- England are in a dominant position after their Jimmy Anderson-inspired attack skittled Australia for 136 and they advanced to 133-3 in reply
- Click here for the full scoreboard from the third Test
And that’s it for the day, with the covers still on. An extra half-hour will be added on tomorrow now. It’s been England’s day, in every way, though if we may be critical for a second, then the dismissal of Bell just before the rain came will have taken just a little of the sheen from it, given that a storybook heart-warming home hundred looked on the cards. The home side’s advantage is down mainly to a fine, well-executed bowling performance from their seamers, particularly but by no means exclusively Anderson, and some surprisingly limp Australian batting. One wonders when both these sides will play well at the same time in this series. Perhaps they will tomorrow, who knows? Join us then – same place, same time – to find out. Thanks for your company, emails and wildly variable ideas on what constituted decent pop music in 1987. Bye.
Related: Australia fall to Jimmy Anderson as England fight back in Ashes
Related: Steven Finn bowls Michael Clarke and banishes Ashes demons | Ali Martin
Rain stops play. They’re off again, possibly for the final time today. Though we’ve technically got 19 more overs scheduled.
29th over: England 133-3 (Root 30, Bairstow 1). Starc has four slips in for Bairstow, who is indeed standing much taller in the crease than he did in 2013-14, along with that high bat-lift stance. With the gloom deepening, and a touch of rain in the air, he’s watchful for four deliveries before pushing and running a snatched single to get off the mark.
28th over: England 132-3 (Root 30, Bairstow 0). Lyon returns for a second over, having taken the most bizarre/extraordinary wicket with his first. And strikes again. He’s round the wicket at Bell, who is watchful with two well pitched up deliveries before throwing his wicket away, advancing down the track and mishitting an attempted straight drive. It’s up in the air and comes down into the hands of David Warner on the onside. So Jonny Bairstow gets his chance tonight.
27th over: England 131-2 (Bell 53, Root 29). Starc comes round the wicket at Bell, and does at least manage to cramp his style a little more. But not enough to prevent him going to 50 with a lovely cover drive for four. A controlled pull from a shorter ball brings two more and England are nearly in front. This first day is so reminiscent of a day from May 1997 that it’s a surprise no senior Labour party grandees have sought to package it up and impose it on the current leadership contest.
26th over: England 125-2 (Bell 47, Root 29). And here’s why it’s nice to see Root and Bell further up the order: the former unfurls the most gloriously textbook of cover drives from Hazlewood. Another two, then another four – this one clipped through the legside and over Johnson’s missed dive in the outfield, for added value – get the crowd fired up even more. The comeback ball, however, might just be the best wicketless delivery of the day, an absolute peach of a probing away-seamer, just back of a length, that could so easily have taken Root’s edge, or the top of off stump for that matter.
Up in the commentary box, Bumble, Atherton and Hussain are doing that fumbling-around-unsuccessfully-with-technology thing they habitually do while trying to plug one of Sky’s iPad apps. Then they give up.
25th over: England 115-2 (Bell 47, Root 19). Four more for Root with a dabbed edge past the slips. Big exasperated sighs from Starc. He gets a bit more encouragement from an inswinger that takes Root’s edge and drops short of the slips, and the batsmen run one. The lights are on and it looks gloomy over Birmingham.
24th over: England 110-2 (Bell 47, Root 14). Hazlewood continues at the City End. He’s still finding plenty of swing and, despite having been expensive, is perhaps making better use of it than his colleagues. Root is well beaten by one such display of it, and hurries through for a single at the end of a tighter, better over.
23rd over: England 109-2 (Bell 47, Root 13). More ch-ch-ch-changes, as Starc is reintroduced to the attack, but the flow of runs continues as a confident square drive on the offside brings Bell four more and England to three figures. He gets four more in the same region when Starc overpitches and the drive is easy and confident. If Gower in the commentary box is fretting a tad about the airy nature of some of his shots, no fault can be found with the third boundary of the over, a deft, brilliantly timed late cut past the slips. By Bell’s recent standards, this is a substantial score and his response to his promotion up the order appears to have been to really go for it, though the match situation may have much to do with this. And that’s drinks.
22nd over: England 97-2 (Bell 35, Root 13). Hazlewood continues, but Bell continues to enjoy himself at his expense, with even a slightly loose airy drive square on the offside bringing him four of his less impressive run. The bowler’s comeback ball is the best bowled by anyone for a while though, with his movement off the pitch beating Bell outside off-stump and even sparking an almost-appeal from Hazlewood. One more run completes the over.
21st over: England 92-2 (Bell 30, Root 13). We have our first SIX of the day when Root swivels and top-edges Johnson behind him right over the ropes. The bowler might not be totally disheartened by that, were it not for the fact that England are already closing in on a first-innings lead. Johnson and Root exchange some looks’n’verbals after another short-ish ball passes through to the keeper.
20th over: England 86-2 (Bell 30, Root 7). The chopping and changing continues as Lyon is rewarded for his wicket by removal from the attack after one over. Hazlewood’s back from what one would imagine is his favoured end after his brief mauling at Bell’s hands from the Pavilion End a few minutes back. However, he concedes another four when Root nudges a slightly awry legside delivery down to the fine leg boundary. Another clip down to deep square leg is the only other scoring shot of the over.
19th over: England 81-2 (Bell 30, Root 2). More tinkerman stuff from Clarke, as Johnson is back into the attack to greet Root’s arrival. Bell takes a single, which gives the bowler a chance – after an over-cooked wide – to do one of his favourite things and spear one into Root’s ribs, but Yorkshire’s finest fends it away deftly enough and gets down the other end for a single.
18th over: England 78-2 (Bell 29, Root 1). For the first time all day we have spin, with Nathan Lyon on at the City End. And it works straight away. Lyon drops short, and Cook pulls it straight into the midriff of Voges at short leg. The fielder knew nothing about it, but he can claim a remarkable catch. Everyone, including the camera operatives, had panned over the boundary assuming it had gone for four. But Cook’s fun is over. Root comes in and is off the mark second ball with a legside swipe for a single. Bell adds one more run.
17th over: England 76-1 (Cook 34, Bell 28) Johnson’s short sharp spell is ended – “You’re not bowling anymore,” chorus the Barmy Army – and Hazlewood rejoins the attack. But Bell is on top of him straight away, cracking a cover drive, then a squarer drive and then a legside flick away for three consecutive fours. This partnership is more than a run a ball at the moment. Heady stuff.
With England currently in the ascendant, let’s continue our ruminations on their shortcomings: “Hey Tom,” chirps Will Bird. “Thoughts on Ali moving up to open with Cook? He could handle the pressure. And maybe bring in Taylor to shore up the tail?” I’m not convinced by Ali as an ODI opener to be honest, and he’s made some useful contributions – both defensively and as a lower-order dasher – from where he’s been in the past year or so.
16th over: England 64-1 (Cook 34, Bell 16) Fun and frolics aplenty for the home fans, and lots of runs.Perhaps the loudest cheer of the day goes up as Johnson misfields at deep square leg after a confident clip from Bell to concede a four. Another single means a change of sides for Johnson, who now has to field in front of the Hollies Stand and is brought into action straight away to pick up Cook’s legside flick. Which he does without fumbling this time, to much braying. I think this is what they call Epic Bantz. The home crowd’s good mood is enhanced further when Cook slashes with abandon and confidence at a wild Marsh delivery outside off stump and gets four more.
15th over: England 53-1 (Cook 28, Bell 11) Johnson asks a few more questions of Bell with a couple that nip back sharply at him, and then a shorter one that the batsman pulls somewhat uncomfortably for a single down to deep square leg. Cook, whisper it, is looking more comfortable though and he clips Johnson for four through midwicket with precision timing. England have passed 50 FOR THE LOSS OF ONLY ONE WICKET! Unbelievable scenes.
“If the Aussies were in charge of England they would have Hales in by now,” surmises Neil Toolan. “I cannot help thinking there is a synergy here in promoting Hales into the Test arena with that of David Warners ascension in the Australian ranks. I’m not sure if the Aussies would be worried about any of the other candidates as they appear to be about Lyth. Finally England want a positive opener as a foil to Cook and a left hand / right hand combination would not go amiss.”
14th over: England 48-1 (Cook 24, Bell 10) Marsh cuts Cook in half with a lovely inswinger that is as equally impressively taken behind the stumps by Nevill. It’s a good over, with a couple of testing length deliveries slanted across the left-hander to complement those brought back at him, but when he overpitches with one, Cook flicks him away casually on the offside for two. “That current openers list might be made easier if it were used to effect a Mitchell of the Match prizem,” says John Starbuck cryptically. “Just kidding, I’d like to see Hales in too, and James Taylor for Bell if the latter fails (hope he doesn’t though).” Taylor would seem to be hovering closest to the team of all the contenders at the moment to be honest.
13th over: England 46-1 (Cook 22, Bell 10) Johnson strays just a little down the leg side at Bell with that trademark late swing, and concedes four leg-byes when one brushes the batsman’s thigh and races to the ropes. Johnson then goes short and Bell decides to take him on, hooking with verve and getting four more backwards of square. A good over for England.
12th over: England 38-1 (Cook 22, Bell 6) There’s a double change of bowling, with Mitchell Marsh on at the City End. He concedes his first runs with a very good ball, bringing a full-length delivery back at Cook, who inside edges down to the fine leg boundary for four. It’s the only scoring shot of a decent enough opening over.
Regarding openers, both James Soper and Mark Healy shout the odds for Alex Hales, on whose home ground the next Test takes place. And here’s some stats:
11th over: England 34-1 (Cook 18, Bell 6) Johnson hasn’t been held back for long after all – he’s on for Starc at the Pavilion End, to the usual fate-tempting refrains of the “He bowls to the left…” chant. He works Bell over early on with a short ball aimed at the ribcage that the Warwickshire batsman dabs down past short leg for a single. Cook gets a testing ball on a different length – inswinging full and straight – that he manages to deflect a little uppishly towards Rogers at short square leg, before he adds two on the offside with a little more ease.
“Re the Shane Warne tweet,” emails Donald McMain from a parallel universe of giddy optimism that no other English cricket fan has ever visited, “Now that Lyth’s out England can declare for 348 and leave five overs to bowl Australia out before the close of play - so yes, the good money’s on Australia batting again tonight.”
10th over: England 32-1 (Cook 17, Bell 5) It had looked as if Mitchell Johnson was preparing to come into the attack before Lyth’s dismissal but with a right-hander now in, Clarke persists with Hazlewood for the time being. Bell drives confidently towards his most voluble supporters in the Hollies Stand for three, which is the only scoring shot of the over. Is it too early, or too unfair, to be having the “what other in-form openers are around at the moment?” conversation yet?
9th over: England 29-1 (Cook 17, Bell 2) Starc continues and Bell gets another single straight away. Cook then produces a lovely punch off the back foot for four, which in turn prompts Starc to up his game and beat the England captain all ends up next ball with a fiendish late awayswinger. Just before Lyth went, Philip Bryden sent in this perfectly timed email: “No need for theatrics tonight, just go into the close with ten wickets intact, that’ll be the icing on today’s cake!”. Which would be worthy of mass condemnation had I not done the same thing in the previous over.
8th over: England 24-1 (Cook 13, Bell 1) Cook turns Hazlewood away square with confidence for a single. And then … what do you know? Lyth goes cheaply again, driving loosely at Hazlewood and Voges pouches it at the second attempt at second slip. It’s a careless shot after a composed start. Bell’s arrival at the crease earns hearty applause from the locals and he’s off the mark with a hurried single. Cook then adds four more with an excellent controlled pull shot. This is a really pivotal period now.
7th over: England 18-0 (Lyth 10, Cook 8) Starc continues to find the sort of boomerang swing that is easily enough left before Lyth gets hold of a fuller length ball and drives it through the covers for two. He gets four more with a nudge round the corner to the fine leg boundary. Given that one can sense, even from an office 120 miles away, the collective nervousness about England’s top order, you might expect something a bit more probing from Australia. We’ve not seen it. Yet… YET.
The best Australians, of course, are known for being aggressively optimistic and backing themselves:
6th over: England 12-0 (Lyth 4, Cook 8) Hazlewood finds a fuller and straighter line, but Cook pushes him firmly down the pitch for a single. Lyth adds another with a clip towards mid-on that Marsh, in the thick of it again, fumbles slightly once more.
5th over: England 10-0 (Lyth 3, Cook 7) Starc continues, and finds some fairly extravagant swing, without managing to tempt or trouble Cook, who leaves four innocuous balls in the prescribed Proper Cricket manner and then pushes a single on the offside. Which brings Lyth on strike and he plays his best shot so far with a confident punch down the ground. Marsh hares after it, slips just short of the ropes as he attempts to retrieve but manages to prevent the boundary. They run two.
4th over: England 7-0 (Lyth 1, Cook 6) The one ball remaining of Hazlewood’s over is a dot.
Afternoon again everyone. When I was a lad, my dear old grandad (God rest his soul) would insistently impart one key piece of advice when the subject of batting came up in conversation: when faced with a length ball outside off stump, he’d say, either leave it well alone or get on top of it and thump it. Too many modern players just leave their bats out to dry, he’d complain. Well, he’d have been admonishing the Australians left, right and centre today, as they repeatedly left the wrong balls and dangled their bats at the right ones. As a result, England’s skillful and intelligent bowling got more than ample reward. Now, they must battle to avoid the same pitfalls.
Anyway, out they come again.
I’m handing back to Tom now, who will see you through to stumps on what’s been a glorious first day so far for England. Whether that will still be the case come half past seven, we shall see. Thanks for all your emails, tweets and almost total pessimism. That’s what an Ashes summer is all about.
4th over: England 7-0 (Lyth 1, Cook 6) Four slips and a short leg in place as Hazlewood bowls to Cook, who coolly works a full ball to midwicket for three. Lyth looks to have settled a touch, leaving Hazlewood’s teasing deliveries outside off well alone. Having said that, he then immediately edges, but it won’t carry to captain Clarke in the slips. The rain is falling again, and that means tea will come early. Now surely, that’s A Good Thing For England...
3rd over: England 4-0 (Lyth 1, Cook 3) Starc is getting the new ball to move, and bamboozles Lyth with a good length ball that fizzes off the seam. Any hope for England that the visiting bowlers would magically be unable to find the same movement have been quickly undone. Just one from the over, but the primary objective – no wickets before tea – remains on course.
2nd over: England 3-0 (Lyth 1, Cook 2) “The rain is coming...” Ned Starks Paul Kavanagh. With half an hour until tea, I doubt England will be too devastated. Josh Hazlewood, who Ricky Ponting reckons is perfectly suited to these conditions, has Lyth in a tangle with a full, straight ball that ricochets a few inches over the stumps. Cook, who looks a far safer pair of hands already, flicks his wrists for a single to fine leg. Hazlewood then finds the perfect line, and Lyth is lucky to see it swing a hair’s breadth past his outside edge.
1st over: England 0-0 (Lyth 0, Cook 0) 48 overs remain today, and they could be absolutely pivotal in this series. Starc finds movement from the first ball, trying to tempt the often tentative Lyth into an edge. A length delivery swings away, and Lyth nervily prods at fresh air. A maiden, which will please Gary Naylor:
@niallmcveigh 100-0? Let's not be greedy. I'd be happy with 0-0 or even 0-2 at the close. It's time to dig in.
So, no wickets in four days for Anderson at Lord’s, and now six in under two hours – including a rain break. Skittling Australia for 136 was an outcome that only existed in Alastair’s Cook wildest dreams last night – Chris Rogers and Steve Smith each scored more by themselves at Lord’s – but as always, there’s a nagging doubt that won’t be salved until England are 100 without loss at stumps.
Lyon, a capable enough batsman for a No11, sends a full delivery over midwicket for four, then hits a less convincing thick edge which flies over the slips. Just as murmurs of concern spread around Edgbaston, Anderson gets his sixth wicket, as Lyon edges straight into his own stumps.
36th over: Australia 128-9 (Hazelwood 14, Lyon 3) Lyon gets off the mark with a cut behind square that should run for four, but the ever-tenacious Ben Stokes chases it down. Hazlewood is next to face Broad, who overpitches down the off side, giving Hazlewood room to drive past mid-off for four. Broad’s seen enough, and fires down two vicious bouncers – Hazlewood almost gloves the first, and decides to duck and cover the second time.
35th over: Australia 120-9 (Hazelwood 9, Lyon 0) Just the one run from the over, Hazlewood driving Anderson to backward point. Some might argue there’s no great rush to see this out, with better weather to come tomorrow morning. Adam Lyth, for instance.
34th over: Australia 119-9 (Hazelwood 8, Lyon 0) Buttler dives full length to stop a wide Broad delivery from disappearing for four. Lyon survives the over – a wicket maiden for Broad. Three overs for Australia to match England’s 37-over second innings effort at Lord’s. “Looks like England will avoid the follow on” predicts Seth Ennis. Don’t get cocky.
Australia undone once again by indecision around the off-stump, as Starc leaves an angled Broad ball so tentatively that it clips the bottom of the bat and sails through to Buttler.
33rd over: Australia 119-8 (Starc 11, Hazelwood 8) Hazlewood swings at a wide Anderson delivery, and it pings over the slips for a fortunate four. Jimmy gets back to heaving straight at the stumps – England haven’t had to do much more – but Hazlewood offers a straight bat, before another risky swing runs away to third man for another four.
32nd over: Australia 110-8 (Starc 10, Hazelwood 0) So Stuart Broad, who has battled away in the shadow of Anderson and Finn, gets his first wicket, and it as good as ends what little resistance Australia have offered. Hazlewood sees out the over with little comfort.
Adam Hirst is thinking what we’re all now thinking:
Rogers picks up a couple of runs with a punch beyond cover point, mithers about movement in the stands again – and then Broad traps him on the back foot! Aleem Dar raises a finger, Rogers reviews – well, he would – but there’s no reprieve. Rogers has gone!
31st over: Australia 108-7 (Rogers 50, Starc 10) Anderson is hunting for more wickets, but Starc straight-bats again for a couple, before a chip over the infield runs away for four. Anderson, very much firing on all cylinders, gets a warning for straying too far down the track.
30th over: Australia 102-7 (Rogers 50, Starc 4) The players are back out, and Broad finishes off his over, coming perilously close to taking care of Starc immediately, pitching outside off and almost clipping the off stump as Starc left it alone. Starc picks up three, pushing a full one down the ground. That’s the ton up for Australia. At Lord’s, by the time England took the seventh wicket, Australia had totted up 536.
Thanks Tom. So, Jimmy has a five-fer and Australia, having won the toss and chosen to bat, are struggling to scrap into triple figures. England fans must be on top of the world, right?
“If the Aussies are 99-7 on a track they wanted to bat on. What will England score? 50?Watching Johnson walk off it seemed there was a “see you in a bit lads” swagger about him..” says Rich Graeme.
The covers are coming off again. Play expected to resume at 3.15pm
Anyway, as Sky broadcasts one of its horribly self-congratulatory (and palpably untrue) ads for its football coverage of what it claims is “the best league in the world”, I’ll hand you back to Niall McVeigh to talk us through what the weather and the cricket have to offer us over the next hour or so. See you later.
29.2 overs: Australia 99-7 (Rogers 50, Starc 1). Rain stops play. Umbrellas and plastic ponchos are going on around the ground as Broad continues, but for only two more balls before the umpires signal a retreat to the pavilion as the rain intensifies a little. We’re off for a bit.
29th over: Australia 99-7 (Rogers 50, Starc 1) Anderson comes round the wicket at the new man in, Starc, and he has mid-off brought in a fraction and five slips, the fourth of whom, Lyth, almost pouches a catch from Starc’s low edge but it bounces just in front of him. A single ensues, the only such of the over.
I know what you’re thinking: we’ve not heard from Sara Torvalds in this session. Well, we have now:
The question Michael Hunt raised fails to take into account that Finland is officially bilingual: I, for instance, speak Swedish as my first language. And there is a sizeable number of Finnish-speakers in Sweden (it’s an official minority language over there). So, will a postcard in Swedish from Finland do?
Of course within the rapidly growing number of #FinnsForFinn we are in favour of any and all languages, though it must be said that the Swedish #FinländareFörFinn works slightly better than the Finnish equivalent #SuomalaisetFinninPuolesta, particularly as the form of the name Finn used in that hashtag is the same as the Finnish word for ‘pimple’ (another Swedish variant, #FinnarFörFinn would also be ambiguous in the same way, in addition to suggesting to some readers that only Finnish-speaking Finns are supportive of Finn).
28th over: Australia 98-7 (Rogers 50, Starc 0) Broad returns and causes Rogers some discomfort with one brought back into him, which strikes the left-hander above the pad. Uncharacteristically, Rogers then opens his shoulders and chips riskily and uppishly into the offside for two, and then brings up his 50 when mid-off misfields and the opener takes a couple more. It’s been a really fine innings in the circumstances, although Rogers then plays and misses an attempted hook that prompts half an appeal from Broad, but even he doesn’t really fancy it.
27th over: Australia 94-7 (Rogers 46, Starc 0) Johnson is off the mark with a firm punch down the ground for three, which takes him past 2,000 Test runs, a testament to his use as a No8 batsman. Rogers pushes another single, while Anderson gets a warning for running down the middle of the pitch. And then – Jimmy gets his fifth!– as Johnson thick-edges low to Stokes at fifth slip, a tribute to Cook’s field placing as well as the bowler’s enduring skill, coming round the wicket on this occasion.
26th over: Australia 90-6 (Rogers 45, Johnson 0) The past Edgbaston Test being invoked now is, inevitably, the 1997 one, but Rogers is doing his best to defy such talk, going about his business mostly quietly and unfussily and he picks up four more with a delicately-steered toe-ended nudge down to the boundary behind square on the offside. Finn comes back at him with a shorter ball but he fends that away successfully too.
25th over: Australia 86-6 (Rogers 41, Johnson 0) Johnson emerges to a cacophony of cartoonish booing and digs out an attempted yorker, first up. It’s another superb over. “Call me an old fashioned pessimist,” cautions Felix Wood with the sort of gloomy contrarianism that I can only applaud, “but this scene seems set for quick centuries from Johnson and Starc, and England to have to follow on.”
Anderson tests Rogers with two accurate full-length balls, both of which induce inside edges, whereupon a man is – seemingly incongruously – posted out on the hook. Rogers manages a single with a square drive that could easily have been four, had not a diving Ben Stokes hauled it back. England are all over Australia and, to prove it, Anderson bowls Nevill, who is deceived by an inswinger, which he foolishly leaves, and sees the top of off-stump pegged back
24th over: Australia 85-5 (Rogers 40, Nevill 2) This is what people have long wanted Finn to be in the team for - fiery, purposeful, testing fast bowling. He forces Rogers to duck under another short one before a leg-bye adds one to the total. There’s variation of length too, as Nevill has to dig out an attempted yorker, and is then beaten by a jaffa that leaves him a fraction. The final ball of the over is almost as good, though well left this time by the batsman. A terrific over.
Meanwhile Joel Greig possibly wins the 1987 argument by pointing out that “Prince released Sign ‘O’ The Times in 1987 thus it was (and always will be) a high point in modern music. Never before or since has a man looked so good in matching peach heels and jumpsuit.” Don’t think I can dispute a single word of that.
23rd over: Australia 84-5 (Rogers 40, Nevill 2) This is a big test for the new batsman Peter Nevill now, having made hay while the sun – metaphorically and actually – shone at Lord’s. He’s off the mark with a tidy tuck away on the leg side for two but it’s another fine over from Anderson.
Marsh goes early, and Anderson – wicketless over four days at Lord’s – now has three in fewer than three hours. Marsh is induced into a regulation edge behind by an away-seamer and Buttler does the rest.
22nd over: Australia 82-4 (Rogers 40, Marsh 0) This is a proper contest. Finn finds some more lift with a crowd-pleasing bouncer at Rogers. He follows it with an equally rousing outswinger slanted across the left-hander, although it’s called a no-ball. Rogers retorts with a lovely drive through extra-cover for four, however, but he’s asked sterner questions by Finn’s subsequent awkward bouncer, which isn’t easy to duck under, although he manages to. Lovely stuff.
“Paradise City certainly includes the best use of a whistle in rock music, IMHO,” reckons Simon McMahon. “I still join in every time I hear it. 1987 also saw the release of The Proclaimers debut album, and I have it on good authority that the Reid brothers in their early days made Axl Rose and Slash look like a couple of choirboys.” Couldn’t agree more on the Proclaimers’ oft-overlooked debut. And to celebrate its rare recognition on the OBO, here’s this:
21st over: Australia 77-4 (Rogers 36) Anderson resumes from the Pavilion End. Rogers nudges him round the corner for one. And then Jimmy strikes! A nibbling outswinger is, well, nibbled at nervously by Voges and Buttler takes a neat low catch behind the stumps. Today’s rain and slow over rates mean play could go on until 7.23pm precisely tonight, which destroys my chances of catching Corrie tonight.
20th over: Australia 76-3 (Rogers 35, Voges 16) It’s still pretty gloomy and the floodlights are on, as Finn is tossed the ball once more. The restart is slightly delayed by yet more spectator movement behind the bowler’s arm in the corporate seats, which is irritating Shane Warne, and thousands of others no doubt. Finn beats Voges with a delicious away swinger, which just deviates enough to flummox the batsman. A good over is marred slightly by it final delivery, which strays down the legside and is flicked effortlessly down to the fine leg boundary by Voges for four.
The players are trotting back out. “I can’t believe you haven’t been deluged with emails informing you that 1987 is important in pop music primarily because it was the year that Kylie launched her recording career,” disbelieves Marie Meyer. “I guess the Aussies are all under their duvets.”
Some covers are coming off again, albeit not yet those covering the square, but the rain has stopped.
“Never mind 1980s popular music,” John Starbuck becomes the 857th person to have ever told me, “Let’s go back to the 1960s and this Beach Boys hymn to Californian hedonism - Finn, Finn, Finn.”
“1987 was a great year for music,” insists Andrew Pechey. “Appetite For Destruction arrived, the single greatest album ever released. So did Def Leppard’s Hysteria, which is almost as good.”
Up in the commentary box, Warney, Gowery and Pontingy are discussing the current travails of Test cricket in the world in general, which provides me with a handy hook on which to hang another plug for this fine piece from Andy Bull yesterday on the very necessary film Death of a Gentleman.
Various public screenings have been organised, with more being planned all the time, which is a similarly handy hook on which to hang this (admittedly London-centric) tweet:
Uh-oh. The covers are back on. The light rain of earlier has become a little more niggling, not to say nagging. So no play for the moment.
Afternoon everyone. Is there a more aesthetically pleasing sight in all sport – or indeed in life generally - than that of a new ball zipping, seaming and swinging purposefully about the place? Unlikely. And England’s bowlers were frequently a delight to watch this morning, claiming three vital early scalps in the manner that, well, all England’s opponents habitually do themselves at the moment. However, there were signs in the half-hour before lunch of Australia steadying themselves, so for the moment – from an English point of view – I’m the bloke in the corner of the bar grumbling slightly at the state of his perennially half-empty pint glass.
Anyway, there’s much to chew over this afternoon, including the remnants of the morning’s Finnish Finn fans and Mel’n’Kim riffing. And if you want bleeding-edge allusions to 1987 pop music, I’m probably your man. (Actually scratch that, 1987 was a rubbish year for pop music).
I’m handing over to Tom Davies for a little while. I’ll leave you with this from Ravi Raman, who has taken the previous e-mail to its logical conclusion with this video, which asks: what would happen if everybody in the world jumped at the same time?
So, on balance, that rain break was probably A Bad Thing For England. Guardian IT people: please amend my email address immediately. No, it’s fine, I’ll wait.
“Much like the question of what happens if everyone in China jumped at the same time, if all of Finland holds its breath for an over as Finn is bowling, is Sweden hit with periods of low pressure, and they pray for a solid over-rate to minimise the magnitude of the storms?” asks Michael Hunt. Answers on a postcard (preferably from Sweden).
Australia made a dreadful start, finding themselves at 34-3 before a brief rain break allowed them to steady the ship. Their early struggles were thanks to a combination of slick, aggressive England bowling – particularly for comeback kid Steven Finn, who took the wickets of Steve Smith and Michael Clarke – and nervous batting. Chris Rogers has hung in there, and has cobbled together a 38-run partnership with Adam Voges, but it was undoubtedly England’s morning.
19th over: Australia 72-3 (Rogers 35, Voges 12) Voges opens the over by sending a full Broad inswinger back down the ground for four. A short, wide ball moves in sharply and catches the thigh pad, and the next ball prompts a half-hearted LBW appeal that’s promptly turned down. Rogers, finally finding his groove after the rigours of this morning, tucks a full ball through midwicket for four, and that’s lunch.
18th over: Australia 63-3 (Rogers 31, Voges 8) Alastair Cook rearranges the field in preparation for some short stuff from Finn, but Rogers picks out a gap at mid-on, sending poor Jonny Bairstow chasing down the field. It goes for three, and then Rogers fiddles with the pitch in an attempt to drag the over out. Not quite the swashbuckling Australia we saw at Lord’s, is it?
Finn fires in a bouncer that Voges has to duck, then after the strike is rotated, Rogers clubs a short ball into a wide open space on the leg side. There will be time for one more over.
17th over: Australia 55-3 (Rogers 24, Voges 7) The seamers have kept a good to full length when aiming at Voges, keeping him on the back foot. Just two from the over, as a shorter Broad ball is edged past point. One more over – maybe two – before lunch.
16th over: Australia 53-3 (Rogers 24, Voges 5) Rogers is also playing the waiting game, keeping on his toes to defend a straight ball, then pulling away from a tempter outside off, before getting the half-volley he was waiting for, and despatching it through extra cover for four. A patient, persistent and necessary 24 off 49 so far from Rogers.
“With a picture of Arthur Fonzarelli emblazoned on them, Sara Torvalds’ diving accessories would be massive in the bog snorkelling niche. ‘Fens fun in Finns’ Finn fan Fonz fins’” says wordsmith David Stott.
15th over: Australia 49-3 (Rogers 20, Voges 5) Voges bides his time, leaving a slew of off-side deliveries before picking his moment to punch Broad down the pitch for four. Two old heads at the crease now – a combined age of 72, no less – trying to atone for that nervy first hour.
14th over: Australia 45-3 (Rogers 20, Voges 1) Finland holds its breath as Steven Finn returns to the fray, trying to square Voges up, but he defends well, then pushes Finn away for a single to get on the board. Rogers, who has played much further back in the crease than at Lord’s, leans back and guides a full delivery past Stokes at backward point. The ball nicks Stokes’s injured finger on its way through – that will sting.
13th over: Australia 38-3 (Rogers 14, Voges 0) Broad will finish off the over he started half an hour ago, with three slips and a gully behind Rogers, who continues to complain about movement in the stands. Rogers fields the first with a tuck to mid-on, before he again searches for an edge outside off. Rogers just about gets his bat out of the way. No runs from the four balls.
Felix Wood is putting me on the spot:
“I think the big thing everyone wants to know is whether this break is A Good Thing For England or A Bad Thing For England. Will they have enjoyed their little break, and have a chance to have a go at batsmen who have to get in again, or will Boof have sorted their heads out? What is your opinion? Your ability to correctly answer this will probably determine whether you ever lose the casual from your email address.”
“Sara Torvold’s organization could offer merchandise” suggests Marie Meyer. For example, diving gear. Yes, that’s right... the official Finns for Finn fins. And their promotional video could wrap up with ‘Finns for Finn fins. Fin.’
Finns for Finn Fins: Fine Fins For Finnish Finn Fans. It just rolls off the tongue.
Better news from Birmingham. Tony Pimlott reports “it’s clearing up already with a hint of blue sky”. Lovely stuff. We’ll restart at 12.35.
Here’s Jack Duncton on the man of the hour:
Bad news from Birmingham:
@niallmcveigh raining quite heavily in centre of Brum right now, with a northerly wind ..... :(
@niallmcveigh Shaping up to be an excellent day for us in the #FinnsForFinn camp #ENGvAUS
13th over: Australia 38-3 (Rogers 14, Voges 0) Rogers leans in and lashes at a Broad ball that darts away, with the thick edge that flies just over Stokes at backward point. Stokes was about four feet in the air; that would have been ridiculous. Oh no, what’s this? Rain has stopped play! “Well, it’s August in England” says David Gower. Erm... no it isn’t.
Anyway, the covers are on, and the players are off after a raucous first hour. Any lily-livered England fans who wished for rain this morning – that’s what you get.
12th over: Australia 34-3 (Rogers 10, Voges 0) Here comes Adam Voges, with Finn firing outside off and Voges leaving everything well alone. Finn has figures of 2-6. The only bad news for England: slate-grey clouds are building over Edgbaston.
By the way, I’m aware Steven Finn wasn’t actually told he was never gonna be selectable. I was making a Mel & Kim reference. Probably a bit contemporary.
Don’t call it a comeback, but Finn has a second wicket, and it’s a crucial one as Clarke goes! It’s a brilliant yorker that sneaks underneath the Australia captain’s bat. The first hour has not exactly gone as planned for Australia.
11th over: Australia 33-2 (Rogers 9, Clarke 10) The scoreboard gets moving again as an angled Anderson ball flicks off Clarke’s pad and beyond Buttler for four. Clarke’s at it again later in the over, throwing a dummy to send Buttler diving to his left as the ball sails to his right. Not the finest over for the wicketkeeper, and there’s more fielding issues as Clarke edges through a chasm in the slips. Australia almost double their score in one over.
10th over: Australia 19-2 (Rogers 9, Clarke 1) After a wicket in his comeback over, Finn can now have a pop at Clarke, sticking to his tried and tested back of a length deliveries. Just the one run from the over, with the captain pushing one into the covers.
“Good first 8 overs for England. Australia probably about 239 runs short of where they’d want to be at this stage” honks Andrew Buddery. Australia’s slow start is certainly making things easier for our app boffins, and for that we’re thankful.
This just isn’t cricket:
9th over: Australia 18-2 (Rogers 9, Clarke 0) Rogers is again fussing about movement behind the arm. Those delays mean we’ve had nine overs, and just eighteen runs, in the first 45 minutes. Crucially for England, there’s also been two wickets. A maiden for Anderson, who continues to hum with menace, flashing two deliveries in quick succession past Rogers’s outside edge.
As ever at the Guardian OBO, we remain as impartial as Pontius Partridge. Australians – how are we feeling? Stop pretending to be asleep...
8th over: Australia 18-2 (Rogers 9, Clarke 0) This is looking a little sticky for Australia all of a sudden, and Michael Clarke, Australia’s only survivor from 2005, needs to settle things down. Steve Smith is, we’re told, the world’s No1 batsman. It’s fair to say he didn’t look like it in that skittish cameo.
Eighteen months after being told he wasn’t ever gonna be selectable, Steven Finn is back. Steve Smith hasn’t settled yet, but a timid half-volley is punched through four – but the very next ball, Finn finds the perfect line and gets an edge that carries to Cook at first slip!
7th over: Australia 14-1 (Smith 3, Rogers 9) Not much short stuff in Rogers’s direction so far, on a quicker pitch than at Lord’s. Anderson does fire in a snorting short ball, then a fuller delivery that finds Rogers’s outside edge, but the batsman’s awkward swipe drops wide of gully. England continue to ask the right questions.
6th over: Australia 13-1 (Smith 2, Rogers 9) Another maiden, this time for Broad, who hasn’t found the movement that Anderson has but keeps Rogers quiet, save for a push to backward point which the spry Ben Stokes dives brilliantly to field.
“England could really do with making the most of these conditions. Not wanting to be Eeyorish, but the ball is doing more laterally than it has all series, pitch seems relatively friendly to England’s bowlers at present, but little pace or bounce. When the ball becomes softer, seam less pronounced, and the pitch dries out, England’s seamers will be about as threatening as they were at Lord’s” offers optimism’s Christopher Dale.
5th over: Australia 13-1 (Smith 2, Rogers 9) A maiden from Anderson, targeting Smith’s off stump as the batsman dances all over his crease. Australia looking pretty uncomfortable so far.
“As an ex-pat living in Queensland I could do with a little clarification” asks Phil Withall. “Do I go to bed embracing the warm and fuzzy feeling of the ‘New England’ (sorry Billy Bragg) or do I spend a restless night imagining another hellish day at work tomorrow as every single one of the 300 people I deal with each day continue to take an over zealous interest in the cricket. I really wish England would sort themselves out one way or another. I need the sleep.”
4th over: Australia 13-1 (Smith 2, Rogers 9) After all that excitement, there’s a five-minute break as Smith is also unhappy with movement behind the arm. Ground staff busy themselves closing windows and tying down tarps; would have helped to have done that earlier. Broad goes full to Smith, then short to Rogers, which works pretty well until the final ball, which Rogers attacks and sends wide of long leg for four.
@niallmcveigh Let's hope Captain Clarke doesn't get a stinker that he can't review later in the innings... #TheNewShaneWatson
Given the way Anderson has got the ball to move already, there’s a chance we’ll be seeing Clarke’s decision to bat replayed in ten years, as is the case with poor old Punter.
3rd over: Australia 8-1 (Smith 1, Rogers 5) Jimmy Anderson has come out swinging – and there’s another big appeal as an outswinger strikes Smith on the pad – but the new batsman was outside the line of off-stump. Rogers is next in Anderson’s sights, as a short ball jags past his outside edge. “A good start for England”, understates Ian Botham.
Well, well. Anderson sends in a short seam ball that looks to have pinned Warner lbw, and he’s given out! After a long discussion, Warner decides to review, but it’s in vain. An early breakthrough from England
2nd over: Australia 7-0 (Warner 2, Rogers 5) Broad bowling to Rogers, who holds things up to admonish a chap in a t-shirt marked Here to Help, who is only hindering the Australian by walking across his line of sight. Having regained his composure, Rogers drives a half-volley through midwicket for four.
A toadstool of hopeful excitement, quivering under the booted foot of abject terror. @niallmcveigh#Ashes2015
1st over: Australia 3-0 (Warner 2, Rogers 1) Anderson finds movement on the first ball, and from the second, Rogers prods to mid-on. Stuart Broad collects smartly, and skittles the stumps with Warner diving for the crease! It’s a review, and England look confident – but replays show Warner got back in time. The single run collected takes Rogers to 44 tests without a duck. Warner flicks a full, moving delivery wide of gully, which Stokes retrieves a foot from the boundary. A lively first over.
It’s Jimmy Anderson who has the ball in hand, and all things are possible.
Five minutes! Who’s excited/terrified?
“What’s the weather like? Does any enquiry about the weather forecast at this stage of the match indicate a defeatist mindset?” asks Naren Radhakrishnan.
It’s cool and cloudy in Birmingham right now, with spells of sunshine, and perhaps the odd shower to come. I’m sad to report that there are a few umbrellas going up around Edgbaston, but we’re still on for an 11am start. The forecast over the five days is pretty promising, unless, like Naren, you’re hoping for a face-saving washout.
Your thoughts
“I’m not sure we can trust Ricky Ponting on the Edgbaston pitch given what happened in ‘05. On this basis alone I’d have a bat!” chuckles James Crowder. Well, Michael Clarke was clearly paying attention, and completely ignored Punter’s advice.
A quick charity plug: our very own James Dart is getting on his bike to raise some cash for the Youth Sport Trust. Do lend him your support.
@NiallMcVeigh the designer for the ad for your app was pretty confident, eh? I'd take 257-2 after 8.2 overs.
I'd take 257-2 off 8 overs having been put in. Might have to get the Guardian app http://t.co/Bm3bYNMz93#Ashes (via @NiallMcVeigh)
England: Cook (c), Lyth, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler (wk), Ali, Broad, Finn, Anderson.
Australia: Clarke (c), Warner, Rogers, Smith, Voges, Marsh, Nevill (wk), Johnson, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon.
Michael Clarke’s side is unchanged, with Chris Rogers fit to start and Peter Nevill staying behind the stumps ahead of Brad Haddin. Alastair Cook sheepishly admits he’d have batted first, and confirms what we all suspected: Bairstow is in for Ballance, and Steven Finn replaces Mark Wood, who hasn’t recovered from his ankle problem.
I like this, from Gary Naylor, about the mysteries of pitch reading. The unpredictable wicket here today has everyone confused, to the extent that Shane Warne would bat, Ricky Ponting would bowl. I’d bowl first – I think.
Looks like we're in for a bit of this stuff @NiallMcVeigh The Pitch Reader’s Art http://t.co/d89Rb8QygS. I'd bat, for what it's worth.
The coin toss is around 15 minutes away. Whether you’re brimming with confidence or racked with fear, you can keep up to date with the Guardian app, now featuring a fancy new interface. There’s really no excuse to do any work today.
Eighteen days ago – really, that’s all it’s been – Cardiff buzzed with delight and disbelief as England took the first Test at a canter. Australia turned down their offer of a post-match pint, in favour of a spot of sober reflection. Their response at Lord’s was clinical and comprehensive, and the hangover lingers for England.
England have acted in response to their second Test embarrassment, dropping Gary Ballance for Jonny Bairstow, and potentially shuffling the pace attack by recalling Steven Finn ahead of Mark Wood, whose enthusiasm was blunted at Lord’s. With Bairstow slotting in alongside Joe Root and Ben Stokes, England will send out a swaggering middle order, but one that must convince and not collapse.
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