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Tea: Australia lead by 239 runs
39th over: England 132-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 5) Green digs into the pitch with the ball rising off the back of a length and Smith unable to keep down a defensive prod. The edge flies wide of Inglis in the gully who dives and gets a hand to it – that was the toughest of chances, but you do expect to see them held in that part of the field. Stokes finishes the over – and session – with the tightest of leaves. England head to tea still trailing by 239 with half of their wickets already done and dusted.
38th over: England 127-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 0) Lyon to Stokes with Australian fielders crowding the bat on the offside on the brink of the teabreak. The England captain is hobbling around, likely with cramp, but is too quick to take his guard and Australia will get another over at Smith.
37th over: England 127-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 0) Green gets the breakthrough as the Brook-Stokes partnership ends at 56 runs. Jamie Smith comes to the crease after scoring only 52 runs in four innings across the opening two Tests, and is very nearly gone without adding to that tally. Much the same delivery that sent Brook packing almost lures Smith into a nick to Alex Carey, but the right-hander fails to even make fleeting contact. A hugely impressive first over of the day from the Australian all-rounder, just a no-ball and wicket coming from it.
Updated at 23.09 EST
WICKET! Brook c Carey b Green 45 (England 127-5)
Cameron Green is thrown the ball for the first time at Adelaide Oval and takes only three deliveries to silence at least some of his critics. Seam up, an awkward length, movement away from the right-hander, and Brook can’t get his bat out of the way in time as he half-heartedly plays and edges behind.
Brook departs. Photograph: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersShare
Updated at 23.13 EST
36th over: England 126-4 (Brook 45, Stokes 19) Snicko is called into action and this time does its thing! Lyon pushes the ball behind Brook as the right-hander can’t help but chase it and Australia rise as one to appeal for caught behind. The finger is raised before Brook reviews immediately – and replays show any sound came after the ball was well past the bat and on the way to clipping the thigh pad. Brook – and perhaps Snicko – survive, but Lyon looks threatening.
35th over: England 125-4 (Brook 44, Stokes 19) Australia set a field for Brook suited to short-pitched bowling. The right-hander controls a pull shot through square leg where Cummins – he’s back on the field – limits England to a single. Starc ends the over getting the ball to nip back into Stokes – perhaps a first sign of reverse swing.
Updated at 22.57 EST
34th over: England 124-4 (Brook 43, Stokes 19) Stokes clips Lyon off his pads through midwicket for a couple before the off-spinner finds a testing line targeting the left-hander’s off-stump. The rise in volume and frequency of Marnus Labuschagne’s chatter might be a sign of Australia recognising that this partnership is threatening to get out of hand.
33rd over: England 122-4 (Brook 43, Stokes 17) Mitchell Starc takes over from Scott Boland and unusually, for this series at least, is still without a wicket to his name even as England push into three figures. Harry Brook looks increasingly comfortable and brings up the 50-run partnership with Stokes with a slashing cut shot to the boundary.
32nd over: England 116-4 (Brook 38, Stokes 16) Nathan Lyon takes the ball with Pat Cummins taking a breather off the field. Brook angles the face of his bat to pick up a pair of singles behind square leg, while in between Stokes drives for one. The England captain could do with turning over the strike more and getting Brook on strike as much as possible at the moment.
Stokes plays a shot off his legs. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 22.51 EST
The drinks break in Adelaide has given Brian Withington time to let his mind wander far and wide towards a hopeful query: “Call me an optimistic cynically naive old git, but I’m sensing some signs of recovery here. Brook looking very determined, Stokes obdurate, the wicket flat and the sun bleedin’ hot. What can go wrong?”
31st over: England 113-4 (Brook 36, Stokes 15) Boland leaked 24 runs from his previous three overs as Brook in particular set out to target the Australia quick. A tighter line ties down the England right-hander this time, until he ends the over easing a single to deep point. That’ll be drinks – the second of the session with the mercury rising beyond 40C in Adelaide.
Updated at 22.35 EST
30th over: England 112-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 15) Brook punches Cummins down the ground for a single to leave Stokes with four deliveries to face. The England captain has no interest in playing at anything short or outside off before Cummins finishes his over and immediately leaves the field.
29th over: England 111-4 (Brook 34, Stokes 15) SIX! Harry Brook can only deny his natural instincts for so long as he charges Scott Boland and carves a drive beyond deep cover and over the rope. The right-hander comfortably picks up a pair of twos on either side of the wicket. A promising over for England, 13 runs from it, as they seem to be going after Boland.
Updated at 22.27 EST
28th over: England 98-4 (Brook 23, Stokes 13) Pat Cummins returns with Ben Stokes on strike. That tale of course comes with plenty of history, often with the Australian captain in the ascendancy. But there is no way through Stokes’ determined defence this time. A maiden over.
Updated at 22.37 EST
Martin Pegan
Thanks Rob, for steering us through a session-and-a-half that often felt like a snapshot of the series so far. Stop me if it feels like you’ve heard this one before … Australia’s tail lifted the hosts closer to – but still short of – what past players and pundits have insisted would be a reasonable first-innings total at Adelaide Oval. Then, even after their own predictably fast start, England soon gave up any perceived advantage as they suffered a top-order collapse with three wickets falling for a mere five runs. For all the talk about how much this surface might favour the batters, and the old adage not to judge a pitch until both sides have taken their turn to swing the willow, half of the dismissals have come through catches in front of the wicket. Quality bowling? At times. Poor shot selection? Absolutely.
England now have little choice but to dig in and can at least cling to some hope of reaching Australia’s 371 with Ben Stokes still at the crease, while dreaming of Harry Brook partnering his captain well into the afternoon. I’ll be with you until stumps – please do get involved with an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X.
Brook and Stokes fist bump. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 22.38 EST
Rob Smyth
27th over: England 98-4 (Brook 22, Stokes 13) Boland drifts onto the pads of Stokes, who tucks him through midwicket for three, and then Brook squirts wide of gully for a couple.
It’s time for me to hand over to Martin Pegan for the rest of the day. Thanks for your company and emails; see you tomorrow.
26th over: England 92-4 (Brook 20, Stokes 10) Lyon gets a bit of turn to Brook, who inside-edges into the leg side. One from the over.
“Let’s take a minute to celebrate this Australian team as a team and as a collection of individuals,” write Felix Wood. “They’ve gone about their business this series – ignored the noise and trusting each other that one or other of their mates will always stick their hand up.
“For England, I’m not really sure where they go from here, but I think the situation they’ve got themselves in over the No3 slot, where the incumbent is clearly not up for it but they’ve pre-crowned his successor when he’s clearly not ready and possibly will never be suitable sort of sums it up.
“I hope though how it’s ending doesn’t make people forget how fun Bazball was for a while – nor that before it England were just as frustrating to watch, equally prone to collapse and frozen in fear to boot.”
Updated at 22.12 EST
25th over: England 91-4 (Brook 19, Stokes 10) Boland comes on for Starc and puts a long-off in place for Brook, who works a simple single into the leg side. Brook promised to rein it in and so far he’s done exactly that, with just one boundary and lots of singles. And he’s still scoring at a strike rate of 76.
Stokes gets his first boundary with a beautiful off-drive, a shot he played so often during his memorable maiden Test hundred at Perth 12 years ago.
Updated at 22.14 EST
24th over: England 86-4 (Brook 18, Stokes 6) “Awwww that’s close to pad first!” shouts Labuschagne when Stokes defends a ball from Lyon on leg stump. Stokes is almost strokeless, particularly against Lyon, and has 6 from 33 balls. That scoring rate would be a concern for most England players, but we’ve seen Stokes do this many times before, most notably at Headingley in 2019.
23rd over: England 85-4 (Brook 17, Stokes 6) Starc is consistently bowling around 90-92 mph, which is some going for a 35-year-old in 39-degree heat.
22.2 overs: England 83-4 (Brook 16, Stokes 5) Stokes turns his back on a perfectly pitched short ball from Starc that hits him on the back of the helmet. Starc asks Stokes if he’s okay, Stokes nods and the physio comes on to check for concussion. He’s OK to continue.
Stokes gets hit on the helmet. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 22.13 EST
Drinks With temperatures approaching 40 degrees, the umpires call for an early drinks break. England trail by 289 runs and are in abundant bother.
22nd over: England 82-4 (Brook 15, Stokes 5) I thought the ball from Lyon to dismiss Duckett was a jaffa. In fact, replays show that it was a good rather than great delivery, one that maybe shouldn’t have been getting through a Test opener.
Five dot balls in a row from Lyon to Stokes, although it was hard to concentrate with Marnus Labuschagne chatting away constantly between deliveries. Stokes has 5 from 24 balls, Brook 15 from 19.
21st over: England 81-4 (Brook 14, Stokes 5) Starc probes outside the off stump of Stokes, who isn’t interested in playing out there. When Starc tightens his line Stokes defends solidly.
“As I sit here at the boundary at Adelaide Oval, I can’t help but cast my mind to some of the comments below the line in the match report last night: 450 apparently constituted ‘par’ on this wicket,” writes Angus Chisholm. “Par works as a concept for golf, where performance is strictly a question of physical and mental ability, and where your main obstacle is the utterly dispassionate topography of wherever you happen to be playing. It doesn’t work when your abilities are being tested, in a five-match series in a foreign country under the baking sun, by 11 other blokes who want to put you away with maximum severity.”
20th over: England 80-4 (Brook 14, Stokes 5) Brook has started sensibly and looks happy to milk Lyon for singles, at least for the time being. Australia were in similar trouble yesterday, 90-odd for 4, but right now it’s hard to see England mounting a similar fightback.
19th over: England 77-4 (Brook 12, Stokes 4) Yep, no messing around from Australia: Cummins off after a two-over spell, Starc on to bowl at Stokes. His first ball is too straight and worked through midwicket for three by Stokes.
Starc back in action. Photograph: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersShare
Updated at 22.14 EST
18th over: England 73-4 (Brook 11, Stokes 1) Lyon has a slip and silly point for Stokes, who plays a series of forward defensive strokes before waving his first run to deep point.
Given Stokes’ struggles agianst Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins may bring himself off despite taking the wicket of Root.
17th over: England 71-4 (Brook 10, Stokes 0) Cummins has dismissed Root more than any other bowler in Tests.
ShareWICKET! England 71-4 (Root c Carey b Cummins 19)
Pat Cummins dismisses Joe Root for the 12th time in Tests! It was a good delivery, slightly fuller than usual, and Root edged a defensive push through to Carey. Australia are just too good.
Pat Cummins celebrates taking the key wicket of Joe Root. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.29 EST
16th over: England 64-3 (Root 13, Brook 9) Nathan Lyon continues after lunch and is milked for five relatively low-risk singles. Good batting.
15th over: England 59-3 (Root 11, Brook 6) Pat Cummins, who has a magnificent record against Joe Root, replaces Scott Boland after lunch. A huge LBW appeal against Root is turned down, with replays showing an inside edge onto the pad. It’s an excellent start from Cummins though, an accurate and challenging maiden.
The players are back on the field. Australia are probably one good session away from retaining the Ashes.
Joe Root and Harry Brook wait to go out to bat. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.18 EST
“I really thought this was England’s chance, Rob,” says Luke Regan. “More fool me; the Aussies are too good as usual. How we nearly beat them in England I’ll never know.
”We’ll also never know what would have happened if Pope hadn’t gifted his wicket so meekly. Never a good sign when everyone knows what you’re going to do before you do.
”Even if we now scrape a score approaching parity, we aren’t knocking them over cheaply without a frontline spinner to support Archer. This tour has truly become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
That’s an important point – parity is no good to England, they need a lead of at least 100. I should probably have written that in the past tense.
Lunchtime reading
ShareLunch: Australia lead by 312 runs
14th over: England 59-3 (Root 11, Brook 6) Lyon bowls the final over before lunch. He briefly moves around the wicket to Brook, who times a classy back-foot drive for four.
England will need plenty more boundaries like that after lunch. Australia are in charge at Adelaide Oval after a hideous mini-collapse from England, who lost three wickets for five runs in 15 balls. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett fell to excellent deliveries but the beleaguered Ollie Pope played a horrible shot to Nathan Lyon’s third ball.
Updated at 20.36 EST
13th over: England 53-3 (Root 10, Brook 1) Boland’s first poor delivery is clipped to the midwicket boundary by Root. No pressure, Joe, all England need from you in an unbeaten double hundred.
That delivery aside, Boland’s control has been immaculate, and later in the over he forces Root to inside-edge one onto the thigh.
“I think the right decision was made on the Root review, but I wonder whether it was fair that Australia lose a review,” writes Tom. “The umpire made a howler – Root smashed it – and the usual protocol is to check if it carried after it is given out, so Australia shouldn’t have had to use a review. In any case, it wasn’t definitive that it didn’t carry, so it begs the question why there isn’t an umpire’s call decision on instances like these so that it doesn’t cost a review.”
12th over: England 48-3 (Root 6, Brook 1) Root negates an LBW appeal from Lyon by getting outside the line. Lyon is all over Root for the first part of the over, but Root puts some pressure back on the bowler with a crisp reverse sweep for four.
“We need to talk about Pope,” says Will Ellen. “There’s vast billowing smoke swirling all around – but not because we’re getting a new pontiff. You cannot have a No3 who at times looks like a No11. Skittish, erratic, nervous, desperate to hit the ball somewhere, anywhere, rather than build an innings. And averaging less than 15 against Australia. This was inevitable. Surely for his own good he needs to be taken out of the firing line?”
The odd thing is that he looked a different player, a lot more composed, in the first innings at Perth. But this feels like the end, certainly as a No3.
11th over: England 42-3 (Root 1, Brook 0) Boland slips a cracking delivery past Root. Another maiden, his second in a row. In the last four overs Australia have taken thre wickets for five runs, on what was supposed to be a road.
Root is not out! Australia aren’t happy, with Marnus Labuschagne and then Pat Cummins having a chat with the umpires.
It’s still being checked. I think it bounced but the more they look at it, the more you fear for Joe Root.
Root clearly inside-edged the ball onto the pad and through to the keeper – but it may not be a clean catch by Alex Carey. Sheesh, this is huge.
Updated at 20.17 EST
Australia review for caught behind against Root!
There may be trouble ahead…
Boland thinks he’s got Root…. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PAShare
Updated at 21.16 EST
10th over: England 42-3 (Root 1, Brook 0) Well that escalated quickly.
If Pope gave his wicket away, then Duckett was undone by a gorgeous delivery. It curved onto middle stump from around the wicket, then spat past the edge to hit off stump. Majestic bowling from Lyon, who has moved past Glenn McGrath into second place on the list of Australian Test wickettakers: Warne 708, Lyon 564, McGrath 563. He’s not filthy any more.
ShareWICKET! England 42-3 (Duckett b Lyon 29)
Nathan Lyon has struck twice in his first over and England are in all sorts!
ShareWICKET! England 41-2 (Pope c Inglis b Lyon 3)
Nathan Lyon strikes third ball! It was a desperate shot from Ollie Pope, who dragged a routine offbreak straight to Josh Inglis at short midwicket. Inglis’s shoulder is apparently fine; Pope’s future prospects may not be.
Lyon celebrates his return to the side with the wicket of Pope. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 20.13 EST
9th over: England 40-1 (Duckett 28, Pope 3) Scott Boland replaces Mitchell Starc (4-0-20-0) and hits Pope on the glove with a short ball that follows him. Pope was caught in two minds and ended up just taking the blow. Boland ends an accurate first over by nipping one back to beat Pope on the inside. Not a great shot from Pope, who could easily have inside-edged that onto the stumps.
In other news, Josh Inglis is off the field with what could be a shoulder problem.
8th over: England 40-1 (Duckett 28, Pope 3) Ollie Pope flicks his first ball to fine leg for a couple.
ShareWICKET! England 37-1 (Crawley c Carey b Cummins 9)
Pat Cummins makes the breakthrough with a sensational delivery! He went slightly wider on the crease and got the ball to straighten sharply from a good length. Crawley, pushing defensively, thin-edged it through to the keeper. No blame attached to Crawley there – that was a jaffa.
Crawley departs. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 20.02 EST
7th over: England 37-0 (Crawley 9, Duckett 28) After Crawley knocks Starc down the ground for three, Duckett clips expertly through midwicket for his fifth boundary. It wouldn’t surprise me if Australia have a look at Nathan Lyon before lunch, which is around 35 minutes away.
“In a bar in NYC,” writes Rachel Clifton, “but watching on my phone (shout to Willow TV – $79 a year for all cricket!) and sharing the anxiety with the West Country bartender. Can Duckett make it past 30?!”
I’ll let you know in the next five minutes.
6th over: England 28-0 (Crawley 6, Duckett 22) Both the openers have decent head-to-head records against Cummins in Tests: Crawley averages 54, Duckett 45. Duckett is hit in the stomach by a short one, the last ball of a largely uneventful over.
“I’m just home from work flicking through the channels,” writes Niall Mullen. “On ITV1 right now is Live Free or Die Hard which I assumed was the cricket. But it turns out the rugged alpha is Bruce Willis and not Baz.”
At least it’s not the Bonfire of the Vanities.
Cummins feels the heat in Adelaide. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 19.52 EST