Anyhoo, I’m going to wrap this blog up now. There isn’t much more to say - Australia have hammered England for the eighth time in nine home series, the end. We’ll have reaction and features as the day/night progresses. In the meantime I’ll leave you with Ali Martin’s report - bye!
“How has Silverwood not resigned yet?” says Dave Adams. “If Test quality sides were made of platitudinous interviews, we’d be world beaters. Given that they’re not, we should dispense with his services forthwith.”
Empathy not eejitry.
“Useful tip for English readers,” says Kim Thonger. “To reduce the OBO pain, toggle the ‘show key events only’ button, just under where it says Live Feed. It’s still not pretty but it’s over and done with quickly, like ripping a plaster off a wound.”
“Hi Rob,” says Steph Cooper. “It’s difficult to know quite how county pitches can be improved while the bulk of the county championship matches are played in the Spring. The Summer seems to be given over to the one-day game, including T20 and now the dreadful Hundred.”
Yes, it’s clearly not a quick fix, but I’d imagine it’s something the ECB will change over the next 3-4 years. And if they don’t, the hell with them. The closest thing England have to a quick fix is to take Eoin Morgan for dinner and pick his gigantic brain.
Pat Cummins summed up Australia’s performance perfectly: relentless when they needed to be - when it really mattered - and patient with the bat when the going got tough. The result isn’t surprising, or even particularly exciting. It’s the manner of it that has so many people smiling.
Australia have demolished England without some key players: Josh Hazlewood missed two Tests and Cummins one, while Steve Smith, who pretty much decided the last two Ashes series off his own bat, missed out in a couple. Hand in hand with that comes the excitement of watching new and emerging players thrive: Scott Boland, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Jhye Richardson, Cameron Green.
When the dust settles, we might remember this series for the subtle evolution of an established Australian team - that and Boland’s day in the sun. After only two Tests, Cummins has given bowling captains a good name; Green already looks like Australia’s best top-six allrounder since Keith Miller; Marnus Labuschagne has proven beyond even unreasonable doubt that his form isn’t a fluke. It’s become a cliche to say this isn’t the greatest Australian team, and that’s probably true, but it’s still full of truly great players.
There are tougher tests to come next year - all of them on the subcontinent, culminating in a humdinger in India - but this has been nigh-on the perfect start for Cummins. The emergence of Green is invaluable, as it allows Australia to play three seamers and two spinners in Asia, or even two seamers and three spinners should India prepare a particularly special pitch.
This is what’s coming up next year, provisionally, for the men’s Test team:
March: Pakistan (A) Three Tests
June-July: Sri Lanka (A) Two Tests
September: Afghanistan (N) One Test
Oct-Nov: India (A) Four Tests
Nov-Dec: West Indies (H) Two Tests
Dec-Jan 2023: South Africa (H) Three Tests
Updated
This is the link I was trying to post earlier
"The first-class game has been pushed to the sides" - @Trotty
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) December 28, 2021
"The system as a whole needs to change" - @Harmy611
"I think [the schedule] really needs to be looked at" - Moeen Ali
The passion shown by these three 🔥🔥🔥#Ashes pic.twitter.com/pP6SDMHCua
“Greentops last April (all in the first round of Championship matches): Kent 455, Northants 434, Essex 490, Worcestershire 475, Lancashire 407, Hampshire 612,” writes Gary Naylor. “It’s not the pitches that determine batting difficulty, it’s whether the sun shines or not. The only thing wrong with the Championship is that they don’t play enough matches with the sun out (ask Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head).”
That’s an interesting theory. Either way, I suspect 99.94 per cent of us agree that better batting conditions = better Test teams. It’s probably no coincidence that New Zealand made a conscious effort to improve their pitches a few years ago.
Updated
“Totally agree that Root should not be captain,” says Ben Skelton, “but who in this team is good enough to merit a guaranteed place and thereby qualify as a potential captain? Surely Anderson is too old. The only possible contender seems to be Stokes, but would he want the job?”
Of course he would, and he’ll get it by default if Root resigns at the end of the series. Root, Stokes and maybe Robinson are the only players who are near certainties to be in the team throughout next summer. The Botham/Flintoff precedent isn’t so disturbing now that he is an occasional bowler, and you’d expect him to be more inspirational than Root. But he’s no Eoin Morgan – and even if he was, the system would still need fixing.
“My England team for the next Test,” says William Vincent.
- Laurel
- Hardy
- Morecambe
- Root (c)
- Wise
- Little
- Large
- Marx G (w)
- Robinson
- Wood
- Anderson
“Except, of course, that Robinson, Wood and Anderson will be rested for the more important fifth test and replaced by Marx H, French and Saunders.”
Read all about it!
I dare you, I double dare you.
Sky Sports Cricket's Rob Key says county pitches are not producing enough Test cricketers for England and need to be improved...🏏😬
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) December 21, 2021
This is a cracking stat from Shankar Mony “Mitchell Starc, who didn’t even set the series alight with his batting, has scored more runs than anyone in the England team bar Root and Malan. That’s a damning stat.”
I’m not sure the word ‘damning’ is damning enough.
“Here’s a question: is there a moment/decision in recent years that led us here?” says Max Williams. “In less than a decade we’ve fallen from the world’s number 1 team to, well, this. We celebrate the decisions that brought about eventual success - Morgan’s impact on the ODI team post 2015 World Cup or the introduction of central contracts that helped create the 2005 Ashes side. Is there an inverse of those sliding door moments that resulted in this nadir (both series and 2021 as a whole)? Off the top of my head I’d say not giving the Test captaincy to Morgan after Cook resigned.”
I’m not as clued up as some but I think this precedes 2015. Rob Key, who is really good on the subject, says that pitches in county cricket were getting much worse towards the end of his career. I have a feeling, though I’d need to LOOK AT THE GODDAMN DATA, that the system was already in decline when England were No1 in the world. That said, it certainly got worse once they made that Faustian pact to win the World Cup.
England are still the fourth or fifth best team in the world, which doesn’t really compute after what we’ve seen in the last nine months. But they need a new captain, probably a new coach and certainly a change in the county system, especially the pitches.
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Chris Silverwood, the England coach, has his say
“It’s disappointing for us all, but I’ve got to give some credit to the Australian attack. That said, we have to find of competing and pushing back against them. We want to take something away from this series.”
To be honest he’s just spouting cliches, same as Joe Root in his post-match interviews. It’s understandable in the circumstances - they both look a bit shell-shocked - but doesn’t make for a great interview.
"We have to find a way of competing against [Australia]"
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) December 28, 2021
"There are positives coming out of this"
England head coach Chris Silverwood reflects on going 3-0 down inside twelve days of cricket.#Ashes pic.twitter.com/7lTlQQQOTg
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And here’s an even happier Scott Boland
“[Can you believe what’s happened?] Ha, no, not really. Coming here today, we thought we had a good chance of winning, but I didn’t think it was gonna happen that quickly!
“I found out I’d be playing on Christmas Eve at about 5.30pm. Since then I’ve had great support from family, friends and teammates. I thought it would be really tough - it’s a big step-up from anything I’ve played before, so I was just hoping to make a little bit of an impact.
“I’d like to thank the crowd so much for their support, I really appreciate it. [You’ve picked up the Mullagh Medal - what does this mean for indigenous Australia?] There was about 17 of us that went away a couple of years ago to commemorate the tour from 1868. We got to learn so much about that tour and what went on. My family would be very proud and I’m very proud to win this award.”
Updated
And here’s a very happy Pat Cummins
“It’s pretty insane [to be an Ashes-winning captain]. Just an awesome few weeks… I’m so proud of the group. Everything’s clicked. I’m so happy for Scotty in front of his home crowd today. It’s an amazing feeling.
“I think we’ve been relentless with bat and ball when we’ve had to be. The bowlers have turned up and owned that good area around the top of off stump. The batters have really earned their runs. They’ve left well and when the opportunity has presented itself, they’ve been brave and taken the game on.
“It’s a great sign of the health of Australian cricket that we’ve got so many players to choose from. We were really confident Scotty would do well – maybe not six-for in four overs!”
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Joe Root speaks
“Credit to Australia, they blew us away last night and they’ve outplayed us in this series so far. We’ve got a lot of hard to work to do to make sure we come back strongly in the last two games.
“It’s not ideal [the Covid outbreak in the camp] – I thought the way we bowled yesterday was outstanding, as good as we’ve been on this tour. We’ve just got to do things for longer. There have been small pockets [of playing well] but nowhere near long enough. We need to look at the next two games as a real opportunity to take something away from this tour.”
Updated
That was England’s lowest total in Australia since 1902. There will be stats galore in the next few hours, most demonstrating the poverty of England’s batting. Here’s one: England’s average of 24.13 runs per wicket in 2021 is their lowest in a calendar year since 1950.
England came to the ground today needing a miracle. Instead they were on the wrong end of a fairytale: Scott Boland, aged 32, took the cheapest debut five-for in Test history, and on his home ground as well. Look at these figures: 4-1-7-6. You’d have to be a seriously sour England fan not to find joy in that. (Also, given Boland’s figures, there’s a line about England being at sixes and sevens, but I can’t make it work.)
Updated
Thanks Jonathan, morning everyone. If you had 15.4 overs in the sweep, congratulations. That’s how long it took Australia to pick up the last six England wickets. The daft thing is that England started pretty well - Ben Stokes and Joe Root played positively and with authority until Stokes was cleaned up by a jaffa from Mitchell Starc. Once that happened, the rest was just admin.
Updated
I’m off for a lie down in a cool room. Rob Smyth is here to conduct the post mortem.
But before the obituaries are drafted, let’s celebrate Australia. This is a serious bowling unit. Potent, deep, superbly led by Pat Cummins. Scott Boland was the hero today, but they have all dovetailed brilliantly all series.
AUSTRALIA RETAIN THE URN#Ashes pic.twitter.com/YLrn7co2JU
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2021
Anderson with the ball, Root with the bat, both deserve better. These are awfully dark days for English cricket.
Imagine being James Anderson, bowling your guts out for the 312th time in Test cricket, taking 4 for spit, keeping Australia to a small lead despite your batters’ pathetic first innings, then you’re back out there batting for the match before lunch the next day. #Ashes
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) December 28, 2021
That Test lasted just 165 overs and ended inside seven sessions. Scott Boland will remember every second.
Scott Boland:
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2021
. . W . W 1
1 . 3 . W .
. . . W . .
W . W 2 . .
4-1-7-6 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/jRqfjplrTV
Australia win by an innings and 14 runs - and retain the Ashes
Clinical from Australia. Abject from England.
Updated
WICKET! Anderson b Green 2 (England 68 all out)
Full. Straight. Anderson misses. Green hits. Wicket. Ashes.
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27th over: England 67-9 (Buttler 4, Anderson 2) Anderson sees off Boland’s remaining deliveries, and milks a couple of runs for his troubles. Boland has figures of four overs, six for seven. Lol.
Rob Smyth (who is primed to take over here on the OBO) informs me that this is the best five-for on debut (and presumably the best six-for) in Test history by Boland.
6-15 Charlie Turner, 1886-87
5-15 Vernon Philander, 2011-12
Full list here.
WICKET! Robinson c b Boland 0 (England 65-9)
Make that a six-for! Another length delivery, thick edge from Robinson, straight to Labuschagne at third slip. Easy as that.
Updated
This is grim from England. Even accounting for all the mitigating factors, form, quality of Australia’s attack etc etc, this is very very grim.
WICKET! Wood c&b Boland 0 (England 65-8)
Boland has a five-for on debut. Another length delivery, blocked back in his direction by Wood and the big Victorian holds onto the catch in his follow-through.
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26th over: England 65-7 (Buttler 4, Wood 0) A rare bad ball from Green, allowing Buttler to punish a full toss through the covers for four.
“If Joe Root does step down as captain (and he definitively should) I’d make Jos Buttler captain,” argues Peter Kelly. “Any runs he could get down the order would be a bonus. Would not want Stokes to take over captaincy. England seem to make their best batsman captain and it affects their batting. And there isn’t enough strength in depth to cope with that. There isn’t enough strength full stop. I think when Root steps down he can focus fully on his batting and he will end up as one of the top three run-scorers of all time.”
25th over: England 61-7 (Buttler 0, Wood 0) Magnificent over from Boland, every ball probing. Wood was mostly an onlooker from his share over the spell after Root’s dismissal. Four for five from three overs. Incredible figures on debut.
Australia made 267 and they're going to win by an innings. Absolutely abysmal from England.
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) December 28, 2021
@JPHowcroft I keep thinking this would be a really exciting match if Australia didn't have a sneaky second innings up their sleeve.
— LeviWhitts (@LeviWhitts) December 28, 2021
Updated
WICKET! Root c Warner b Boland 28 (England 61-7)
No records for Root. No miraculous escape for England. Just the continuation of a dream debut for Scott Boland. Perfect seam bowler’s line and length from the Victorian, sending an RSVP for a cover drive that Root accepted a fraction late, sending the ball straight to David Warner at first slip. Who fancies a long lunch?
Updated
24th over: England 61-6 (Root 28, Buttler 0) Just a single to Root from Green’s latest over. I’m a bit dazed, to be honest.
There would be something quite fitting about Joe Root missing out on the record for Test runs in calendar because he simply ran out of partners
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) December 28, 2021
23rd over: England 60-6 (Root 27, Buttler 0) Boland rips his first delivery at Buttler past the outside edge. The MCG is alive once more. Not like last night, but the tempo is back, and England are on their knees.
@JPHowcroft If Root does step down as skipper, who is the guy to step up?
— Vectron44 (@vectron44) December 28, 2021
Another block in the jenga tower of misery that is English cricket.
WICKET! Bairstow LBW b Boland 5 (England 60-6)
Cheers from the parochial crowd inside the MCG as home favourite Scott Boland comes into the attack, and THERE’S A DROP FIRST BALL! Bairstow tries to cut a delivery too close to his body and it flies hard and fast just to the left of Cameron Green in the gully. The reaction is good from the fielder, but he can’t hold on. He is stood very very close. Following the single, Root shows his county colleague how it’s done, executing a textbook backfoot punch through the covers for three.
But that only brings Bairstow back on strike, and he’s soon on his way. Squared up by a lovely delivery from Boland, the bat comes down heading to leg, instead of straight, and the ball thunders into the pad. Is it outside the line? Is it too high? Umpire Wilson gives the bowler the benefit of any doubt, and DRS backs him up. A couple of ‘umpire’s call’ orange lights, but Bairstow has to go.
Poor Joe Root.
Updated
REVIEW! Bairstow LBW b Boland
The on-field decision is out...
22nd over: England 56-5 (Root 24, Bairstow 4) Cameron Green replaces his captain in the attack, Australia hoping to exploit his good record this series against Joe Root. But the England skipper is batting with intent and whips a shorter ball down to fine leg to get off strike. That means Bairstow is on strike for a jaffa from the big allrounder, a delivery that spits off a length, hits the splice, and lobs just out of reach of gully.
“I don’t know where Simon McMahon (over 16) gets his 10 wicket victory from. He’s either very optimistic or very pessimistic. The only thing standing between England and an innings defeat is another Ollie Robinson cameo.” Andrew Cosgrove bringing the realness.
21st over: England 54-5 (Root 23, Bairstow 3) Starc moves around the wicket so that he can hurl more injurious thunderbolts at Jonny Bairstow. The Yorkshireman stands his ground for a maiden.
“Now, really, all we can hope for is a Root century. And I’m an Aussie. It’s the only meaningful way I can watch this.” Thanks Geoff Prior, it’s good to know we’ve reached the sympathy ton stage of the series already.
20th over: England 54-5 (Root 23, Bairstow 3) Bairstow gets away with a wild attempted pull that misses the bat and connects instead with his left shoulder. That does not suggest a clear mind. A scampered single later Cummins finds that movement off the seam again and connects with Root’s gentleman’s agreement, not for the first time this series, poor guy. On comes the physio with the smelling salts while the England skipper gathers his thoughts, and like a hibernating squirrel, counts his hidden nuts.
Joe Root has passed 1,700 runs in 2021. England's next best has 530.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) December 28, 2021
19th over: England 53-5 (Root 23, Bairstow 2) Make that FOUR straight driven boundaries this morning. Starc too full, Root on it in a flash, the sound of a pure crack in the air, and four crisp runs from the moment it leaves the bat. Gorgeous. Otherwise Root was watchful to Starc, like Cummins, trying to entice the fish outside off.
*Very Mr Robot narrator voice*:
“Maybe this is the day that England (wood explosion)…”@JPHowcroft
— David Lengel (@LengelDavid) December 27, 2021
18th over: England 49-5 (Root 19, Bairstow 2) Both Yorkshire right-handers work Cummins away for runs, but then the Australian skipper fires up for the first time this morning, inducing a thick outside edge from Bairstow, then finding some prodigious movement in off the seam to test his defences. That lateral movement off the pitch, at the pace of this Australian attack, is unplayable.
“At this point, I’m starting to wonder if the best thing to do for English cricket would be to cut and run, citing the new wave of Omicron coronavirus,” suggests Sam Stevens. It just blatantly can’t be good psychologically for our players, going out and getting absolutely humiliatingly pasted time and again. At this point, only Jimmy, Robinson and Wood are coming away with any real credit.”
17th over: England 46-5 (Root 18, Bairstow 0) After a good 20 minutes or so for England, it’s back to the obits. Superb delivery from Starc mind you.
Mitch Starc now leading all bowlers with 14 wickets for the series at 19
— Martin Smith (@martinsmith9994) December 27, 2021
13 of those 14 have been top 7 batters #Ashes
Updated
WICKET! Stokes b Starc 11 (England 46-5)
Another straight driven four! This one was meatier than the previous two, Stokes throwing his hands at a fuller wider one form Starc and getting enough on it to send it back from where it came from, with interest. Aesthetically, that was Haydenesque. Oh boy. In response Starc rips through Stokes like he’s a hologram. That was Akramesque. Fast, length delivery, tailing in to the left-handed batter off the pitch, and Stokes was beaten before he could decide what his plan of action should be. A perfect delivery on this surface and a massive early breakthrough.
Updated
16th over: England 42-4 (Root 18, Stokes 7) To my untrained eye Cummins is a bit too short to Root in a straight up-and-down maiden over, but then Ricky Ponting (who is a superb analyst) explains how this is all part of Australia’s tactic to the England skipper, to entice him to play from the crease with his hands away from his body. That’s me told.
“Hi Jonathan,” hello Simon McMahon. “If Root and / or Stokes are still batting by the time Rob takes up the OBO, England will lose by 9 wickets. Otherwise it’s Australia to win by 10 wickets. That’s my prediction.”
15th over: England 42-4 (Root 18, Stokes 7) Anything Root can do Stokes can do leftier. Starc is again too full and the England batter presents the full face of the bat, holds the pose with the high front elbow, and doesn’t bother leaving the crease as the ball clatters into the rope. Bright start by England.
14th over: England 38-4 (Root 18, Stokes 3) Stokes also gets into the runs early with a single off his hip as Cummins opens a little straight to the left-hander. Not the fire and brimstone of last night so far from the Australian quicks.
13th over: England 37-4 (Root 18, Stokes 2) Mitchell Starc is on the money straight away, beating Root’s tentative backfoot fend outside off. The England skipper aims a similar stroke to the following delivery, but this time it emerges as a crisp push into the covers for a couple of runs. Starc then overpitches and Root feasts on the length, punishing the half-volley down the ground for a confidence boosting boundary. Positive intent early from Root.
Ok, on with the show. England’s two best batters are crouched by the boundary rope, bathed in morning sun, ready to climb their Everest. Australia stride out to the middle, smiling, joking, slapping backsides.
Has there been a global dispersion of funny juice I’m not aware of? Some of the fanciful optimism is making me splutter on my double shot oat latte.
@JPHowcroft Joe Root's best score in Test cricket is 4 runs fewer than Stokes's. It would be a fantastic day for him to put that right.
— soupmother (@OGsoupmother) December 27, 2021
Tom V d Gucht is channelling his inner Rick & Morty to bring some jeopardy to this series. “This is my entire sporting philosophy: in an infinite universe, everything has got to happen at some point. No matter how improbable, how unlikely, how much the odds are stacked against you, sporting miracles statistically have to occur eventually. Why not today? Don’t answer.”
Cast your eyes over the deck of doom.
Hit us with your day three predictions #Ashes pic.twitter.com/IQrYmlXvff
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 27, 2021
Despite all the doom and gloom, Andrew Benton has found reasons to be cheerful in 2021. “Despite the current Ashes predicament, and because it’ll all be over by mid afternoon if not sooner, I do think that the cricket year has been a pretty good one,” he emails, “especially given the Covid situation. The ECB have managed at least to keep things going pretty well. And I loved the free to watch county games. 2021 has been (almost) a blast, in fact.”
Richard Chorley reckons today could prove seismic for this English group. “People should have been given advance notice to allow them to pause and celebrate Jos and Jonny’s final red ball contributions for England ahead of today’s innings,” he emails.
It could well be the end of the road (at least for now) for a few members of this group. But as discussed yesterday, it’s hardly as if they are keeping out an army of contenders demanding selection.
The Naylorfesto:
Just the 20 thoughts for you @JPHowcroft. https://t.co/2cpPBUaNLu
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) December 27, 2021
... but that final hour - oh, that final hour - it belong to Australia’s attack in the most brutal, thrilling fashion. Pat Cummins was magnificent. Mitchell Starc was on a hat-trick. But it is the impact of local debutant Scott Boland that caught Geoff Lemon’s eye.
Boland’s story is in many ways representative of the treatment of Indigenous Australians in the nation’s modern incarnation. He did not know of his heritage until he was in his 20s, when his family learned that Boland’s grandfather was descended from the Gulidjan people of western Victoria. For so many people and for so long, that kind of heritage had been hidden or ignored. The Boland family embraced it instead, in a process of learning that is still under way.
If the footballing cliche is ‘a game of two halves’, yesterday’s action at the MCG was a game of six hours. The first five belonged to England, and Jimmy Anderson...
But, of course, Anderson can only do it in England. Never mind that he now averages fractionally better (a shade over 33) in away Ashes Tests than he does at home. Or that he averages 12 in away Tests this decade. The caricature of Anderson as a green-wicket phenomenon remains a stubbornly persistent myth, even within his own camp. Certainly you suspect it contributed to his omission in Brisbane and subsequent rustiness in Adelaide. By the time Anderson was finally up to speed, the Ashes had all but gone.
Geoff is thinking like an Australian. In England we call this kind of logic fantasy.
Here’s the setup. Resuming on 12, Joe Root:
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) December 27, 2021
☑ is 97 away from the most runs in a year.
☑ has never made a hundred in Australia.
☑ can create a Test win if he does.
Over to you, skipper. Carry that team one more time.
Rob Lewis wins the prize for the first email of the day.
“Spare a thought for my son Josh - known to his friends as Duke. He married his Aussie love Ella in August, and they had plans to move from Cambridge to Melbourne soon after the wedding. So Duke bought tickets for several of the Ashes matches, being a fanatical cricket follower, sometime spinner and umpire. Flights were delayed by Covid until just before Christmas, and without quarantine, at last he will get to see some cricket today - Day 3 of the test! But it’s going to be some cricket, not an awful lot, I imagine. As if all the ribbing and the barracking from his new Aussie family is not enough, he will be witness to the witlessness of this total capitulation. Spare a thought for the lad.”
As a dual citizen (born in the UK, now at home in Australia) I can empathise. Now, Rob, make sure when he’s backed into selecting an AFL team to follow he avoids St Kilda, or his pain will grow every winter too.
We’re just under an hour from the start of play, plenty of time to enjoy the latest Final Word podcast.
So, what will happen today? Will Joe Root and Ben Stokes combine for one of *those* days? Will Australia rip out England’s resistance before lunch? Could England eke out enough of a lead to set a nervous run chase?
To give you an insight into thinking at Guardian Towers, Rob Smyth is already padded up ready to step into the fray, like an England No 7 watching his side’s openers take guard to the new ball.
After a couple of cool and blustery days in Melbourne, day three will be warm, sunny, and glorious.
Day three, here it is. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/c44FMrTo0Z
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) December 27, 2021
To get you up to speed on where we are in this fast-moving Test, here’s Ali Martin’s report from stumps on day two.
Root, who reached the close 12 not out with Ben Stokes for company, may well be reaching the point where he is done with the burdens of captaincy. And not least after a day when, despite news that two coaches and two family members in the touring party had tested positive for Covid‑19, his side displayed renewed fight on this green MCG pitch, only for this to then be undone by a top order still made of balsa wood.
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live over-by-over coverage of day three of the Boxing Day Ashes Test. We’re underway at the Melbourne Cricket Ground at 10.30am local time (11.30pm UK).
Just like Australia’s attack slicing into England’s middle order, we’re going to bypass any opening pleasantries and dive straight into news this morning. Following yesterday’s Covid outbreak in the England camp, further cases have been identified in the touring party following PCR tests, but for now, the match, and the series continues.
Covid Ashes: England's afflicted has in fact risen by two ... now sits at 3 x support staff and 3 x family members ... but game/tour on for now with all others returning negative PCR test results
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) December 27, 2021
Here’s Ali Martin’s report from this morning. There will doubtless be more news filtering out of the MCG as the day goes on as contingencies are discussed regarding the final two Tests of the tour.
Asked on Monday if the tour was in danger, Nick Hockley, chief executive of Cricket Australia, replied: “No. This is what the protocols are for. We are being extra vigilant as there are increasing cases in the community but our protocols are designed for absolutely this set of events.
I’ll be back with more shortly, but if you would like to join in, you can reach me by email or Twitter (@JPHowcroft).
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