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.
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.
Want to see England slow it down even more tomorrow.
Crawl their way to 375 to 400 by stumps.
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.
Not quite. Two wickets when you're four down (and dont have Stokes) is a bit different to two quick wickets when you're two down.
It may be a low-scoring game, in which case 300 would be a decent first innings knock. I'd prefer to see both sides bat on it before deciding on that.
My favourite bit was when the edge off Vince clanged out of Tim Paine's iron gloves. It's a shame it wasn't more costly a drop for them, but still.