Ali Martin’s report from Adelaide
Batting is easy once you're in, says Stokes
Here’s Ben Stokes, fronting up as ever. “It’s always going to be a tired end to the day after being in the field for that long,” he says. “But it looked a pretty easy wicket to bat on once you get yourself in, so hopefully our batters can do that.” Glenn McGrath asks him about being the enforcer and how his body is. “It’s something I’ve done before. Body’s been worse, body’s been better.” He thinks the pitch is going to be one of those that get slower and slower. “We’ve seen a lot of nicks fall short, especially with the older ball.” Yes, but will England stay in long enough for the ball to get old?
Mel Farrell asks Stokes if he has a message for England fans back home, staying up all night. “On social media we’ve seen a lot of support that we’re getting back home, especially on the Barmy Army Twitter and Instagram feeds. The guys who are out in Australia too, they’re outnumbered but we always hear them and we appreciate every bit of support that we get, especially the people staying up to watch us.” He doesn’t quite manage to mention those following the OBO, but that’s a good effort. As it was in the middle, where Stokes was England’s most successful bowler, with three for 113. If only they’d had Mark Wood, to make those nicks carry and get the tailenders jumping around.
That’s it from us, with England in an all too familiar position: staring disaster in the face. Thanks for your company, and I hope your day goes better than theirs.
“I see both openers have failed again,” says El Nombre on Twitter. “I reckon we should drop all the bowling unit ...” Ha, very good. But the two things are related. The openers were (even) more likely to fail once the new bowling strategy had gone wrong. Whether batting, bowling or fielding, England are a mess at the moment.
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Stumps! England 17-2
The umps have now called it a day/night. So England are spared what could have been a horrific last hour. They will resume in the morning, a mere 456 runs behind.
“Would it save time in future,” asks Hexenkessel, “if England’s 3 and 4 went out with the openers and stood next to the square-leg umpire?”
Rain stops play! England 17-2 (Malan 1, Root 5)
The umpires confer again and this time they take the players off, so Root gets a well-earned breather. Mitchell Starc, as he goes down the tunnel, gives high fives to several small boys, which delights them but may send panic through the ranks at the South Australia Health Authority.
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8th over: England 16-2 (Malan 1, Root 4) It was raining just now, but the umpires kept the players on after conferring. The Aussies won’t mind that: they’re so confident that they have two rookies bowling at the same time, and they’re still walking all over England. Root drives for a single, which ruins Richardson’s figures. He now has 4-3-1-0.
And here’s Harry Lang. “Assuming the Burns dismissal is the start of yet another abject capitulation by England,” he muses, “will this be the bottom of the bell curve in this cycle of English Test cricket? I’m just trying to work out whether I’ll see some sort of competition when I finally get to see an Ashes match live in retirement (circa twenty years from now – although likely longer). If the cycle is five or even ten years (so on the way up for five, then rollercoastering down in a progressive agony of self-doubt and nervy prodding for the next five) then I should be in luck. But if it’s a twenty-year sequence, I fear I may miss the boat. Thanks for keeping spirits up while the ship sinks!” Thank you for putting my job in a nutshell. When it comes to the cycle, who knows – but England could well regain the Ashes in 2023, with Jofra Archer, Ollie Robinson and Saqib Mahmood reducing the Aussies to rubble.
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7th over: England 15-2 (Malan 1, Root 3) So both openers have gone and Joe Root, after being at the helm for 150 overs, is back out there half an hour later. He immediately edges Neser, which is understandable, but his hands are soft enough to make sure the ball drops short of the cordon. Then he plays a more purposeful shot in the same direction, a glide for three. His ability to be himself when up against it is quite something.
Wicket!! Hameed c Starc b Neser 6 (England 12-2)
Hasss!! Noooooo! Hameed chips to mid-on and gives Michael Neser a great big Christmas present in his first over as a Test bowler.
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6th over: England 12-1 (Hameed 6, Malan 1) A third maiden from Richardson, but that won’t bother Malan, who gets through the over without being beaten outside off.
5th over: England 12-1 (Hameed 6, Malan 1) Starc hasn’t got it right yet to Hameed, who has some comfy leaves before being lured into another drive, which he mistimes.
“So many of us so negative on this,” mutters AB Parker. “Easy draw with a Root double coming up. I’ll tattoo whoever takes the most wickets on my face if we don’t. Seriously, easy enough pitch and England showed they can put up 350 easily last game.” Great stuff, but, at the risk of taking things too literally, I thought they made 147 and 297?
4th over: England 12-1 (Hameed 6, Malan 1) After beating Hameed for fun in his first over, Richardson now faces a left-hander for the first time today – and beats him too, though Malan gets some credit too, for staying on the line of off stump. Richardson, who scored three runs per ball in his short innings, hasn’t conceded one yet.
3rd over: England 12-1 (Hameed 6, Malan 1) Here comes Dawid Malan, who could be jelly on the inside, but he puts on a brave face and pushes his first ball for a quick single to cover. Hameed follows up with another stylish square drive that doesn’t quite reach the rope. He’s getting ’em in threes.
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Wicket!! Burns c Smith b Starc 4 (England 7-1)
Starc gets Burns again! With a good ball – lifting, leaving him, drawing the edge and presenting Smith at second slip with a simple catch, which, not being English, he doesn’t drop. This could be the start of a procession.
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2nd over: England 7-0 (Hameed 3, Burns 4) The new ball is shared by Jhye Richardson, as the more senior of the two stand-in seamers – he’s a vetreran of two Tests. Fortified by his three-ball innings of 9, he finds some swing and beats Hameed, not once, not twice, but three times.
“That last half hour was like something out of the mid-90s,” says Guy Hornsby on Twitter. “Not only have we let Australia take the game away from us, but we’ve given their two new pace bowlers a shot of adrenaline. I hope our batters have put abject defeat out of their minds. I haven’t.”
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1st over: England 7-0 (Hameed 3, Burns 4) Mitch Starc lays down his bat and picks up the new ball, which is so pink it should really be served as a drink at a children’s party. Haseeb Hameed leaves one that’s a little too close to the off bail, but then plays a lovely calm drive, through the covers for three. So... can Rory Burns survive one ball? He can! It’s straight and swinging away, but on middle rather than leg, and he gets some bat on it, rather uncertainly. Next ball, much the same but pitched up, he clips for four. That’s more like it.
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An intriguing email comes in from an associate professor in international strategy. “England’s dodgy fielding is historic,” says Jon Fanning of York university, “and caused by an excessively competitive schools culture which values winning above all even when the win is brought about by size and strength not skill. The result is that good batters bat, good bowlers bowl, and only the fat lads do much fielding, for which there in no training. At least the bowlers do field occasionally. It looks like the schools have changed now, but it won’t show for a few years. I use it in my teaching as a comparative study in proper planning. Indian fielding vs English.” Discuss!
England ripped up their strategy, the bowlers did a lot right, and still Australia made 473. Just like in Brisbane, most of the runs were made by only three batters – Warner and Labuschagne again, with Smith replacing Head as the third man. But this time the Aussie tail wagged, merrily, to make sure that England go in to bat feeling embarrassed as well as exhausted. Their chance of winning, at CricViz, is rated at 2pc. That high?
Australia declare! On 473-9 (Starc 39, Richardson c Buttler b Woakes 9)
Jhye Richardson doesn’t hang about: he goes three, six, out – caught behind off Woakes. And Steve Smith calls them in, so Starc is left high and dry.
150th over: Australia 461-8 (Starc 38, Richardson 0) The wicket doesn’t stop Starc in his tracks, rather the opposite. He cuts for four, plays a forehand drive for four more (almost killing the umpire), and top-edges just out of Buttler’s reach for yet another four. So he has that quick 30, and the last four overs have gone for 46.
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Wicket! Neser c Broad b Stokes 35 (Australia 448-8)
Neser’s luck runs out as his lofted drive goes straight to Broad at deep mid-off. But what an impressive debut: 35 off just 24 balls, which will put some extra wind in his sails when he comes on to bowl.
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149th over: Australia 448-7 (Starc 24, Neser 35) Woakes is slapped for four by Starc, through the covers. He responds with a loopy slower ball, so far outside off that it’s a wide. The crowd make the unmistakable sound that figures in so many English nightmares: the sheer derision of thousands of gloating Aussies. Woakes recovers to beat Starc twice outside off. And then Starc is dropped in the deep by Ollie Pope – a good effort, to be fair – running in and just getting his fingers to a slog-sweep.
148th over: Australia 440-7 (Starc 18, Neser 34) Neser tries to give Stokes the treatment and succeeds in a way, with a thick inside edge for four. A better shot, a jab to deep square, brings a single and the fifty partnership. Salt in England’s wounds. And the last two batters are padded up, so Smith is not about to declare.
147th over: Australia 433-7 (Starc 17, Neser 28) Root makes yet another bowling change, replacing Anderson with Woakes – talk about like for like. Neser top-edges for four over the slips. Woakes, looking rattled for once in his life, asks for a review, for caught behind, when Buttler isn’t interested. No evidence of a nick, so England are out of reviews. Neser celebrates by slogging for four and cutting for six! Rabble time again.
“I don’t know why we’re being so gloomy about England’s current predicament,” says Grumpy Expat Dad on Twitter. “Didn’t Adelaide once host an Ashes Test where a team lost after making 550 in the first innings?” Ha.
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146th over: Australia 417-7 (Starc 16, Neser 13) Root brings back Stokes, who pitches the ball up, thankfully, and concedes only three singles. Up on the roof, a bunch of tourists are enjoying the view – or perhaps not enjoying it, as there are forks of lightning behind them. In the words of the great Gilbert O’Sullivan, get down!
145th over: Australia 414-7 (Starc 14, Neser 12) Starc sees those two short mid-ons and simply chips over them for two runs. This partnership is 24 already.
“Thanks to you and the rest of the OBO team,” says Stephen Schoofs, “for making our gradual descent back into Covid misery just a tad more bearable.” Our pleasure. “Having said that, what’s the best that the England team can hope for, considering a very likely first session under lights, a less than confident batting line up, a world class spinner on a pitch that offers turn, and a comfortable drop in temperature for Australia’s bowlers to look forward to? Batting for a draw or an honourable defeat at best?” There’s always hope, even for England. In this case the best they can hope for is to make 550, roll over Australia for 150, knock off the 50 required for victory and say to the world “You see, five seamers can work!”
144th over: Australia 411-7 (Starc 11, Neser 12) Starc fancies a quick 30 here. He edges a pull but gets away with it as it plops into space at backward point. Neser shows him how it’s done with a proper pull, smacked to the midwicket boundary.
143rd over: Australia 403-7 (Starc 8, Neser 7) Neser, facing Anderson, picks up two more with another controlled nick. Is it too soon to call this his trademark?
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142nd over: Australia 395-7 (Starc 7, Neser 4) After only two overs, Robinson is taken off and replaced by Broad, perhaps because Starc is a left-hander. And Starc is missed! By Anderson at midwicket, just too slow to get his hands on a well-timed chip. Broad pulls that face again. Neser adds insult to insult by edging for four.
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141st over: Australia 390-7 (Starc 3, Neser 0) Here’s Michael Neser walking out for the first time in a Test match, after a 20-minute tea interval to stew in, but if he’s nervous, he’s not going to show it. He sees out the last two balls of Anderson’s over and plays a nice wristy clip to square leg.
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“Morning Tim (from where I’m writing),” says David Hindle. “Surely the fact that Ben Stokes gets people out when finally bowling straight and pitching it up, and the fact that the Australian bowlers are a) all very good, b) will bowl at the stumps and pitch it up the
whole time, means this is done and dusted? This will be a monster walloping by an innings, because the Australians have brains and use
them, whilst England – oh dear. And quite a few England batsmen seem to have a terrible technical weakness. They play every line possible except that of a straight ball aimed at their stumps? Okay, the worst offender,
Bairstow is gone, but Pope and Buttler (at least) are well capable of the same. It will not be pretty.” You may well be right! But there are two glimmers of hope for England: half of Australia’s bowlers in this match are beginners, albeit talented ones. And the slow scoring so far has opened the door to the draw. On WinViz, it’s a 33pc chance. England, true to form, are on 4pc.
“Becoming a rabble?” snorts Nicholas Butt (137th over). “Ingerlund has always been a rabble!” I take it you’re too young to remember 2010-11.
Tea: Australia still on top
And off they go for tea. That was a shame for Carey, who had just reached a fine first Test fifty and bathed in the acclaim of his home crowd, but, like Smith’s downfall, it may not do Australia any harm. Out of nowhere, Anderson has his favourite thing: tidy figures – two for 51 off 26.4 overs of dogged rust removal. The session still belongs to the Aussies, and so do the Ashes. “It’s almost irrelevant,” says Alastair Cook, “what Australia get now.” He knows whereof he speaks.
Wicket! Carey c Hameed b Anderson 51 (Australia 390-7)
One brings two for Anderson! This may be a slower ball, as Carey plays too early and chips to cover, where Haseeb Hameed dives to his right and takes the catch as if he was playing for a team that had no trouble with their fielding.
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139th over: Australia 385-6 (Carey 49) Smith stomps off looking furious and chucks his helmet down on the grass beyond the Toblerone. When he cools down, he may reflect that a clatter of wickets now could help him win the match, by making England bat under lights. The partnership, like Smith, just missed out on a hundred (91). A modest round of applause please for poor old Root, who made a double change, yielding a welcome maiden at one end and a much-needed wicket at the other.
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WICKET! Smith lbw b Anderson 93 (Australia 385-6)
Jimmy Jimmy! The oldest swinger in town gets one to move in and keep low. Up goes the finger, Smith reviews but it’s plumb. And that’s another 90 for Australia’s collection.
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138th over: Australia 383-5 (Smith 92, Carey 48) Broad is replaced by Ollie Robinson, his natural heir. He keeps Carey quiet by jagging the ball back into him and completes a maiden, which is a tiny win in the circumstances. “Never seen so many balls hit the back elbow in a Test,” says one of the commentators. That doesn’t fill you with confidence for England’s innings, when the bowling will be a lot faster.
137th over: Australia 383-5 (Smith 92, Carey 48) Smith finds the right riposte to Stokes’s bouncers: an upper-cut for four. England, after rallying this morning, are becoming a rabble again.
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136th over: Australia 376-5 (Smith 87, Carey 46) Thanks Mike. This is Tim, clocking on after a slight mix-up – well, what else do you expect from an Englishman? On the field, Stuart Broad’s over begins with a FIVE as Smith takes a single and Rory Burns’s wayward shy at the stumps goes for four overthrows. Alex Carey follows up with a lordly four, whipped over square leg. Broad’s face, in his 150th Test, is less than celebratory.
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135th over: Australia 366-5 (Smith 82, Carey 41) Just a single of Stokes’s next over as Smith’s off his legs again, to move onto 82. Carey remains on 41 as an off-drive and then a late cut are both straight to England men. And with that, my cameo is over, and the great Tim de Lisle will take over from here. Fun while it lasted.
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134th over: Australia 365-5 (Smith 81, Carey 41) “Oh my word,” says Steve Smith as Broad’s opening ball jags away from him. Not a hint of understatement from the Australian captain’s lips there. Nothing much else to report until the final ball of the over, when Smith tickles one off his legs, and it’s nearly snaffled at leg slip. This partnership is now worth 71.
133rd over: Australia 364-5 (Smith 80, Carey 41) Evening/morning all. Thanks Geoff, stellar work as always. There’s a change to the advertised plan, and I - not Tim de Lisle - will see you through the next few overs at least. There’s a half-hearted shout with a possible sound off the glove as Carey looks to pull a Stokes bouncer, but nothing really. Carey then picks up two thanks to an overthrow and then finds the boundary to move onto 41. A good over for Australia.
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This time I’m out for real. Mike Hytner will be with you in the first instance. Thanks for the company.
“I’m enjoying checking in on the score from a couch in Hawai’i. How’s the press box? Does it feel like it did back in the pre-covid times, or are there fewer, more distanced journos? I briefly went into the press box at the Basin Reserve once, as a journalism student. It was wonderful. Amazing view.”
Hello to Tane Aikman. It’s pretty much as usual, except that everyone is wearing masks when moving around. But that’s the norm most places in Adelaide at the moment. And yes, the view from most press boxes is special.
132nd over: Australia 358-5 (Smith 80, Carey 35) Stuart Broad comes on for Woakes, with the River Torrens at his back. Carey guides a single, thanks to another misfield from Burns. Smith gets one off his legs.
William Vignoles writes in.
“You’re completely right about England but it’s not a new thing - you can’t always have great bowlers or batters but pretty much any team can be turned into a good fielding unit (look at India), but for the last few years England seem to drop at least a couple of chances per game and can’t get a run out for anything. Less of an issue at home but when you’re flogging yourself in 35 degrees on an Australian road you need all the help you can get, and it doesn’t seem like the Test outfit are getting something right in their prep. Cheers as ever for the OBO and TFW!”
131st over: Australia 356-5 (Smith 79, Carey 34) Root is back on, in time to nearly take another slip catch. This one from Carey off Stokes, bounces just in front again. Seem to have been a lot of those, can they creep closer? Carey responds with a nice drive for two through cover.
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130th over: Australia 352-5 (Smith 79, Carey 30) Four for Carey! Gets that bit of Woakes width, increases it by shuffling back, and slashes away through deep third. Woakes to Smith...
who picks him up off a length for six! A cross-bat swat, not even short enough to be called a pull shot really, but somehow Smith times it so well that it clears deep backward square into the seats.
This has been a strange old innings from Smith. A lot of defence, a lot of control, and then the odd yahoo.
Drinks break.
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129th over: Australia 341-5 (Smith 73, Carey 25) Robinson to Smith, who keeps stepping across and trying to work the ball to leg, but doesn’t make any good contact this time around. The crowd burbling away here at Adelaide.
@GeoffLemonSport
— Erasmus (@Bos77) December 17, 2021
How unlucky was Green? According to Warnie, the ball that bowled him was only the second Stokes had bowled on the stumps for the entire innings. (And a bloody good one it was.) Might be a hint there for the England team.
128th over: Australia 340-5 (Smith 73, Carey 24) Woakes in at the body of Smith who defends. Perhaps Australia have no interest in declaring for the last session. Perhaps they’ll just bat for as long as they can ahead of Boxing Day. Certainly no hurry when the bowling is tight.
At last, an edge! But wouldn’t you believe it, when you have a stagged slip cordon with someone at about 1.5 and someone at about 3, it goes through about 2.5 for four.
And it’s a no-ball. Woakes with the front foot this time.
Smith shakes his head and scolds himself for the shot, then improves his mood as he laces a cover drive for four.
127th over: Australia 331-5 (Smith 65, Carey 24) Root is off the field for a moment, probably visiting a prayer room. Robinson gets a thick edge from Carey, near the shoulder of the bat, that rolls into the gully. No damage either way. Eventually Robinson comes around the wicket. Another scoreless over.
126th over: Australia 331-5 (Smith 65, Carey 24) Woakes is on, who has occasionally got Steve Smith out lbw, though usually after a big score. Bowls right-arm over, outside Smith’s off stump, and the stand-in captain is happy to step across and watch the ball sail by. Eventually reaches with soft hands and squirts one off the edge along the ground to Pope at around a third slip. Smith calls for new gloves. England are one wicket away from Neser on debut, but can’t find it.
125th over: Australia 331-5 (Smith 65, Carey 24) Root off, Robinson on. He bowls a very good line on the left-hander’s off stump from over the wicket. The cloud is thickening overhead. The day is still very hot, a tick under 35 degrees in Adelaide.
124th over: Australia 331-5 (Smith 65, Carey 24) Anderson tries to burrow in at Carey’s pad, but is dug out. Then gets clipped square for two. Carey tries to whip his hands through a square drive, but it’s too close to the body. Straighter again and he has to defend. This is a good battle. Carey ends up very side-on when playing Anderson off his legs. Works a single away from there to end the over.
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123rd over: Australia 328-5 (Smith 65, Carey 21) The accelerator work has fallen to Carey! Plays another lofted off-drive to Root, this time hitting it well enough to get four down the ground, though the ball plugs a little on landing. Cuts a single next ball, then Smith takes his cue and lashes a wide ball through cover for four. That might be Root’s last over for a while.
122nd over: Australia 318-5 (Smith 60, Carey 16) More busy play from Carey, throwing has hands through a drive off Anderson, two runs through cover point. Anderson around the wicket, trying to settle on a line that will discomfort Carey.
121st over: Australia 316-5 (Smith 60, Carey 14) The milking continues, Smith pushing Root into the covers, Carey going aerial down the ground for a run. England drifting, drifting.
120th over: Australia 312-5 (Smith 58, Carey 12) Anderson can’t get a look at Smith. Carey soaks up the over, pushing a couple of runs through the covers. Everything moving along slowly out there at the moment.
So what’s the plan? Add 100 in this session and declare some time after the next break with 400 or so on the board? The Australians are only at 2.6 per over so far in this innings, so they will need to pick it up a bit at some stage.
119th over: Australia 310-5 (Smith 58, Carey 10) Root to carry on, another couple of single from the over. Smith looks comfortable against this stuff. Root has got him out twice in Test matches, but both times Smith had made double-hundreds first.
Patrick Cummins to return home
News just in: the Australian captain has had permission from South Australian health authorities to go home to Sydney rather than sit in isolation for another five days in Adelaide. He’ll drive himself to the airport and take a charter flight arranged by Cricket Australia, so that he won’t cross over with anyone else. Then he’ll complete his isolation period at home. Seems vaguely sensible.
118th over: Australia 308-5 (Smith 57, Carey 9) Anderson to partner Root from the Riverbank End. Carey takes him on at one stage too, but can’t beat point.
117th over: Australia 308-5 (Smith 57, Carey 9) Joe Root to commence after the break, and Carey pulls out the reverse sweep in quick time! Picks up three runs. They farm a few singles either side, like a one-day innings.
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Ellie Oldroyd on the BBC is going for “nursery tea” for that long break. Like minds.
“Winning the last toss and losing this one already looks like defining England’s series (give or take some dropped catches, flakey batting and front foot no-balls),” writes Brian Withington. “Any thoughts on how England can be given some sort of handicapping advantage to even things up more? (Assuming Australia losing their captain and another front line bowler doesn’t prove sufficient…)”
Lunch - Australia 302 for 5
I’m just going to call it lunch, having lunch at 4:30 in the afternoon is perfectly civilised. A better session for England! It started with great frustration as Marnus Labuschagne was given yet more lives and raised his century, but after finally prising him out the session tally was 80 for 3. Relatively even, with the score already past 300, but at least there was some evenness in the contest.
The cheering aspect for Australia will be that SPD Smith is still there, immovable, implacable, coming for the world’s tired bowlers.
116th over: Australia 302-5 (Smith 55, Carey 5) Stokes with the last over before the long break. Around the wicket, bouncing the left-hander, too short to make him do anything but duck. Gets a bit fuller and has Carey fencing, past the inside edge into Buttler’s gloves. Short again, pulled hard on the bounce to leg slip, well stopped.
That’s lunch, or dinner time for babies, or whatever it is.
115th over: Australia 302-5 (Smith 55, Carey 5) Root bowling around the wicket to Carey, off-breaks to a left-hander. Conventional field, three either side of the wicket on the single, one slip, boundary riders at point and square leg. Carey drops the ball to point with soft hands and bolts a single. For Smith, the deep point comes up and a second outfielder is added behind square leg.
114th over: Australia 301-5 (Smith 55, Carey 4) Off the mark with confidence is Carey, hooking Stokes between the two deep fielders behind square, past a tumbling Malan on the rope for four. A leg bye follows. Stokes looks very weary after he bowls the last ball of the over to Smith.
113th over: Australia 296-5 (Smith 55, Carey 0) Root burns through another over, with a leg slip in place for Smith, who nudges a ball past that man for two.
112th over: Australia 294-5 (Smith 53, Carey 0) As Ali Martin has just noted next to me, some unconvincing middle-order performances from Australia both here and Brisbane have only underlined the cost of England giving so many chances to Warner and Labuschagne in those matches. It’s Alex Carey’s turn for a hometown welcome.
WICKET! Green b Stokes 2, Australia 294-5
He didn’t leave it, but he does make another low score! Bowled again! A beauty from Stokes. He finally pitches a ball up. It’s on line for middle stump but just shapes away a touch. Enough to beat the edge of a misplaced defensive stroke, and not so much that it beats the outside of off stump. Lovely piece of bowling.
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111th over: Australia 291-4 (Smith 52, Green 0) It was evident immediately that Head wanted a piece of the part-time spinner. That desire brings him undone. Cameron Green comes to the middle and manages to not leave a ball that hits his stumps first ball.
WICKET! Head b Root 18, Australia 291-4
Talk about self-inflicted! Head charges at Joe Root and basically yorks himself. He reaches the ball as a full toss, realises it’s too full, then has a panicked slog across the line at it. Misses, I think it clips his thigh, and goes back onto the stumps.
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Half century! Smith 51 from 135 balls
110th over: Australia 287-3 (Smith 52, Head 14) The bouncer field is: deep third, backward point, extra cover, midwicket, square leg, short leg, deep square leg, deep backward square, long leg. That’s six-three in favour of the leg side. Truly bizarre stuff. Stokes goes short, and Smith top-edges over the keeper for four to raise his fifty.
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109th over: Australia 280-3 (Smith 47, Head 12) Steve Smith is getting into his stride! A touch short from Root, and Smith lashes a cut shot behind point. A bit top-edgy, but there was enough space out there to make it low risk.
The greediest run-scorer in contemporary Test cricket hasn’t had much time at the table in the last couple of years, but now he’s eyeing another milestone.
108th over: Australia 274-3 (Smith 42, Head 11) Stokes is the other bowling change, and he’s going to try the bombardment tactic like yesterday. Doesn’t work, as Smith lashes a wide short one over backward point, then an even higher bouncer gets called wide. Smith pulls a single to follow.
107th over: Australia 268-3 (Smith 37, Head 11) A couple of stutters from Head, as Root comes on for an over of spin. The batter wants to attack but isn’t in the right spot to do so. Interesting. How many runs can Root make if he has to bowl all day?
106th over: Australia 268-3 (Smith 37, Head 11) Score revision on the previous post, hit refresh if you can’t see it. Robinson bowling from the Riverbank End to Smith, who is happy to keep blocking. He gets a thick outside edge from one such shot, past gully along the ground for a couple of runs, then picks off a straighter ball through midwicket for two more. Make that three! Smith really has the foot down, going to the danger end as Broad throws back, and he demands that Head come through as well. Almost got to the non-striker’s end before Head had left. Robinson strays down leg with the final ball, off Head’s thigh pad for three leg byes.
105th over: Australia 260-3 (Smith 32, Head 11) Almost a slip catch! Head edges Chris Woakes into the cordon, in front of Burns on the bounce. Only by a few inches as Burns lunges forward. Head escapes strike from the next ball, then Smith immediately rotates it back. Head plays a big shot off the back foot but hits it too straight to mid-off.
Score revision! That last ball is an overstep. From the seventh ball, Head does get his flay away, between point and gully for four!
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104th over: Australia 253-3 (Smith 31, Head 6) Smith is happy to bat out Robinson, leaving him alone and forcing the bowler to go straighter. Nothing from the over, and in this heat, each over is a serious effort.
In the commentary boxes, with the windows open, the heat is blasting through like it’s an open fan-forced oven door.
103rd over: Australia 253-3 (Smith 31, Head 6) Woakes after drinks, bowling around the wicket to Head and largely short of a length. Head punches away a couple of runs through the covers.
102nd over: Australia 251-3 (Smith 31, Head 4) There’s the first false shot from Smith, edging to second slip on the bounce. Rory Burns dives across to stop it, but unsurprisingly fumbles the take. Manages not to give away a run. Robinson has been the most threatening bowler, even with his front foot. Then England go up for an appeal as Smith leaves a ball that clips his thigh pad. Not sure if they wanted lbw or an edge. Anything. No dice.
Good one to follow! Finally pitched up, and Robinson gets a bit of movement past the outside edge. Genuine defensive shot from Smith beaten. Only two slips awaiting a catch. Nothing coming though. Drinks.
101st over: Australia 251-3 (Smith 31, Head 4) Woakes on to bowl, and as he did to Warner yesterday, he offers short width early to the left-hander. Head crashes it away through point.
100th over: Australia 247-3 (Smith 31, Head 0) While Labuschagne frustrated England by his reprieves, at least he looked fallible. Smith has been faultless. Robinson’s in-ducker? He gets bat behind it. The away-goer? Steps across and watches it. Anything loose he has dispatched. A big score in the offing. Another extra in that over as Robinson bowls another no-ball.
“Good morning Geoff from icy Piedmont,” writes Finbar Anslow. “Confidently expect Australia to get rolled for just over 300 before England’s openers knock up half of that for the first wicket. Might just go back to sleep at this point, looking forwards to dreams coming true.”
Updated
99th over: Australia 246-3 (Smith 31, Head 0) A couple of bouncers from Broad to Smith, and Smith takes him on, hooking between the two leg-side boundary riders for four. Broad has a leg slip in now, and while bowling at Smith’s hip, gets a deflection that bounces in front of Hameed in that position. Who fumbles it for a leg bye.
98th over: Australia 241-3 (Smith 27, Head 0) Huge hometown ovation for Travis Head as he comes to the middle.
WICKET! Labuschagne lbw Robinson 103, Australia 241-3
The torture ends for England. Bad misjudgement from Labuschagne, he leaves a Robinson delivery expecting it to go past his off stump, but instead it cuts back to hit him just about in line. The line of impact doesn’t matter because he hasn’t offered a shot. Of course he reviews immediately, because he’s Marnus. Hoping it might be going over the stumps. It’s hitting flush at the top of middle.
Updated
Have they got Labuschagne at last?
Given out lbw, sent upstairs.
97th over: Australia 241-2 (Labuschagne 103, Smith 27) Labuschagne’s charmed life continues! Pulls a short ball from Broad through square leg, airborne. The fielder throws out a hand at the ball, which is travelling, and maybe just gets a fingertip to it as it flies by. The fielder, inevitably, is Robinson.
96th over: Australia 240-2 (Labuschagne 102, Smith 27) I know I wrote last night about luck, and I know it’s easy to get stuck into the losing team, but...
these England players don’t deserve to win a Test match. They can’t do the most fundamental things right. Self-inflicted.
A leg bye follows, meaning two extras are the only scoreboard adjustment resulting from the over.
You are not going to believe this
I had just written out the post for the wicket. At last, in anticlimactic fashion. Ollie Robinson on to bowl, decent line, Marnus pokes, low edge that Buttler takes falling to his right. At last, something going for England. Labuschagne walks off. All the way to the boundary.
Then gets turned around. NO BALL. Only by a whisker. It takes a zoomed in replay. But there is no part of Robinson’s shoe behind the line.
England. What even are you.
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95th over: Australia 238-2 (Labuschagne 102, Smith 27) Broad to Smith, no run from the over...
“Not really sure what todays play will bring,” writes Stephen Holliday. “Then again, I’m in Toronto, watching over my washing machine that refuses to drain but I still expect my clothes to be dry before England get to bat. So maybe it’s all in the suds.”
Century! Marnus Labuschagne 100 from 287 balls
94th over: Australia 238-2 (Labuschagne 102, Smith 27) Oof! When is the last time James Anderson knocked a bat out of someone’s hand? And with a delivery at 127 kph, too. Labuschagne may - outlandish I know - have added some spice to that. A slightly shorter ball that hits up near the gloves and his bat goes flying.
Two balls later though, he opens the face and steers Anderson away, between slip and gully, for four! There it is. A highly patient innings, in between two huge slices of luck. He follows it up with a brace through midwicket.
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93rd over: Australia 232-2 (Labuschagne 96, Smith 27) Broad carries on with his tight line, but as soon as there’s an error, Smith leaps on it again. A length floated full, and Smith sends it flowing through the covers for four. Broad gestures to himself in annoyance about where the delivery went wrong.
92nd over: Australia 228-2 (Labuschagne 96, Smith 23) Anderson tries a couple of short ones early. Smith pulls a single, Labuschagne pulls the bat inside the line. Two slips, a fairly deep gully, cover, mid-off, mid-on, midwicket, square leg, long leg.
91st over: Australia 227-2 (Labuschagne 96, Smith 22) Stuart Broad from the Cathedral End, with the grass hill and the giant fig trees behind him. (The figs... no wonder Kevin Pietersen liked batting here so much.) He’s over the wicket to the right-handed Labuschagne, after spending so much of yesterday around the wicket. And already it doesn’t look difficult for Labuschagne to block a couple, glance a single.
This was a brutal toss to lose.
90th over: Australia 225-2 (Labuschagne 95, Smith 22) A couple of leaves from Smith to begin, one pulling the bat inside the line in a way that draws a vocal response from some of the crowd. Anderson strays wide with one ball, and Smith stands up tall to force off the back foot behind point for four! Decisive shot.
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We’re off. Jimmy Anderson with the newish ball. Smith on strike.
Tell you what, the specialist spinner will have a lot to do in these conditions...
Sorry?
The last bits of warm-up equipment get ferried off the ground. A couple of kids holding flags wait at the end of the players’ races. A few uninterested security guards dot the boundary. The big remote-control camera buggy prowls the outfield like a dystopian sentinel. Black Mirror cricket is about to begin.
The walk down through Adelaide’s central city to the ground was slightly more intense today than yesterday. Wouldn’t fancy bowling 30 overs of pace in it.
Weather update: as already mentioned, it’s hot - the mercury has now tipped 37C. But there’s also some cloud cover today, and it’s blustery out there in the middle.
Think it’s fair to say there will be a degree of scrutiny on Jos Buttler today, not least from the Adelaide crowd, who were on his back towards the end of play yesterday after he spilled that late chance to send Labuschagne packing.
And excitingly, here is our Guardian Ashes Daily podcast again: a collaboration between Emma, me, and Adam Collins.
I wrote about Australia largely getting away with losing a captain to Covid restrictions on the first morning.
Emma John naturally harked back to Bodyline, in 1932-1933. Starring Hugo Weaving as Douglas Jardine.
Here’s Simon Burnton, with the day one post-play quotes.
Right, what have we got for you from day one at Adelaide? Here’s the match wrap from Ali Martin, who was tapping away next to me in the press box.
Preamble
Good Adelaide afternoon to every other timezone around the world. The very early hours of the morning in the UK, well done if you’re awake for this. It was a long slow grind of a day yesterday, with no pink-ball dynamite moments, some very careful Australian batting, and two more dropped catches that drove stakes into the hearts of England.
The only thing is to hope that today might be different, but today is currently 36.3C and it’s only early afternoon. England’s bowlers have some very tough work ahead of them, and will have to pray that some early exchanges go their way. They have a ball only nine overs old, so that may offer something.
The score is Australia 221-2, with Labuschagne to resume, thanks to dual fortune, on 95, and Smith on 18.
