Steve Smith's reacts to his perfect return
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Barney Ronay on Steve Smith
That’s it for today’s blog. I’ll leave with you some reading from Edgbaston. Please join us in the morning for what should be a pulsating second day’s play. Plotspoiler: there’s plenty of testosterone.
Here’s Jos Buttler, chatting on Sky Sports
“It’s a little bit frustrating in the end. We bowled fantastically well this morning. Steve Smith played an exceptional innings. It’s very tough, isn’t it? We didn’t get enough balls at Nos 10 and 11 in one go. Do you put everyone back and suck it up? I think we’ve got to find a way of trying to keep a dismissal in the game as well. We’ll see what kind of score that is tomorrow.”
Close of play
2nd over: England 10-0 (Burns 4, Roy 6) Whether it’s the first over of the day or the last, if Jason Roy receives a half-volley he will try to put it away. He drives Pattinson confidently through extra cover for four to get off the mark and plays out the remainder of the over. That’s the end of a spectacular day’s play. It’s the Ashes!
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1st over: England 3-0 (Burns 3, Roy 0) Cummins goes around the wicket to Burns, who flicks his second ball confidently through midwicket for three. Roy starts with two very solid defensive strokes before missing an extravagant pull stroke. There should be time for one more over.
“Writing from Edgbaston about Smith,” says Ross. “Many still booing, yes, but also a lot of England fans on their feet clapping him off. From here it looked like he realised this just before he left the field, and raised the bat to the rest of the ground. A great (split second of a) moment to end a great performance, if so.”
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Pat Cummins will bowl the first over, having taken a shortcut from first change to attack leader.
Rory Burns and Jason Roy stroll onto the field. Apparently there are only six minutes remaining, so a maximum of two overs.
Smith was booed off, which is pretty lamentable, but I doubt it registered. The zone is a noise-cancelling place. The timing of his dismissal means the England openers have a thoroughly nasty 15 minutes to survive before the close. Where’s Jack Leach when you need him.
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WICKET! Australia 284 all out (Smith b Broad 144)
Steve Smith misses a big heave and is bowled, which gives Broad a five-for and ends the most magnificent innings: 144 from 220 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes. The second of those sixes came earlier in the over, a mighty blow over midwicket. All things considered, Smith may never have played better.
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80th over: Australia 278-9 (Smith 138, Lyon 12) Lyon drives Woakes crisply through mid-off for his third boundary. This is getting a little surreal - it’s barely three hours since Australia were up to their neck in bother.
79th over: Australia 273-9 (Smith 137, Lyon 8) Smith muscles Broad for his 17th four. This is up there with the great tone-setting innings of modern Ashes series - Sir Ian Botham in 1986-87, Michael Slater in 1994-95, Joe Root in 2015 and Steve Smith again in 2017-18.
“What a player Steve Smith is, best in the world by a country mile,” says Kevin Casserly. “You lot are great at moaning, the sandpaper incident, the Hand of God etc. Get over it, credit where it’s due, he turned a collapse into a reasonable score.”
Fair point. I’ll have a word with my lot and ask them to get over it.
There are now NINE fielders on the rope. At one stage today, Australia were 122/8. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/5LAuu1ihFf
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 1, 2019
78th over: Australia 268-9 (Smith 132, Lyon 8) As frustrating as this partnership has been for England and their supporters, it sets up a storming day’s play tomorrow. My instinct is that England are in trouble, but I said that last night and they won comfortably. That’s the beauty of cricket: it’s okay to know the square root of diddly squat.
“I think this form of fielding complicity - employed by almost everyone - makes absolutely no sense,” says Kristian Petterson. “Try and get the batsman at the crease out. That is all. Don’t overthink it, just try to get him out. Yes, I AM angry about this recovery and am irrationally thrashing out.”
Yep, I agree - especially as it has backfired in the past with Steve Smith.
77th over: Australia 267-9 (Smith 131, Lyon 8) Smith whirls Broad behind square for four to bring up the fifty partnership with Lyon. He has scored 22 from his last 11 deliveries, and Australia have more than doubled their score since the loss of the eighth wicket. Lyon joins in the fun by driving Broad down the ground for four more. England look in urgent need of rain and/or an ice bath. They are ragged.
“The statisticians agree that Bradman is the greatest outlier in sport...” says Scott Chapman. “There have been a few more cricketers come through since 2015, but DB is still way out there in any sport.”
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76th over: Australia 258-9 (Smith 126, Lyon 4) Smith has gone straight past one-day mode and into T20 mode. He drags Woakes over mid-on for four and clouts another boundary to midwicket. The sheer certainty of his batting has broken England’s will yet again. This has to be one of his greatest innings.
“Not to be a pedant or a miser, but Steve Smith made no mistake,” says Elliot Carr-Barnsley. “He paid the (pretty gentle) price and we shouldn’t further punish him for it, but nor should we sugar coat deliberate cheating by one of the game’s most recognisable and influential figures as a mistake. Sandpaper didn’t magic its way onto the field, and it was cowardly to make Bancroft hold it instead of himself.”
That makes him sound like a Machiavellian genius rather than a fundamentally decent bloke who made some poor decisions because he was mentally shot. Each to their own but I have a bit more sympathy for him.
75th over: Australia 248-9 (Smith 117, Lyon 4) Smith survives an LBW review off the new bowler Broad - it was missing leg by a mile - and hits the next two balls for four. The first was an inside-edge wide of leg stump, the second a lofted straight drive that doesn’t impress Broad one iota.
“He may or may not be a good man (I don’t know him at all) but I question the use of the word ‘awful’,” says Kristian Petterson. “He did something wrong and received punishment - that punishment wasn’t awful, it was punishment. Unless you think the punishment was unjust?”
I thought it was way over the top, yeah, but I’m not sure we have the time, or I the energy, to go into all that again. But even if the punishment was appropriate, I wouldn’t wish that level of public shaming on him.
74th over: Australia 240-9 (Smith 109, Lyon 4) Smith rocks back to cut Moeen emphatically for four. England don’t know where to bowl to him. Since the start of the 2017-18 Ashes, these are his Test scores against England: 141*, 40, 6, 239, 76, 102*, 83, 104*. That’s 796 runs at an average 0f 159.20.
“The bookies have England 1/2, Australia more than 2/1,” says Andrew Hurley. “Surely it’s closer than that? Par looks 240-250, and with Jimmy probably unable to bowl in the second innings...”
Yes, a lot depends on overhead conditions but I would make Australia favourites. This has been a really bad final session for England, although the injury to Anderson has made things so much harder for them.
STEVE SMITH REACHES HIS CENTURY!
73rd over: Australia 235-9 (Smith 104, Lyon 4) Steve Smith makes a glorious, cathartic hundred on his return to Test cricket! He drives Stokes through the covers for four before waving his bat to the Australian balcony, who are all on their feet. Never mind the sandpaper; feel the grit. This has been an innings of immense character, not to mention intelligence, skill and sheer geeky love of batting. Smith looks very emotional as he embraces Lyon. This is spine-tingling stuff, a wonderful moment for a good man who made a mistake and paid an awful price. That, truly, is a great innings.
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72nd over: Australia 229-9 (Smith 99, Lyon 4) Smith launches Moeen for a huge six to move to 98. He’s content to take a single off the fourth delivery of the over, which gives Lyon two balls to survive. And he does, to lusty cheers from the pocket of Australian fans. Steve Smith is one run away from a quite immense century.
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71st over: Australia 222-9 (Smith 92, Lyon 4) Lyon squirts Stokes to the third-man boundary to get off the mark, and then survives the rest of the over. At this percise moment in time, Ben Stokes isn’t entirely high on life.
“I know this is only First Day, First Test, but given Jimmy’s injury, this pair are wrestling the game back and we don’t seem to have many ideas on what to do,” says Guy Hornsby. “Permission to get pretty moody and swig a beer on the way home, please. 122-8 and they could end the day 250-9. The Anger...”
I wish you lot weren’t so ceaselessly pessimisitic. Chill out, can we.
70th over: Australia 218-9 (Smith 92, Lyon 0) Smith mangles a vile full toss from Moeen through midwicket for four before surviving a stumping referral after a smart bit of work from Bairstow.
“Following OBO from hospital ward in Zakynthos, Greece,” says Gavin McCarthy. “Teenage daughter, Lucy, admitted with collapsed lung after flight (ouch!). She’s been napping and every time she falls asleep, England take a wicket. She’s been awake for an hour or so now and shows no signs of drowsiness. Every time I try to sing her a lullaby, I’m met with an eye-rolling, ‘Shut up, Dad!’ Hope she falls asleep before end of play. PS daughter improving day by day and we hope to be out of hospital tomorrow.”
I was going to joke about your priorities but it doesn’t really seem appropriate. All the best to Lucy, you and the rest of your family – that sounds really unpleasant. Out of interest, she asleep yet?
69th over: Australia 212-9 (Smith 86, Lyon 0) Smith, left with the No11 Lyon, turns down a single for the first time. Stokes tries to keep Smith on strike by ramming bouncers over his head; when he gets the line wrong, Joel Wilson calls wide. Smith takes a single off the penultimate delivery to keep the strike and increase Stokes’s agita.
“Jerry Rice’s record for receiving yards in the NFL (22,895) is almost 41% better than the second best (Larry Fitzgerald, 16,279),” says Tom Brain. “You’re welcome.”
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68th over: Australia 210-9 (Smith 85, Lyon 0) “An obvious response to David Hindle would involve modern bats, protective equipment, shorter boundaries and (more subjectively) bowling standards, albeit Smith has higher quality fielding to contend with,” says Geoff Wignall. “I’d also suggest that Smith worries even the best bowlers but doesn’t frighten them as Viv could and that the best of Viv was a good way north of Smith’s best. Anyway, Smith just isn’t that cool. In a broader perspective anyone who considers Smith the best they’ve seen is clearly too young to have seen Sobers, even after an all-night session.”
You misspelt ‘especially’.
WICKET! Australia 210-9 (Siddle c Buttler b Moeen 44)
Boy did England need that. Moeen Ali comes into the attack and strikes with his second ball. Siddle inside-edged a lovely delivery, which turned and bounced from around the wicket, and Buttler took a really smart catch at short leg. Siddle gets a generous ovation for a superb, resourceful innings of 44 from 85 balls.
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67th over: Australia 210-8 (Smith 85, Siddle 44) Bairstow appeals politely for caught behind against Siddle after swooping spectacularly to his left. The bowler Stokes wasn’t interested. England are miles behind the over rate, which will cost them Test Championship points should they win any in this match. That’s worth keeping an eye on, because teams will lose many more points in a five-Test series than if there are only two Tests. If I have understood the regulations - and there’s a minuscule chance of that - there is the potential for high farce.
“The largest earthquake ever recorded (Chile, 1961), was between two and three times as big as the next largest (varies between Sumatra, 2004, and Alaska 1964),” says David Hindle. “If you look at the magnitude scale, it doesn’t appear that way (M9.6 or 9.5 for Chile vs. M9.4 or 9.3 for the others, but a single unit of moment magnitude is equivalent to a 30-fold increase in released energy. But Bradman is still ridiculous for a human.”
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66th over: Australia 208-8 (Smith 84, Siddle 43) Smith runs down the track to drive Denly down the ground for four. Edgbaston, and the England team, have gone very flat. I’m not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg.
Here’s our own Daniel Harris. “KP told me that when they went through the South Africa team to work out plans for them, the best they could do with Kallis was ‘run out candidate early in his innings’.”
And if you haven’t read that book, you should. It’s nothing like the score-settling autobiography; just a brilliant insight into the mind of a massive genius.
65th over: Australia 201-8 (Smith 78, Siddle 42) Siddle works Stokes off the pads to bring up the 200. It’s been such an impressive effort from this pair, who have batted without ego or fanfare. That said, England are really missing Jimmy Anderson, which has effectively left them with a three-man attack.
“To earn a bit of beer money whilst a student a friend of mine set himself up in business as a cheesy DJ for hire,” says David Tant. “He called TNT Discos (Top Notch Tunes), and to our surprise he actually got hired a few times. One of them being for a Golf Club annual dinner. ‘Son of A Preacher Man’ was requested by a predominantly white-haired audience for a nice gentle dance. He only had the version on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Unfortunately he accidentally queued up the first track, which is a bit of dialogue from the film: ‘Any of you f***in’ pr**ks move and I’ll execute every mother*****g last one of you.’ He didn’t get paid, but personally I think if you book someone called Top Notch Tunes at a low price you get what you deserve.”
Including some explosive language, honkety honk.
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64th over: Australia 198-8 (Smith 76, Siddle 41) And now for something completely different: Joe Denly’s legspin. He starts with a maiden to Siddle, which was done and dusted in approximately 90 seconds.
“So, according to Steve Hudson, either you suffer because the team around you is rubbish, or you suffer because they’re too good - an essentially unfalsifiable hypothesis,” sniffs David Hindle. “Next it will be ‘English batsman average less because they play in the bowlers’ paradise of England more than the rest.’ So why don’t English bowlers top the bowling averages by light years then? And as to the late career decline. I give you Kumar Sangakkara. Some of them just don’t know when to stop. Smith is already, statistically, in a place no batsman has been since Bradman. In terms of number of runs, number of series, tours etc. versus current average, nothing in the modern game has come close.”
Well, Sangakkara was a pretty big exception. I’ll happily bet £100, for charity, that Smith finishes his Test career with an average below 60. Not that either of us will remember this conversation when he retires in 2025 – I just wanted to make everyone aware of how much imaginary work I do for charity.
63rd over: Australia 198-8 (Smith 76, Siddle 41)
62nd over: Australia 193-8 (Smith 76, Siddle 36) “All this talk about Smith and averages has me musing for the millionth time about how remarkable Bradman’s average is,” says Pete Salmon. “Which got me thinking – I’m pretty sure, at approximately one third better than thousands of other players, he’s the greatest outlier in all of sport – no one runs the 100m in six seconds for instance. But that got me thinking – is he the greatest outlier, human or otherwise, in anything? No planet (I think) is one third bigger than every other etc... Obviously its limited to things that are quantifiable, so no poetry or sunsets, but do any of your science boffin followers have anything that comes close?”
61st over: Australia 190-8 (Smith 76, Siddle 33) Ben Stokes replaces Woakes. Smith walks across his stumps to pull carefully round the corner for four. There’s a lovely paragraph in Mike Atherton’s autobiography which I suspect may also apply to Smith. During the 2001 Ashes series, England listed detailed bowling plans for each Australian batsman in the dressing-room. One entry was shorter than the rest:
Gilchrist: ???
Siddle steers Stokes deliberately to the third-man boundary to make it an excellent over for Australia. England look relatively ragged just now.
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60th over: Australia 179-8 (Smith 71, Siddle 27) Siddle, lured onto the front foot by Broad, is beaten by a classic legcutter. Later in the over he gets a very thick edge through gully for a single. Broad has bowled jolly well today.
59th over: Australia 175-8 (Smith 70, Siddle 24) Smith steals a single after inside-edging a Woakes inducker onto the pad, and then Siddle drives jauntily through extra cover for a couple. He is playing superbly and has now scored as many as Warner, Bancroft, Khawaja and Wade combin ed.
“This first innings of the first Test of the series is the 2019 Ashes in miniature, no?” writes
Dr Emmett Brown
Simon McMahon. “Regular clatter of wickets to the seamers, one decent contribution from the top/middle order, useful runs from the tail, cameos from the spinners/weather/crowd.”
58th over: Australia 172-8 (Smith 69, Siddle 22) Siddle works Broad for two to bring up a calm, intelligent fifty partnership. England don’t look like taking a wicket just now, and Broad and Woakes look slightly weary after bowling 17 overs apiece.
“This Smith fella might be all that but I can barely bring myself to watch him bat,” says Ian Copestake. “Some of his average should deducted for failing to make me meow.”
He makes me ow, usually at the precise moment he reaches 150, again.
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57th over: Australia 169-8 (Smith 68, Siddle 20) Woakes beats Siddle with a lovely slower ball. It’s hard to know what to make of this score. The pitch has done a bit, but I suspect a lot of the movement is due to the overhead conditions. My hunch is that this will be a low-scoring dogfight, but I’ll level with you, I haven’t really got a clue.
“SF Barnes you say?” says Gary Naylor. “One of my favourite pieces of cricket writing - Peter Gibbs meets the great man.”
56th over: Australia 168-8 (Smith 67, Siddle 20)
55.5 overs: Australia 168-8 (Smith 67, Siddle 20) It’s raining again, although play will continue for now. Smith cuts Broad for a single to move to 67 - and take his average in the last 10 Ashes Tests to 99.66. Not exactly Bradmanesque, is it?
After Siddle drives Broad for four, the umpires decide to take the players off. But by the time the covers reach the middle, the rain has relented sufficiently for the umpires to decide play can continue.
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55th over: Australia 163-8 (Smith 66, Siddle 16) Siddle clips Woakes through midwicket for four, another sensible, efficient stroke. There are useful runs for Australia, who were in a heap at 122 for eight.
“David Hindle wonders why Viv R and Brian L didn’t average significantly more than 50 in their careers,” says Steve Hudson. “The answer is that Lara played for a WI team steadily going into reverse and often seemed to be scoring most of their runs for them, in losing causes. Viv had the opposite problem I think, that in a side that were steamrolling everyone else throughout the 80s, his runs were less and less important to a strong batting side, which translated into more cameo 60s and 70s, and a lack of daddy hundreds. We have no idea which way Smith’s average will go, but I’d be very impressed and surprised if he defies boredom, burnout and slowing reflexes to average 70.”
Most great batsmen lose 5-10 runs from their mid-career average once their eyes and resilience start to go. From memory Ricky Ponting had a peak average of 59.99 in December 2006 and retired six years later with an average of 51.85. I’d be pretty surprised if Smith finishes with a career average over 60.
54th over: Australia 159-8 (Smith 66, Siddle 12) Stuart Broad returns to the attack after tea. Siddle edges a good delivery just short of third slip, where Stokes dives to his right to make a good half-stop and save a couple of runs.
“I see Dan Lucas’ iPad mishap and raise him an iPhone/hearing aid debacle,” boasts Kim Thonger. “Marrying my final and favourite wife almost four years ago, I inadvertently played the romantic wedding music in the registry office through my hearing aid, which is set up by default to covertly receive the streaming Test match commentary from my phone in ‘important meetings’, reimagining the silent disco but not in a helpful way.”
I hope your final and favourite wife saw the funny side.
The players are back on the field. It looks a lot brighter, too.
Play will restart at 4.20pm
And it looks like a very, very good time to bowl.
“Syd Barnes!” says Mike Daniels, referring to this list of successful England bowlers in home Tests. “The famously grumpy/cantankerous Staffordshire bowler. Imagine Bob Willis on a bad day x10. Played for donkey’s years in the Leagues. Was still pro-ing in his sixties.”
Mike, I think you’re a bit out of order calling him cantankerous. This piece from David Frith shows the real Syd Barnes.
Here’s a little more detail about Jimmy Anderson’s calf injury, which could rule him out for a wee while.
“Sir Viv averaged about 65 with a couple of thousand runs on the board, just after the massacre of England in 1976,” says David Hindle. “The one with two double hundreds in the same series. But it was all downhill from there. Smith is something else altogether. His trajectory, give or take a few blips (Sri Lanka a few winters ago for instance) is still upwards. He could be average 70 by the time he gets to 10,000 runs. You may ask why Viv (and Brian Lara) didn’t average 60 for their careers, and it would be an interesting discussion. But fact is, they didn’t, in fact they both averaged 10 less than Smith currently does, and what more can you say? Smith is in a class of his own, and may well remain there for the duration of his Test career.”
I take all your points, but … Victor Trumper averaged 39.
“I had virtually the same experience as Jack Jarvis in the 14th over,” says Dan Leach. “Friends of mine were getting married in Ireland in the grounds of Castle Ward (AKA Winterfell in Game of Thrones). I was entrusted with the iPad for the music. To this day, I don’t know how it happened, but instead of the classical music they had chosen as they walked down the tree-lined grove I managed to blast out ‘Murder She Wrote’ by Chaka Demus & Pliers.”
The start of the evening session has been delayed. The covers are on, the players aren’t. Pulitzer, please!
“Wotcha, Rob,” breathes Mac Millings. “I’ve had the odd wedding mishap, myself. The first wedding reception I ever went to that didn’t end in a fistfight was my own, although I did manage to drop my bride on the ground during our wedding dance. Also, back in 2011, I asked the OBO community for some jokes, ahead of giving a speech at my sister’s wedding later that evening. A certain Stuart Wilson suggested that I open my speech with ‘Fornication ... Oh sorry, I mean for an occasion...’ As my sister was heavily pregnant at the time, I decided to go for it. How did it go down? I’ll allow your readers to decide.”
Yep, we’ve finally gone interactive. Welcome to the OBO: Bantersnatch, a unique choose-your-own-misadventure story devised by and starring Mac Millings.
“Morning Rob,” says Phil Withall. “Seems like the umpires are on a hiding to nothing today and I feel it’s more than a little unfair. Most of us wouldn’t be able to tell if a car had drifted slightly out of its lane when traveling at 70 miles an hour on the motorway. Imagine trying to judge where a ball is going at 90? God help us when the outrage machine clicks into gear when VAR hits the Premier League. We all need to cut the officials a little slack and expect that mistakes are part of sport, on all sides.”
Aye. We should also remember that the standard is the highest it’s ever been. I’m not sure we can say that of the actual cricket, apart from fielding and range-hitting.
Tea
That Woakes over was the last of a fine session for England, who took five wickets for 23 in a giddy 12-over spell. We may have an extended tea break, because the lights are on and it may be about to hose it down at Edgbaston.
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53rd over: Australia 154-8 (Smith 66, Siddle 7) Woakes replaces Moeen, who replaced Woakes for the previous over at this end. It’s Perth 1997 all over again!
Siddle, feeling tentatively for an outswinger, is well beaten outside off stump. He’s beaten again later in the over, this time by a snorter that lifts and straightens. A fine over from Woakes, who is such a threat in these conditions. In fact, of all the England bowlers to take at least 50 Test wickets at home, Woakes’ average is the best since Fred Trueman was knocking ‘em off out there.
“Hi Rob,” says John Mackay. “With DRS, umpire assessment, professional pride and full media scrutiny – is there any need for neutral umpires at the Ashes? For example, if Richard Kettlebrough and Bruce Oxenford are the two best umpires available and the two teams agree, should they not be umpiring?”
Are you familiar with a thing called ‘Twitter’? I don’t disagree with the principle, but can you imagine the state of absolutely everything if some of today’s decisions had been made by a home umpire?
52nd over: Australia 153-8 (Smith 66, Siddle 6) A short ball from Stokes is pulled through mid-on for four by Smith. As Nasser Hussain says on Sky, Smith’s stance means his hands are already high and in position for that shot. Stokes, who’s sick of the high hands, pitches it up thereafter.
“Smith averages 62 in Test cricket,” says Gary Naylor. “I think he’s the best I’ve ever seen.”
Gary, you saw Viv in his prime. Go and stand in the corner for 15 minutes; I don’t want to hear a peep out of you.
51st over: Australia 147-8 (Smith 60, Siddle 6) Moeen replaces Woakes and is swept nicely for four by Siddle. I doubt Root wants to use Moeen at this stage, but Broad and Woakes have bowled 14 overs each and need a breather.
“Tim Paine says he can name 15 more intimidating grounds, but the stats say something different,” says Matt Emerson. “If you aggregate across all three international formats, it’s his second least favourite ground (three innings, six runs), beaten only by the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi (two innings, three runs)...”
If only you’d been at the press conference yesterday. ‘Just one thing, Tim, Statsguru suggests you go a big rubbery one every time you play at Edgbaston.’
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50th over: Australia 142-8 (Smith 59, Siddle 2) Siddle has looked comfortable so far. He’s a very good No10, who has two Test fifties and one first-class century. The moment I type that, he is beaten by a spectacular delivery from Stokes that is angled in and then snaps away off the pitch.
“Perhaps,” says Ian Copestake, “the final two scheduled days of this Test could be donated to charity.”
You think it’ll go to a third day? Tell you what, sunshine, you just wait till England bat.
49th over: Australia 141-8 (Smith 58, Siddle 2) This innings will give Smith a lot of satisfaction. In 2015, though he was the highest scorer in the series, most of his runs came when the going was good. He’s an even better player now, I’d say, perhaps even better than Virat Kohli in this form of the game.
48th over: Australia 136-8 (Smith 55, Siddle 0) Smith clearly trusts Siddle’s defence, as he’s playing normally - no big shots, no farming the strike. I suspect that will change if he’s left with Nathan Lyon.
“I’m wonder if there’s such a thing as being ‘in’ for an umpire,” says Chris Lingwood. “They certainly aren’t seeing it like a beachball today! Must be mortifying.”
Definitely. I can remember two purple patches in particular, one from Simon Taufel around 2003 and another from Aleem Dar maybe eight or nine years ago, when they were even more reliable than technology.
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47th over: Australia 131-8 (Smith 50, Siddle 1) Siddle steers a bump ball to gully - think Sanath Jayasuriya in Kandy - and the umpires go upstairs to make sure. That’s a sign of low confidence, I suppose. An eventful over continues when Siddle survives another LBW appeal; that looked like it might have been high and wide. Replays confirm it was.
Smith, alone on the burning deck as he was in the World Cup semi-final, works a single to reach a masterful half-century from 119 balls. For some reason the Edgbaston crowd respond to his achievement by singing Joe Root’s name.
“Cricket themed song-based wedding mishaps,” says Tom Wooldridge. “At a friend’s recent wedding, the best man (Matt, if he’s reading) took the beautiful bride-to-be’s toenail fully off with a toe-crushing yorker, two days before the ceremony. I’m not sure what music was playing at the time but it stopped her wearing open-toed stilettos for the occasion.”
I’ll be honest, Tom, I’ve got one or two follow-up questions here.
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REVIEW! Australia 129-8 (Siddle not out 0)
Joel Wilson’s Day Off continues. He gives Peter Siddle out LBW to the new bowler Woakes despite an inside-edge that I could see from Orkney. Siddle reviews instantly and the decision is overturned. Poor Wilson is having a nightmare.
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46th over: Australia 129-8 (Smith 49, Siddle 0) Smith survives a huge caught behind appeal from Stokes, who is making the ball talk like he did when he demolished Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015. No review from England, and replays show it was a brilliant decision from Aleem Dar. There was a noise, but it was bat on pad. Earlier in the over Smith flicked Stokes down the leg side for four, just wide of the diving Bairstow. It would have been a simple catch for leg slip.
45th over: Australia 123-8 (Smith 43, Siddle 0) You know what they say: you should never judge a pitch until both ropey batting sides have had a go on it. Australia bat deeper than usual today, with the inclusion of Pattinson and also Siddle, who plays out the last few deliveries of Moeen’s over.
“Following here in Greece with a Sri Lankan and about 35 hairy Scots,” boasts Benjie Goodhart. “Loving your work!”
It’s not my work: it’s Broad’s, and Woakes’, and Stokes’, and umpire Wilson’s.
44th over: Australia 122-8 (Smith 42, Siddle 0) “Let’s not get on the backs of the umpires,” says Mike Daniels. “Umpires are probably now making more out decisions after subsequently seeing how so many not outs would have been shaving the stumps and therefore being ‘out’, with the proviso that the review system is there for players to use if they ask for it. If the players don’t ask, don’t blame the umpires.”
Yes, you’re right – days like this stand out because they are usually so good. It’s incredible how few howlers they make. Minor mistakes, which all of today’s decisions have been, are unavoidable. I suspect that if any of us tried umpiring we’d be off to Specsavers, in floods of tears, before the first drinks break.
WICKET! Australia 122-8 (Cummins LBW b Stokes 5)
Stokes does come on - but it’s for Broad rather than Moeen. Not that it matters, because he has struck straight away! Cummins, set up by a few outswingers, offered no stroke to a huge inswinger and was trapped LBW. That was brilliant from Stokes.
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43rd over: Australia 121-7 (Smith 41, Cummins 5) Smith drives Moeen through extra cover for three. Root retrieves the ball and then signals for the crowd to make more noise. I’d be tempted to get Stokes on at this end, with Moeen looking a little flat. Stokes bowled like a drain earlier but the ball has started to do a bit, and he can be deadly when it hoops.
“Tim Paine may think Edgbaston is not in the top 15 most intimidating grounds in the world,” says Gary Naylor, “but I’m not sure that the umpires would agree!”
In their defence, some of their abysmal cock-ups were in Australia’s favour!
42nd over: Australia 112-7 (Smith 37, Cummins 4) Broad usually does the biggest damage at the business end of a series against Australia. Nobody, not even Lord Beef, can match his three Man of the Match awards in Ashes-winning victories. But he has bowled with the same end-of-series intensity and precision today. Pat Cummins somehow survives a torrid over that includes a thick edge for four, another edge on the bounce to slip and two plays and misses.
This, meanwhile, is a sensational spot from the OBO’s own Tim de Lisle. Memo to Joe Root: If it is Broakes, don’t fix it.
#Ashes Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad have now taken England's last 17 wickets between them, for 98, at an average below 6
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) August 1, 2019
41st over: Australia 112-7 (Smith 37, Cummins 0) It turns out that Pattinson LBW was missing leg stump. He didn’t even discuss a review with Steve Smith, but replays showed it was sliding down from around the wicket. That also happened with David Warner’s wicket earlier in the day. The umpires, Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson, have had a bit of a beast.
Meanwhile, in the time it took me to type the above, Moeen Ali bowled a maiden to Steve Smith.
Updated
Thanks Adam, hello everyone. Yes, yes, enough of the pleasantries, it’s all going off out there!
WICKET! Pattinson lbw b Broad 0 (Australia 112-7)
SECOND BALL! Broad has picked up two in an over! Around the wicket to Pattinson, it is full and fast. He plays all around it. THE COLLAPSE IS ON. Broad has four. What an hour for England!
And with that crazy over dealt with... over to Rob! SCENES!
40th over: Australia 112-7 (Smith 37)
Updated
WICKET! Paine c Burns b Broad 5 (Australia 112-6)
What. A. Shocking. Shot. In what is surely Broad’s last over of the spell, the Australian captain pops him straight down the throat of Burns at deep square. It got big on him, the contact was dreadful and Paine is walking off, desolate. Australia have lost three in an hour.
Updated
39th over: Australia 109-5 (Smith 36, Paine 3) Right, so Moeen is on from the Birmingham City End. He has a big job ahead of him now, having to hold up an end to let Woakes, Broad and Stokes rotate through the Pavilion End in the absence of Anderson. Smith takes one to midwicket but the name of the game is blunting the spin.
38th over: Australia 108-5 (Smith 35, Paine 3) Oh my, that is a ridiculous leg-cutter from Broad to Paine to start his fresh over, pitching middle and missing off, bypassing the outside edge by a centimetre between times. It’s another fantastic set, Broad giving the Australian captain absolutely nothing early on here. With it now very dark at Edgbaston, the ground staff gather to my left. Hmm.
“Great position for England,” says Steve Hudson. “Chris is so Woakes.” I assume we all saw the banner at Glastonbury?
37th over: Australia 108-5 (Smith 35, Paine 3) Warne is getting stuck into Paine already. He’ll be calling for his head at some stage this month, make no mistake. The captain is off the mark with a nice shot, pushing Woakes down the ground with a minimum of fuss, coming back for three. With Anderson out of the attack, they need to get through the rest of this spell and back into Stokes and Moeen.
36th over: Australia 105-5 (Smith 35, Paine 0) 2/22 from eight overs after lunch before this over and it’s ever so close to a third with Broad beating Smith with a delivery that straightens beautifully. A rare bumper follows, Smith getting in behind the rest. This is proper.
WICKET! Wade lbw b Woakes 1 (Australia 105-5)
BRILLIANT review, Woakes talking Root into it, the captain backing his bowler. Pitching middle, shaping back, hitting in line with off-stump... striking off-stump. Edgbaston goes WILD once again.
35th over: Australia 105-5 (Smith 35)
Updated
ANOTHER REVIEW! Has Woakes trapped Wade? He thinks so, challenging the not out decision of Joel Wilson. Here we go again!
34th over: Australia 103-4 (Smith 34, Wade 0) Just when England needed to hold their nerve they have created chances in consecutive overs and Australia have to start again.
🔴 Pitching in-line
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 1, 2019
🔴 Impact in-line
🔴 Wickets hitting
It's a desperate review from Head who is trapped LBW by Woakes! ☝️
Follow over-by-over commentary and in-play video clips from the first #Ashes Test at Edgbaston live on Sky Sports #Ashes: https://t.co/J4W0KH3Oo5 pic.twitter.com/Vuikf5NKto
NOT OUT! Over the top! Just! “You’re going to cry in a minute!” roars the Hollies Stand but the technology supports the decision of the former captain to review. “Talk about knowing where your off-stump is,” says Kumar Sangakkara on telly. Too right. DRAMA!
HAS BROAD GOT SMITH LBW SHOULDERING ARMS? Aleem Dar has given it. Smith has sent it upstairs too! Here we go. Stand by.
Updated
33rd over: Australia 99-4 (Smith 29, Wade 0) So nearly two in three balls! Wade, the man who has forced his way into this side, edges his second ball to third slip on the bounce. It’s another super Woaes delivery, the Tasmanian saved by soft hands at the point of contact.
WICKET! Head lbw b Woakes 35 (Australia 99-4)
He sure has! Nothing wrong with that, coming back just a tad off the seam and catching the South Australian on the crease. Pitching and hitting in line, middle and off stump is the destination of the ball. A big breakthrough from the local lad, just when times looked tough.
Updated
HAS WOAKES TRAPPED HEAD? Joel Wilson says so! But Head is sending it upstairs, making the DRS sign with one second remaining. This is a big moment. Stand by!
32nd over: Australia 98-3 (Smith 29, Head 35) England are trying to get the ball changed, Broad suggesting to Aleem Dar it is out of shape. But he’s having none of that. The chat comes after Broad floats onto Smith’s pads, the main man taking a couple. The key point: this ball has stopped swinging around. “These field placings are suggesting to me,” says David Lloyd, “that England think this is a flat pitch.” Patience is everything, then. Who has more of it?
31st over: Australia 95-3 (Smith 26, Head 35) Very similar to Woakes’ previous set, giving both set men a chance to rotate the strike with balls on the line of their body. England have to keep their cool here.
“The idea of “getting funky” with the batting order recalls for me one classic example from one day cricket—a Benson and Hedges Cup match at Hobart in 1990,” says Edmund King. “Australia decided to reverse their batting order facing a seemingly substandard target from New Zealand. Let’s just say it did not go according to plan, producing this priceless final over from Chris Pringle with Australia needing 1 run to win (Kiwi cricketing folklore; how was that first ball not a wide?, etc. etc.): Good times.”
This is my kinda content. And how do I not remember it?
30th over: Australia 92-3 (Smith 25, Head 33) Broad beats Head outside the off stump and the crowd wake up to make some noise for the first time since the break, encouraged by Root at slip to make some noise ala Virat Kohli. But it his Head who reponds best, stroking Broad beautifully back past his boots for four.
We also have the Women’s British Open blog running today.
Updated
29th over: Australia 87-3 (Smith 24, Head 29) Head is defending well and calling loudly, well replaced to clip a couple away when Woakes angles into his pads. He’s now faced 50 deliveries. A big day for him.
28th over: Australia 85-3 (Smith 24, Head 27) A steady re-start for Broad, both batsmen collecting easy singles to long leg moving their partnership to 50. England, of course, have Stokes to help out and bowl plenty of overs with Anderson injured. But still, tough yards.
The players are back on the field! I’m going to commit to pulling the rest of these countries together when Rob takes over at the drinks break. For now, I’m back into the saddle with Stuart Broad, who is bowling to Steve Smith. PLAY!
Updated
This might be too much to do before we return, but here goes...
Ghana - Chris Holden
Norway - John Muncey
Netherlands - David and Arwen Ankers, Martin Lloyd
France - Michael Robinson, Tim Stappart
Lundy Island (counting it) - John Cox
Italy - Johnny Milles (Bergamo Airport, to be precise), Finbar Anslow
Hong Kong - Jason Ali
South Korea - Johnny Healy on the free Seoull wifi
Palau (!) - Mark Nunn
Somalia - John Arran (love this)
Myanmar - David Melody, Chris Hughes
Thailand - Piers Smith
Spain - James Lupton
Switzerland - Albert Gubler, who is a newcomer to the game. Welcome!
Israel - Daniel Barnett
Slovenia - Karen Thorne
Indonesia - Nicholas House, Gary Scattergood
Poland - Matthew Joseph
Ireland - Martin Gilbert, David Mills
Antarctica (!) - Jerry Gillham (THIS IS GREAT)
Portugal - Matthew Wikeley
Belguim - Matt Haultain-Gall
Turkey - Robert Lewis
USA - Marie Meyer
Jimmy Anderson update...
And it’s not good. From the England camp at lunch. “Jimmy Anderson has tightness to his right calf and will have a scan this afternoon. A further update will be given later today. He felt tightness at the end of his fourth over.”
Difficult to know whether that means he will be able to field in the middle session; he was out there before lunch. That certainly feels like he’s cooked for the day, doesn’t it?
Let me be the 100th person in the lunch room to say... Glenn McGrath, 2005, this very ground. Speaking of 2005, the Ashes-winning squad from that year are doing a lap of honour.
LUNCH! Australia 83-3
27th over: Australia 83-3 (Smith 23, Head 26) Moeen to Head for the final over of this eventful session. He plays it out without concern. A maiden it is as they leave the field for lunch. Still England’s morning after three early wickets but an excellent little fightback from these two, putting on 48 in 76 balls through the second hour.
Broad was brilliant early on, pinning Warner (albeit from a delivery missing leg stump) then finding Bancroft’s edge. Woakes did his bit too, sending down a beauty to Khawaja who looked the part until that point. Smith and Head both took their time before settling then scoring freely in the lead up to the break. They look good.
Perhaps most conerning for England is that we haven’t seen Anderson at the bowling crease since his fourth over. It was a lovely, if brief, spell but ended prematurely when leaving the field. He was back after a few overs but didn’t come back on. There are reports of blood seen on the veteran’s hand - I’ll keep an eye on that.
Righto, I need a break for a bit. I suggest you do the same. I’ll be back in about 20 minutes to plough through my very busy inbox. Thanks for your company through the first session. Back shortly.
Updated
26th over: Australia 83-3 (Smith 23, Head 26) It is Woakes to replace Stokes, in which will probably be the penultimate over of the session provided he can get it bowled inside four minutes. He’s straighter to Smith than Stokes, playing with a straight bat in response. A bit shorter, with the pentultimate ball, he nearly squares him up but the No4 successfully deflects from high on his blade to third man with soft hands. A bouncer to finish - we haven’t seen many of those.
25th over: Australia 81-3 (Smith 21, Head 26) Smith is solid and patient in defence, seeing off Moeen. Overpitching to finish, he strokes nicely through the gap at cover for three. Into the 20s from 51 deliveries. I can’t remember Smith’s exact average when reaching 50 balls in Test cricket but, if I recall correctly, it is 100-plus.
24th over: Australia 78-3 (Smith 18, Head 26) Five more runs off Stokes, who has been patchy in this spell. Smith plays a pull that we were so familiar with from his first stint in the Test team, holding his pose after completing the shot. After picking up another single in that direction, Head flicks another misdirected delivery for two. Broad or Woakes for a quick one before lunch at this end?
“Why’s Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps for the tests rather than Jos Buttler?” asks Theo. “I know YJB wants the gloves, but is there no consensus on who is the better wicketkeeper?”
A great curiosity of mine the extent to which YJB’s insistence has made it so. I’d have Foakes there to allow him to just bat. Not to be.
Updated
23rd over: Australia 73-3 (Smith 15, Head 24) Smith won’t be doing anything before lunch to risk his wicket against Moeen, getting on the front foot time and again to play him cautiously to fielders in front of the wicket. When the spinner drops his length back, the former captain responds by going deep to to clip one. Clever batting.
This morning’s events recommend the suggestion of @collinsadam that teams get funky with their batting order.
— Simon (@swa11ace) August 1, 2019
Play No.8/9 at first drop if it’s seaming a lot early.
Makes as much sense as throwing in a blocker at 5pm. Matches can be lost by drinks of the middle session on Day 1
An idea I’ve been pushing around on the podcast lately. Thoughts?
22nd over: Australia 72-3 (Smith 14, Head 24) Another busy over, seven more added - Smith glancing Stokes then Head doing the same, albeit off his backside, for another batch of four leg byes. If it ends up being another low-scoring scrap, this counterattacking period won’t be for nothing. Smith will have a good handle on that.
A massive response to the country call out. I might have knocked off a quarter of the globe in the space of one stint. We’ll see at lunch.
21st over: Australia 65-3 (Smith 11, Head 24) Moeen Ali gets a chance with about 22 minutes remaining until they can grab a bite. He was so important in Australia’s first innings of the 2015 Ashes in Cardiff, ripping through the middle order that day. Head wants a piece of him early though, leaning back in the crease to punch through cover for another boundary - shot - then making it two in a row off the edge. Nothing convincing about that second stroke but the board keeps ticking. Isa Guha notes a bit of variable bounce. Hmm.
From the moment Paul Stirling was out on the first day at Lord's to Usman Khawaja's dismissal at Edgbaston this morning, England took 21 wickets for 148. Gotta hand it to the Aussies, they're doing slightly better than Ireland @collinsadam
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) August 1, 2019
Updated
20th over: Australia 57-3 (Smith 11, Head 16) Right, ignore what I said about Head having a good old look. Not so much here against Stokes, pulling him through midwicket for four then steering him through point for another. There is plenty of movement from the latter offering away from the bat but he watched it all the way onto his blade. He gets three more to finish, behind point off the edge but without risk because he has made contact with soft hands. And just like that, he has overtaken Steve Smith.
19th over: Australia 46-3 (Smith 11, Head 5) Head is off the mark after a solid half an hour at the crease, driving a couple off Woakes to mid-off then clipping three through midwicket from the delivery that follows. Once again missing his line, Smith’s pad deflects the final ball down to the fine leg rope for leg byes. Ian Botham is getting stuck into the Australian fans, saying they have one song: “Go Aussie Go.” Um, no. That’s not it. For your viewing pleasure at lunch.
18th over: Australia 37-3 (Smith 11, Head 0) Stokes to Smith is a tasty contest, the former beating the bat with the first of his fresh over as the clouds completely shut out the sun here at Edgbaston. It’s a much better set from the all-rounder, Smith leaving by default.
“This is great,” writes Yvonne Beddow. “Every time I come back to the OBO tab and refresh the page, England have taken a wicket!”
And from Stuart MacKenzie. “Ok, not cricket but rugby. I persuaded my wife to agree to Jupiter from the Planets (which she didn’t know) as our song for exiting the church after our wedding. Unfortunately my rugby pals told her later that it’s also the tune for the ‘World In Union’ song that gets trotted out for every Rugby World Cup, and so she thinks I chose it deliberately to sneak rugby (of which she’s not a fan) into the service. I genuinely didn’t think about this in advance (I like Jupiter but not World in Union) but she doesn’t believe me, and has never forgiven me for not telling her!”
I had a plan to name a child Dermott, on the basis that my girlfriend is English, but she now knows me (and his stories) too well. No way.
17th over: Australia 37-3 (Smith 11, Head 0) I’m going to compile the list of nations at the lunch break, as I’ve created a (lovely) monster with the aim of ticking off every UN nation. Every email is appreciated, trust me, but I best get back to the cricket. Woakes to Smith and the former captain is again off strike early in the over with one, this time to square leg. Head has started well, showing no signs of aggressive against balls that are designed to tempt him outside his off-stump. As James Vince knows, it is a blessing and a curse when you are known for punishing bowlers through extra cover.
16th over: Australia 36-3 (Smith 10, Head 0) Smith gets off strike from the first ball of Stokes’ new over, past mid-off. Head is leaving and evading but the all-rounder’s radar is off, so he can watch a few balls in a row drift down the legside to finish. Stay away from those.
15th over: Australia 35-3 (Smith 9, Head 0) England will know that Head was far from convincing combating during their last home summer, the South Australian routinely messed up by Bumrah and co. Woakes is asking the right questions, Head making contact a couple of times and leaving very close to his off-stump. Nothing wrong with that. A wicket maiden for Birmingham’s favourite son.
“No wedding day misshaps but this was the music we walked out of the long room at Trent Bridge too last year after we got married,” tweets @Berdo7. Speaking of twitter, @stalin_great (??) says he is in “the Soviet Socialist Republic of Bali, where Mrs Stalina has just understood the real reason why I have cried off from taking her out to eat tonight - OBO! Has any Leader of the Masses made a greater sacrifice for cricket?” More conventionally: @Markzip is in South West Ireland, Stephen Cooke in Spain, John Allen South Korea and @ehjchess is waiting his turn at the dentist. And Ibiza for @jw1789 - with wine.
WICKET! Khawaja c Bairstow b Woakes 13 (Australia 35-3)
A tiny outside edge! Given not out on the field but there was no way that England weren’t reviewing that. Technology quickly confirms the feather. There was just enough movement from a full length; perfect bowling in these conditions with the still new-ish ball.
Updated
14th over: Australia 35-2 (Khawaja 13, Smith 9) Stokes is into the attack and gives Khawaja something gentle on the pads, which he clips away with ease for four. Happy batting. A quicker ball follows, beating his blade and thumpsinginto his pad, but it has pitched outside leg so there is nothing to worry about. Going well, he is.
“Morning Collo, great to have you on the tools.” Nick Toovey! The loosest man on all the internet. “Now that that first hour’s nerves have settled, are you also noticing that ball isn’t carrying through very well? Could just be me (and I’m sneaking in a few balls here and there after an office move has situated the MD right behind my desk – the same MD who has begged me to do some work over the course of the next 6 weeks), but the catch to slip dropped low, the keeper and slips aren’t standing that far back, and balls are being taken at knee height. Could be a fourth-innings sponge?”
Sound. Broad was hitting 90mph or near enough but wasn’t exactly pinging them through at shoulder height. That will suit Khawaja.
“Jack Jarvis here – long time reader, first time emailer.” Jack, I love a first-time-caller. Good on you. “I’m quite nervous, I hope this story is good enough to make the grade on the first day of the actual Ashes.” Don’t be. This is a nice place - especially when England are doing well in a Test Match. Okay, to your tale.
“A bloke in my office got married and left it to his soon-to-be-brother-in-law to press play on the ipod to start the music for his soon-to-be-wife to walk down the aisle. He panicked and just pressed “play” without selecting anything and it played the first thing in the list – Dreadlock Holiday by 10CC. Does anyone else have any similar cricket themed song based wedding mishaps?”
Niche request! I like it. But if you’re going to find anyone in this very specific boat, I suspect they will be reading on here.
13th over: Australia 30-2 (Khawaja 8, Smith 9) After nearly beating cover with a nice drive, Khawaja goes down the ground off Woakes for three along the carpet. Nice shot. He’s looked very tidy so far. Smith defends the rest, getting Australia to the end of the first hour.
“I’m sure you’re aware that TMS managed (by one means or another) to get a listener in every (UN) country in the world over the course of
the World Cup,” says Graeme Thorn. “I wonder if you (that is, the Guardian) are planning onattempting something similar for the Ashes OBO this year?”
Well, what a fine idea! We have some help already. To Felix Schäfer in Germany, who has found the sport in his 30s, thank you for joining the fam. Phil Sawyer in Malaysia from a club lounge, great to see you as always. Simon Thomas ticks the Croatian box “from a yacht in the Adriatic, being shouted at by the skipper for not listening to his instructions and getting sun burned to a crisp.” Milo Dodd in Stuttgart. Jonathan Harding is Big in Japan. Ciaron Murphy is in Manly at dinner with his wife hiding his phone. DRINKS!
12th over: Australia 27-2 (Khawaja 5, Smith 9) After causing Smith so much trouble in his previous over, Broad gives him another full ball to deal with, this time timing it behind point for four. That’ll help build the confidence. As will the fact that Broad must be nearly done for now. Perhaps Anderson will follow him from this end?
11th over: Australia 23-2 (Khawaja 5, Smith 5) That’s Smith at his most confident, getting across his stumps to whip Woakes through midwicket - off the mark with the stroke, racing down to the rope. He grabs another single around the corner to keep the strike, again after shuffling across his woodwork. You do you, Steve. You do you.
“Moved to New Zealand six years ago from the UK but currently on a tiny island off the coast of mainland Fiji with very dicey mobile reception so unfortunately no TMS for me but as ever enjoying the OBO and one of my brothers what’s apping the important bits to me in real time,” reports Ian Rinn. “Will be with you for another hour or so before sleep but keep up the great work and look forward to reading the full OBO over breakfast. Same to my brother Chris and it seems the England bowling attack!”
Emails in from all over the world this morning, the OBO bringing us all together. Thanks for your company. To Adrian Goldman, too, in Kuopio in Finland and Andrew Denton (not the Australian one, he tells me) who is stuck on a tarmac in Rome. As the over ends, Jimmy Anderson returns to the field from beneath me in the pavilion.
10th over: Australia 17-2 (Khawaja 4, Smith 0) Broad is up again! There’s a sound when the ball passes Smith but it is off the pad - they don’t go upstairs. A near carbon-copy of the first ball later on, again clipping Smith on the pad flap before ending up with Bairstow. The TV tells us that Broad has never bowled fuller in a spell than he has so far this morning, according to CricViz. He finishes by beating Smith with a beauty. Of course, he’s been at the bowling crease for the defining spell of the last three Ashes series in this county.
9th over: Australia 17-2 (Khawaja 4, Smith 0) Woakes is into the attack because Anderson left the field at the end of his previous over. We’re asking for an update from the England camp - stand by for that. Of course, this is Jimmy’s first game back after the calf injury that he picked a month ago. The Brummy Botham is right on the mark to Khawaja, who plays him very watchfully to begin.
Warner ✅
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 1, 2019
Bancroft ✅
What a start from Broad!
He finds the edge after a full delivery and Root clings on!
Follow over-by-over commentary and in-play video clips from the first #Ashes Test at Edgbaston live on Sky Sports #Ashes: https://t.co/J4W0KH3Oo5 pic.twitter.com/evBdLN0jdR
8th over: Australia 17-2 (Khawaja 4, Smith 0) There is a man at short point for Smith, a position they had for the former Australian captain in Brisbane 18 months ago when he went on to make one of the best tons of his career. And he immediately picks him out. It’s on the bounce; an old-fashioned crowd catch. This is fantastic stuff.
“As probably one of your younger OBOers at 17 entranced by ‘Is It Cowardly To Pray For Rain’ and ‘766 And All That’ I’m following from Napier, NZ on a rugby tour,” writes Bertie Heaver. “It’s nearly 10:30 here and I’m not going anywhere.”
Bertie, thanks for being part of it. Napier is a lovely spot. Enjoy.
“Following on OBO and listening to TMS here in Nigeria,” writes Seth Levine. “It took 23 minutes of this game to reinforce the point that Test Match cricket is the superior format, however much fun the World Cup was. Just the murmur between balls, sans hideous music and forced jollity, makes me feel better about the world.”
WICKET! Bancroft c Root b Broad 8 (Australia 17-2)
Classic Stuart Broad dismissal! Bancroft hangs the bat at a delivery just short of a length, nipping away enough to collect the outside edge. Joe Root does the rest at slip. The crowd once again give it big with Bancroft leaving and Smith replacing him. England are flying.
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7th over: Australia 13-1 (Bancroft 4, Khawaja 4) Bancroft is more at home against Anderson this time around, making good contact in defence then keeping the strike with the third leg bye so far.
Merv Hughes is in the crowd, Adam Hirst tells me. I had the great pleasure of spending a night in the pub with him before the World Cup semi-final. I worked out very quickly that the key was sitting back, strapping in and enjoying the ride.
“Still at work at solicitor’s office here in Sydney at almost 8:30pm Thursday evening,” reports Philip Sutherland. Great to have your company, wherever this is finding you around the cricket world.
6th over: Australia 12-1 (Bancroft 4, Khawaja 4) Nice. Bancroft is off the mark with a defensive stroke that’s timed so well that it runs away for four down to long-off. A leg-bye is added when Broad misses his line. One to finish and Khawaja is off the mark with a delightful clip through midwicket, making two fours from the over.
“Hi Adam.” Hi, Harry O’Brien. “During Edgbaston Ashes 2005, I was seated next to a huge swathe of Aussie fans, so the closest bar was a sea of yellow every day. The nearest loo was an Aussie stronghold too. During Australia’s 2nd innings when things were getting tense, Gilchrist came to the crease as I headed to the loo, keeping in touch with the goings on through my ear-piece and transistor radio. Surrounded by 30 or 40 Aussies and struggling to hear my radio over the noise of water hitting stainless steel, excited voices in my ear- piece said Gilchrist was out!! For one run!! My excited shout of ‘Gilly’s gone!!’ was greeted with sudden silence. The sound of water on steel had instantly stopped as the shock news interrupted 35 flows. It remains the most satisfying moment of my life. Thanks for your brilliant OBO.”
What an image. We should be so lucky to have anything like the 2005 (or 2009!) series over the next six weeks. Is 2009 is the most underrated Ashes contest of the modern era? Forever drawfed by its older brother four years earlier.
5th over: Australia 3-1 (Bancroft 0, Khawaja 0) Anderson’s turn, bowling with five slips from his favoured Birmingham City End. Bancroft gets out of the frying pan from the second ball of the set, acquring a leg bye from his thigh pad. Khawaja defends and leaves well until the final delivery, which evades his outside edge after doing plenty off the track. Jimmy turned 37 this week. So good.
“First impressions of seeing the names and numbers on the shirts are mixed,” writes Hugh Molloy. “I unexpectedly like being able to sport who’s where’s on the field and even the batsmen being highlighted. However, the numbers, which take up 80% of the real estate, are a pointless and useless abomination. Also, the font could be a bit more sympathetic. It looks like it was chosen by the chap who did Carpetright and SportsDirect’s signage.”
Broad strikes! ☝️
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 1, 2019
Warner is hit in front but DRS shows it's going down leg!
Follow over-by-over commentary and in-play video clips from the first #Ashes Test at Edgbaston live on Sky Sports #Ashes: https://t.co/J4W0KH3Oo5 pic.twitter.com/NPw96QNnRI
4th over: Australia 2-1 (Bancroft 0, Khawaja 0) IT WAS MISSING! Just going down the legside! What a HUGE early moment in this game. Khawaja defends the one delivery left in the successful Broad over.
I’ve been asked a lot about the handshakes. I can confirm, via the England camp, that they were not asked to participate by Australia.
WICKET! Warner lbw b Broad 2 (Australia 2-1)
He’s gone this time! Warner misses a far fuller deliver that is only going one place from around the wicket. Aleem Dar raises his finger and England are UP AND ABOUT. No review considered. Warner looks straight ahead as the Hollies Stand send him off - loudly.
Updated
BROAD THINKS HE HAS WARNER LBW! Root lets him go upstairs to challenge the Aleem Dar’s decision but it is shown to be going well over the top of leg stump. England give up a referral.
Updated
3rd over: Australia 2-0 (Bancroft 0, Warner 2) Anderson beats Warner to begin this time, angling away in that dreamy Jimmy fashion. Later in in the over, he finds an inside edge with one that goes the other way, deflecting back onto his pad. That gives Bancroft one ball to see out and he beats him again with a beauty. Great start.
“Did they handshake?” asks Damian Walsh from a meeting room in Madrid. Evidently not. Spicy.
Posting the TMS overseas link again for those who missed it the first time around. Fun fact: 62 per cent of emails we get on the OBO in the morning session are asking for the TMS links.
2nd over: Australia 1-0 (Bancroft 0, Warner 1) Broad is down the legside to begin but both he and Bairstow are fairly interested in the caught behind down the legside? I tell you what, the the technology suggests it was... off the toe of the bat? Blimey. Imagine that went upstairs; Warner would have been out first ball! Instead, he’s off the mark later in the over with a push through cover. It gives Bancroft a couple of deliveries to negotiate and he’s beaten by the first, again in that channel just outside the off-stump. That’s his spot. Lovely.
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Bancroft 0, Warner 0) Jimmy Anderson: set and forget. He beats Bancroft with the third ball of the series, the first that the opener elected to play at. The swing, the shape, the oohs and aahs from the crowd. Delicious. The West Australian makes contact with the last couple, which will feel good. Welcome!
The players are on the field! Here we go! Anderson vs Bancroft. The crowd do their thing as the controversial pair make their way to the middle. PLAY!
Play. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/yMIG1XxmJZ
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 1, 2019
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Now for the anthems. This choir, bring them everywhere!
Anthems. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/i0U4QMh9rz
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 1, 2019
Let’s get a few emails in here. My apologies in advance for missing many of these during this morning stint; it going to be that kind of OBO. But I’ll do my best to manage the inbox and the updates.
“I’ve just had my pre-series hair cut and beard trim so definitely ready for action now,” says Brian Withington. “Going along to watch tomorrow for my first Ashes expedition to Edgbaston in about 20 odd years. Can’t wait - like a kid on Christmas Eve who’s really not sure whether Santa will decide if I’ve been naughty or nice.”
Be sure to find us when you get here, Brian. Have a great time.
“Enjoyed the Tim Paine presser you linked to,” writes James Walsh. “Did he have time to list the fifteen Test venues he finds more scary than Edgbaston? I’d be fascinated to know which ones they are. I guess Chester-le-Street, due to the Shane Watson ghost incident, but the other fourteen are a spooky mystery.”
He’s only played international cricket at 18! Was lovely trolling work from Paine, I thought. Means nothing now, of course.
“Having not watched Australia play much Test cricket since the last Ashes, and even then in an often sleep deprived state, I was thinking I didn’t have too much knowledge of Travis Head, or indeed of Tim Paine the keeper/batsman (I’ve read plenty on his captaincy),” says Matthew Potter. “I know a fair bit about the battle for number six due to your discussions on your pod. Care to fill me in? Head likely to make some match winning knocks? Is Paine’s captaincy and glovework worth his one first class hundred?”
Okay, let’s do Trav Head. He was made captain of South Australia at 21; they love his leadership skills. He is no-nonsense but quite Gen-Y in the way he will happily have a lash at anything outside the off-stump, where he is very strong. But he did get caught at third man twice in a Test last summer. Made a ton to finish the home season against Sri Lanka, securing his spot. That he’s vice-captain suggests they see him as a potential long-term skipper. Nice fella, too.
Jerusalem is being sung, rather beautifully, by a choir beneath me in front of the pavilion. This is really cool. Interested in the history of the hymn as it relates to English cricket? I wrote an essay on it.
“Going on a tangent here,” as is your right as an OBO emailer, Abhinav Dutta. “So I am sat at work, fuming at my bosses and squinting for some corner to catch the cricket in without unnecessary supervision. Anyway had to ask, how does one channel Mitchell Johnson like ferocity while retaining the easy going flow of Ice Cube? Would so love to give them bosses a Mitch Johnson death stare before hollering ‘Chickity-check yo self before you wreck yourself’ at their faces.”
Gosh, how I loved watching the Ashes when I shouldn’t have been as a kid at school then later when I had a proper job. Lovely memories.
“Imagine saying six months ago Hazelwood and Starc would be fully fit and left out,” says Adrian from Melbourne on twitter in response to the Pattinson/Siddle love. Quite right. This is a complete shift in thinking from the dogmatic approach in 2015 where there was a pecking order and That Was That. This is very Tim Paine. He explained it well when talking to us a couple of days ago.
That TMS link I put up was the non-UK one, to avoid any confusion. If you are in the UK, pick it up at the usual BBC places.
“Just wondering,” asks Peter da Silva. “Has the fusion of his spine changed his bowling style, would have thought it would have to? Vague memory of him being a bit of an all rounder in the 2013 series in England before getting injured.”
He changed his bowling acting for a time after the 2013 injury but doesn’t look that different to when he arrived. For comparison purposes as we move through the Test, was his debut in 2011.
Shane Warne is happy with the attack. Not surprising, given his long-held views on Mitch Starc. Those teams as named.
England: Rory Burns, Jason Roy, Joe Root (c), Joe Denly, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Australia: David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Matthew Wade, Tim Paine (c & wk), James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon.
Tim Paine won the toss, Australia will bat
An easy decision, he says. “It looks better than we were expecting it. It looks hard and dry.” He then talks about having Nathan Lyon at his disposal later in the game. As for the team... Pete Siddle is IN!
Six changes from the last Test Australia played in. As expected, no Starc and Hazlewood; Cummins and Pattinson are the other two seamers. A big, bold call from the Australian camp. “We think Pete Siddle in this match complements the other two very nicely.”
Joe Root is “not disappointed at all” to be bowling first. “We have a very strong bowling attack for these conditions.” They are as named at the press conference yesterday with Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Stokes and Moeen his bowling attack. “Of course,” it is a boost to the team, he says, that they get to play the First Test at Edgbaston.
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Just quickly before I’m asked... the TMS link, thanks to Alastair Ferguson. Enjoy! Norcross is in fine form, I can assure you of that.
“Good morning.” Hello Tom Marlow. He then makes about 17 jokes about the Newslands saga. I’m going to publish them all, unedited, and that’ll be that in terms of today’s OBO, I reckon. Sound good?
“Australia look good on paper but with the suspended players all back can it still be called a scratch side? I wonder if their tactics will go with the grain or will they have some well-polished new drills? Roughly speaking it might be a grind playing five tests after the WC but I’m sure Smith is looking forward to getting his pads on, Warner will be buffed up for the contest and Bancroft will want a smooth transition back into the fold even if the reception might be abrasive. Anyway, I’m sure the only DIY cricket we’ll see is the kind of improvised not-in-the-manual brilliance all these Test players are capable of. Shine on you cricketing diamonds. I can’t wait.”
Very good. Thanks, Tom. But yes, let’s talk cricket - not sandpaper.
Steve Smith is on Sky Cricket with Nasser. He has him in the nets in a pre-filmed feature, going through his strange set-up and so on. If this were any other series, Smith and Warner’s return would be the only story - but this is no normal series. “I don’t particularly like watching that much,” Smith said in relation to his batting obsession. He’s now got Nas throwing balls at him! He can’t be stopped!
I saw a senior Barmy Army member in the lift in this morning who told me they have 500 members ready to roll this morning in the Hollies Stand. It’ll be fun to watch but I don’t think it’ll mean much.
The track is “very dry and very hard” according to Shane Warne. “This toss is a lot bigger than people think.” Andrew Strauss agrees: “This is a massive bat-first wicket.” Interesting. Toss in five!
#EdSmith likes to give #JoeRoot options for the final XI. For start of #Ashes, extra variety: Stone’s rough pace, Archer’s smooth pace, Curran’s left-arm swing. Root has shelved the lot for a vanilla seam attack, all right-arm, all mid-80s. Relying on ball & pitch @collinsadam
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) August 1, 2019
Steve Waugh is here with the Australian team. Just as it was during the World Cup when Justin Langer had Ricky Ponting in a tracksuit, the former captain is serving as a mentor. Here he was pre-Test.
Nice bit from Ian Ward on Sky Cricket then. “Athers, what would you do if you won the toss?” He replies: “Bat.” Ward again, looking at Nasser: “Actually, I’m not going to ask you.” Very good.
What do we think of the World Test Championship? It begins today as well, don’t you know. The main thing you will notice this morning is that there are numbers on the players’ shirts. But there is more to it than that. The WTC, in short:
- The top nine ICC Test nations play six bilateral series against each other over two years before a final at Lord’s.
- Correct, that means each team won’t play two others. It’s not elegant. India don’t play Pakistan, for instance.
- 120 points available per series, divided between the Tests - minimum two, maximum five.
- Yes, that means Tests don’t carry the same weight. When Australia play Bangladesh (over two rubbers) they are worth 60 each. But in an Ashes Test, 24 are on the line in every game.
That’s probably all we need to know for now. Better than the alternative? Of course. Room to improve after this first two-year cycle? Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.
Some highlights from Joe Root’s presser, too.
Speaking of Tim Paine. His press conference yesterday provided plenty of fresh meat. Is Edgbaston the most intimidating venue where he has played? Naaaah, not in the top 15, champ. The Churchill non-quote was good craic too. All fun and games.
To shake or not to shake? Lovely little exclusive for the first morning of the Ashes via Guardian scoop master Ali Martin.
Had a funny old time last night. From Birmingham to Bristol for the final Women’s Ashes T20 then back to where we started. I’m not entirely sure where Geoff Lemon ended up sleeping, but that’s the way these things go sometimes. On the park, Katherine Brunt turned the clock back (29 not out and 3/21) and England found a good’un, Mady Villiers, who combined with fellow 20-year-old tweaker Sophie Ecclestone for five matchwinning wickets between them.
But it was a consolation win, the trophy very much going back to Australia - retained at the earliest possible opportunity; finishing the multi-format series with a points triumph of 12 to 4. Ellyse Perry was magnificent throughout (finishing 60 not out in the failed chase last night), leading the tournament for both runs and wickets. Of course.
After play, Charlotte Edwards declared that there has never been a better women’s player in the history of the game than Perry.
James Pattinson is speaking on Channel Nine in Australia. He is very excited, as you would expect. Acknowledges the nerves in the rooms but the positive vibes as well. Happy with the preparation down in Southampton last week. Day one is about setting the tone.
Have you see Patto bowl recently? If not, get your eyes on this from the Sheffield Shield final in March. It’s hard to believe that only this time last year, after having his spine fused together in an operation over in New Zealand, there was no guarantee he’d bowl in long-form cricket again. At last, at age 29, he is back in business. Big time.
Welcome to Edgbaston for day one of The ASHES!
Oh boy, here it is. Morning one. So much build up, so much phony war, so much Ashez Bantz. But it means not a jot when the clock strikes 11 here at Edgbaston this morning. You know it’s a Big Day on the cricket calendar when we fire up the OBO this far out from the first ball and days don’t come much bigger than this for us here.
The news from the ground is that the weather is a image directly from Jimmy Anderson’s dreams: muggy and cloudy. The track is brown, but I am told the grass that was there yesterday will still be present when the first ball is bowled. Surely this also means that Pete Siddle will win the final spot in the Australian side - a great story.
Those comeback tales are everywhere in the away dressing room: James Pattinson’s fused spine, Matt Wade’s return from nowhere, Tim Paine’s remarkable career arc. That’s before even thinking about the return of the Sandpaper trio, all available today for their first outing in the baggy green since that fateful day at Newlands.
For the hosts, their side contrasts nicely in terms of the volume of all-rounders they will be picking. Jofra Archer won’t be in the XI - so Joe Root told us yesterday - but with Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes they have the combination they want for this ground.
Of course, it is a venue where England haven’t lost a Test Match for 11 years; where Australia haven’t saluted for 19. Back then, it was routine for those dominant sides to win in this country - doing so four times on the trot - but they haven’t retained the urn here since.
Urgh! So many storylines! So much to think about. With this much time up my sleeve, I’ll leave it here for now and simply encourage you to drop me a line. How are you feeling? Good morning to you all.
Good morning. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/VA9eeIZrEZ
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 1, 2019
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