I managed to make it through to lunch. I was enjoying Stoneman's dogged and rather unattractive innings. His timing was out and the runs were drying up but he stuck at it well.
Highlight of the first session was Hazlewood chucking the ball at Vince for no particular reason and Vince responding with two fours.
I dont like Cummings. That face, that ****ing stupid tash. ****er.
Not sure why they have been drivelling on about how quick they are. 88/89 with hardly any balls up at 90. Good, but nothing special.
It was great watching them start to twitch when the runs began to dry up. They were itching to get after a few balls but you could see them telling themselves not to. Stoneman looked quite organised and fairly comfortable from the start.
I didnt notice Vince playing away from his body, thought he looked quite tidy. I recall seeing that repeatedly with Westley in the summer and it winds me up.
I dont really understand how you can play the shot. How do you control a drive with your hands that far away from your head and body?
Its disgusting, that's what it is....
I thought Cook's dismissal was a bit ****e. He seems to be playing that a long way ahead of himself.
Yes, well all the hype about the bowling attack was really rather to convince themselves rather than scare our batsmen. The Brisbane paper's front cover was one of the most pathetic things I have ever seen (even without a massive mistake in it). As much as I would love Malan and Ali to play their natural game we really need to keep them out there as long as possible. All three quicks have been out injured recently - if we can wear them out in the first innings we can prosper in the second (although don't like how much spin their is, Lyon is a very good bowler). in other words it's all ****, eh, p
To be fair, the wicket is a little soft and the ball isnt coming through too well. The short stuff will be more effective in the other tests. I heard a few pundits saying the spin might reduce massively as the moisture in the wicket gradually dries out.
Interesting that they have to circulate the quicks almost constantly because they dont have a fourth seamer. THat is going to get very tiring, surely.....
Overall, its a good first day for us. The first hour in the morning is going to be massive.