After another resurrection from the Australian lower-middle-order led them to a more than decent 326, the hosts might have edged ahead of their opponents England at the end of the first day’s play in Sydney. Join us for live scores and commentary from 10.30am AEDT.
Let’s assume this was the first match of the series and Australia had been bowled out for 326 on the first day of the game.
Would we have still said Australia have the edge?
I have my doubts over it, it would, at best, have been a 50-50 kind of a day for most experts.
Four Test matches on and that score now looks like it’s already enough. In fact, there were a few who reckoned that on this Sydney Cricket Ground pitch, even 250 would have sufficed.
And there’s truth in it. It’s definitely more than plain arrogance and a lot has to do with the way things have gone in the series and in the first couple of sessions of this Test match.
Take for instance how Australia lost half their side for less than 100. Most of those dismissals were down to good bowling and dollops of assistance from the pitch.
Dave Warner and Shane Watson were done in by swing, Michael Clarke and George Bailey by pace, with only Chris Rogers contributing to his own downfall by an unusual cross-batted stroke that unfortunately found its way on to the stumps.
Even when the pair of Steven Smith and Brad Haddin was at the crease, there was enough in the pitch to suggest a wicket could fall any time. Haddin rode his aggressive shot-making and was aided by the injury to Boyd Rankin and the debutant Scott Borthwick’s nerves on his way to a fifth successive first innings fifty.
And later, in what was so reminiscent of how Australia have bowled all series, Ben Stokes polished off the tail in a jiffy. It should give as much hope of a brilliant career ahead of Stokes as it should of the Aussie bowlers being able to do exactly that over their next two innings on this grass-laden pitch.
In short, England’s batting will need to show a deviation from what has been their norm in this series of gargantuan proportions if they have to stay within touching distance of the Australian score.
And they have already lost Michael Carberry to the pace of Mitchell Johnson.
Of course, the pitch may not breathe as much fire as it did in the first session of the game which could be a bit of a factor but as one saw in both Adelaide and Melbourne, the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris have often removed the track out of equation.
England need to look at batting the whole day tomorrow but not at the expense of not scoring for chunks of overs together.
Choosing the best ball to score off and the alertness to the possibility of runs against a slacking bowler will remain the key to their success on the second day of this Sydney Test match.
Join me for the second day of the fifth Ashes 2013-14 Test on Saturday and you can follow the live score of this game from 10.30am AEDT and post your comments below.
andy ross
Guest
Even in India they don't sack captains for losing tosses.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Another great day for the Aussies, thanks Suneer !
Zee
Roar Guru
Smitten to the absolute extreme, haha. He is purrfeecccttt .. I cannot help myself. Hahaha - The Truth ; Lets just say their were a few Aussie punters around me a tad confused by my affection for Cookey, plenty of banter went around.
TheTruth
Guest
Haha hope you wore a bib today to catch your drool. May have been a little uncomfortable for the people in front of you
Pom in Oz
Roar Guru
LMAO You are smitten...
Zee
Roar Guru
Well now that you bring that up, Yes, Yes, Yes he definitely is a great, great catch...
Johnno
Guest
lol it's Chris UK or Pom in OZ.
Zee
Roar Guru
I will definitely take one for the team :P
Jake
Guest
Does his name begin with J & end in OHNNO?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Cheers TT!
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Thanks for following PiO! Hope to see you around tomorrow.
Matt
Guest
Is it still called tossing then...? Haha +1
TheTruth
Guest
Cheers Suneer
TheTruth
Guest
Think I know of one Roarer who may be willing to help him with that
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
It's the end of just the second day and the match has already seen 24 wickets go down. Australia are on top, as one would expect given how the series has gone with the English batting capitulating once again against some hostile bowling from the hosts. The day unravelled for England off just the second ball when captain Cook decided to shoulder arms to an in-dipper from Harris and was declared out lbw. The top-order was wiped off after that and England slumped to 5/23 and 6/62 before Ben Stokes rescued the English and pushed them to above the follow-on mark. Stokes, who had a six-wicket haul in the Aussie innings, went on to score 47 while England made 155, a lead of 171 for Australia. All three quicks for Australia picked up three wickets. The script of the Australian second innings remained the same. Early wickets before the pair of Rogers and Bailey stalled that in their 49-run stand. Rogers has managed to score 73, out of the 140 on board for Australia while Bailey, playing for his place, is unbeaten on 20. That will be all then, from me, but I will be back tomorrow for the third day of the final Ashes Test this summer. Will it also be the last (for more than an year and a half)?
Johnno
Guest
Matt England are tired, theyve had enough there tired, they and the Barmy Army just wanna go home.
Pom in Oz
Roar Guru
Thanks for the commentary, Suneer...
Matt
Guest
England should have bowled a minimum of 36 overs. They bowled 30. At their rate instead of 450 overs in a game there would be just 370 odd. That's almost an entire day wasted! Pathetic.
Nudge
Guest
Great stat Ronan. I'm loving watching him bat. Real Aussie battler. Got a feeling this isn't his last ashes test.
Johnno
Guest
The barmy army has been more quiet to, numbers are down, less poms staying at backpackers in Bondi Beach.