It was a first day Australia would love to forget in a hurry but the ramifications it could have on this series might make it improbable for them to do that. You can follow the live scores and a blog of the second day of this fourth Ashes Test from 8:00pm (AEST).
On a day when Australia were bowled out for a paltry 60, England almost ran away with the game by taking a lead of 214 runs for the loss of just four.
The contrast in the two scores can be attributed in part to the difference in the conditions – when Australia batted there was a cloud cover almost throughout while England had no such worries. But it made for only a very small part of the reason.
The rest of it was down to Stuart Broad’s bowling, some poor stroke-play and then a counter-attacking century from Joe Root. In partnership with Jonny Bairstow, who was coming off a failure at Edgbaston, the pair added 173 and took the game beyond the Aussie grasp.
England’s decision to field first could well have back-fired but despite showing a tentativeness at the toss, Alastair Cook had had a fair glimpse of how Australia had caved in when the pitch at Edgbaston swung. Not in his wildest fantasy would he have thought he would be walking back out from the pavillion with batting pads on, less than 19 overs after having put the Aussies in.
Chris Rogers pushed at Broad and was caught in the slips. Steven Smith played a mirror image of that stroke and perished in the same manner to leave Australia two down in the first over.
David Warner was one of two who didn’t fall to Broad on the day but he lasted all of two balls.
Shaun Marsh’s fortunes early in his innings have never been the best and he registered another duck to his name while Michael Clarke’s poor form continued yet again. Clarke, however, had no-one else to blame but himself as he flashed at a wide delivery that he should have left alone.
And with the ball continuing to swing and the Aussie batsmen clearly fish out of water in the conditions, Adam Voges, Peter Nevills and the rest of the tail fell away to Broad in a jiffy.
As if getting bowled out for 60 wasn’t enough, the England batsmen played like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the track.
The early moisture had obviously dried out and the cloud cover had disappeared, but it wasn’t as if Australia bowled too well. Josh Hazlewood’s consistency had gone missing last Test and he failed to discover it on the first day here and Mitchell Johnson’s length did not help him too much on such a track.
It was only Mitchell Starc’s three-for that kept Australia in the game for starters but once he was off, probably exhausted by extra spells because of the absence of Mitchell Marsh, Root and Bairstow made hay.
They were quick to latch on to anything remotely loose and very soon, started making good balls look bad.
Root’s century, his third in Ashes cricket, came from just 128 deliveries and ensured England had not only gotten themselves to the driver’s seat but had also begun to race ahead in full gear.
From here we’ll wait to see if something very special can be produced off the Aussie bats in their second dig or if the elements can bail them out of a possible thrashing and a series defeat.
You can follow the live scores and a blog of this second day of the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia from 8:00pm (AEST) on Friday and post your comments in the section below.
Shawn Kewley
Guest
JimmyB the last World Cup was disappointing for England? But you are only as good as your last performance!
dan in devon
Guest
What are you trying to say Arthur?
JimmyB
Guest
If England are average, pray tell, what are Australia?
Shawn Kewley
Guest
This performance is so un-Australian and its time for some hard decisions to be made. Clarke must step down, Shaun Marsh has failed again at the top level, Smith has been found wanting against the seamers, Watson is sitting on the sidelines with Siddle. Nevill, Rogers and Lyon are having a go for this team which looks shell schocked and intimidated by an average English team.
Grand Armee
Guest
Pat Howard can fix this....... Ummmm..... :-)
Grand Armee
Guest
And McGrath said it would be 5-0 to Australia.
JimmyB
Guest
You're a stand up bloke though right?!
Wallaby thrasher
Guest
But Smith said 'England would not come close in Ashes'
Johnno
Guest
Epic post Arthur
Arthur Pagonis
Roar Guru
It was Australia’s morning with ball in hand but too many runs were lost. Mitch Starc did all he could, Hazelwood and Lyon were ineffectual, and Mitch Johnson was hard at it. He did not bowl well with the old ball but looked great with the 2nd new ball. The conditions were the issue. The ball swung beautifully from the first ball for Starc , but the boundaries came far too rapidly. Michael Clarke kept an attacking field , but lost a lot of runs through 3rd man and cover where England would not have done the same in the same position. This is something that Australian captains will learn. It is not ALWAYS all or nothing in professional Test Cricket. You need to restrict sometimes, take wickets sometimes and both as often as possible. Australia played like millionaires when they needed to keep the lead as small as possible. 9/391 declared on a field as big as a T20 field, a lightning fast field at that, required a little more care and attention and thought, and Starc especially would have had far better figures than 6/111 if his captain had given him extra support at cover and 3rd man. The cloud cover that had persisted all day this morning and created massive swing was worrying as England’s declaration had Australia thinking the worst even before they went in to bat. Rogers and Warner slunk away to lunch, forever grateful that Aleem Dar had taken an extra over to put Warner thru misery when lunch should have been called. Warner was stoic in the face of the other major wicket-taker in this game, Stu Broad. He faced the last over, 6 balls, hit one and 5 beat his bat. Rogers’ clip thru midwicket was morale boosting…but England knew that getting balls in the right areas is something they do far better than Australia…and it works very well that they have 4 quicks who can put the ball at pace, and with accuracy, swing and seam , just where they need it. This is something that Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood, Marsh and Watson have only managed infrequently this series. After lunch Rogers and Warner prospered, by the skin of their teeth. Things were happening with the Duke Ball that defied logic…yet the odd bounce, the alarming swing, the dropped catches all came and went and the 100 partnership appeared at the end of a long trial. Gone from the memory was the 60 run first innings, for which Australia at least had some excuses, so violent was the swing and seam…but England were just seducing Australia into a false sense of security in the 2nd dig. The run rate was almost 5 runs per over, yet there was drama with almost every ball. Cracks in the wicket made the ball do odd things via up and down bounce, including a catch to third slip off Wood which was rejected via a no ball. No matter, Rogers was intent on destruction and he holed out to third slip in the next over from Stokes, wafting at an away swinger. Careless after such a great start. Worse was to follow. Warner showed he does not have the technique to play the Duke Ball in England , holing out off his favourite hip flick to Broad off Stokes. He had been dropped twice, played and missed many times…and did not look like he had any idea of defence. Shaun Marsh came and went like he was intent on retirement from Test Cricket, again in the slips, again to Stokes. 0/113 to 3/136, then Broad rolled Smith like he owned him. It was simply diabolical batting, no technique, just wild-uncultured cricket from players who simply have not taught themselves defensive batting like England’s batters. Australia just have ignored how to play the percentages and how to defend the swinging and seaming ball in England by letting the ball come to them. For too many years this unprofessional attitude to defence has made Australian batting a laughing stock against good swing bowling and good spin bowling. It must change, and so must the batting coach. The 4 batsmen who got out prior to tea need to take a long hard look at what they are doing with their defensive and offensive game. They play like world beaters on flat, unresponsive decks, but this was a good deck for batting, if you had any knowledge of how to leave the ball, to go WITH the spin and swing, and how to let the ball come to you. It was like throwing the Ashes into the sky. The pattern of woe continued for Clarke, caught on the crease and edging to Bell via Cook’s hard hands. Then Voges and Nevill worked hard for a 50 run partnership, but Nevill never looked comfortable and was plumb padding up to Stokes. The Poms had 4 bowlers able to get prodigious swing, uneven bounce and seam…and it was a lot to ask of Australia in gloomy light under darkened skies with the lights on full blast. Johnson looked relieved when he had to leave after presenting Stokes with his 5th wicket. The Duke has swung, bounced and seamed, at times alarmingly, throughout this series, none moreso than here in Nottingham…and games are ending in 2-3-4 days. If that was Andrew Strauss’ s plan, it has worked too well. The gate receipts are in danger of getting cut by one quarter. And the umpires seemed intent on making the batsmen play in what were gloomy and very difficult conditions for batting and seeing. Thankfully at 7/241 the umps gave Voges ( 48*) and Starc (0*) the light and brought the crowd back for day 3. Stokes had almost single handedly broken Australia’s batting down, but it helps when Broad, Anderson, Finn and Wood can keep things tight and dangerous. Australia never had a moment’s respite, and while they were brave…they were well aware that the 1st innings had destroyed their chances…and the collapse from 0/113 to 4/136 broke the camel’s back. The Ashes sad to say look gone…and the conditions in England have suited the home team as much as bouncy wickets have suited Australia down under. ARTHUR PAGONIS MANAGING DIRECTOR AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD 10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874 SKYPE: apagonis2 WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com
Brains of a bimbo (Atgm)
Guest
Thnks for the blog mate!gud nyt
Brains of a bimbo (Atgm)
Guest
Ranji sides will win in indian sub continent nd nsw in aust nd nz
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Not an easy question to answer, bit hypothetical that. Good Ranji Trophy sides might struggle in red-ball cricket on hard and bouncy pitches just like a NSW team might struggle on spinning tracks. The one other point to consider is that Ranji Trophy has about 25-odd teams, as opposed to SS's six - so the talent is concentrated in those six for Australia while it's spread across those 25 for India, which makes a difference too. The other way to tackle this question is to compare Duleep Trophy with SS - Duleep Trophy has the five zones playing with the best players from teams belonging to a particular zone making it to that zonal side. Then again, they play only a couple of matches each season and are obviously disjoint because they come from different state teams to form a zone. When such a thing happens, it's tough to see them gel as well as a NSW team would because they have been playing together for years.
Nick
Guest
"Sucking glock" That is wonderful!
Nick
Guest
They got rolled for 60 man. 60 How can you overreact to that score?
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
Australia will begin day three, 90 runs behind with just three wickets in hand. And they might have cloudy conditions welcoming them early morning. Incidentally, it was cloudy through most part of the second half of the day after the first session had also remained overcast. England declared their innings at 9/391, after the rest of their batsmen fell in trying to accelerate the scoring. Starc bowled a lot better than anyone else in his team, but by then the lead had already ballooned up to huge proportions. Australia began well in their second dig, and while Warner and Rogers survived chances each, their century-run stand would have given Australia hope. Then, Rogers fell and three more wickets went down for almost nothing. Michael Clarke didn't last too long after the tea break and despite a fighting stand between Voges and Nevill, the visitors will resume at 7/241 and staring down the wrong end of the barrel. The match had slipped away from Australia on day one itself, day two just ensured there would be no miracles for them. Day three should seal the series for England. Will be back tomorrow with the live coverage of whatever remains of the day's play. Thank you for following this live blog, have a good evening ahead.
dan in devon
Guest
England WILL win the ashes tomorrow. So depressing!
Johnno
Guest
Suneer, question? How would the Ranji trophy sides go against the sheffield shield sides? Could the good Ranji trophy sides beat the likes of NSW, say at a netural venue eg in NZ, or South Africa, or even in Australia. Or would the sheffield shield sides win? And could any sheffield shield sides beat the Ranji trophy sides in India. Or are the Ranji trophy sides of a lower levels than Australia's sheffield sheild eg country cricket 2nd division sides.
Suneer Chowdhary
Roar Guru
And done, the light has been a factor and the umpires have decided it's not good enough to continue. Which means we will have a third day for this Test after all.
SM
Guest
It is a strangely tense situation