Australia have already won The Ashes series after winning the first 3 Tests. The English won the 4th Test to make the series 3-1, with just this last game remaining.
Australia hasn’t been able to field their top team all series, and are without captain Cummins and top spinner Lyons again. Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement, and this will be his last match in front of his home crowd.
England can find redemption with another win, and arguably claim they could have won the series. Will Bazball continue to live, after seeming dead after the Aussies went up 3-0?
10am-12:30pm AEDT will be compulsory viewing for cricket nuts. Who wins the toss and whether the bowling team can break through in that first session may determine the result.
But a Test is 5 days, even though we seem to normally get 2 day Test Matches in this series.
19 Comments
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 227d
Don't suppose anybody got a screenshot of clip of that last DRS snicko? Am listening on radio and curious what it looked like.
No1@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 230d
Let's see if the Aussies can bat a full day...
No1@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 229d
Been spending most my life living in a batting paradise...
No1@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 231d
Ended up fairly even for the first session.
Aussies held the upper hand at 3/57, and I was hoping another English collapse was on the cards. But England fought back well, and should have some prime batting time this afternoon.
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 231d
I'm inclined to give the first session to England. A decent start, lost it in the middle, but fought back well towards the end.
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 229d
Why does the SCG—a cricket and Aussie rules football stadium—have a stand named after Dally Messenger—a rugby league footballer?
No1@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 229d
All the NSW Rugby League semi finals and grand finals used to be played there up until around the 1980s when the Sydney Football Stadium was built.
The ground record for the SCG of 78,056 was set in the 1965 Grand Final. There were still 40,000 trying to get in and there are some incredible photos of fans sitting on the roof of stands. Madness!
If it rained, the centre pitch square would turn into a mudbath. This is how the famous Provan and Summons "The Gladiators" picture occurred that is now the NRL trophy.
Also, if the ground wasn't wet, the cricket square was still rock hard and getting tackled on that was like tackling on cement. It was often a tactic to head upfield along the sidelines if possible.
No1@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 231d
Another very green looking pitch.
But the ball is not really doing much off the deck. Yet.
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 230d
I'mma take responsibility for that wicket. I was just thinking "is this the best opening partnership of the series?" Guess I jinxed it. (Incidentally, no, it was 3rd.)
Also: Channel 7 commentators said we lost a review? Did they misspeak, or am I misunderstanding? It was umpire's call.
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 230d
Oh, the broadcast just showed a replay which clearly shows "review retained". So the commentator obviously misspoke.
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 229d
Australia officially takes the lead. How much further can we extend it? How much further should we extend it? If the second two innings go long like this there's a real chance of a draw.
No1@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 229d
Bat for as big a lead as we can get and try and bowl them out so we don't need to bat again. Up until tea break tomorrow if you can. Still gives you 4 sessions to bowl them out.
Worst case for that is a draw.
Zagorath@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 229d
Yeah true, I didn't even think of that. Will depend on if England can finally put aside the failure of Bazball and play for the draw. Or if they don't do that but have another lucky innings like the last one, despite the ageing pitch.
No1@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 227d
Righteous win.
The only thing people will remember about this series is the 2 two day Test Matches.
Unless that is the new norm
No1@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 228d
Starc with another first over wicket !
No1@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 227d
160 to get. The pitch hasn't gone wild yet, so Aussies should knock these off without any trouble.
No1@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 227d
Labuschagne is batting for a draw.
And, he just got dropped lol
No1@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 230d
Clever play by Australia giving away no runs in the last session of Day 1.
And have snagged a couple of quick wickets to start Day 2.
Cmon, get them out quickly and let's have a bat!
No1@aussie.zone · 1 pts · 228d
Aussies obviously in the driver's seat, but England still have a small chance to win this Test. If they can bat the rest of today and score quickly and maybe bat for a short time tomorrow get 150-200 runs ahead and hope that the pitch falls apart.
Normally, the sensible thing for the English to do would be to just bat out as much time as possible to ensure a draw. But they don't really have anything to lose here. And it is Bazball England so we'll see.