutes or so until lunch for England. They could do with a contribution from Buttler; for all his bucketloads of talent, he’s 24 years old, the same age as Kane Williamson, and at an age where we should be talking about what he’s doing rather than what he might do. Cook tries to leave a short-ish one that climbs and cracks him right on the inside of the elbow – that’s going to hurt a lot and he’s called for the physio.
Cook using all his experience there to get hit on the elbow and waste five minutes before lunch. Such a canny operator.
— Dave Tickner (@tickerscricket) July 18, 2015
Cook is eventually OK to resume and is greeted by the most predictable short ball in Test history. He plays it off the back foot comfortably enough.
55th over: England 179-5 (Buttler 4, Cook 55) Remarkable commentator’s curse that. Atherton praises England’s just-about perfect morning, Botham warns of the commentator’s curse and within literally a second – the very ball they were talking over – England’s resistance is broken. That’s a real shame for Stokes, who played beautifully for his third 50+ score at Lord’s on the spin. The fielders close in for Buttler, who gets underway from the final ball by flicking a full, straight one round the corner for four.
Wicket! Stokes b Marsh 87
And there’s the breakthrough. Stokes tries to defend one on a length, outside off on the back foot, his bat doesn’t quite come down straight, the ball keeps a touch low and he inside edges on to his stumps.
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54th over: England 175-4 (Stokes 87, Cook 55) It’s a double change, with Johnson replacing Smith for a couple of overs before lunch. He continues to get variable bounce outside Cook’s off stump, but the England captain is secure enough. He tries to drive a straighter one off his ankles and through midwicket, but Nathan Lyon makes an excellent stop diving to his left. And then a flashback to old Mitch as he flings one way, way down the leg side, beyond Nevill’s dive and away for four byes. Straining a bit too hard for some swing there, the bowler.
“Thanks for the birthday wishes, Dan,” writes Ian Copestake. “I am pleased that today has seen me survive the LA public transport system to watch Gerrard score (it is easier than getting a ticket at Anfield), and to enjoy this England pre-lunch resistance. As a man who now increasingy appreciates a snooze, I knew all England needed was a good sleep.”
53rd over: England 171-4 (Stokes 87, Cook 55) Yep, Starc is going to take a break so we’ll get a look at Mitchell Marsh for the first time today. There’s a mistimed cut to point, then a very streaky boundary as Stokes goes hard at a full one and edges it wide of second slip at a good height for the fielders and down to the fence for four. Better next ball as he chops behind point, down the hill for the same amount.
52nd over: England 163-4 (Stokes 79, Cook 55) Starc is over on the sidelines again, pointing to his back. In the middle, Smith gives Cook another big full toss that England’s captain welts out to deep mid on for two. He tries the googly a few balls later and it very nearly bounces twice before reaching the batsman, who chops it away.
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51st over: England 160-4 (Stokes 78, Cook 53) One more to Cook, with a punch into the off side. This pitch is offering no assistance to Australia’s bowlers at all and England’s serene progress this morning makes their efforts last night look all the more impressive. Short then to Stokes, who needs no further invite to pull, but there’s a man out in the deep to keep them to one. The slow nature of the pitch means that Stokes isn’t quite nailing these shots, but he’s playing them safely enough.
50th over: England 158-4 (Stokes 77, Cook 52) The man with seven wickets at 19, Steve Smith is on to bowl a bit of leg spin. It’s a mixed bag, with a couple of rank full tosses, each of which only brings a single. The final ball is dragged well down though and smashed on the cut through cover point for four by Stokes.
49th over: England 152-4 (Stokes 72, Cook 51) Starc is fit to continue then and the second ball of his over his pushed out to cover for one by Cook. The left armer switches to round the wicket for Stokes, who chops a full one out to backward point on the bounce. A couple of balls later, Starc tries the bouncer but there’s no pace on it and Stokes’ pull only squirts away for a single behind square.
48th over: England 150-4 (Stokes 71, Cook 50) Starc is having a word with the physio – Shane Warne tells us that during the ad break between overs, the fast bowler was grimacing. A short one from Lyon gets punched to deep mid on for one by Stokes. He overcorrects a couple of balls later, going too full, and Cook works him out to the same region for the three runs he needs to complete his half-century from 142 balls. A very important innings that from Cook.
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47th over: England 146-4 (Stokes 70, Cook 47) Full from Starc with a bit of shape away from Cook and it takes the edge as the batsman tries to drive, but stays low and shoots past the slips. Two runs there, which the same they get when Cook drives a straight, full one through mid on.
46th over: England 142-4 (Stokes 70, Cook 43) Lyon again. It looks to me as though short leg is very deep, presumably as protection against the sweep as both of these batsmen like to go hard when they bring that shot out. Adam Voges wore a very painful looking one on the hip fielding there yesterday. And no sooner have I written that, he gets one on the ankle as Cook flicks square, through the fielder’s legs for a single.
45th over: England 141-4 (Stokes 70, Cook 42) So a perfect first hour for England. They still need another 230 to avoid the follow-on mind and this isn’t a good sign: Starc gets one to shoot along the ground outside Stokes’ off stump. The next ball is straighter and gets turned comfortably through mid on for a couple. A wider one gets cut away, but the sub fielder Pat Cummins makes a good diving stop and they can only get the one run. One more into the on side from the final ball.
“Who or what has got inside Stokes’ head?” asks Dean Kinsella. “Major transformation from locker bashing plonker to responsible and thrilling cricketer. I think the new England ‘smile on your face’ ethos suits him perfectly.”
Absolutely, he’s had a very good year so far and England will need him with South Africa and Pakistan – one and three in the world rankings respectively – lying ahead. He does work incredibly hard on his batting and has evolved from a “see ball, hit ball” type to a proper all-round batsman.
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44th over: England 137-4 (Stokes 67, Cook 41) A single round the corner to Cook brings Stokes on strike against the spinner. He did go after Lyon last night, hitting a couple of boundaries over the top and not letting the offie settle. Indeed he goes for the big hard sweep here, not quite timing it and the fielder is able to get round from long leg to save two. A push down to mid off brings one more and that should be drinks.
43rd over: England 133-4 (Stokes 64, Cook 40) There is a change of bowling, but it’s Starc rather than the leg spinner Smith. A couple of full balls that Stokes tries to drive through mid off, but he can only find the fielder each time. Across the stumps he goes, looking to push through mid on this time, but again he can’t get it away. No swing for Starc here.
John Starbuck writes: “Adam Lyth will, in a few years, look more like another 666: Alastair Crowley, the Wickedest Man in the World.”
42nd over: England 133-4 (Stokes 64, Cook 40) Stokes reaches a good couple of feet outside off stump to play the paddle sweep, all along the ground, down to long leg for three, before Cook sees off the final ball.
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41st over: England 130-4 (Stokes 61, Cook 40) Four more to Stokes as Hazelwood gives him a half volley that’s driven sumptuously through wide mid off. A couple of balls later he thinks for a moment about cutting a wide bouncer, but withdraws from the shot as it keeps very low. He’s hit on the pad after that, but the umpire says no as it’s pitched outside leg. Michael Clarke signals the review... but Hawkeye confirms my initial suspicion. The final ball is on the pads and turned round the corner for the single that brings up the century stand. Good stuff from these two.
“Good to see Cook hanging in there,” writes Robert Wright. “As a relative newcomer to cricket, this is about the longest I’ve seen him stay in. I’m used to seeing him trundle off back to the changing rooms with a mighty haul of two runs to his name.”
Crikey, you are a newcomer!
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40th over: England 124-4 (Stokes 56, Cook 40) There’s a shout of “catch!” as Cook gets a bat-pad to Lyon’s arm ball, but it loops up too straight for short leg. Cook responds by coming down the track and hammering what becomes a half volley past the bowler for four down to long off. That was a most un-Alastair Cook shot.
“Surely Adam Lyth must be the oldest looking 27 year old in the world,” reckons Clinton Arnold.
My girlfriend and I were discussing the other day whether he looks more like Phil Collins or Billy Corgan.
39th over: England 120-4 (Stokes 56, Cook 36) It’s a change of ends for Hazlewood, who replaces Johnson at the Pavilion End. He’s shaping it back into the left hander nicely, perhaps a touch full, and Cook squirts him square on the leg side for one. That takes him to 4,651 in Tests in England, past Alec Stewart and up to third on the all-time list.
38th over: England 119-4 (Stokes 56, Cook 35) A change of tack from Australia as the world’s oldest looking 27-year-old, Nathan Lyon, comes on. It’s a lot of very full stuff to Cook, with a silly point, short leg and a slip around the bat, but the England captain gets forward and smothers the spin. He punches the final ball to mid off for one.
37th over: England 118-4 (Stokes 56, Cook 34) Johnson to continue and he finds what looks to be a touch of reverse swing with a full ball to Stokes that cannons into the pads off the inside edge. With Stokes dealing comfortably with the full stuff, Johnson tries to bang it in and gets pulled hard through midwicket for another boundary. This is seriously good batting from the Durham man.
36th over: England 114-4 (Stokes 52, Cook 34) A couple to Cook through square leg as Hazelwood strays on to the pads. These two looking comfortable, as well a top class batsman should in conditions as glorious as these. Four more to Cook as Hazelwood comes round the wicket, Cook goes across, opens the face and runs it down to third man.
Some top stats work by John Ashdown sat to my right, who points out that Stokes either tends to be very good or very bad at Lord’s. It’s a small sample, but the good news is that he’s been very good this year and hasn’t bagged a duck in this innings.
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35th over: England 108-4 (Stokes 52, Cook 28) Stokes gets struck on the pad, pinned back on the crease, but it’s going down leg and the appeal is more of a yelp than a genuine question. Johnson cuts him in half with the next ball though, getting it up the hill, through the gate and about six inches over off stump. His next ball is fuller and Stokes brings up his fifty with a punchy drive through extra cover for four. He’s played very well in this innings as he has in every one he’s had at Lord’s this summer: scores of 92, 101 and now 52*.
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34th over: England 104-4 (Stokes 48, Cook 28) Short from Hazlewood; it gets up to around nipple height and Alastair Cook loves them on his nipples. Swung nicely out the middle of the bat to the square leg boundary for four runs. He gets one wide outside off a couple of balls later – something else he’s good at putting away – but gets a bottom edge from the attempted cut.
Let’s laugh at David Warner while we can, yeah?
David Warner's day off to a flyer ... and great reaction from Chris Rogers https://t.co/cqfZCU9XVy
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) July 18, 2015
33rd over: England 100-4 (Stokes 48, Cook 24) This is nice: Sky’s cameras can see into London Zoo. My girlfriend and I went round there a little while ago, playing a game of “which animals would win in a fight with Jason Statham”. We then came up with the outline for a movie in which Statham fights animals on steroids in the zoo. It’s going to be brilliant.
Stokes produces a textbook display of forward defensive shots to Johnson, before playing all round one that’s whistling down leg. They take a couple leg byes to bring up the team 100.
32nd over: England 98-4 (Stokes 48, Cook 24) There’s still a hint of up and down bounce out there. Cook plays out the first five balls with minimal fuss, but then flicks at the final ball – a wider one – with a 45 degree bat and is fortunate to miss it.
31st over: England 98-4 (Stokes 48, Cook 24) From the Pavilion End it’ll be Johnson to Cook. Second ball is guided nicely out to deep backward point for a couple as the England captain reads the bounce nicely. It was a touch variable last night, as Ballance found out to his peril. Johnson, rightly, pushes his length a touch fuller and Cook knocks him past short leg for a single. It brings Stokes on strike, Mitch greets him with a bouncer outside off and the batsman plays a cut behind point, on the jump, and nails it for four.
If you don't enjoy watching Mitchell Johnson run in from the pavilion end at Lord's you either don't like cricket or you're holding a bat.
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) July 18, 2015
30th over: England 91-4 (Stokes 44, Cook 21) Here we go then, this partnership resumes on 55. Shane Watson is in at slip after Voges took that nasty whack on the hip yesterday evening. Hazlewood gets us underway and beats Stokes’s bat outside off straight away. The first runs of the day come via a thick outside edge that flies through the vacant gully region for four as Stokes is tucked up well. He gets a couple more, more convincingly this time, with a push to midwicket.
Australia take to the field. David Warner trips over the boundary rope.
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An email from birthday boy Ian Copestake. “If both teams manage to hit top form in a Test match at the same time, rather than the current overly polite ‘its your turn, old chap’ scenario, then maybe, just maybe, this might be quite a cracking Ashes.”
That would be nice – it kind of went this way in 2013 and 2009 though too. Happy birthday, too.
“There’s not many number threes in world cricket who can’t play the short ball and can’t play the full ball.” Nasser Hussain isn’t pulling his punches when it comes to Gary Ballance. He does go on to say praise Ballance’s mentality though and says he’d want him in his Ashes team. I tend to agree as I don’t think Bairstow is a number three, James Taylor isn’t hitting the same heights as last season as Notts struggle and I don’t think there’s anyone better out there. And before you suggest it, there’s no way in hell I’d move Joe Root at the moment.
If you’re emailing and they’re not getting through, that’s because there was a slight problem with the link at the top of the page when the OBO went live. Refresh the page and it’s all fixed now.
Not a lot to argue with here.
England cannot blame the pitch for yesterday's performance. Tired bodies, tired legs and tired minds were to blame...and bad shots. #Ashes
— Geoffrey Boycott (@GeoffreyBoycott) July 18, 2015
Looking at the weather forecast, today is going to be glorious and they’re the best conditions that England’s batsmen are going to get. It’s just a shame that half of them are already out.
There’s a bit of rain forecast for the last two days, but, if the Met Office is right, not enough to save England here. Still, I’d expect Michael Clarke to enforce the follow-on if they get to that stage, just in case.
A fun fact for Game of Thrones fans: Mitchell Starc has a younger brother, a high jumper, called Brandon.
Our first missive of the day: “Morning Dan,” Morning, James Higgott, you hopelessly optimistic being. “It’s unlikely that this Test will end as anything other than an Australian win but I did some back-of-a-receipt calculations anyway, and the England win doesn’t look as impossible as you might think.
With four overs lost for changes of innings there are 266 overs left in the match. That’s 974 runs at the current match run rate of 3.66. This is how it could happen:
Eng end their first innings on 366 after 77 overs of day 3. They follow on, score 447, and finish their second innings 21 overs into day 5. They then bowl Australia out for 246 in 67 overs. Meaning that England win by 1 run in the final over of the day. (Does not take into account likelihood of follow-on being enforced, run rates other than 3.66, middle-order collapses or rain.)
If the match situation looks anything like this on Monday morning, I will be first in the queue for final day tickets. Have a good day. I’ll be relying on OBO to follow the game on the sly while I’m at a family gathering.”
Preamble
Morning folks. Let’s not beat around the bush here: this is bad for England. Real bad. They’re in vaguely-ethnic-terrorist-captured-by-Jack-Bauer territory here, staring down the barrel with a snarling, angry man holding the trigger.
Or make that snarling angry men. Mitchell Johnson’s bouncer may have been neutered somewhat by the pace of the two pitches so far, but he bowled a perfect full length to England’s top order yesterday, seaming the ball away from the plethora of left-handers and making a mockery of everyone who called him a one-trick pony after Cardiff. If England can somehow keep Johnson quiet... well then Australia also have Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc doing the same thing.
It would be easy to castigate England for rolling over in this Test so far, but to do so would be to denigrate a really strong performance from Australia. They were outplayed in every department by England at Sofia Gardens and have responded by upping their performance in batting, bowling and fielding, to the point where they’ve comprehensively turned things around in the form stakes.
They kept England in the field for five sessions, then ripped through a knackered top order. Alastair Cook battled away gamely and Ben Stokes looked to be playing on a different pitch to his fellow batsmen. Still, with four men in the hutch and Australia’s bowlers having had a rest overnight, you’d be impressed if England avoided the follow-on today.
Play begins at 11am, obviously.
