So the Ashes return to Australia - with the T20s still to play. England can yet draw the series, so they mustn’t go empty-hearted into the final fight.
Perry is the obvious divide between the two sides. World class with bat and ball and blessed with an absolute patience. Will she be disappointed that Lanning didn’t let her bat on to her second hundred of the match? I don’t think so - she must have known that handshakes were on the cards. And the fun, my friends, is in the accumulation.
Some exciting young talents on display: Gardner and Molineux in particular in this match and Tayla Vlaeminck on another day on a different pitch.
Heather Knight: “I’m disappointed. Congratulations to them but now we’ve got a T20 series to show what we can do, because we haven’t played up to the standards we know we can do.”
“We’ve got a lot of character and resilience in our team, unfortunately the game was gone and it was too much to ask for today but we have to look forward.”
Meg Lanning. Hands on hips, big smile. “It is certainly a good position to be in. We’ve had a hard battle over the last four days but we couldn’t force a result. We came here today hoping to be in a position to enforce a follow-on as we thought that was the best way to win the game, so when that went and we lost those two early wickets, that put a dampner on things.”
“It’s been a lot closer than what the scoreboard suggests. Ellyse is able to bat for long periods of time, she loves playing Test cricket.
And the player of the match? EP!
“The last four days have been incredibly good fun.” she deadpans with a smile. What a player.
That’s it from us for today. Do join us again for the T20 series. Thanks for all the emails and messages - have a lovely evening. Good night!
Updated
THEY SHAKE HANDS - AUSTRALIA HAVE RETAINED THE ASHES
Meg Lanning gives the signal from the boundary, and that is that! Australia have batted out the afternoon and evening and not given England a sniff. Which is entirely within their baggy green remit. A draw between the two teams - ssometomething which was on the cards from day two when the rain curtailed much of the play.
Updated
WICKET! Gardner c Beaumont b Knight 7
Gardner has a gleeful whallop off Knight and is caught at deep midwicket.
63rd over: Australia 227-6 ( Gardner 6, Perry 74) And there is the champagne moment of the match! Gardner launches into her second ball and deposits Gordon straight down the ground and into the confectionary stand (if there was one.) Six big ones.
Updated
WICKET! Molineux b Gordon41
Molineux is bowled off her pads by Gordon, prodding down the wrong line. A super innings by her - she was just starting to motor. What a smart little debut!
62ndover: Australia 215-5 ( Molineux 35 , Perry 74) I like the way Knight is bowling herself now, shows leadership. And I assume they must be about to shake hands? A win is a win is a win, but this Ashes urn will be secured more with a whimper than a bang. That said - this is an awesome side and the win is deserved.
61st over: Australia 207-5 ( Molineux 28 , Perry 73) Well, that was a nice shot! Molineux punch-cuts Gordon for four. Ten out of ten for crunchiness.
60th over: Australia 200-5 ( Molineux 23 , Perry 71) Um. Not much to say really. Knight bowling. One off it.
59th over: Australia 199-5 ( Molineux 23 , Perry 70) A couple from Gordon as the sun starts to set on this game. Perry has to get a wriggle on if she wants this century.
58th over: Australia 197-5 ( Molineux 22 , Perry 69)
Some wisdom from Tat Wood in my email box:
It seems to me that the apparently odd decisions of both captains are guided by the simple fact that everyone only really get this one chance to be a test cricketer. So I don’t think they’ll come off before they absolutely have to.
Perry has a chance for a significant first - a third successive test century.
I’m old enough to remember Mike Deness as men’s captain and the jokes about replacing him with Rachael Heyhoe (‘at least she wins occasionally’).
The women’s game now has a degree of parity in support (mainly because the ECB seems hell-bent on making the men’s game unappealing to kids) but if the paucity of test sides and available slots is making things like today happen the whole enterprise will stay marginal.
The big winner here has been Taunton. If the scheduling had any logic to it, regional grounds would capitalise on women’s cricket as a way to stay afloat.
57th over: Australia 195-5 ( Molineux 21 , Perry 68) Molineux decides to make hay. She sends a Gordon full-toss over the boundary for four. And an even better shot next ball, through the covers and tantalisingly near the rope, but Elwiss finds the energy to stop it. Super fielding.
Tuvic has a pun to share:
Surely, Ellyse has sighted another Ashes century in her Perry-pheral vision here...
Updated
56th over: Australia 188-5 ( Molineux 15 , Perry 67) Knight doing a job for her team here - ah, until that full toss which Molineux sends away with a crack to the boundary.
Updated
55th over: Australia 183-5 ( Molineux 11 , Perry 67)
54th over: Australia 180-5 ( Molineux 9 , Perry 66) Just one from Knight’s over as Molineux and Perry are determinedly and grittily boring. Grind them girls, grind them!
53rd over: Australia 179-5 ( Molineux 9 , Perry 65) Blah. A maiden from Gordon.
A tweet has arrived from Africa. I love modern communication! - though I do think my kids, you kids, are missing something by never having to write on a wafer-thin blue paper in spider scrawl their deepest thoughts before posting it into the air mail sack.
@tjaldred meg lanning should declare already, was supporting them but the negativity has driven me away from aussies. All the way from Kenya
— Edmund Karis (@E1_Mago) July 21, 2019
52nd over: Australia 179-5 ( Molineux 9 , Perry 65) Fran Wilson’s tired legs can’t quite lift her high enough to catch a drive from Molineux at cover. She’s on as sub for Sarah Taylor - still off with that shoulder injury.
51st over: Australia 178-5 ( Molineux 8 , Perry 65) If this match really is going nowhere, perhaps the teams will be shaking hands early? The captains can consult in half an hour. Four off Shrubsole’s over, an easy glide to third man and beyond by Molineux.
50th over: Australia 172-5 ( Molineux 4 , Perry 65) What an over by the skipper: a leg bye, a wicket with a low roller and a full toss disappearing for four.
WICKET! Jonassen b Knight 37
And from nowhere! Knight brings herself on and sneaks through Jonassen with her third ball.
Updated
49th over: Australia 166-4 ( Jonassen 26 , Perry 64) Just a single from Shrubsole’s over. Full marks to her for effort this late in the day.
An email from Pauline, or Bruce. I’m not sure. Anyway:
This proves that it should be a 5 day test.
The attitude, skill and performance from both teams have been worthy of a full five day contest.
I cannot understand how sandpapergate crept into the commentary.
It rubs people up the wrong way. They never forget.
Perhaps it does go against the grain. (Sorry.) TBH I’m over it. If as a crowd we forgive Ben Stokes for a full-bloodied fight, we should forgive for cheating.
Updated
48th over: Australia 165-4 ( Jonassen 26 , Perry 64) Jonassen powers a full-toss from Elswiss up and high and down to the rope. Another boundary follows. Not much pressure. Not much anything. Australia lead by 310 - come on, gives us a wee treat for the last hour...
Updated
47th over: Australia 156-4 ( Jonassen 26 , Perry 64) A cracking ball from Shrubsole finds the edge of Perry’s bat, and Taylor can’t get her paws to it. It rattles over for four more. Not sure if that is why, but Taylor runs off at the end of the over, and Jones pulls on the gloves.
46th over: Australia 151-4 ( Jonassen 25 , Perry 60) Jonassen has a mighty Sunday slog off Elwiss for four.
Time for a chorus of this? #WomensAshes https://t.co/fS24jBffdz
— Raf Nicholson (@RafNicholson) July 21, 2019
45th over: Australia 146-4 ( Jonassen 19 , Perry 60) Perry does some shadow batting at the non-striker’s end. And then some real batting, prodding forwards and blocking Shrubsole with a drop-dead gorgeous defence. Perhaps a moment for the purists.
Sarah Bacon is banging her keyboard with some fury.
What the ... ?!!! We’re STILL batting?! Ellyse Perry, famous for being a gal who has to be dragged kicking and screaming from doing batting practice in the nets, is not doing herself -- or Australia -- any favours here. And while knocking England out before close-of-play isn’t guaranteed, a shot at it is surely warranted, isn’t it? *Gnashes teeth*
Yours in ... frustration,
44th over: Australia 145-4 ( Jonassen 19 , Perry 60) Elwiss dibble-dobbles on the tiddlewinks spot.
OB Jato has dropped a line:
I wouldn’t have minded five days of this fun! However, there’s no use crying over spilt milk, or spoiled schedules ... At least Perry has crossed 50 in her Test career, again! One hopes Australia declare ASAP, but we all know this will be a draw either ways. This was a spectacular contest with no definitive winner - most of Test cricket defined for you!
Thanks OB. I’m not sure if I’d go as far as spectacular. More hard-fought? Determined? For me the captains “settled” a bit too much for it to be spectacular. Any thoughts?
43rd over: Australia 144-4 ( Jonassen 18 , Perry 60) A better over from Shrubsole. The last ball leaps from nowhere off the pitch and hits Taylor behind the stumps - who rolls over with the impact. It’s hit somewhere near the left shoulder and she seems in quite a lot of pain - but she wriggles her fingers to the satisfaction of the physio and things seem to be ok.
Katherine Brunt hasn’t come out after tea with a sore shoulder after that dive at cover in the field.
42nd over: Australia 142-4 ( Jonassen 18 , Perry 59) Elwiss delivers five dots and a full toss which is treated with lofty distain and a big heave-ho by Jonassen through extra cover and over the rope.
Updated
41st over: Australia 138-4 ( Jonassen 14 , Perry 59) So no declaration and just 41 overs left of this Test. Will they declare? When will they declare? Kudos to England who still look very chirpy and have a big friendly huddle before the start.
At last Shrubsole gets her mitts on the ball. The first delivery is short and wide and Perry cuts it for four. The over improves as Perry plays and misses and then treats the remaining balls with respect.
Romeo writes:
Afternoon Tanya,
I’m really quite disappointed Australia don’t want to make a proper game
of this. There are people watching at the ground, more than there have
been on the damp days, and they could just declare now and say ‘Have a
go’. It’s a bit unfortunate they won’t.
For the sake of the game, and the reputation of women’s cricket, I would love them to declare. But I can see why Lanning hasn’t. She doesn’t have to, she wins the Ashes with a draw, and crowd pleasing isn’t in the Baggy Green handbook, even post sandpapergate.
Here we got then - the last session of the Ashes Test 2019 and Australia are .... batting.
TEA
40th over: Australia 134-4 ( Jonassen 14 , Perry 55) Knight goes back to her winning hand - Laura Marsh, in what will probably be the last over before the tea break. Only one from it - but to be honest the ball is in Australia’s court now. England just watch, and wait. And bowl.
And that is tea. The players wander off. Australia lead by 279 and there are a minimum of 44 overs left in the day. A declaration would leave England chasing 280 off 41 overs - a run-rate of over six.
Something to ponder over a cup of tea and whatever is hiding in the larder.
FIFTY! Ellyse Perry. Freak.
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 21, 2019
That's all. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/J8uM4rtucy
39th over: Australia 133-4 ( Jonassen 14 , Perry 54) Two off the over and we see the Australian balcony where arms are folded, in pockets or hidden.
Perry passes (another) fifty!
38th over: Australia 131-4 ( Jonassen 13 , Perry 53) We tarry a while as the umpires replay a run-out call, a smart bit of work by the Ecclestone-Taylor combo, but Perry is just home. Then a slightly shorter ball from Brunt, and Perry leans back and dispatches a missive through backward point for another fifty! So in her last two Tests.... a double century, a century, and an unbeaten fifty. Not bad lass.
Abhijato has a suggestion: “Give them 280 to chase off 40 overs, Australia ... It might produce one of the greatest finishes in Test match history across genders, after all!”
You never know as Perry now has her fifty and it is nearly tea. What will Lanning do in the break?
Updated
37th over: Australia 125-4 ( Jonassen 13 , Perry 47) A dabble past third man and Jonassen sends Ecclestone for a boundary..
If Australia were to declare now, England would have to chase six an over.
And hooray! An email arrives with a flourish into my inbox.
Hello Tanya!
Hello Avitaj!
Steve Waugh would have probably declared in this situation, eh?
Surely Australia must back their bowlers on this pitch.. (okay, I admit I just want a last hour finish).
Oooh I don’t know. Would he have applied enough mental disintegration?
Updated
36th over: Australia 120-4 ( Jonassen 9 , Perry 46) Brunt drifts a fraction wide and Jonassen drives through the covers, with a low back knee, and it skims along the grass and over the boundary. Then again, slightly less prettily, an edge through gully for another four.
35th over: Australia 112-4 ( Jonassen 1, Perry 46) Sophie Ecclestone does like a sleeveless sweater. The skies at Taunton are less cornflower blue than murky ink. Short sleeves for the batters, sunglasses for the umpires. Just two from the over as Jonassen gets off the mark. Ah, now we have Katherine Brunt.
34th over: Australia 110-4 ( Jonassen 0, Perry 45) Elwiss rattles through the balls, tick, tick, tick. Perry pulls her first ball for four, just another single from the over and the minutes and the overs and the day tock away.
33rd over: Australia 105-4 ( Jonnasen 0, Perry 40) Each time you see that catch, it looks a little better. A screamer! It was coming super hard too. Beaumont and Ecclestone are utterly thrilled.
WICKET! Mooney c Beaumont b Ecclestone 25
A super catch by Tammy Beaumont at short leg, as Mooney goes to have a huge slog, she gathers it in the folds of her jumper at belly height. And England dismiss the enforcer!
Updated
32nd over: Australia 103-3 ( Mooney 23, Perry 40) Just a couple off that Elwiss over.
This is very true:
We've talked a lot about how England risk "trial by media" if they lose this match; but it is worth remembering that the same goes for Meg Lanning too - if she declares too generously and Australia lose, we're guessing the Aussie media won't give her a free pass!
— CRICKETher 🏏 (@crickether) July 21, 2019
31st over: Australia 100-3 ( Mooney 23, Perry 37) Beautiful shot by Mooney off Ecclestone - a simply delicious drive for four through the covers. Add a leg bye and a single and it is six off the over. Perry is definitely struggling, lamely jogging a single where normally she’s ease through - which of course will also be preying on Meg Lanning’s mind. A non-bowling Perry confuses the equation.
Do email me if you want to chat/moan/ponder on tanya.aldred.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet @tjaldred.
Updated
30th over: Australia 94-3 ( Mooney 18, Perry 37) Marsh gets a rest at last as Knight turns to Elwiss and whispers instructions in her ears. Elwiss scampers in briskly and Australia get just one from the over. We see Perry and the Australian coach bent over a pad of paper .....
29th over: Australia 93-3 ( Mooney 18, Perry 36) A classy shot from Mooney outruns the fielders, through the covers and over the boundary. A little less class a little more arse later on, up and over slog-sweep for four through midwicket.
Just watching some analysis on SKY which shows that Perry is struggling with her back leg. As she lunges forwards to muffle the spin, she’s actually struggling to get back up again.
Updated
28th over: Australia 82-3 ( Mooney 7, Perry 36) I like watching Marsh bowl, she’s on tiptoe in her delivery stride, long, elegant arms, almost balletic in her poise. Mooney knocks three from her. And we continue in this arms-length fencing period.
Inside Lanning’s mind?
If Australia declared NOW, England would need to score at 4.2 runs per over to win the game; and England would almost certainly go for it.
— CRICKETher 🏏 (@crickether) July 21, 2019
27th over: Australia 80-3 ( Mooney 5, Perry 36) Gordon is flighting the ball nicely and Perry seems content to play her out. Mooney has an ugly swipe to the penultimate ball - she must be the enforcer of the two.
26th over: Australia 78-3 ( Mooney 4, Perry 35) Yummy, yummy says Bel Mooney as a tasty full toss floats towards her from Laura Marsh. Bang, she gets down on one knee and hammers it to the midwicket boundary. She’s certainly happy to gee things along a bit. A session and a half to go... if Australia want to go for the win, they’ll need to pull the declaration from the horizon. Australian lead now 223.
25th over: Australia 73-3 ( Mooney 0, Perry 34) Gordon has a spring in her step now. Some great fielding by Brunt at cover prevents a Mooney boundary. Afterwards she looks accusingly at her elbow in the way you do when it really hurts and you’re hoping for gushing blood and sympathy, but all you get is a slight reddening. And that’s drinks!
Updated
24th over: Australia 72-3 ( Mooney 0, Perry 32) Two wicket Marsh continues - her tenth over of the day. A Perryish drive through the covers is the scoring shot of the over.
Incidentally, I’ve just come back from Old Trafford where a T20 game is about to start. The place is rammed, queues going into the ground, kids, mums, the works. The ECB fantasy writ large.
23rd over: Australia 67-3 ( Mooney 0, Perry 28) What a wicket! What a pancake delivery! Still they all count - and Gordon strikes in her first over. She has Lanning lunging forwards, front leg unsteadily overbalanced, and then pulling her through midwicket for four, before the breakthrough. Softly, softly, catchee monkey.
WICKET! Lanning caught Elwiss b Gordon 21
An absolutely awful ball, pure Sunday evening dross, and Lanning pummels it away where it is caught by an alert Elwiss at cover. Huge breakthrough for England.
Updated
22nd over: Australia 60-2 (Lanning 15, Perry 27) I love how Australian field chat addresses teammates as “girls” but English field chat says “ladies”. Lots of encouragement as Marsh bowls another maiden to Lanning.
And lots of encouragement, I hope, as Tanya Aldred takes over from me. Thanks for your company, I’ll see you for the first Women’s Ashes T20 and then the men’s Tests.
21st over: Australia 60-2 (Lanning 15, Perry 27) Steam Train Perry rolls on, tooting happily all the while. Neither umpire nor left-arm spinner will stop her. Ecclestone may be tiring a bit, giving width for Perry to drive through cover for four. Time for Kirstie Gordon? She was good in the first innings when she first came on.
20th over: Australia 55-2 (Lanning 14, Perry 23) A quick single for Perry punching Marsh wide of mid-off. Lanning finally gets going when Marsh drags down, allowing the Australian captain to dip and swat a pull shot through long leg.
19th over: Australia 49-2 (Lanning 9, Perry 22) They’re playing two different games out there. Lanning blocks out another maiden from Ecclestone. 43 balls for 9. Perry has faced 38 for 22.
18th over: Australia 49-2 (Lanning 9, Perry 22) Ellyse Perry pushes on, a lot more positive than Lanning at this stage. Flicks a couple off Marsh.
17th over: Australia 46-2 (Lanning 8, Perry 20) Huge lbw shout against Perry, not given! “Out,” say several people at once in the press box, and indeed it should have been. Ecclestone striking flush on the front pad as Perry defended. There was a bit of angle towards leg stump, so the umpire either decided there was a nick or the angle was going down. Neither was true on the replay. Should have been given, would certainly have been challenged by England if there were DRS.
An Ashes Test without DRS, let’s remind ourselves.
Updated
16th over: Australia 44-2 (Lanning 8, Perry 18) Heather Knight the skipper is setting up at second slip on her knees, following the lead of Marcus Trescothick who has done this a bit here at Somerset. The thicker edges on this wicket can come low. A nice touch that Knight is doing this in front of the Trescothick Stand. Amazing that the big batsman is retiring this year after debuting in first-class cricket in 1993.
No lack of bounce for Marsh though, who bowls another beauty through the gate of Lanning, but this time it bounces over her stumps.
15th over: Australia 44-2 (Lanning 8, Perry 18) Perry does it again, making her own length from Ecclestone. Looks so easy for her. Four driving the low full toss through midwicket.
14th over: Australia 40-2 (Lanning 8, Perry 14) Down the wicket, Perry, turning Marsh’s ball into a full toss and driving it straight for four. Nudges a single, then Lanning chops away behind point and belts back for two. Ellyse Perry’s live Test average is now over 70.
Updated
13th over: Australia 33-2 (Lanning 6, Perry 9) Huge shout for Ecclestone against Lanning. The left-arm ortho stock ball, turning and beating the outside edge. The toe of the bat just clipped the ankle section of Lanning’s pad as the ball went past. Good umpiring from Martin Saggers. Another maiden.
12th over: Australia 33-2 (Lanning 6, Perry 9) Lanning steers Marsh away past slip for two runs. A bat-pad on either side of the wicket, plus a leg slip. Shrubsole in there I think? Unusual spot for an opening bowler. Good that England are attacking though. They stay in position for Perry. Got to get her early, but her defence is so solid. She isn’t drawn into anything she shouldn’t be.
Updated
11th over: Australia 28-2 (Lanning 3, Perry 7) Four runs for Perry, glancing Ecclestone fine. What do the Australian pair do? Do they stay positive and push on, or play safe? They’re 173 in front.
10th over: Australia 23-2 (Lanning 2, Perry 3) Maiden, maiden, maiden, then Perry and Lanning work four runs from Marsh here and there.
Updated
9th over: Australia 19-2 (Lanning 1, Perry 0) Eccles to Lanning, up for a huge lbw shout but the ball has struck her just outside the line of off stump. Another maiden. Australia feeling the heat.
Updated
8th over: Australia 19-2 (Lanning 1, Perry 0) It’s all spin, all the time, so these will be some shorter updates. Marsh bowls another good over, but one ball bounces so erratically that it evades Taylor for four byes, despite Knight putting in every effort in sprinting after it from slip.
Updated
7th over: Australia 15-2 (Lanning 1, Perry 0) A maiden from Ecclestone to Lanning. Perry is yet to face. Just hearing confirmation that Haynes opened the batting because Nicole Bolton has hurt her thumb.
6th over: Australia 15-2 (Lanning 1) Of course, standing between England and bowling anyone out are
a) Meg Lanning
b) Ellyse Perry
Who will now probably just bat for five hours and kill the match. But get one of them early and things will start to get very interesting.
2 for 2 from one over for Marsh in this innings, after batting so well to avert the follow-on. It’s the Summer of Marsh, I’ve been saying this for weeks.
WICKET! Haynes lbw Marsh 1 (Australia 15-2)
And another down, and another one down, another one bites the dust! Last ball of the over, Haynes stretches forward, Marsh straightens the ball down the line to the left-hander from around the wicket. Hits the pad bang in front! Forget declaration bowling, England are just going to bowl them out. (Eight wickets to go, granted.)
Updated
WICKET! Healy b Marsh 13 (Australia 14-1)
What a delivery! What a piece of bowling! That’s her Ashley Giles to Damien Martyn in 2005, though with the other arm. Marsh bowls an off-break from around the wicket. Floats it across the right-hander with plenty of drift outside off. Draws Healy forward into a drive, then shreds the ball back in towards the stumps and through the gate. Lovely, lovely bowling.
Updated
We’re back after lunch with Laura Marsh to bowl...
This is terrific.
In Sarah Taylor’s safe keeping between Ecclestone overs. #WomensAshes pic.twitter.com/TCBwcFqPKW
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) July 21, 2019
I got an email from Dave Langlois wondering why Sarah Taylor wasn’t wearing keeping pads yesterday. The inside scoop is that they’re inside (scoop). Taylor wears smaller football-style pads inside her trouser legs. You can see the slight outer corner of one in the shot below.
5th over: Australia 13-0 (Haynes 0, Healy 13) The last over before lunch, Healy faces out Ecclestone, chopping away off her stumps at one stage. The final ball is a pie though, which is also what we’re enjoying in the pavilion. Healy drives it straight for four. Time for a meal, with tactical intrigue to follow. There are 76 overs remaining, and Australia lead by 158.
Updated
4th over: Australia 9-0 (Haynes 0, Healy 9) It’s a bit of a conundrum for England. They’re diving around in the field, trying to be upbeat. They’ve got two slips and two gullies for Haynes after Healy takes a single from Brunt. But at the same time, they don’t really want to stop runs, because they need Australia to score quickly. And they don’t really want to take wickets, because if a few fall then the Australians will go defensive and try to grind. I guess you can take the positive view of trying to bowl Australia out, but that’s not likely to happen within the 30 overs or so that would leave England in the game. But, it’s worth trying, I guess. It’s good that England are trying something.
3rd over: Australia 8-0 (Haynes 0, Healy 8) If Haynes was sent out to boost the scoring, it hasn’t worked yet. Another maiden facing Ecclestone, with a couple of shots finding the field. Maybe she’s just there to stop Healy doing something reckless against spin.
Updated
2nd over: Australia 8-0 (Haynes 0, Healy 8) Now we’re away. As is so often the case these days with Healy at the crease. She gets width from Brunt and threads the needle at point with a square drive for four, then glances a leg-stump ball just past Taylor’s attempted catch and down to fine leg for another.
Updated
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Haynes 0, Healy 0) Here we go! Tactical innovations ahoy. Ecclestone is opening the bowling. Four catchers around the wicket! Yes, yes. Australia have sent Haynes out to open with Healy, and Haynes can go at a fast clip when she wants to. Is this to get the score moving or does Nicole Bolton have an injury issue? Eccles nearly gets Haynes immediately! Trying to pull, not short enough and hitting the pad but sliding down leg side. It’s chaotic in there, close fielders and exclamations ahoy. Questions asked each ball. And it’s one of the more eventful maidens you’ll ever see.
Updated
England declare at 275-9, trailing by 145
107.1 overs: England 275-9 declared (Ecclestone 9) I’m not sure what the point of batting on was, because England have just cost themselves an extra over before the lunch break by facing one delivery from Jonassen that took a wicket. There are now 23 minutes till lunch, we’ll lose two overs for the changeover, and there will be a normal lunch break followed by two extended sessions to make up for the overs lost on day two.
The situation is: 83 overs left in the day, and Australia 145 ahead. So, say Australia bat 25 overs, put on another 100+, set England something like 260 and leave themselves something like 56 overs to bowl England out. Are they game? Are both teams game? How will Australia bat? More shortly.
Updated
WICKET! Marsh lbw Jonassen 28 (England 275-9)
Marsh, sweeps, misses, and now England declare.
107th over: England 275-8 (Marsh 28, Ecclestone 9) There it goes! The follow-on is avoided as Marsh carves through cover for four. Declare. Declare! Australia want to keep bowling so Molineux can get five-for. England haven’t gone off. Heather Knight in the rooms is wearing her whites, looking ready to field, but why aren’t they doing it?
Updated
106th over: England 270-8 (Marsh 23, Ecclestone 9) One more run to dodge the follow on. Ecclestone doesn’t do it convincingly, backing away and wiping across the line but getting enough toe on that shot to clear mid-on for four. Tries to find that last single, but Jonassen is all over her, flighting and pitching on just the right length and beating the bat repeatedly.
105th over: England 266-8 (Marsh 23, Ecclestone 5) It’s Laura Marsh day, ladies and gentlemen! This is the Marsh who briefly opened in T20s, not the one who made that Test fifty. She smacks Molineux through the covers, then lifts her over midwicket. Back to back boundaries, and the follow-on dodge is only five runs away.
104th over: England 258-8 (Marsh 15, Ecclestone 5) Jonassen to Ecclestone, and this is a gripping over of Test cricket. A maiden, but cat and mouse, the ball flirting with the edge of the bat, Ecclestone just trying to keep it out. She survives.
103rd over: England 258-8 (Marsh 15, Ecclestone 5) Every run being sweated upon by both teams now. Marsh is happy to take a single and let Ecclestone face Vlaeminck. Why not, as Eccles plays a very assured shot off her pads for four! Then farms the strike, though there’s a moment of drama as they half come down for a second, then bail out before there’s a dismissal.
102nd over: England 252-8 (Marsh 14) Sciver out last ball of the over. England are 19 runs adrift of the follow-on avoidance mark. Sophie Ecclestone can bat through. Sciver was furious at that dismissal, she swung her bat wildly in frustration. A Test century goes begging, as it did for Rachael Haynes in the first innings. That will hurt. Next chance will be in late 2021.
WICKET! Sciver b Jonassen 88 (England 252-8)
That’s what Jonassen does! Never the biggest turner or the most imposing, but she’s so accurate and challenges the stumps again and again, with little variations. She nearly gets Sciver by drawing a big leading edge that lands between mid-off and mid-on. But takes her out the very next ball with a cross-seamer going in flat at the stumps, a bit fast and a bit too low as Sciver tried to dab it through backward point, and it takes the underside of Sciver’s glove back onto the stumps.
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101st over: England 250-7 (Sciver 87, Marsh 13) Tayla Vlaeminck bowls a bit too full, and Sciver whips off the pads, nicely timed and it will beat long leg for four! Going square of the wicket with that shot. Loses her line down leg a couple of times, allowing Sciver to get another single. A short leg comes in for Marsh, rather than the leg gully from last over, but Marsh backs away a fraction to give room to angle the ball at her body into the gap at cover and get two runs. Not shy about coming back on strike. This has been really smart batting from Marsh today.
Follow-on watch: 21 runs.
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100th over: England 243-7 (Sciver 82, Marsh 11) After the drinks break it’s Jonassen again. Twice Marsh gets a bottom edge hard into the ground trying to cut. The first goes past her stumps. The second bounces high into the air, comes down to land in front of middle, and then Marsh calmly plays a little late dab to knock it away from the timbers. Alyssa Healy behind them can’t believe it, bursting out into laughter at just how casually Marsh defused that problem. Marsh grins. Play on.
99th over: England 242-7 (Sciver 81, Marsh 11) More moves from Lanning. Nicole Bolton comes up to Healy to fetch a helmet, and... she’s going in to leg gully. Very nice. Vlaeminck is the bowler and will keep going at the ribs. Sciver jabs a single. From around the wicket, the bowler pings in a brilliant bouncer at the head! Marsh is not having a happy time, and leapt away from that ball. This is compelling stuff, and what Vlaeminck brings to a team.
Follow-on watch: 29.
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98th over: England 241-7 (Sciver 80, Marsh 11) Jonassen goes at the stumps as she always does, and Marsh goes boldy, as the motto goes, by kicking away a ball: not pitching outside leg, as might be normal, but from a left-armer bowling around the wicket. So that ball was pitching on off stump, very much live for an lbw. But angling down leg, and Marsh must have been very confident or very daring. Padded up, and there was no appeal. I know umpires who would have given that out just on principle.
Follow-on watch: 30 runs.
97th over: England 240-7 (Sciver 79, Marsh 11) Tayla Vlaeminck will come on for her third spell of the innings. Which is funny, because a third spell is usually what it takes for me to type her name. Ha ha hilarious. No, not really: names aren’t that hard, and hers is basically just Fleming, but in... Flemish. She doesn’t bowl like Damien though. Not pitching it up to swing, but stars this spell pitching it short at Marsh’s body. Once, twice, thrice. Rice. Mice. Nice. In at the hip and for a second there was a risk of Marsh gloving to Healy. Maiden over.
96th over: England 240-7 (Sciver 79, Marsh 11) A bowling change, Jess Jonassen’s left-arm straights for Molineux, who may not get a chance now at a five-for on debut like Betty Wilson. Perhaps in the second innings. Sciver cuts a couple of runs for the only scoring shot.
Follow-on watch: 31.
95th over: England 238-7 (Sciver 77, Marsh 11) Now it’s Marsh going again. I’m sorry Laura, I’ve maligned you. Not doing anything crazy, but tapping Gardner’s full toss calmly through cover for four after Sciver took a single.
Follow-on watch: 33.
94th over: England 233-7 (Sciver 76, Marsh 7) Molineux bowls an over on the dot, and the only score is a Sciver single.
Follow-on watch: 38.
93rd over: England 232-7 (Sciver 75, Marsh 7) Gardner is really looping some balls up, making them wait. Sciver is getting creative, shifting her stance a couple of times to open up the field for singles. Marsh is creative too, down on one knee to lap the ball fine.
Follow-on watch: 39.
92nd over: England 229-7 (Sciver 73, Marsh 6) No swamp for Marsh today! She backs away from Molineux to carve a cut shot through cover point, four runs. Stylish and effective, like an Italian autumn wardrobe.
Follow-on watch: 42.
91st over: England 225-7 (Sciver 73, Marsh 2) Laaaaarvaly, in Jamie Oliver’s fake Cockney. Ash Gardner on for off-spin from either end. Sciver has had enough. A little shuffle into position, a big back-swing, and a booming straight hit that lands inches inside the rope. That was a mighty boosh.
Follow-on watch: 46 to go.
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90th over: England 221-7 (Sciver 69, Marsh 2) Molineux again, and Marsh can score runs! Apparently she was going after them in the nets this morning, and now she drives a couple out through cover. That’s the spirit. Three from the over with a Sciver single to move to 69. They’re 50 shy of the follow-on.
89th over: England 218-7 (Sciver 68, Marsh 0) Finally Sciver does see some bowling, and carves Perry through the cordon for four. Perry bowling too wide this morning. Then oversteps for a no-ball, something that umpires have let her get away with a lot in the past. Sciver jabs a run. Then Perry loses a ball down leg side for an extra. She’s probably a bit stiff and sore after the last couple of days.
88th over: England 210-7 (Sciver 63, Marsh 0) Laura Marsh to the middle. Owner of the second-slowest Test half-century by an English player (291 balls) and the one who said after day two that England were still well in this match. Not sure if those are the attributes we need in having England set up the chance of a result. She’s nearly the fifth wicket for Molineux though, inside edging an arm ball past her leg stump. In the meantime Sciver has barely had strike.
WICKET! Shrubsole st Healy b Molineux (England 210-7)
I don’t mind that. Gone, but doing the right thing in trying to keep the score moving. Shrubsole advances at Molineux to whip through midwicket, but the length is too short for it and Molly has put some scrambled-seam turn on it. Sharply past the outside edge and into Healy’s gloves. Proper off-spin.
87th over: England 210-6 (Sciver 63, Shrubsole 11) A boundary! A sweet, luscious boundary. Get the juices of life coursing through ya. Perry gives a bit of width, and Shrubsole plays a species of cover drive, performed with the motion of a short-arm jab: going staccato at the ball and jarring to a stop at the point of impact, but striking it well enough to split point and cover for four. Shrubsole tries again a couple of balls later, wider and with a lot of bottom hand as she reaches for the ball, but hits it too square to point. Edges the fourth ball, but with soft enough hands along the ground to second slip. Ash Gardner is at gully. Last ball of the over, Shrubsole takes on the short ball! Big top edge, and it loops into the deep for a three. They’re now 61 from the follow-on.
86th over: England 203-6 (Sciver 63, Shrubsole 4) Sophie Molineux bowling to Shrubsole with four around the bat. Slip, gully, bat-pad on either side of the wicket. I like this from Lanning. Pressure on, but also gaps in the field. Shrubsole shuffles, chips a run into one of those gaps wide of mid-on. Escapes the examination, and for Sciver there’s only one slip and a short leg.
85th over: England 202-6 (Sciver 63, Shrubsole 3) Are these signs of intent? Of lovely, lovely intent? Perry has the ball, the great destroyer, but Shrubbers goes after her with an off-drive that misses, then wipes a single through square leg. Perry is getting some swing early in the day too. Just the one run off the over, but some hope to move the game on given the way it was scored. Shrubsole has tripled her score in the blink of an eye.
84th over: England 201-6 (Sciver 63, Shrubsole 2) Right then. Second innings of the match on the fourth morning. England can either try to score with the slightest idea of a win, or continue to block in the hope of a draw. Sophie Molineux the off-spinner starts the day and has taken the new ball. Extra hardness and bounce. Sciver starts cautiously and takes only a late single. Last ball of the over, Shrubsole takes a run! She now has 2 off 37 balls. And away we go.
As ever, drop me a line at geoff.lemon@theguardian.com, or on Twitter at @GeoffLemonSport.
And if you want to catch up on the situation in more detail, here is Raf’s wrap from yesterday.
One thing really stood out to me in yesterday’s play. Here’s an extended thought that I prepared earlier.
Preamble
Right then. What can today bring? In terms of an interesting result, with 108 overs in the day, there are two possible options. One is that England smash another 72 runs in say 15 overs, leaving Australia maybe 30 overs to pile on some runs of their own, then declare to set England a vaguely plausible target. That’s if both sides are willing to take a punt on getting a decent finish and a chance at a result.
The second option is that Australia take four wickets in a hurry and make England bat again, meaning there’s a proper survival innings to play for the rest of the day.
But the more likely option judging by their play last night is that England won’t try to do either of these things, and we’ll play for a pointless draw. The only points of interest there will be whether any of the bowlers or batters can reach some sort of milestone for their own personal satisfaction, starting with Sciver’s chance at a century and Molineux having a shot at five wickets.
Ultimately there is no refuge in a draw for England, because drawing still guarantees they can’t win back the Ashes in this series – it would leave them trailing 8 points to 2, with 6 possible points in the T20s and Australia retaining the trophy. So they shouldn’t be trying to play out a draw, and they shouldn’t be imagining that saving the match will mean anything. But based on their work last night, I have a sneaking feeling they will do that and think that anyway. Prove me wrong, go on.
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