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Jeremy Flint is another to be worried for Cricket Australia with a shortened Test well and truly on the cards.
“I am following you from Manila, the Philippines with a glass of red and some spicy sardines on toast. It looks like weekend cricket is most unlikely the way this is going, but does anybody know the amount of lost revenue from these five-day tests finishing inside three days? Must be horrendous for Cricket Australia.”
29th over: England 110-9 (Atkinson 27, Tongue 1) Starc returns as Australia look to finish off this annoying last-wicket stand. At the same time, Steve Smith is still trying to protect their precarious lead with much of the field spread into the deep. Atkinson picks up two with a drive down the ground and adds one with a similar stroke that leaves Tongue with one ball to face. The England No 11 has looked rock solid so far.
28th over: England 107-9 (Atkinson 25, Tongue 1) Atkinson picks up a single with a drive to long-off and I suspect there are a couple of openers pleased to see play petering out slightly with 5.50pm now in sight.
Adrian Goldman has joined the queue of cricket watchers questioning the merits of a particular way of playing the game.
“So what is the truth about bazball and this group of cricketers? That it worked before other teams had figured it out? That this group of cricketers aren’t that talented and it would work with better personnel?
“As it is, it looks like we’re on not only for an Ashes whitewash – but the fastest one of all time.”
Darryl Accone has found time between the flurry of wickets to pen this reworked little ditty …
Once again we have the captain at the wheel, the deck deserted by the top order. It brings to mind the poem Casabianca by Felicia Hemans, to whom apologies for these reworked lines:
The Ben stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the battle’s wreck,
Shone round him o’er the dead.
Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,
A proud, though childlike form.
Wickets wrapped the scorecard in shambles wild,
They caught the Baz on high,
And streamed above the gallant cap’n,
Like banners in the sky.
There came a burst of thunder sound –
The Ben – oh! where was he?
Ask of the Aussies that all around
With wickets strewed the pitch!
27th over: England 106-9 (Atkinson 24, Tongue 1) DROP! Tongue survives a Boland over as he gets behind everything aimed at the stumps and leaves anything a little bit wide. He gets a touch under a straight drive but Boland can’t settle himself in time as he reaches down at his ankles and grasses a difficult caught-and-bowled chance.
26th over: England 106-9 (Atkinson 24, Tongue 1) Josh Tongue gets off the mark in style with a classic drive and risky run. Atkinson whacks Boland straight down the ground with a horizonal bat to finally take England past 100 with a boundary. Boland responds with a shorter ball but Atkinson sees him coming and steps back to crack another flat bat shot to the rope wide of mid-off.
25th over: England 97-9 (Atkinson 16, Tongue 0) SIX! There seems little point in Gus Atkinson digging in and he launches Boland over the rope at fine leg. He didn’t quite middle that but there was enough off the pace of the shorter ball to carry it all the way.
ShareWICKET! Carse c Boland b Neser 4 (England 91-9)
Brydon Carse can’t resist a shorter delivery but his pull shot takes a top edge and picks out Scott Boland at long leg. The local hero is having one of those days and can’t step away from the spotlight even while resting in the deep.
24th over: England 91-9 (Atkinson 10, Tongue 0)
Won’t someone think of the cricket boards?
Matthew Lawrenson is one who is concerned: “Hope the MCG have plans for all the food and drink they planned to use over the next 4 days, and that they have insurance for refunded tickets.”
… while Abhishek Chopra has a novel idea: “Looks like we could have two Tests for the price of one at the MCG.”
23rd over: England 90-8 (Atkinson 9, Carse 4) Carse starts the Boland over by stepping down the pitch and opening up with a wild swing. If nothing else, it seems to be the style of the times. Carse defends more soundly from there before working a straight ball away for a single, and Atkinson adds one with a flick off the hip.
Updated at 01.19 EST
22nd over: England 88-8 (Atkinson 8, Carse 3) England’s rearguard is yet to take hold and Ben Stokes is now back in the pavilion. Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse usually ensure there is plenty of action when they are in the middle and both keep the scoreboard ticking over – the latter driving off the stumps for two, the former picking up the same when edging a straight delivery.
ShareWICKET! Stokes c Smith b Neser 16 (England 83-8)
Michael Neser comes back into the attack and Alex Carey is back up at the stumps. Stokes tries to steer a wider ball square of the wicket but an edge takes it to Smith for a sharp catch in the slip cordon.
21st over: England 83-7 (Stokes 16, Atkinson 6) Scott Boland has three wickets and there is a reasonable chance that Australia will bat for a second time on day one of the Boxing Day Test. Atkinson isn’t one for hanging around and he flicks off his pads to the boundary then adds two more to third.
With 17 wickets falling on day one of an Ashes Test at the MCG for the first time in more than 120 years, the questions will no doubt turn to whether the pitch has been set up for a fair fight between bat and ball.
It has been mentioned several times on the commentary that 10mm of grass was left on the pitch today, while it was cut to 7mm this time last year.
That’s drinks with the players likely to play through to 6pm local time.
Stephen Herzenberg in Pennsylvania wonders if Brook wasn’t aggressive enough against Boland?
“Notwithstanding the criticism of Harry Brook in this series for unhinged aggressiveness, it seems he might have gone on the offensive more against Boland – especially after Carey stood back. Someone has to try to disrupt Boland’s metronomic consistency.”
ShareWICKET! Jacks c Carey b Boland 5 (England 77-7)
Boland gets his third with a delivery that launches from the off-stump line and cuts through Jacks. The inside edge is faint but Carey has no doubts from behind the stumps.
20th over: England 77-6 (Stokes 16, Jacks 5) Richardson drifts down the leg-side and Jacks punishes him with a clip for three. There is a half-hearted appeal against Jacks for lbw but Richardson has overstepped anyway.
19th over: England 69-6 (Stokes 15, Jacks 1) Scott Boland has two wickets with the promise of more to come as he has the ball talking off his home deck and bowls Jamie Smith. Jacks comes in and reads straight from the Harry Brook play book as he charges Boland first ball with a hearty swing and a miss. He eventually picks up a single when stepping down the track and slogging again.
We have a new Ashes record crowd with 93,442 fans at the MCG enjoying, or otherwise, all the action as 16 wickets have fallen with about an hour of play still to come.
93,442 fans at the MCG on day one of the fourth Ashes Test. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShareWICKET! Smith b Boland 2 (England 68-6)
Boland sneaks through Smith’s shaky front-foot defence with an off-cutter that travels a long way back into the right-hander. An inside edge and a touch of pad aren’t enough to prevent the ball crashing into middle stump.
18th over: England 68-5 (Stokes 15, Smith 2) Richardson has made a tidy return to Test cricket and bowls just the second maiden of the innings even on what has proven to be a difficult deck for batting.
Tony McKnight was in touch about the time Harry Brook was setting his innings alight, but fair to say he would remain unimpressed by the England top order in this Ashes series.
“Ollie Pope is probably experiencing a little schadenfreude right now, as he ponders why he was dropped and not Duckett, who cannot see out more than a dozen balls without without gifting his wicket. Meanwhile, the anointed one, aka Jacob Bethell, lasts five balls for one run. Joe Root can’t remember the last time he came out to bat with a ball more than 20 overs old. What a shambles.”
ShareWICKET! Brook lbw b Boland 41 (England 66-5)
Scott Boland traps Harry Brook on the crease with a delivery that nips back with an off-cutter to the right-hander. The finger goes up to end an entertaining innings with two sixes and two boundaries in the 41 from 34 balls. Brook doesn’t even think about reviewing and Australia get the breakthrough. Must admit I didn’t see Brook falling that way.
17th over: England 68-5 (Stokes 15, Smith 2)
16th over: England 62-4 (Brook 40, Stokes 12) Richardson has so far contained Brook better than most as the England firebrand perhaps wants a look at him first. Brook takes a single with a flick off the hip through square leg.
15th over: England 61-4 (Brook 39, Stokes 12) Brook entertains with his more creative strokes but still has classical style up his sleeve. A sublime drive through cover is only kept inside the boundary by Travis Head diving to save a run.
14th over: England 56-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 11) Jhye Richardson takes the ball for the first time on his return to Test cricket after a four-year absence. Brook flicks the ball off his pads for a single and Richardson then has the ball shaping nicely across the left-hander Stokes. He draws the England skipper into a loose drive that bounces higher than expected and over the angled bat.
13th over: England 55-4 (Brook 34, Stokes 11) The field is spread for Brook which allows him to find an easy single to point. Stokes adds a couple more with a cover drive, using his wrists to angle the ball away from off-stump.
12th over: England 52-4 (Brook 33, Stokes 9) SIX! Harry Brook continues to play the game on his own terms with a breathtaking counterattacking innings. Brook punishes a slightly shorter ball from Neser with a slog over the rope at deep mid-wicket, with Stokes quickly looking more comfortable with two through cover and a boundary down the ground.
11th over: England 39-4 (Brook 26, Stokes 3) Scott Boland comes into the attack and Alex Carey steps back from the stumps even with Harry Brook on strike. Brook flicks a single off his pads but Stokes is left merely trying to survive as Boland finds his typically difficult line and length. Even a well-timed drive straight down the ground can’t get past the Australia quick. That’s drinks. And, dare I say, I need one as much as the players.
10th over: England 38-4 (Brook 25, Stokes 3) Stokes gets off the mark with a comforting and classic drive through cover. That brings Alex Carey up to the stumps as an anchor on Harry Brook’s hopes of dancing down the pitch. Stunning glovework as Carey collects and swiftly lifts the bails almost sends Brook on his way. The England batter raised his back foot and only barely had it back down just as the keeper touched the stumps. Mitchell Starc reminds us all that he might be human after all as a misfield in the deep allows Brook to take three.
9th over: England 30-4 (Brook 20, Stokes 0) SIX! Ridiculous brilliance from Harry Brook as he begins the over charging Mitchell Starc and smashes England’s chief tormentor over cover and well beyond the fence. Brook ends the over stepping outside the line and swatting a bouncer over the keeper for four. In between he picks up three runs with an unorthodox swipe through mid-wicket. Maybe he has found the secret to the best form of defence after all …
8th over: England 16-4 (Brook 7, Stokes 0) Another quality over from Neser as he has the ball working off the pitch and nearly draws an edge from Root. The England No 4 can’t survive much the same two balls later and is gone for a second duck in the series.