Match report and reaction
Anyway I guess that’s us - thanks for your company and comments. Cheerio.
Sanga is not at all impressed with Australia, and says the senior players need to have a plan, with which they furnish the younger players - the way they were becalmed by Moeen was not good.
Australia did not play well today - 214 was probably 100 below par, and though they had a shy at defending it, an England win was never in serious doubt. Billy Stanlake looked a threat and should be fun to watch over the next few weeks, but overall this is an attack that needs a lot of work.
England, meanwhile, bowled well, and Root and Morgan batted very well, though one of them ought to have made it closer to the finish. The feeling persists that good as this team are, they haven’t quite found the ruthlessness that marks out the best, and if they meet another team having a good day, there’s a good chance they lose.
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England beat Australia by three wickets to go one up with four to play!
43rd over: England 218-7 (Willey 35, Plunkett 3) Target 215 Willey shoves a single to square leg, raising his highest score in ODIs, and then Plunkett slices one to third man. Gosh, this is not so nailbiting, but when Willey drives to mid off, they run one, a direct hit means they can rake another, and then six is deposited into the stand at long on! A fine innings from him, and that’s a pretty solid win for England.
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43rd over: England 208-7 (Willey 26, Plunkett 2) Target 215 England need seven as Richardson begins a new spell, and Plunkett plays out a maiden.
42nd over: England 208-7 (Willey 26, Plunkett 2) Target 215 A quiet over - it’s almost as though Willey can’t smell the egg fried rice that Mrs Harris has prepared downstairs. Some people, eh? Modern sportsfolk have totally lost touch with the common man. One off the over and from its first ball, driven by Plunkett to cover.
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41st over: England 207-7 (Willey 26, Plunkett 1) Target 215 Naser barrels in but after ceding one from five balls, Willey flashes a drive and earns four to wide third man. In commentary, Broad is defending Moeen saying playing his style you’ll win more games than you’ll lose, but surely the point is to win all the games and that means adjusting to circumstance.
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40th over: England 201-7 (Willey 21, Plunkett 0) Target 215 Tye rustles through a maiden to Plunkett, who hasn’t got a handle on his variations in pace.
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39th over: England 201-7 (Willey 21, Plunkett) Target 215 Willey chucks wood at one, muscling four down the ground. England are nearly there.
WICKET! Ali c sub (Short) b Neser 17 (England 197-7)
Moeen, Moeen, Moeen, Moeeeeeen, I’m begging of you please don’t botch your pull. But he does, is caught on the midwicket fence, and again he fails to SEE england home.
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39th over: England 197-6 (Ali 17, Willey 17) Target 215 England are going to win, I think. Neser returns, and Moeen chips him over mid off for four.
38th over: England 193-6 (Ali 13, Willey 17) Target 215 The lower order couldn’t get England hame on Sunday - not that they should have had to really, and they certainly shouldn’t have had to today. But they’re getting it done, as we learn that Alex Hales is England’s scruffiest player and Joe Root their tidiest. Willey then spots Tye’s slower ball and waits for it, waits for it, waits for it, carting it over mid one for four.
37th over: England 188-6 (Ali 12, Willey 13) Target 215 Willey is enjoying himself, driving hard through backward point to the fence. Australia need something monumental to rescue this one now, but instead Willey edges a single.
36th over: England 182-6 (Ali 12, Willey 7) Target 215 Richardson returns after drinks and receives a classic bit of Moeen, who plays a needless hook to a bouncer and top-edges four. Two more follow via dicey drive for two, and Australia are running out of runs, kal vachomer as they say in Aramaic, how much more so, when Moeen pulls the final ball of the over for four in front of square.
“Given the way this game is shaping up, could we yet have a result that offers incontrovertible proof that Australia are in fact better than Scotland?” asks Brian Withington. “And install Australia as hot World Cup favourites?”
I tend to settle uncertainties by evaluating respective rigs, but I can’t decide which of the two looks worse. I mean, yellow trousers. I mean, tartan sleeves. I don’t know, which I know isn’t an answer one is allowed to give when discussing sport, so I’ll just say that it is what is is.
35th over: England 172-6 (Ali 2, Willey 7) Target 215 Ali pulls another single, then Willey cuts hard to backward point for four, shoss. He looks good out there, and as I type that he teleports through my screen and pulls my pants down, a leading edge sending the ball into the air. But with no close fielders it drops short, and England chug on.
34th over: England 167-6 (Ali 1, Willey 3) Target 215 This intensifying. Four dots from Richardson, then Moeen sets himself away with a pull for one, the only run from the over. The required rate creeps up to 3.00.
Meanwhile, all this talk of AJ Tye cannot but remind me of this.
33rd over: England 166-6 (Ali 0, Willey 3) Target 215 Willey inside-edges two to midwicket, taking the runs required to below 50. The field is still really spread, so Australia are either hoping Willey misses one, or that he misjudges a drive when delivered a slower or knuckleball.
32nd over: England 164-6 (Ali 0, Willey 1) Target 215 Willey gets going right away with a single to square leg. England are still a way away, needing 51, though they’ve plenty of time in which to get them. This would be a majestic collapse even by England’s august standards.
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WICKET! Root c Paine b Stanlake 50 (England 163-6)
Hello! Hello! Stanlake has two deliveries left in the game and he finds a jaffa, quick, full, and in the corridor. Root opens the face, doesn’t get enough of it, and suddenly Buttler chucking hands doesn’t look quite so smart.
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32nd over: England 163-5 (Root 50, Ali 0) Target 215 Stanlake comes in and Root pulls away late doors; Stanlake clatter leg stump, and Umpire Dharmasena calls dead ball.
“England’s Root and Morgan have over 300 ODIs between them,” tweets Gary Naylor. “Stanlake, Tye, Richardson, Neser and Agar have 26. Anyone would think England had been prioritising one day cricket over the last few years.”
I’m not sure if that proves it, as Root plays Tests and the Aussies aren’t fixtures. The appointment of Trevor Bayliss, on the other hand...
WICKET! Buttler c Richardson b Tye 9 (England 163-5)
Tye tries a knuckleball and Buttler goes after it but is there far too early and spoons a catch to mid on. If Australia can just get Root, they’ve a minor chance here.
31st over: England 163-4 (Root 50, Buttler 9) Target 215 Tye catches Buttler coming down with a cross-seamer, but an inside-edge onto the pad meant that nothing came of it. And there he goes, moving around in his crease before driving through cover for four.
30th over: England 159-4 (Root 50, Buttler 5) Target 215 Root cuts to third man and that’s his fifty - as composed a fifty as you’ll ever see. He makes it look so easy as to be ludicrous. Anyway, he’s brought Buttler onto strike and he takes one ball to have a look then steps forward and lifts four over mid off like it’s nothing; it is not nothing. He’s not here to hang around, stepping across and pulling a short one only to top edge ... Paine chases it down, dives easily to take the catch, and then spills it even before he hits the ground. That was not so good.
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29th over: England 153-4 (Root 49, Buttler 0) Target 215 Paine brings in a slip and Buttler defends his first ball. In commentary, dub-K notes that Australia should have tried from around sooner.
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WICKET! Morgan c Paine b Tye 69 (England 153-4)
Tye tries from around and delivers not very much, short and wide, but Morgan reaches for it and an under-edge goes through to the keeper. Can Australia find another?
29th over: England 153-3 (Root 49, Morgan 69) Target 215 Tye returns and can do not very much. A two, a wide, a single,, and, and, and...
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28th over: England 149-3 (Root 46, Morgan 69) Target 215 Stanlake returns from one final boust, so Root shows him what’s what, cutting beautifully over backward point to eliminate the fielder and find the fence. He adds a comfortable single off the final delivery, and this is as done as Ronnie and Sammi.
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27th over: England 144-3 (Root 41, Morgan 69) Target 215 Root nudges a single to that favourite area behind the wicket on the off side - Ian Bell, England’s best technician before him was into that as well - and two more singles mean England need 71 off 138 deliveries. I reckon they might win.
26th over: England 141-3 (Root 39, Morgan 68) Target 215 Single to Morgan through midwicket, then Root pulls two which cements the hunnert partnership. Back to that point about the field placings, it makes even less sense given Australia have at no point been able to stop the flow of runs. Six milked from the over.
25th over: England 135-3 (Root 35, Morgan 66) Target 215 Before today, Morgan had scored just one fifty in the last 17 matches, so he’d’ve took this, as Ryan Giggs would say. He’s looked very comfy out there, and illustrates the point by whamming a short, wide one through cover - that was not such bright bowling from Richardson. And nor is that! Another short, wide one, this time outside leg, and Morgan hooks, what looked like an under-edge sending it very fine for four. Morgan is in the groove now, and hauls Root through for a rapid two to long leg, his dive saving him from being run out, and this will be over pretty soon unless something insane happens.
“I think I am missing something,” worries Simon Leyland. “What is a ‘hunnert’ - please tell me it is an example of Grauniad speak!”
Ha ha, I’m afraid not - it’s how Bubbles from the Wire says hundred.
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24th over: England 117-3 (Root 34, Morgan 49) Target 215 Agar returns, and Morgan greets him by raising his fifty via cut to the point fence. That’s the runs for the over sorted and more, but England still add three singles, scoring at 5.16 when the required rate is 3.50.
“England’s target is 215, yet the field is pretty much the same as it would be were they chasing 415,” tweets Gary Naylor. “That can’t be right can it? Yet all teams seem to do this.”
It’s a bit odd, I agree - I guess Australia are looking to get wickets from errors, but there’s just nothing prompting England to make them,
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23rd over: England 117-3 (Root 34, Morgan 49) Target 215 Richardson returns and tries a short one, so Morgan tries a hook. But the ball is too close to his body and he misses - there’s an appeal for caught behind, a loud one, and they consider reviewing when the finger remains fisted, but opt not too - correctly, snicko shows. Richardson then tries a slower full toss and Morgan checks his shot, doing well to see it float between fielders and to the fence. A single follows off the final delivery, and this is all very easy for your Englands.
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22nd over: England 112-3 (Root 34, Morgan 44) Target 215 Stanlake continues - this is his seventh over, so Tim Paine is running out of options. Root slices a single to third man, but in general, England will simply be happy to see him off, I shouldn’t wonder. The over yields just one more single, but Stanlake only has two more left.
What a shot @root66!
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2018
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/5GD7ozecmR#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/xeXKNZ6cY4
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21st over: England 110-3 (Root 33, Morgan 43) Target 215 Maxwell has got Morgan out twice in his last 10 innings, but after Root takes a single, Morgan canes him to the fence at backward square via sweep. This is serene stuff from England, so expect a calamity in the next bit.
20th over: England 105-3 (Root 32, Morgan 39) Target 215 And here is young Billy, who was born in 1994 - how d’ya like them apples? he’s not got a slip for now, which seems strange, especially given that there aren’t any catchers in front of the stumps. Root takes a single towards fine leg, and after Morgan ducks under a short one, he toes a wide one through cover and they run two. Then Morgan twists to midwicket, Head fumbles, and they run two more, but did his hand touch the boundary advertising? Apparently not, says the replay, though I’m less convinced.
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19th over: England 100-3 (Root 31, Morgan 35) Target 215 Maxi Maxwell joins the attack, and England milk him for four singles and raise their hunnert at the same time. What we’re seeing here is gross competence - for those of us who’ve grown up watching England play limited overs, this cannot be stated enough. It’s time for Stanlake, I’d say.
18th over: England 96-3 (Root 29, Morgan 33) Target 215 Agar slings down a tight one, ceding just two singles, but then Root gets down on one knee, certain where the ball is going, and tickles it over his and the keeper’s head for four. That is very pleasant indeed, and the players stop for drinks - Australia could use a stiff yin.
17th over: England 90-3 (Root 24, Morgan 32) Target 215 Root takes a single to cover and then Tye gives Morgan one on his pads ... and he doesn’t miss out, turning it fine - or is it finely - for four. Next, he drives to cover and Marsh shies, cracking the stumps, but video shows yerman was home and plenty. Ian Ward was just saying that he’d have a gully in for Root to stop him running down to third man so freely, and he does just that for a single, which allows Morgan to pull another four when Tye sends down an absolute debacle of a short one. That’s the 50 partnership and England are making this look easy now.
16th over: England 79-3 (Root 22, Morgan 23) Target 215 Agar continues quietly, which is just what England will be after. Five singles come from this latest over - the required run rate is 4.0 - and this partnership needs breaking if Australia have plans to win this game.
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15th over: England 74-3 (Root 19, Morgan 21) Target 215 Root takes a single to point, then Morgan cuts hard and Maxwell, at point, dives for it. He gets a hand, perhaps on the bounce, so that was probably a decent parry rather than a dropped catch. Root then bumps into the covers and they run two - he is batting perfectly for the situation. A wide then follows as Tye rolls his fingers over one - Root’s gloves weren’t far from that - and he eases down to third man for a single from the extra ball.
14th over: England 68-3 (Root 15, Morgan 20) Target 215 Time for some spin, or at least some slow bowling - Ashton Agar has the ball. “No slip - you’d think he’d have a slip wouldn’t you, Stuart,” guffaws Nasser. Straight away, Morgan goes with the reverse sweep, imparting a decent knuck, but picking out the man at backward square. Four more dots follow, but Paine moves the man on the fence finer to combat the move, only for Morgan to get four through the self-same manoeuvre. Australia are back in the need a wicket zone.
13th over: England 64-3 (Root 15, Morgan 16) Target 215 Tye is into the attack and Morgan gets a single driving him to cover - no knuckleball yet. Then Root dabs a single into the off side, sets off, and Maxwell can’t gather! If he had, the shy was on, and he admonishes his oversight with suitable, er, banter. Three off the over, and the required rate is 4.08.
12th over: England 61-3 (Root 14, Morgan 14) Target 215 A single to Root, and then Stanlake serves Morgan one on his toes, so he leaps to divert it to the fence at midwicket. Then, with the final delivery of the over, Root misses his turn to leg and has a moment, the ball hitting his midriff and just passing leg stump.
“Is it too early to say.... ‘and this situation is tailor-made for Moeen’,” asks David Watson.
It’s never too early, I can’t wait for him to hole out with 3 runs needed off 7.3 overs.
11th over: England 55-3 (Root 13, Morgan 9) Target 215 Now Richardson appears at the opposite end to which he started from and Root capitalises immediately, driving through cover for four. The field is 7-2 off side, I think, the plan to get Morgan driving, but the way the score is, he can let the wide ones go by and does. Then, a ball he can pull, down to fine leg for one, and Root then adds a further single to cover.
10th over: England 48-3 (Root 7, Morgan 8) Target 215 Tim Paine brings back Stanlake searching for another wicket, though only allows him one slip. This might just be the decisive passage of the game, because is he can’t breakthrough, by the time this spell is over Root and Morgan will both be in. Anyway, he sends down a decent over, the final one of the powerplay, which yields just a single to Root, until Paine puts in a leg gully, encouraging him to attack Morgan’s ribs, only he offers width and the ball is duly eases to the fence round about backward point.
9th over: England 44-3 (Root 6, Morgan 4) Target 215 England can just knock this around and win - what are the chances of a magic ball from this Australia attack? I know what you’re thinking, brand, style, brand, brand, cricket; brand of, and yoiu’re right, I’m an anachronism. After four dots, Root flicks one off his pads that looks destined for the fence, but Stanlake gets down really well to field. In commentary, Broad observes that Australia’s field is quite defensive, which I find slightly odd with these two busy types at the wicket, but I’m sure I’m missing the point.
8th over: England 42-3 (Root 5, Morgan 4) Target 215 So can Richardson maintain pressure ... not quite yet. A half-tracker that’s every bit as bad as his loosener allows Morgan to pull hard, and he gets fo to fine leg.
WICKET! Bairstow c Head b Richardson 28 (England 38-3)
And they’ve got it! Bairstow connects beautifully with a pull - he’s almost hit it too well,” says SJ Broad in commentary - except he picks out the man at square leg and he’s as furious with himself as he deserves to be. There was not the slightest need for him to play that shot, but he did. We have waselves a ball-game!
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7th over: England 38-2 (Bairstow 28, Root 5) Target 215 Neser returns from the other end and Root gets off the mark with a single to midwicket. Bairstow then fiddles one more before, off the final delivery of the over, Root flicks four down the ground to long on. That was mortifyingly competent, and Australia are getting towards need a wicket territory.
6th over: England 33-2 (Bairstow 27, Root 0) Target 215 Richardson replaces Neser and his loosener is short, wide and slow, so Bairstow creams it through backward point for four. He responds with four dots, but then finds a bit of extra bounce that’s meant to bother Bairstow and with good reason ... but he simply gets up on his toes, channels his weight through the line of ball, and sends four hurtling through cover. That is a delicious shot.
5th over: England 24-2 (Bairstow 19, Root 0) Target 215 Stanlake’s natural length is suited to this pitch – ok, Sangakkara told me that - because the ball skids on without bouncing much. Bairstow edges a single off his third ball, which is the only run from the over.
4th over: England 23-2 (Bairstow 18, Root 0) Target 215 So Australia have their start. The thing is, this is a very Joe Root occasion: no one is better at keeping the score moving without taking undue risks, and 215 to win requires exactly that. But Neser sees things differently, sending down a jaffa first up that whizzes past the outside edge. Another wicket maiden.
“Re Lehmann on Broad,” emails Geraint Rodgers, “What is also forgotten when the Aussies try and justify the abuse that was directed Broad’s way is that he didn’t edge it to first slip. He feathered it to the keeper but Haddin was so immobile by then he kneed it into the slips. This became ‘Broad refused to walk despite thick edging it to slip and therefore deserves everything he gets’ but that simply isn’t true.”
That whole thing was a lot. He could’ve walked, he didn’t, move on - it’s only a game, grow up.
WICKET! Hales lbw b Neser 5 (England 23-2)
Interesting! Neser goes full and straight and Hales looks to turn him away but misses the line of the ball - by quite some way, it must be said. He’s caught on crease and pad, up goes the finger, and that’s Neser’s first wicket in international cricket so well done him - it’s an amazing feeling, take it from me.
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3rd over: England 23-1 (Bairstow 18, Hales 5) Target 215 Hales sees Stanlake trying a short one outside off, so he fetches it and deposits it over midwicket for four. He looks in nice touch and drives hard towards cover for one, then Bairstow crumps four to cover point – it’s so easy for him at the moment – and then another delicious ball-bat sound, the planet racing through cover to the fence.
2nd over: England 10-1 (Bairstow 10, Hales 0) Target 215 Neser will open from the other end, bowling to two slips, and Bairstow dabs his first ball around the corner to backward square leg - they run two. Then, after a dot, Neser offers width and Bairstow guzzles it greedily, cutting hard for four, “When you’re in form, you don’t see fielders you see gaps,” says Sanga, also explaining that there’s just a feeling of body and mind being in tune. Bairstow quickly backs him up by outside for four more. He is really good at the commentary lark - who’d have guessed - and is talking about staggering slips when protecting a low total to attack without sacrificing the area in front of the wicket. I wish I could record everything he’s saying and tattoo it on my eyeballs.
“Can you imagine the conversations that would go on with HR if professional sports people started raising grievances on the grounds they were being subjected to unacceptable verbal abuse by other professionals and members of the public in the course of their day-to-day working activities?” asks Phil Russell. “Can’t imagine a meeting at a competitor company where halfway through the discussions my opposite number started calling me a **** and everyone thinking it was just business as usual. Mind you I don’t work in journalism either so I may be insulated from all this.”
And you’ve definitely never worked in a City law firm.
1st over: England 0-1 (Bairstow 0, Hales 0) Target 215 Stanlake is already up at 90mph, and completes a wicket maiden.
“It isn’t that hard,” tweets Gary Naylor on the sledging thing. “In every other working environment, it’s not 1975. If you bully people in the workplace, you get disciplined and, ultimately, dismissed. And employers run training programmes to educate staff and root it out. Sledging = banter = bullying.”
I don’t think it’s as clear as that. Sport has an edge, and in most workplaces you don’t have one person hurling a hard object at another. I don’t see the problem with a bit of patter; I do see the problem with being an expletive expletive.
WICKET! Roy b Stanlake 0 (England 0-1)
Have a look! Stanlake is on the money immediately, his first ball pushing Roy back. And his second is even better, nipping back and spiriting through yerman’s defences like a knife through a tortured metaphor. What a start!
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Billy Stanlake has the nut/cherry/rock/sphere/globe. Yeah, you’ve not played the game, so advise yourself.
Right then, out come the fielders. They’ll have to go some to resolve this...
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All 10 wickets! Which was the best? 🙌
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2018
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/iBAMP2wE6C#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/YJ34hFd8dk
Ahem.
"I hope the Australian public give it to him [Stuart Broad] right from the word go for the summer. And I hope he cries and goes home. I don't advocate walking, but when you hit it to first slip it's pretty hard."
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) June 13, 2018
Darren Lehmann, August 2013 https://t.co/wiit8Hwb7a
The more I think about this, the easier I think it must be to know what you can and can’t say out there in the middle. Yeah, some things might get said by mistake in the heat of it all, but in general it isn’t that difficult.
Langer says his team will continue to sledge, and he sledges his young daughter when playing cards. He says perhaps they’ll call it banter instead, but it doesn’t matter that much what they call it does it? Just don’t insult people’s families, and be done with it.
Langer literally claims that when he was playing, people didn’t like Australia just because they were good. He really did! He then says when he heard about the ball-tampering, he “nearly died”. In Australia, he says, they’re brought up to play fair, and Hayden and Symonds played hard cricket. I don’t know, really I don’t, but I will say that in my opinion the fuss over what Smith, Bancroft and Warner did was way out of proportion to what Smith, Bancroft and Warner actually did, and I found it hard not to see what happened subsequently as motivated, in significant part, by concerns for the image of CA.
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Nasser is interviewing Tim Paine, who says before he took over, their “behaviours” gradually got worse. It’s kind of odd, this – Justin Langer is sat on his shoulder smiling awkwardly like some kind of boss-parrot.
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I’m looking forward to seeing how Billy Stanlake goes. Australia will need wickets – early ones and several of them. They’ll be looking to him to supply some.
Kumar Sangakkara is unfathomably cool, as cool as a man with dub-Ks has every right to be. He is wearing white throuser! I know!
My kingdom* for those shorts.
*debt
“Scotland are better than Australia,” tweets Gary Naylor. “Not at football.”
Ear, are you sure?
“Way too much international cricket,” emails Mike Marlowe. “All it is doing is tainting the product and the touring teams lose their mystique and watchability as they tour too often. All about the money.”
It’s not just the volume, though that is a thing, but what the point of it all is. I’ve no idea what anyone hopes to gain from this series beyond money, and that needn’t be so - some sort of league would at least give us some “context”.
Or maybe Australia will come roaring back. The thing is, England would fancy themselves to chase 215 in a game of T20, T100, T3π5.72 – or whatever bazzing ruse the ECB are now busy preparing. It’s inconceivable that England won’t win from here, isn’t it?
Afternoon all. So, One Thing We Learnt: Scotland are better than Australia. That’s how these things work, yeah?
Not very good. Australia never really got going. So many starts early on, but early introduction of spin of England made a dent that the visitors were never able to recover from. Maxwell’s half-century, in a useful stand with Agar for the sixth wicket, ensured that Australia went beyond 200 but only just. Moeen and Rashid, with five between them, were the pick of the bowlers along with Plunkett who took three after coming on late to finish the job. Right, that’s me for tonight as I race to the TMS box to talk all things Australia/sandpaper. Thanks for your company this afternoon. I’ll leave you with Daniel Harris. Bye!
AUSTRALIA ALL-OUT 214. (WICKET! Tye c Buttler b Plunkett 19)
Ooooh. Plunkett whacks Tye on the front of the helmet. He’s okay but the support staff race out to make sure. It was via a top edge, watching the replay. But what a response - Tye pops him (nearly) out of the ground! By faaaar the biggest hit of the day. Just on a length he had the room to swing his arms and made wonderful contact into the new Peter May Stand. Every little bit helps at this stage. Unfortunately, though, the show is over when he nicks the last ball of the over. And that’s it! Australia dismissed three overs short of batting the full 50 overs.
47th over: Australia 214 (Stanlake 0 not out)
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46th over: Australia 208-9 (Tye 13, Stanlake 0) A couple of fast yorkers from Wood to the no. 11 Stanlake but he is able to keep them out. Big Billy (I’m legally bound to call him that) isn’t known for his work with the bat.
WICKET! Richardson c Root b Wood 1 (Australia 208-9)
Richardson picks out Joe Root at mid-off. Tried to go long - and made decent contact - but the elevation wasn’t quite there. Not his fault Australia are in strife. Quite an elaborate wicket celebration from Wood and Root. I look forward to a replay of it in GIF form. A chest/hip bump, of sorts.
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45th over: Australia 207-8 (Tye 12, Richardson 1) Plunkett knows the drill bowling at the tail, at the stumps or the helmet. Hard to believe he played his first ODI against Australia all the way back in 2006-07. Indeed, that was the series where he raced through the Australian top order at Sydney with a fine spell of outswing bowling. Always felt he should have played more for England in all formats. No matter, he’s a mainstay of this side now with a World Cup to win this time next year if all goes to plan for the hosts. Just the one single from the over. Five left, if they make it to the finish line.
44th over: Australia 206-8 (Tye 11, Richardson 1) Richardson does well to push one to midwicket. Tye tries to go long down the ground again but instead gets a top edge over the wicketkeeper for a couple. Slaps another, powerfully, to long-off. Richardson swings hard to the last ball but there is no contact. That’s the leggie done, finishing with 2/36 with the wickets of Stoinis and Agar to his name. Bowled.
43rd over: Australia 201-8 (Tye 8, Richardson 0) Tye once again straight back over the bowlers’ head! His eight runs so far have come from two very nice cricket shots. Give the strike to him, I think, Richo. Australia’s 200 up with the stroke. Plunkett, understandably, goes upstairs with a bumper in reply. Tye can’t get the last delivery away, meaning the number ten will have to face the music to start the final Rashid over.
Since the World Cup in 2015, Adil Rashid has taken a wicket every 16 deliveries at the death - no England bowler is more prolific in the last 10 overs of the innings. #ENGvAUS
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) June 13, 2018
WICKET! Neser c Root b Plunkett 6 (Australia 197-8)
Neser attempts to whack Plunkett across the line but the top edge only goes as far as Root at mid-off on the edge of the fielding circle. Maybe a slight change of pace to bring on the error. We aren’t far away from this being over.
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42nd over: Australia 197-7 (Neser 6, Tye 4) AJ Tye is the new man and smacks Rashid back over his head, one bounce four. That’ll do! It is the first boundary off his excellent bowling today. Tye misses the wrong’un, prompting an appeal, but it is turned down. Four runs and the wicket from the successful set.
Big wicket and a great celebration @jbairstow21! 🙌
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2018
Clips/Videos: https://t.co/5GD7ozecmR#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/tFrOwqVpPL
WICKET! Agar lbw b Rashid 40 (Australia 193-7)
Oh yes, that’s out. Agar trying to slog sweep the first ball of Rashid’s new over but doesn’t make contact. The left-hander is struck on the back pad right dead in front. He’s so very out that a review isn’t seriously considered despite the fact that he’s the last recognised batsman.
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41st over: Australia 193-6 (Agar 40, Neser 6) Willey to Neser, who takes three balls to get off strike. Not ideal at this stage. It’s the same for Agar, who takes a single down the ground to finish, keeping the strike for the next Rashid set.
“At the risk of hogging email bandwidth, I felt compelled to respond to the 28th over dialogue with the ever excellent John Starbuck,” emails Brian Withington. “Why indeed shouldn’t Bairstow and Buttler alternate each session? As a fan of YJB’s improved keeping I would incline to favour him with the gloves 2:1 by default, but as you suggest that could be varied to suit circumstances - especially if one or the other has been batting right through with the tail. I am reminded that Professor Ron Greenwood used to alternate Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton in goal for England between games - obviously to do so at half time would have wasted restricted substitution options. But with no such restrictions in cricket between the starting 11, why not mix things up a bit and help both keepers stay fresh and in contention?”
The BBC’s Dan Norcross is another who is big on this. I know the South African side have talked about having a far more flexible batting line-up in Test cricket, as is the custom in T20. In short, I don’t expect we are far away from this sort of thing being the norm.
40th over: Australia 191-6 (Agar 39, Neser 5) Rashid to Neser. Wrong’un! Lucky to survive; didn’t pick it, just got down in time with the blade. Desperate to keep scoring after four dots, Neser scampers back for a second run out to point. There’s a bit of confusion but he makes it back. Keeps the strike with a single. We’re into the final ten now and Neser has the ability to hit bombs, make no mistake. What Australia would give to see a bit of that from him on debut here. His one ton for Queensland included seven sixes, TMS reminds me. That was a hectic hand.
39th over: Australia 188-6 (Agar 39, Neser 2) Shot. Agar’s best so far today, driving the first ball of the new Willey over through the gap at cover. Neser plays a very nice cut when his chance comes, albeit to the sweeper. Then Agar again through cover! Two boundaries in the over. Not usually something to put in bold, but it hasn’t been much of a day for the visitors. Lovely cricketer, isn’t he? Ten from it.
38th over: Australia 178-6 (Agar 30, Neser 1) Rashid back at the perfect time with Maxwell gone and a new man to target. Agar gets a run from the third ball of the over before Neser gets off the mark to point from the first ball he faces in national colours. Agar one more to mid-off before Neser defends a ball that turns sharply away from him to finish. Australia might now be regretting going in with one specialist spinner.
37th over: Australia 175-6 (Agar 28, Neser 0) Neser walking out on international debut to join Agar, who simply must be there at the end to keep his side in it. The latter is on strike, the pair having crossed while the Maxwell shot was in the air. “Bairstow made that look easy,” notes Charles Dagnall on TMS. Not wrong. A single to backward square keeps the left-hander on strike.
Despite picking out the fielder at deep square-leg, that was one of Maxwell's lowest risk innings. He played just 3% false shots, the lowest figure he's ever recorded when he's faced 10+ deliveries. #ENGvAUS
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) June 13, 2018
WICKET! Maxwell c Bairstow b Plunkett 62 (Australia 174-6)
That’s a very good take from Bairstow running around on the backward square leg boundary, taking a clean Maxwell clip that was heading over the rope. Disappointing end getting caught in the deep when needing to bat through. He did bat well, though. The partnership is broken on 84. Can Australia bat out their overs? I suspect not.
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36th over: Australia 170-5 (Maxwell 59, Agar 26) Willey back on now to keep three for Wood at the death. Feisty work from the left-armer, collecting in his follow through and tossing hard back at Maxwell. I like that. Only four singles from the it, England’s bowlers continuing to do plenty right. The partnership is 80 from 98 balls. 18 scoring shots from 47 balls for Agar, Andy Zaltzman notes, right on cue as I hit send.
35th over: Australia 166-5 (Maxwell 57, Agar 24) Plunkett to Maxwell. Short, pulled, four. Easy. A couple more to finish, Maxwell taking on Rashid behind square on the rope. He’s picked his man with the throw a fair way off the mark. “I do feel sorry for him,” Jimmy Anderson says on TMS. “He’s struggling a bit out there.” There is still more than enough time for a Maxwell ton. Australia will need it.
34th over: Australia 158-5 (Maxwell 51, Agar 23) Wood going nicely here, conceding just the four runs. There’s a shout for leg before and a bump ball in there to keep the crowd engaged. The sun has gone down over the last half an hour or so, I should add.
Shoutout to the people that wanted Maxwell dropped. You know who you are...
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) June 13, 2018
Maxwell to 50!
33rd over: Australia 154-5 (Maxwell 50, Agar 20) First ball of the new Plunkett over, Maxwell grabs a quick single to midwicket to raise his half-century. Fair to say, on behalf of those of us who back him in fairly heavily, that it has been a while. 52 balls to get there, his 17th 50+ score in ODIs. It’s Agar who takes control in this over though, flicking precisely through the legside for his first four. He liked it so much that he did it again two balls later! Granted, it was helped along by Adil Rashid who didn’t do enough at deep backward point, but all the same, Agar is into the 20s. The Australia 150 is up.
32nd over: Australia 145-5 (Maxwell 49, Agar 12) Can’t ask much more of Wood here, conceding just a single to Maxwell down the ground. He has that extra yard, allowing him to pop a couple of short balls in at Agar, who is happy to play them cautiously at this stage.
More from Brian Withington. “Warming to the unrequited theme of late era Beatles tracks, as the Aussie team attempt to Come Together on this tour, I wonder if Maxwell is missing a trick by not christening his (suitably sponsored) bat the Silver Hammer?” he asks. “If a bat (like a ship) could be considered female then the obvious strap line under the logo would be She’s So Heavy. Meanwhile Steve Smith could be forgiven for reflecting ruefully on the line “Boy, you’re going to carry that weight a long time”. The End indeed.”
31st over: Australia 144-5 (Maxwell 48, Agar 12) The 50 partnership up from 64 balls with a Maxwell cut. Need to double that up, at least. Agar down the ground adds another, Maxwell doing the same. Agar cuts a couple more to end the over. Good batting but they can’t throw it away now.
Back to Dublin, Amelia Kerr has broken the world record for a women’s ODI, finishing with 232 not out from 145 balls as New Zealand clobbered 440-3. Batting first in each of their ODIs against Ireland, they have gone 491, 418, 440. Fairly handy prep before coming to England for a T20 triseries (with South Africa) then three ODIs. Remember, Kerr is 17 years of age and plays as a spinner. Well, did until last week. Whaddastar. Google her wrong’un to Elyse Villani in the World Cup last year. From memory, I was on the TV commentary at the time and got fairly excited.
30th over: Australia 137-5 (Maxwell 46, Agar 9) Mark Wood back for his second spell. Bowled four at the top, going for a run a ball. Agar finds the sweeper at midwicket then Maxwell the man at cover to keep the board ticking over. No further runs, though. The seamers’ turn to turn the volume down on the Australians as the spinners did earlier.
“Thanks for emphatically correcting me on the Ravi initiative being a movement rather than a campaign (7th over).” My pleasure, Brian Withington. “I rather like the idea of wishing more power to your elbow movement. Puts me in mind of the Hey Jude lyric about the movement you need being on your shoulder. I think I read that McCartney was worried about it and intended to edit but Lennon apparently said it was his favourite line. Fifty years ago this summer - nostalgia, bloody hell.”
29th over: Australia 137-5 (Maxwell 45, Agar 8) Liam Plunkett finally on for a twist. I doubt he’s had to wait 28 overs to bowl in any match, well, ever. Starts really well to Maxwell, who has got his helmet back on now. Attacking the stumps, he’s forcing the right-hander to play conventionally. Five dots follow but the excellent over is undone by a perfect Maxwell clip to finish, beating the sweeper at square leg who only had about 10 metres to move. He’s pretty good at cricket, our Glenn.
“How about England’s two wicketkeepers having a toss themselves?” asks John Starbuck. “The winner gets to choose to open or not, which is significant if England bowls first. This arrangement could suit the test team too, resolving the Cook-partner dilemma.” To take this more seriously than you probably meant it, I’m a huge fan of them chopping and changing based on game situation. Especially in Tests.
28th over: Australia 133-5 (Maxwell 41, Agar 8) Root’s turn to take some tap, Maxwell this time line-driving the spinner over long-off for six more. Nobody does that better. With a wide and four singles, 11 come from the over making 25 from the last two. Maxwell has raced through the 20s and 30s quicker than... oh look, I can’t do that two days in a row. (Wrote last night that Tammy Beaumont went through the 90s faster than Guru Josh. No regrets.)
27th over: Australia 122-5 (Maxwell 33, Agar 6) Why, hello there Glenn! Bang, bang, boom! A couple of boundaries in a row, smacking Moeen down the ground then pulling him through wide long-on. Two balls later, he lifts him over the cover rope for six! Made room for himself and it turned out very nicely. That’s his game. Moeen’s figures ruined a little bit, finishing with 3/43, but no quibbling about how spell. Well bowled.
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26th over: Australia 104-5 (Maxwell 19, Agar 6) Root going just as well as the others, allowing four singles but nothing more, Agar twice to long-off while Maxwell accumulates through the legside. They have put on 18 in 38 balls. I neglected to mention that the Victorian is batting with his cap on. This needs to be noted.
25th over: Australia 104-5 (Maxwell 17, Agar 4) Moeen knows the deal here: get through the set as quickly as humanly possible to keep as much pressure on the rebuilding Australians as he can. It works, only two singles with Agar keeping the strike. What a top spell this has been. Are we still calling him a part-timer? Half way there.
24th over: Australia 102-5 (Maxwell 16, Agar 3) Well, when I said there were six overs of spin left I didn’t factor Joe Root in, this much is true. On comes the Test captain from the Vauxhall End to replace Rashid, who has four left for later. Maxwell runs hard for a couple to square leg then two more to extra cover. He’s working into his day well but every time I’ve said that so far the batsman has gone out, so I’ll shut up. Three good dots from Root to finish, Agar defending each of them.
23rd over: Australia 97-5 (Maxwell 11, Agar 3) Make that six overs of spin left for England, with Moeen going again from the Pavilion End of the People’s Ground. Looks fantastic out of our window here, not a seat to be found. One to Maxwell down the ground, Agar does the same, then the right-hander keeps the strike with a tickle around the corner. He’s into double figures. First time that England have had 11 overs of spin in 23 overs in a home ODI, Andy Zaltzman tells us on ODI. So there you go.
“I get a bit cross about fielders being told off for throwing the ball in from the boundary on the bounce,” emails Romeo. “When I was a boy I was told to do so if it wasn’t a possible run out or you couldn’t throw it far enough. If they’re going to do that, they should also tell batsmen off for hitting it into the pavilion (as Stoinis just did) or the car park.”
A thought I’ve had from time to time as well. But the game has changed and we can’t pretend otherwise. Read Vish’s bit on reverse swing (e.g. the guide to ball tampering) when time permits.
22nd over: Australia 94-5 (Maxwell 9, Agar 2) Right, so we only have seven overs of spin left after this Rashid set, where four singles are taken to the sweepers in the deep. Will Morgan just bowl them both out and worry about the maths later?
An email in from Rob Wright, which is broadly in line with about six conversations a week that I have with my girlfriend.
“An terse exchange in the stands with my wife,” he begins.
Me: “Oh, I didn’t notice they’d ended the power play”
Her: “It happened ages ago. You were probably busy emailing your boyfriend at the Guardian”.
And I just missed another wicket WHILST WRITING THIS EMAIL.
Thanks for ruining my marriage and the game, Adam.”
All part of the service.
21st over: Australia 90-5 (Maxwell 7, Agar 0) Moeen bowls a maiden to Maxwell! In the 21st over of an ODI! Blimey. The Australian doing what he needs to after another wicket, I guess, realising that he has to be there for at least another 90 minutes if his side are any chance of posting a decent total. Moeen’s figures are outstanding: 7-1-24-3.
20th over: Australia 90-5 (Maxwell 7, Agar 0) Ashton Agar walks out, prompting every England supporter to reflect on the time he made 98 on Test debut. A real “where were you?” moment, wasn’t it? JFK’s death, man on the moon and Ashton’s dismissal. Something like that. He defends the first couple.
Meanwhile, over in Ireland New Zealand’s women are going huge again. Last week, they tallied 491-4 (a record in all ODIs) then 418. Today, they are 372-1 after 44. Amelia Kerr, the 17-year-old leggie, is unbeaten on 190. Amazing young cricketer.
WICKET! Stoinis c Buttler b Rashid 22 (Australia 90-5)
The wrong’un has done it but not how you would expect it to find a wicket. The delivery was short and wide so the right-hander tried to steer it past point but instead managed to edge it into the waiting gloves of the ‘keeper Buttler. Not a pretty way to go.
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19th over: Australia 88-4 (Stoinis 21, Maxwell 6) Boom! Marcus Stoinis goes big for the first time today. Moeen tossed it up and the all-rounder smacked him into the pavilion. Simple game, sometimes. But I don’t expect that will bother the bowler too much. Some good running to finish, Maxwell racing back to the danger end as they take two and make it 11 from the over, their best so far this afternoon.
Channel Nine's set designer has outdone themselves. It's a dreamscape, it's future nostalgia, it's neon passion. pic.twitter.com/YEwxwYw6yj
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) June 13, 2018
18th over: Australia 77-4 (Stoinis 12, Maxwell 4) Five singles to the sweepers as Maxwell settles in. Rashid doing his job with only 15 taken from his four overs. Moeen, meanwhile, has 3 for 13 from five.
Brilliant bowling @MoeenAli!
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2018
WATCH 📽https://t.co/lm254UF6QL#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/IBU6pXTxdr
17th over: Australia 72-4 (Stoinis 9, Maxwell 2) Moeen continues after the drinks break to the new man Maxwell, who has walked out to replace Paine. He’s off the mark to midwicket with a couple. Bairstow and picks it up and bounce-throws in, receiving a telling off from the umpire. Oh, leading edge! The new man lucky that doesn’t carry to Morgan at cover. There is an appeal for leg before as well when he misses a sweep. Eventful times early for the Biggest Show in Town. “It’s a massive game for Glenn Maxwell,” says Mel Jones on TMS. She’s right. He has a real chance to be a senior player in this side now. Alternatively, a poor series could easily see him dropped again.
WICKET! Paine c Wood b Moeen 12 (Australia 70-4)
Scrap that! Paine has got down low for the reverse sweep to the first delivery of the Moeen over but doesn’t get anything like the middle of the bat on it, the ball landing with short third man. It’s Wood, who takes his second straightforward catch. Mo’s third!
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16th over: Australia 70-3 (Stoinis 9, Paine 12) Just knocking it around here when Rashid is on, five runs picked up along the way. No risk. Not a bad consolidation so far.
15th over: Australia 65-3 (Stoinis 6, Paine 10) Moeen gets through this set with only a Paine single to long-off. Stonis is reluctant to take him on having seen the off-spinner already grab two Australian wickets. He’s bowled four overs for 11 runs having picked up Finch and Marsh. Handy. Now Aggers is talking about Love Island on the radio, if you were wondering. Says he hasn’t tuned in yet. We all say that.
14th over: Australia 64-3 (Stoinis 6, Paine 9) And three more singles off Rashid, albeit with a ball that cuts Paine in half along the way, just missing the stumps. It was a nice, big googly - the delivery that the wrist spinner had so much success with against Australia in the corresponding ODI series three years ago. Paine might think twice about rolling out that drive next time Rashid lobs one out there.
13th over: Australia 61-3 (Stoinis 5, Paine 7) Moeen’s turn to be milked for three singles to the sweepers. I suspect that suits everyone at this stage. To be fair, the tweaker getting a decent amount of grip, by the looks. Hard track = spin to win?
12th over: Australia 58-3 (Stoinis 4, Paine 5) I can’t deny that I was briefly distracted by Michael Vaughan talking about Love Island on TMS. Two singles off the new bowler Adil Rashid as we begin the official Accumulation Overs.
On @bbctms, talking #LoveIsland, @ZaltzCricket jumps in perfectly: “I know it is very popular television but it would be better if they had a ten-ball over at the end.” #ENGvAUS
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) June 13, 2018
11th over: Australia 56-3 (Stoinis 3, Paine 4) Mindful, I am sure, of Australia’s middle-order troubles of late in this form of the game, the captain Tim Paine has promoted himself to number five and he’s off the mark first ball cutting Moeen to the point boundary. Nice, positive footwork getting deep in the crease to play his shot. Paine averages something like 100 balls per dismissal in Test cricket since returning to the side in November so he knows his way around a tough situation.
WICKET! Marsh b Moeen 24 (Australia 52-3)
Bowled him! Marsh lunges forward to a ball that pitches on middle and hits off. Sure, it straightened a touch from round the wicket but not by far enough to defeat someone going as nicely as the West Australian has been so this afternoon. Three poor dismissals for the visitors.
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10th over: Australia 51-2 (Marsh 24, Stoinis 2) Last over over the power play and Willey will deliver it from the Vauxhall End. He finds Stoinis’ edge first up, but on the bounce wide of the catcher, so they take one. Marsh tucks a couple more off the hip for one. He looks to beat the man on the circle at short-fine to finish, but he’s hit it straight to the fielder. Andy Zaltzman informs us on TMS that this is the first time in the history of ball-by-ball records that an ODI has started with one run, then two then three from the first three deliveries. We can sleep well knowing that. Great work, Andy.
In response to my query, David Meiklejohn has relayed that Warner isn’t on the telly tonight, beginning his work on Saturday. That will mean he misses Australia’s first football World Cup game against France, which is a direct clash with the first innings.
9th over: Australia 48-2 (Marsh 22, Stoinis 1) Wonderful from Moeen, keeping new man Marcus Stoinis still for the remainder of the over. He takes a single behind point to complete the successful over. Again, full credit to Morgan. I wonder whether he would have given Moeen the ball had Finch been on strike at the start of the over? Maybe it’s what he wanted all along? I look forward to asking him at stumps. A big early moment.
WICKET! Finch c b Moeen Ali 19 (Australia 47-2)
Wonderful captaincy! Morgan would know well that Finch feels an obligation to attack off-spinners with the field up and that’s exactly what he attempts. But trying to drive over cover after using his feet, Moeen wins a fat edge that sails into the hands of Wood at backward point. After looking so good, the opener is gone.
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8th over: Australia 46-1 (Finch 19, Marsh 21) Singles clipped the square leg sweeper by both off Willey. Good running from Finch, who takes on mid-off for another. Marsh tucks another to finish. They’re doing this really nicely so far. Spin soon? Looks like Moeen is limbering up. Yep, it’s Mo for the next.
Anyone following in Australia who can tell me how Dave Warner went on the channel nine pre-game show? Regards, Curious in Vauxhall.
7th over: Australia 42-1 (Finch 17, Marsh 19) Wood done very little wrong with a delivery short of a length at Marsh on his off-stump, but the left-hander gets on the front foot and hits down the ground at the top of the bounce for four. Shot. Then another from a ball that did deserve it, feeding Marsh on his hip with the clip skipping across the practice wickets to the square leg rope. [commentary cliche] You get value for your shots square of the wicket at The Oval [/commentary cliche].
“Maximum respect for your promoting the great cause of restoring the mighty Bopster!” emails Brian Withington. “Quite apart from all his runs he is still a superb fielder and more than useful middle overs bowler. The prospect of watching him and YJB scampering indecently quick singles and twos is quite salivating. More power to your campaigning elbow.” Less a campaign and more a movement.
6th over: Australia 32-1 (Finch 16, Marsh 10) Finch breaks the string of dots with a single to mid-off. Willey, running away from us at Marsh, keeps him honest for the rest. He grabs a single to midwicket to keep the strike. Two good overs in a row for the hosts.
5th over: Australia 30-1 (Finch 15, Marsh 9) Really good over from Wood to Marsh, making the left-hander play throughout with no runs on offer. Looks a belter of a track, so don’t expect many more maidens.
4th over: Australia 30-1 (Finch 15, Marsh 9) Finch takes a couple behind square to begin then pushes another to mid-on. Marsh gives him the strike back and the right-hander takes full advantage, lashing a superb cover drive to the rope. He sure loves batting at The Oval.
GET IN! @david_willey hoops it and we take an early wicket!
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2018
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/iBAMP2wE6C#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/limLUXHt1X
3rd over: Australia 22-1 (Finch 8, Marsh 8) Shooooot! Finch leans into a full delivery angling at his stumps from Wood, sending it straight past the bowler in his follow through. Crisp. With that out of the way early in the set, Finch is cautious until the England attack-leader gives him a ball to tuck through midwicket, which earns him three more runs to finish. He’s looking the part early on.
Handshakes between the teams and we are underway!
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 13, 2018
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/9UeVaVCjXN #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/6FW4XGeoS1
2nd over: Australia 15-1 (Finch 1, Marsh 8) Marsh watchful to to begin in response to balls moving away from him after seeing what Head did to Willey’s second offering. That is until he gets one his his area, the left-hander playing an elegant cover drive to the rope to get off the mark with style. That’s Marsh at his best. And he goes again! Short and wide, he slays the poor delivery to the point boundary. Two in a row.
WICKET! Head c Bairstow b Willey 5 (Australia 7-1)
Caught at slip! To a fullish ball that was moving away though the air, Head tried to smash it through cover but edged straight to YJB who did the rest. “Bit of a sucker ball,” says Tuffers on TMS.
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1st over: Australia 7-0 (Finch 1, Head 5) Finch off the mark first ball, pushing Wood into the covers for one. The Victorian (and Surrey batsman) has a wonderful record against England, averaging 55 in 19 innings at the top of the list in ODIs, collecting five tons along the way. Two of those came in the January series, when he averaged 92. There was some talk of him shuffling down to number five to bolster the middle order in this series, but they thought better of it. Head off the mark with a couple behind square from a ball that did a bit coming back to him off the seam. Next up, much better through cover for three more. Wood sprays a wide down the legside to Finch before he defends the rest from the crease. We’re away.
Eoin Morgan should have greeted Tim Paine at at the new ritual with "Get ready for a broken hand" @collinsadam. Too soon?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) June 13, 2018
I would have preferred all the England team to be wearing abrasive plasters on their fingers for the handshake.
— daniel norcross (@norcrosscricket) June 13, 2018
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The players are on their way! Australia are all coming down, so it looks like we’re going to get some national anthems first. Just catching up with some comments from Eoin Morgan at the toss, he said they would have bowled first. So, everyone is happy.
Actually, scrap that. The visitors were downstairs for the handshakes not anthems. That was nicely done, quickly filing past and getting back up the stairs. Aaron Finch and Travis Head now on their way to the middle. Mark Wood has the ball in his hand, he will be coming in from the Pavilion End. PLAY!
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More emails in keeping with the theme so far. “I really don’t understand any attempt NOT to upset the Australians,” writes Vincent O’Connor. “They cheated. As a team. They should be reminded of how unacceptable that is at every opportunity. I suggest there is a replay of Bancroft roughing up the ball on the big screen between each over.”
So, mental disintegration? As someone who was in South Africa, trust me, that doesn’t always end well. Be careful what you wish for.
“Just arrived at the gloriously sun-drenched Oval to watch England take on the Nasty Villainous Cheating Aussies (as they’ll hopefully forever be known),” adds Rob Wright. “Just hope they’re not as good as Scotland.”
On TMS, Alec Stewart is fired up: “If you can’t get up for a game against Australia, you can’t get up for anything.” That’s a good prompt for me to, as is the custom, post the link for those who want to listen to the BBC call from overseas.
Also, looks like there is plenty in this Justin Langer chat with Nasser Hussain on Sky:
Paine and Langer tell Nasser Hussain for @skysportscric that Aust road to Newlands started via "not living by our behaviours" for years and was due to Steve Smith not being "strong enough" in his leadership #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/gkPxnAbWLn
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) June 13, 2018
So, what do you need to know about Michael Neser? Glad you asked, I wrote about the other week.
- He was born in Pretoria, his family moving to the Gold Coast when he was ten.
- He made his professional debut all the way back in 2010. It has been a long journey.
- That has included a (brief) IPL stint in 2013. A shock selection, it didn’t go well.
- He was top of the pops in the Sheffield Shield last year, taking 39 wickets.
- He made his first List-A ton last year for Queensland, smashing a ton.
- He made a half-century in the Shield final, which they won.
- He was an integral member of the Adelaide Strikers BBL championship team.
- He never believed this was going to happen. It’s a nice story. G’luck!
I need no encouragement to plug a Ravi Bopara piece that has just gone live on the site, via Gary Naylor’s blog. Our old friend Vish Ehantharajah (who started #RecallRavi; trust me, it is a thing) is sitting next to me and already has it open. Had the great pleasure of commentating an IPL game with the man himself recently. RECALL RAVI!
Bantz. “I suspect all this sandpaper “banter” may be a bit hollow given none of the cheats are in this current Australia line-up?” asks James Walsh. “I saw Starc was recently at paines to say he still has nothing but total respect for Smith et al. Is the line still that the bowlers knew nothing about it? Or is the line let us never speak of this again?”
To be fair to Paine, he has addressed that in a fair bit of detail. Including in a chat I had with him for Wisden Cricket Monthly. That’s behind a paywall (i.e. the magazine is available on shelves at the moment) but the short version is that he adamant only three people knew what was going on and they are all banned. It doesn’t strike me as realistic that the new skip would carry out such a bold lie given all that has happened. For what it is worth.
Australia: Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (c & wk), Ashton Agar, Michael Neser, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake.
So, Jhye Richardson is quick who is left out with Nathan Lyon also overlooked. D’Arcy Short’s debut will have to wait for another day as well.
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, David Wiley, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
As expected.
Eoin Morgan confirms that there is only one change for England, with Jos Buttler returning to the team for Sam Billings. Full XIs once I work out who is on Australia’s team sheet.
Tim Paine has won the toss and Australia will bat
Aaron Finch to open, so D’Arcy Short won’t be playing.
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Toss and teams. The captains are out in the middle. News from the Australian camp is that Michael Neser, a Queensland seamer who gives it a bosh, is making his debut. Brad Haddin, these days an assistant coach, presented him with his cap. Nice. News from the toss when it happens in a couple of minutes.
The great Gary Naylor opening the batting on the correspondence, on a topic I’m very fond of.
“It’s a shame that England are, once again, refusing to select their best wicketkeeper,” he tweets at me. “I suppose it’s fair enough though - she does have a big match coming up on Friday.”
Right, let’s talk about Sarah Taylor. Have you seen her innings from last night? If not, find the highlights. I didn’t have enough words to do it justice last night at Hove, but it was astonishing. Spoke to her after play as well about batting 360 (as they say).
In news just from the England women, they have brought seamer Kate Cross into the squad for their final (and deciding) ODI against South Africa on Friday at Kent. Danielle Hazell and Lauren Winfield have been released to play for the Academy team. If Cross plays, it will be her first international since June 2016.
In addition to the below. Mel Farrell from ESPN has walked in to the press box and reported the sandpaper is being confiscated at the gate. Surrey have confirmed that is the case; they don’t dig ambush marketing. Fun and games.
As well as handshakes being exchanged before play at the Oval there will also be no formal toss.
— Adam Mountford (@tmsproducer) June 13, 2018
Instead the decision whether to bat or bowl will be made following a game of sand paper scissors. #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/dGgubuemWp
Expect plenty of this. And fair enough.
It has begun at The Oval - sandpaper being handed out to fans as they enter for clash with Aussies pic.twitter.com/Cgmf8pr6mr
— Russell Gould (@gouldyheraldsun) June 13, 2018
Preamble
‘Allo ‘Allo! Welcome to the People’s Ground for the first one-day international between England and Australia! Let’s be honest with each other to begin: if not the events of March in Newlands, this would be a white-ball series of passing interest. Now, it’s an actual thing, with the visitors turning out for the first time since they were mangled by the Proteas at the Bull Ring at the end of the longest week in Australian cricket history.
So, Tim Paine. He says all the right things with ample dollops of contrition and candour about what happenened, determined to transform the way the team plays, and in turn, radically alter the way they are seen by the rest of the cricket world. Tough gig!
To help with that, he has initiated a pre-game handshake with the England players, just as he did with Faf du Plessis’ team in Johannesburg. He picked up the idea watching football in his hotel room after being appointed skipper. As Ali Martin reports, the gesture will be seen as sincere or a stunt depending on the corner you are arguing.
The hosts will only have one change to the XI that were humbled by Scotland in a magnificent match on Sunday, with Jos Buttler back for Sam Billings. As for the visiting team sheet, that is anyone’s guess. Ashton Agar will play ahead of Nathan Lyon, but beyond that, it will make interesting reading at the toss. That is scheduled at 12:30pm.
We have time on our side, so let’s leave it there for now. Looking forward to talking to you throughout the afternoon in the usual places. For your more considered thoughts, drop them here (please note the new address; the old one has very much gone to God). For scandalous hot takes, this will be your place. Plenty of both, please.
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