The Ashes: 2nd Test, Adelaide

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2nd Test Adelaide, December 2-6, 2017

Australia:
Bancroft, Warner, Khawaja, Smith *, Handscomb, S Marsh, Paine †, Starc, Cummins, Lyon, Hazelwood

England:
Cook, Stoneman, Vince, Root *, Malan, Ali, Bairstow †, Woakes, Overton, Broad, Anderson

Anderson bowling far too short at the moment.

OK, Broad's intensity has abated.

These two at the crease have responded excellently to some inconsistent bowling.

Both batsmen playing their shots. Runs coming rapidly : England must hold their nerve and keep attacking. Get one of these quickly and they won't mind a few boundaries ...but if they back off and allow them to settle...

Anderson still doesn't look quite right. Some good balls , without success other than Khawaja ; but you can tell just from his expression he's not happy with the way it's coming out.
Commentators continually banging on about him never bowling well in Australia (and perhaps his relative lack of success here does prey on his mind ?) but I reckon he was England's best bowler in Brisbane. At least first innings. So I'm not quite sure what's wrong here.

Anyway Overton on now which makes sense after his promising display yesterday. Root will be shuffling them a bit this morning I think...unless someone gets on a roll...

Need that second wicket soon.

Might have it too.

Jimmy back from the other end appears to have trapped Marsh...but no ! Review says going over ! Man that looked out live ...

Jimmy will feel the world is against him.

Looked out to me in real-time, but overturned on (a seemingly speculative) appeal.

Could turn out to be a real sucker punch.

Nope, not Anderson's day. Second decision overturned.

Another appeal . Another "out" ; another review . Another overrule...

Jimmy must feel he's shot an albatross

All of a sudden Anderson has the ball on a string but can't quite put either of them away...

You'd have to say luck isn't with England at the moment

Now Overton is close to pinning Paine...but Root is correct not to try a review as it's going over again.

The fear is that if Australia survive this patch they will be away and unstoppable...

England bowling well but they meed wickets not just appeals and lots of oohs and ahs. Australia 248 for 5.

Wonder if it isn't too late already...

Over 250 , five in hand still and England's bowlers have been working for over an hour now with nothing to show for their efforts since that initial scalp. Even when they do break this pair the bowlers are capable of scoring a few - as we saw in Brisbane.

Poor Tim Paine might be in trouble with his finger again ...but courageously carrying on. Might be painefull when he has to keep...but every over he bats helps drain England's bowlers and set them up for some potential late hitting from Starc and Cummins.

Probably England's best bowling hour yet ...but still Australia's mini-session.

Moeen after drinks ? Root makes some odd moves...

Hope he proves me wrong but I think this is a mistake. The pace men were certainly pressing them. I know they can't bowl indefinitely but I'd have gone with a few more overs of pace from both ends...he does have four of them.

CaledonianCraig wrote:not just appeals and lots of oohs and ahs

Yeah, it's getting away from England. They had a golden chance earlier this morning, but they've been too inconsistent with their good bowling...and of course, DRS!

Australia ticking towards serenity. 350+ still likely.

And, as Vaughan said earlier, if England only made 302 on a placid Brisbane wicket, what will they make with a pink ball under lights?

Root certainly likes a gamble, but this particular one doesn't look likely to come off.

I'm afraid you are right , Duty. I'd say the bowling has been generally pretty good today ( yeah a few too many a little short perhaps , but plenty of threatening stuff and they've induced more than their share of batting errors) but they've not had the rewards that might have come on another day. It happens .
At 284/5 it looks as if any hope of keeping Australia below 350 is gone ...and even 400 might be on now.

The fact that all the batsmen have made decent scores (though no one has really gone on yet ) suggests the pitch isn't exactly bad for batting. But England are going to be facing some heavy scoreboard pressure so it's going to take some serious graft to get out of this one. Do they have it in them ? Ask me again end of day three...

Breakthrough as Paine falls to a very transparent plan. He applied himself and laid the foundations for a big innings, like all Australians in this test so far, but he didn't kick on.

Now can England clean up?

A bit of a gift for Overton and England. Paine caught hookingbon the boundary. Australia 296 for 6. The Aussies with a strangle hold just now. England have to go on a roll now.

Amusing to see Overton get Paine eventually pulling a bouncer just as Vaughan and Warne finish rubbishing the tactic of bowling short at him

Needed that ; but a bit late.

Moeen getting some turn. That will interest Lyon.

A chance at run out missed there by Stoneman.

Has been a real arm wrestle , this. No batsman has been able to really cash in ; but not once have England been able to follow a breakthrough with another wicket... So no fancy scoring rate ; but patient batting has them virtually 300 and still four wickets in hand.

The net result is that Australia are now set up to bat through to tea and have England start against the new ball under lights ...could hardly have planned it better

This session going the way of last night's. England gagging the scoring but need more wickets. They needed four wickets IMO last night and got two. Likewise in this session.

CaledonianCraig wrote:This session going the way of last night's. England gagging the scoring but need more wickets. They needed four wickets IMO last night and got two. Likewise in this session.

Not unlike Brisbane , actually. The Australians have batted to similar plans as have England ( patience ; wear the bowlers down) but have so far done it better .

If England were able to put up a big score I fancy their bowlers could do the job , based on what we've seen. But after the way they fell away in Brisbane it's hard to see that happening.

The odd thing is that the methods England are using here are the antithesis of the tactics they have employed since Farbrace/ Bayliss took over. It seems the loss of Stokes has turned things on their head ...

England losing intensity again as the session trickles to a close.

Good two and a bit hours for Australia. Further strengthening their hold on this match and, indeed, the urn.

A Broad bouncer forced Starc into a mis-hooked shot and is caught by Anderson. Australia 317 for 7.

England have just been unable to string together a run of quick wickets in succession. Australia 321 for 7.

Australia batting unhurriedly on ....Marsh (making the most of his recall ) picking off anything loose but no discernible urgency. They would be quite happy to bat until the night lights come on and then let the wolves loose on England .

Can't fault the effort from the England bowlers - now past 120 overs and still giving it everything - but if this results in two down one has to fear how they will come up in Perth and beyond...as Anderson once again misses out on a close lbw , Root's review losing as it has pitched outside leg...

Australia getting into a position where England may be happy to get out of Adelaide with a draw.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Australia getting into a position where England may be happy to get out of Adelaide with a draw.

They'd be delighted to do so , Craig ! Tough task though unless there is a bit of weather interruption : Australia are heading for 400 and should enjoy bowling under lights : unless England can somehow bat for more than four sessions - which they couldn't manage in Brisbane - they are likely to end up facing a heavy defeat.
And I'm not liking the body language of Root at the moment. He really needs to play the captains innings and I'm wondering if he is going to be mentally strong enough to do so ...has the air of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. Maybe not surprising given the situation ; but having taken the gamble of bowling first he almost has to make a big hundred to get the mob off his back...

Have to praise Marsh for this innings . I was one who thought he was very lucky to be recalled for this series ; but he has seized his chance and is doing a "Smith special" in this match. He looks nailed on for a hundred now and you'd have to say he deserves it.

Batting looks pretty easy right now. Might not after the break when Starc and Hazlewood are let loose...

Hundred for Marsh

A match winning hand I think. Well played.

Declaration imminent you feel as dinner approaches and a great century for Shaun Marsh. Now you feel Australua arevan England collapse away from a 2-0 lead.

Reading on BBC Vaughan banging on about picking Wood and Plunkett ...

Well maybe...The latter had a bit of support on here , I know. But -even if both of them are , now , fit ; have either really done anything to show that they are going to wreck a Test innings ?

I would like to see Wood play later in this series - and I think he will. But Vaughan's comments are pretty much the easy armchair expert's assurances that whoever the selectors haven't picked is better than those they did ...when the team fails it is a cheap - and hardly dis provable - piece of punditry.
I am not a fan of Vaughan the commentator , as you may have guessed

Decision to bowl first now looks like a crazy one

Unfortunately only the weather is going to save us from a 5-0 I’m afraid lads - stupid decision to bowl first, and an impotent attack in these conditions

But selectors are without blame. It is like the SFA in football. They have made a number of duff management decisions in the last five to ten years but they are still in a job and are charged with choosing the next manager despite their failings. Selectors are the same. They chose these players - nobody else.

England have had bad luck with injuries but can also blame player stupidity prior to this tour. Rowland-Jones and Finn would have been good additions but were ruled out injured and then they had Stokes acting like a Ned rather than an England international cricketer to rule himself out of the series.

You kind of feel that under the lights a batting collapse from England is now inevitable. England reduced to 60 for 5 cannot be ruled out by close.

Overton strikes in the first over after dinner. Australia 410 for 8. All ready too much on the board but beneficial for aengland they get this innings over before twilight really kicks in.

A crumb of comfort (if even a crumb) is that Overton has added a bit more to the attack than Ball.

alfie wrote:Reading on BBC Vaughan banging on about picking Wood and Plunkett ...

Well maybe...The latter had a bit of support on here , I know.  But   -even if both of them are , now , fit ; have either really done anything to show that they are going to wreck a Test innings ?

I would like to see Wood play later in this series - and I think he will. But Vaughan's comments are pretty much the easy armchair expert's assurances that whoever the selectors haven't picked is better than those they did ...when the team fails it is a cheap - and hardly dis provable - piece of punditry.
I am not a fan of Vaughan the commentator , as you may have guessed

Hi Alfie and all - Yeah, Vaughan was banging on about those two on tv (BT Sport in the UK). He was viewing the 4 seamers here as all too similar and wanting to bring in some extra pace. As you post, that's easy enough for Vaughan to suggest but the candidates need to be properly looked at and not picked just because they're not playing here. Wood has a long history of fitness issues and a rent-a-quote like Vaughan (spot someone else who isn't a fan ) would be one of the first badmouthing the selectors if he broke down. I don't know the situation with Plunkett but something isn't right - he only played two CC matches in 2017.

I noted with interest your earlier posts to Dolph about the toss and the match position. As usual, I take your points although for me the main feeling is one of irritation that the (toss winning) captain in choosing to bowl has forsaken the chance to create scoreboard pressure and created an extra risk for his team in having to bat last. If you are going to do that, you need to have a very good day one to justify the choice.

That takes me to where we are now. We didn't have a very good day one. Not dreadful either but it still wasn't even good. It left us needing to win session one of day two to level things up. As it's gone, Australia won that session and the next even more heavily. I only saw the last hour of session two but gather luck and DRS haven't been on our side. Shaun Marsh did bat very well though and is continuing to demonstrate the obvious benefits of going big. For the second Test running, Jumbo Cummins rode shotgun perfectly.

Lyon now with Marsh and looking to give it a biff before Australia bowl under the lights in this final session. Only question is whether they all fall in the chase for extra runs or declare first. Good decision by Smith not to declare during the interval. Keep us out there anf keep our batsmen - particularly Stoneman who's had a poor time in the field - wondering.

And the declaration comes with Australia sitting very pretty on 442 for 8 Dec. England look forlorn after Msrsh hammered 15 runs off that last over. That Marsh knock of 126 not out looks a match winner.

Shaun Marsh...take a bow son  

Glamorgan awaits you next year

Stefan, did you support England when Simon Jones played?

As if it couldn't get any worse than Marsh hitting the ball to all parts, we have Swanns (terrible) banter and Alison Mitchell on comms

England 2 for 0 after one over.

jimbohammers wrote:Stefan, did you support England when Simon Jones played?

No. Why? Also...why the whistle emotion? It's 'Steffan' not 'Stefan' by the way

Stoneman leading edge in the air but goes for four. England 11 for 0.

After five overs, nervous moments, appeals and tension England move onto 17 for 0.

A nippy start by England after six overs are 28 for 0.

Hi guildford

Not the score you hoped to see on tuning in , I guess?

Look I do agree with you that Root got it wrong at the toss...over excited by overcast conditions ; which were likely to persist anyway. My points of agreement with DZ were more that the events of the day shouldn't be judged differently just because the team is sent in - a good score is still a good score and so too the contrary...

It really doesn't matter any more (except for the effect it may have on Root : more on that later ) : Australia have forged an impregnable position and England will have to bat out of their skins to salvage a draw.

Craig ...you seem to be critical of the selectors ? I know they don't always get it right : but by your own summary they can hardly be blamed for Stokes' self-inflicted absence ; or the injuries to TRJ and Finn. And as I already pointed out Wood was injured , albeit recovering now...easier to say someone else would do better than those they've picked but its another matter to find the alternative...Frankly I don't think there is one at the moment.

England will always be underdogs in Australia on the modern relatively bland pitches . The home side - naturally enough - tends to develop tall fast bowlers (and right now they have some pretty handy ones fit and in form) and batsmen who are generally comfortable with pace and bounce ( if less so with lateral movement) . Even if England had a ninety plus bowler it would be no guarantor of success : it is called home advantage. The comfort is that when these same players come to England they will find the Dukes ball doing all sorts of tricks...

Good start but a long way to go...

Cook's footwork (or lack of) could be his downfall. Still not moving out of his crease too much.