George Dobell and Melinda Farrell answer your questions after day one of the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane (4:35)
England 302 (Vince 83, Stoneman 53) v Australia
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Australia roared into the ascendancy on the second morning at the Gabba, for arguably the first time in the Test, as six wickets tumbled for 56 runs in the space of 14.3 overs to leave England’s batsmen ruing their failure to press home their hard-earned advantage.
By lunch, England had crept over the 300-barrier, thanks to a lusty last-wicket stand of 16 between Stuart Broad and James Anderson. But, despite having kept Australia in the field for 117 overs, their tactic of prioritising time over intent had been undermined by a series of injudicious dismissals, having at one stage of the morning been 246 for 4.
The momentum swing was initiated at precisely the moment when it seemed that Australia were running short of ideas. Despite resuming with a new ball that had been a mere three deliveries old, Australia’s seamers found themselves thwarted in a fifth-wicket stand of 83 between Moeen Ali and Dawid Malan, and when Starc returned for his second spell shortly after the drinks break, he opted for a barrage of short balls that appeared to be an optimistic approach given the sluggish nature of the deck.
It certainly did not appear to have fazed Malan in the least. The third of England’s Ashes debutants to make his mark with a half-century, Malan twice latched onto fierce pulls as Starc dropped short, one of which fizzed away for four, while the other clanged savagely into Cameron Bancroft’s visor at short leg.
But, undeterred, Starc persisted with his approach, found some extra height with his next bouncer to take the delivery out of Malan’s comfort zone, and Shaun Marsh at square leg – whose previous involvement had been to rip Starc’s trousers with his studs in an awkward tangle in the outfield – clung onto a top-edged pull to deliver Starc his 150th Test wicket.
Eight deliveries later, England had been left with two new batsmen on 0 when Moeen Ali stretched forward to the persevering Nathan Lyon, and was pinned lbw on the front foot for 38. A review could not save Moeen, but the wicket was just reward for Lyon, Australia’s outstanding bowler of the first two days, who had sent down a series of utter jaffas in the course of his morning’s work without ever finding the edge or the stumps.
Four balls later, however, Lyon found both, as Chris Woakes gave himself room to drive against the spin – never a good idea when the ball is gripping – and inside-edged another big turner into his stumps for a fourth-ball duck. England had shed three wickets for four runs in the space of 18 deliveries, and much as had been the case when a Peter Siddle hat-trick wrecked their first innings at the Gabba in 2010-11, their innings had been reduced to pure damage limitation.
Jonny Bairstow was, on this occasion, unable to stem the flow. He had been retained at No.7 in spite of the absence of Ben Stokes, largely due to his talent at batting with England’s tail. However, this time he chose the wrong ball to attack as Pat Cummins returned to the attack, and in attempting a hoist through the leg side, he top-edged a steepler to Tim Paine behind the stumps for 9.
Jake Ball gave it some humpty to enliven England’s muted fans, edging a first-ball four from Lyon through the slips before tonking two more in quick succession, a lusty sweep and a fierce cut through point. But, with his tail up, Starc pounded in and picked off his man, as Ball hopped from leg to off to flick firmly off his pads, only to be brilliantly caught by a flying David Warner at leg gully for 14.
That wicket fell in the scheduled final over before lunch, meaning that play was extended by half an hour as Anderson came out to join Broad – a partnership that they might, at one stage, have assumed would not be resumed until England were in the field.
Anderson, not unusually, was the subject of a barrage of verbals and bouncers, one of which he heaved deftly over the cordon for four. Broad, meanwhile, should have been dismissed at fine leg to signal the end of the innings, only for Marsh to spill a dolly over the boundary for four. Emboldened by his life, he slammed Starc through midwicket for another boundary to haul England past the 300 mark. However, his luck could not last, and where Marsh had erred, Handscomb displayed safe hands to give Josh Hazlewood his first wicket of the series.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo