2 wickets to fall from lunch to stumps…good comeback by the Aust middle order…touch wood the tail can go into Bazball mode and wag…a total around 450-500, might get Cummins to appease all his detractors and set conventional test fields with a new cherry…3 slips, 2 gullys etc etc
all too familiar up top after the rain overnight - England got the Dukes hooping and our wickets started falling
very fortunate the wicket has been made for runs
but even more fortunate that Travis Head is playing because again he turned the innings
absolutely no doubt England will go after the bowling even harder to get a big lead so the rest of the bats have to stick around for a lot of day 3
I doubt even the likes of Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar even WG Grace over time were not nervous to get off the mark as batsmen and yet here we have Cummins in unison with Ronald McDonald and his merry men of selectors Hamburgler, Grimace, Officer Big Mac et al just allowing the Poms that luxury on both the off side and leg side with men out on the boundary from the get go and not only did it fail in putting pressure on the new batsmen at the crease it didnt dry up the runs either as the Poms still made virtually 400 in only 78 overs before declaring at over 5 an over.
And how these same selection clowns continue to pick Warner in England is just laughable…Stuart Broad must giggle to himself every time he sees the Australian team sheet knowing there is another 2 certain poles coming up for fark all runs!
Good recovery from 3-67 to 5-311, Uzzie played a classic test innings with support from Head, Green and Carey.
England still hold the advantage though as Greens dismissal showed that the pitch is going to be hard to bat on come day 4 and 5. Australia need a first innings lead, problem is that there is not a lot of batting beyond this current partnership so Carey and Khawaja need to bat till lunch time at least.
If Australia do get a lead of 50 or more I would hope that they will set more attacking fields in the 2nd innings
Well Eng are 2 down with a lead of 30 odd…pity that session was ended with rain. Would of been nice to of snared another wicket of three with bowling conditions a tad more difficult for batting, then what Eng had on day 1…and yeah the fielding placements were more conventional by Cummins 2nd time round, though day 3 batting looks more challenging than day 1.
BH, totally agree re Warner, but JL and the selectors, set a precedent in the last UK tour remember, playing Warner for all 5 tests, despite his obvious Broad short comings and 9 run average. Hopefully Ronald et al aren’t as stupid this tour…but with Harris in the shed as the next option, I can see Warner getting another crack for redemption.
Perhaps Renshaw is the better option with his height and reach to counter act the sultans of swing in Jimmy et al. I guess time will tell. A decision on Warner needs to be called early though, but if JL et al didn’t have the balls or nous, to call it earlier last time round, then McDonald et al surely won’t. Be ironic if he did though.
threw the last 5 wickets away and still fell short but rain might end up being the wildcard - will suit Boland & Hazelwood if it’s overcast
Was astonished that the Poms doctored the pitch to be a road given the quality of their 2 old boys who can swing and cut the ball like few others, I know it was to suit this bash philosophy they have but wickets win matches in most cases. Having lost the best part of a day, not sure this one will see a result, but …
Looks like the pitch is holding together. The rain and colder weather should stop the pitch from cracking. Bowl top of off stump.Wouldnt be pitching to short on this wicket.
We will see what day 4 delivers. A couple of early wickets.Could really put England on the back foot.And take Bazball out of the scenario.
Eng came out full of intent and put the pressure right back on Aust. Aust chipped away, those runs by Robinson, Broad and Anderson at the end could be the difference in the end…though the lack of runs from Smith and Labuschagne just made a difficult chase even more difficult.
Up to Uzzie again to fill his boots…though perfect opportunity for Green to showcase his ability and step up with a 50 + innings…Head and Carey need to play their part too…be great if Head repeated that GABBA green top innings tomorrow, by pinning the ears back and giving Baz and Stokes a taste of their own medicine.
The obvious is Aust rolling over meekly with the cloud cover tomorrow…first session looks wet though…then improves as the day goes on…Aust problem is they lose wickets in clumps…Boland did well to survive, sneak out another 10 or 15 from him and hopefully Ussie gets back to back 100s and some cameos from Head, Green and Carey then who knows…
Win or lose it definitely has been an entertaining affair…though sadly, that 36 will keep the Warner flame flickering a bit longer…go 1-0 up then most Aust fans will turn a blind eye…go 0-1 down, then the melts will come.
at least 60 runs given away with an obviously pre-planned field set - those 3 late wickets are painful
if Head can get away to a flyer he could carve a lot of them
it’ll be a battle
Australia’s only real hope of getting these runs is an unbeaten ton by Ussie, then the other batsmen namely Head Green and Carey take an aggressive approach and put together some 50+ partnerships. I think England are big favourites though having got rid of Smith and Marnus.
That 3rd morning where they bowled us out when it looked like we were going to take a lead was crucial. A 50 run lead in these circumstances would have been handy and meant that they would only have been chasing just over 200 which would be a totally different ball game.
Whatever the result it has been a fantastic test and a great way to start what is looking like an epic series.
England’s marginal favourites with the bookmakers.
England $2.02
Australia $2.20
Birmingham 2005 ,Second Test.
England set us 4 runs more and won by 2 runs.
Australia will fall short due to having a long batting tail (6 out all out) that has offered up little by way of runs for far too long and also how many the Pommy tail were allowed to score in both innings due to some backfoot defensive field placings that allowed the likes of Ali, Robinson, Broad and even Anderson to all contribute double figure scores in both innings (only 2nd innings bat for Anderson)!
[quote=“Beasley Hutton post=228810 userid=847”]Australia will fall short due to having a long batting tail (6 out all out) that has offered up little by way of runs for far too long and also how many the Pommy tail were allowed to score in both innings due to some backfoot defensive field placings that allowed the likes of Ali, Robinson, Broad and even Anderson to all contribute double figure scores in both innings (only 2nd innings bat for Anderson)!
[/quote]
Boland in now as night watchman and on 13. Hopefully he can stick around for a bit score a few runs. Frustrate the poms. Maybe send in Lyon next. Looking like some rain but still plenty of overs to score the runs. Why not try something different?
No play till 9pm our time at least. Maximum 60 overs probably. Chances of an Aussie victory have reduced. England need to take 4 wickets to get into our tail.
huge amount of rain overnight very wet outfield - but they’ll play until 9pm the light will still be great up there
just a matter of that outfield
When play resumes..Does this come down to Stuart Broads first spell.Probably 5 or 6 overs.
Cant believe what Australia have produced today or should I say haven’t produced. A totally submissive batting performance when they had a genuine chance of putting England under pressure.
So many times ball hit straight to fielder with no attempt to work gaps
Ussie dug himself a massive hole and it almost appeared that he was playing for a draw, this put more pressure on his partners and he couldnt see it through.
England have made all the running and it will be a bit of an injustice if they don’t win this game.
Finally now with 7 wickets down Carey is trying to do what should have happened 2 hours ago. Too late methinks.
What a Test match!
And isn’t it great to finally win a close one?
Yes, Australia had a bit of luck in that last hour, but Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon were sensational.
Usman Khawaja may’ve got bogged down in the second innings but without his double of 141 and 65, we wouldn’t have got close.
Full credit to England for setting the running throughout the match, but I can’t help but think that Ben Stokes’ decision to declare their first innings at 8 wickets down, when Joe Root was batting sublimely, will be heavily scrutinised.
Still, Test cricket was the big winner and fortune favoured the brave (Cummins and Lyon) in the finish.
Folk may question his captaincy…folk may question his woke views…but you can’t question Cummins heart and fight for the battle. A win for the ages…redemption at last for that Billy Bowden howler v Kaspa at Edgbaston all those years ago…
Think Aust was due some luck in all honesty AD…Eng batted first in the best batting conditions…got Aust under some cloud day 2, then the rain saved Eng arses on day 3…not sure how Aust won that in the end, did everything they could to lose it…
Definitely take that win…a win for the plodding tortoise apparently, over the crowd pleasing hare…can see the hare will keep persisting with his crowd pleasing antics…though I did giggle with Cummins and Lyon well into their run chase, Eng had a more defensive field then what Aust had on day 1…I thought the end result didn’t matter??