Australia reach 221/2 at end of Day 1 of the 2nd Ashes Test against England

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England must achieve what no side in men's day-night Test history has achieved to avoid slumping to a 2-0 deficit in the Ashes: beat Australia with the pink ball.

Overview
Australia vs England, second Ashes Test
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
15-19 December

Across their eight day-night Tests to date, Australia has come out victors all eight times. England, by contrast, have one win and three losses from their four day-nighters.

On top of that record, there’s the fact England has not won a Test in Australia since 2010/11, losing 10 of their past 11 matches in the format Down Under.

Suffice to say, recent history is against them heading into this match.

Nevertheless, they have reason to go into the match with some cause for optimism. Senior pros James Anderson and Stuart Broad are both expected to return for the clash. Importantly, both Joe Root and Dawid Malan found form at the Gabba, notching half-centuries, while Haseeb Hameed and Ollie Pope each produced encouraging innings.

Of course, there is much more for Australia to be optimistic about with only injury concerns dampening the positives that came from the first Test.

With the ball, every member of their all-star attack performed, and with the bat there was plenty to be happy about – nothing more so than Travis Head’s incredible century.

If they maintain similar standards at Adelaide Oval, they’ll be extremely hard to beat.


Remember the last time

England’s Ashes campaign got off to the roughest of starts at the Gabba, slumping to a nine-wicket loss inside four days.

Root’s decision to bat first on a green deck under cloudy skies was a bold one that came back to bite the tourists immediately as Mitchell Starc bowled Rory Burns around his legs first ball. Before lunch on day one they were four down and coming back from there was always going to be difficult. With Pat Cummins taking five wickets on his captaincy debut, England were bowled out before the end of the day for 147.

Australia piled on 425 runs in reply, with David Warner cashing in on some early fortune to make 94, before Head (152) belted a century in a session to all but take England out of the match.

Root’s team actually looked set to make it a contest from there, sitting in the healthy position of 223/2 at one point in their second innings with eyes on setting Australia a significant target. Unfortunately for the tourists, after Malan (82) and Root’s (89) 162-run stand was ended, there was little resistance. Nathan Lyon’s long wait for Test wicket No.400 came to an end and for good measure he took another three before the end of the innings, leaving Australia needing just 20 runs to win.

Things didn’t go so well for England in their last day-night Test against Australia either. In 2017 when they met at Adelaide Oval in a pink ball affair, England went down by 120 runs.


Team news

Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed his side would be making just one change from the XI that so convincingly won the first Test, with Josh Hazlewood ruled out with a side strain and replaced by Jhye Richardson.

Richardson has thrived in Australia’s domestic first-class tournament this summer (23 wickets at 13.43) and has already proven he is up to Test standard, taking six wickets at 20.50 across two matches in 2019.

Cummins backed David Warner to play through the pain barrier after he suffered bruised ribs in the first Test.

Australia XI: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon

Despite it being the batting that misfired in the first Test, England’s main dilemmas going into the second match revolve around the make-up of their attack.

Chris Woakes, Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson all impressed for England at the Gabba but with Anderson and Broad both tipped to return at Adelaide Oval at least one of them will have to make way. Two will have to sit out if England opt to retain a spinner on what has been described as a “thatchy” wicket.

Jack Leach had a torturous time in Brisbane, taking 1/102, so it remains to be seen if England will keep the faith in the main tweaker. In reserve they have Dom Bess, who took six wickets (4/80, 2/157) for the England Lions against Australia A.

On the batting front, Rory Burns will be under pressure to perform if he is retained after posting scores of 0 and 13 in the first Test. Waiting in the wings for selection is Zak Crawley. If England want more experience in their batting order they could turn to Jonny Bairstow in the middle order in place of Ollie Pope.

Possible England XI: Haseeb Hameed, Rory Burns, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes/Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

The WTC23 situation

Australia commenced their ICC World Test Championship campaign in style in the first Test and will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent record in the current cycle. With tough tours to come in Pakistan and India, building an early buffer could be crucial to Australia's hopes of making the final.

Sitting seventh at this stage in the tournament, having picked up only 15 per cent of available points, England will be intent on making up for lost ground before it's too late.

Look out for

Mitchell Starc – No bowler has dominated day-night Test cricket quite like Mitchell Starc. The left-arm quick is a frightening enough prospect in most situations. Put a pink ball in his hands – with or without the floodlights on – and he becomes nigh-on unplayable. Across eight day-night Tests to date he has taken 46 wickets at 18.86, with three five-wicket hauls to his name.

James Anderson – Left out of the England XI for the first Test for personnel management reasons, Anderson looks a more than likely starter at Adelaide Oval. Anderson has continually adapted and evolved over the course of his near 20-year career so it’s no surprise he has thrived with the pink ball. He averages 19.28 in day-night Tests, with 14 wickets from four games.

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People are saying England have a better chance as the pink ball under lights will help their seamers. Okay but how will England's batsmen fare against the pink ball under lights ?!

India were dismissed for 36 last year here. I wouldn't be surprised if England get bowled out for a sub-100 score either in Adelaide or Hobart.
 
Australia:

David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon

England:

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Australia to bat !
 
England getting in both Broad and Anderson , and No specialist spinner , Root though can bowl some overs of spin.
 
No Cummins or Hazlewood. If England cant win this, they should just quit touring Australia and go fishing. If they do manage to win, it'll be a good win but with a major asterisk next to it :inti
 
No Hazlewood and Cummins.

If England don't win this test, they won't win a game this series.
 
Once again a poor turnout for the match. Or is it a case of people less interested in the game and more interested in other things going on in the stadium?

Are there capacity restrictions in place?
 
James Anderson is truly an inspiration.He is 39 years old playing his 167th test.
A role model for younger players. Simply amazing.
 
Marcus Harris is very poor player surely usman khawaja is much better than him.He survived here but he is awful.
 
England bowling a length for the old Adelaide Oval. It's the one pitch in the country where the drop in pitch is faster & bouncier than the old one.
 
Once again a poor turnout for the match. Or is it a case of people less interested in the game and more interested in other things going on in the stadium?

Are there capacity restrictions in place?

Not sure if capacity restricted. Day night Test, expect the night session to be a LOT more full.

Covid may be worrying many- if you are classified as a covid contact (eg at the same stand as someone who later tests positive) you need to quarantine for 7 days (in Adelaide)- even with all negative tests. A lot of people are being very careful here to go out leading up to christmas.
 
Australia should play carefully in the first session. The pink ball moves around a bit more in that period. After that , it moves even less than the red kooka.
 
Broad looks like getting Marcus out any time. Relentlessly at the stumps.

England right on top- but no wickets yet. If you don't get one in the first hour at Adelaide... it can become a LONG day. So pressure turns back on England soon if they don't strike.
 
England right on top- but no wickets yet. If you don't get one in the first hour at Adelaide... it can become a LONG day. So pressure turns back on England soon if they don't strike.

Warner looks for that one loose over. Then he will be off. You have to nip him out before that.
 
So far engaging cricket with 2 stalwarts keep Aussies on a leash. It is not so much difficult to keep Harris quiet. But Warner is being very circumspect.
 
Gone. It was a matter of time. Dreadful player Marcus harris. Broad 4 for 26 against Harris.
 
Under lights it is going to be even more testing. Anderson vs Right handers, Broad vs Left handers.
 
Rubbish. That was pad first.

But pitched outside leg. Why did they not check that first? :yk
 
First boundary coming after 13.4 overs, Warner was 1 off 35.


I love test cricket
 
Marnus is so unclassy with the noises and feet movement he make on field.
 
Really good bowling, field placings and ground work from England after losing the toss. They need to get another wicket before lunch though or this could be a long day. Perhaps Joe Root could bowl in the afternoon and buy England some extra energy in the seamers for tonight. Broad has looked superb. Him and Anderson could be lethal in the night session.
 
Australia:

David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon

England:

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Australia to bat !


Australian captain Pat Cummins has been deemed a close contact of a person who received a positive Covid-19 test last night.

Cummins was dining in a restaurant last night and did not breach any biosecurity protocols. He isolated as soon as he became aware of the situation and has since had a PCR test, which produced a negative result.

SA Health has confirmed that Cummins is a close contact and will be required to isolate for seven days. As a consequence, Cummins is unavailable to play in the second Vodafone men's Ashes Test match in Adelaide, starting today.

We anticipate that he will be available to play in the third Vodafone men’s Ashes Test at the MCG in Melbourne.

Cummins is understandably very disappointed not to be able to captain Australia for the day-night Test in Adelaide.

Steve Smith will captain the team in Cummins’ absence.

Michael Neser comes into the playing XI to make his Test debut and Travis Head will be vice-captain.

Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were dining at the same restaurant as Cummins but at a separate table outdoors. SA Health has deemed them casual contacts and they are free to play.
 
Cummins and Hazelwood out means England will never have a better chance.
 
Stokes worked so hard to create that chance. Butler puts down a sitter.

Easy as they come.

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.170%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/qhayp1" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
Matthew Renshaw was dropped after 11 tests, averaging 33.

M Harris has 12 tests now, average of 22.
 
Australian batsmen are really grinding the English bowlers down on their way to a big score. CRR = 1.92
 
Jos butler is just a very poor wicketkeeper.Ben foakes should definitely play ahead of him.
 
Australian captain Pat Cummins has been deemed a close contact of a person who received a positive Covid-19 test last night.

Cummins was dining in a restaurant last night and did not breach any biosecurity protocols. He isolated as soon as he became aware of the situation and has since had a PCR test, which produced a negative result.

SA Health has confirmed that Cummins is a close contact and will be required to isolate for seven days. As a consequence, Cummins is unavailable to play in the second Vodafone men's Ashes Test match in Adelaide, starting today.

We anticipate that he will be available to play in the third Vodafone men’s Ashes Test at the MCG in Melbourne.

Cummins is understandably very disappointed not to be able to captain Australia for the day-night Test in Adelaide.

Steve Smith will captain the team in Cummins’ absence.

Michael Neser comes into the playing XI to make his Test debut and Travis Head will be vice-captain.

Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were dining at the same restaurant as Cummins but at a separate table outdoors. SA Health has deemed them casual contacts and they are free to play.

The rest will only do Cummins well. Expect him back at his best in the 3rd Test.
 
Last 11 tests in Australia :-

Australia 10-0 England

Once again a poor turnout for the match. Or is it a case of people less interested in the game and more interested in other things going on in the stadium?

They are saving their money to buy tickets for when India returns for another Test series :))
 
Buttler has dropped a dolly. Man.. What happens to English team when on Aussie soil. They just act spooked.
 
Once again a poor turnout for the match. Or is it a case of people less interested in the game and more interested in other things going on in the stadium?

Are there capacity restrictions in place?

It is due to COVID. Pre COVID all the Ashes Test matches are very well attended with record crowds.
Test Match viewing numbers are not a problem in England and Australia, especially when it is Ashes.
 
They are saving their money to buy tickets for when India returns for another Test series :))

Tickets are sold out, but these aren't normal circumstances. A lot of people are staying away due to covid restrictions and vaccine mandates. In any case, most folks turn up just around the start of the evening session on weekdays.
 
No Cummins. No Hazlewood.. Should this be considered a weak Aussie side.
Will win against this Australian side count ?
 
Just to remind English fans, the last time Warner batted at the Adelaide Oval, he was 335 not out, so he is just continuing from that innings, 385 not out at this ground. Look out England.
 
Tickets are sold out, but these aren't normal circumstances. A lot of people are staying away due to covid restrictions and vaccine mandates. In any case, most folks turn up just around the start of the evening session on weekdays.

I stand corrected. I was only half serious :)

But seriously, I think even Aussie fans feel a bit of sympathy for England.
 
England need to make the most of the night session tonight and then be batting tomorrow, bat big with the leading Australian bowlers out of the match. If England can’t make 400 here in these circumstances then they never will.
 
I stand corrected. I was only half serious :)

But seriously, I think even Aussie fans feel a bit of sympathy for England.

Nope, they have no sympathy for us whatsoever, which is fair enough because we wouldn’t for them either.
 
Time to declare and bowl england out for 60. These Aussies have no idea how to play pink ball tests.
 
at present this partnership is scoring at the fourth lowest strike rate among 320 century stands Australia have had in Tests since 2000
 
Leach was obliterated out of the match. Who else ? Is Dom Bess even on tour? Still feel he should have been given a go.

England don't have any good spinner in line.
I always think one spinner is must in all conditions. May be except on green top with cloudy weather.

If 4 seamers can't do anything, doubt fifth seamer would make any difference. But a good spinner like Ashwin can give a breakthrough in such situations.
 
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