England v Australia - Test 1, Cardiff 8th - 12th July

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England

Lyth
Cook
Ballance
Bell
Root
Stokes
Buttler
Ali
Broad
Wood
Anderson


Australia

Warner
Rogers
Smith
Clarke
Voges
Watson
Haddin
Johnson
Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood



Officials

Umpires - HDPK Dharmasena and M Erasmus
TV umpire - CB Gaffaney
Match referee - RS Madugalle
Reserve umpire - NGB Cook



Toss

Won by England who choose to bat.

Moeen Ali > all cricketers

Cook setting good fields here. Its a wicket where you are not going to blast the batsman out, you have to stay in there and make it hard to score and force the error and when it comes you have to have the fielder to take the chance. Cook is doing just that and the bowlers so far have by and large backing him up.
Australia go to tea at 145-2.

Been a fairly even day so far. Australia scoring brightly ; but two big wickets lost in the session.

For all the complaints about the pitch you couldn't say the cricket has been uninteresting . From here , the game could go in a number of directions.

I'll wait for Craig's next road map

attacking clarke with short stuff from broad bizarre when you have wood. wood much skidier than broad and a lot quicker

England grinding away and sticking in.

Crucial first hour of the evening coming up - nab two or more, and England are well on top, giving them a platform to attack from for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. If the obdurate Rogers is defeated in the opening twenty minutes, England have sound position.

Don't take any - Australia could cruise to 250/2 or 3 by stumps which will put them firmly ahead.

Broad has a good record against Clarke, that's why Cook turned to him, fair enough...but if it doesent work, then he should turn to Wood.

Stats say Anderson is probably the man to bowl to Clarke , as Bumble has been pointing out on Sky...

Duty281 wrote:England grinding away and sticking in.

Crucial first hour of the evening coming up - nab two or more, and England are well on top, giving them a platform to attack from for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. If the obdurate Rogers is defeated in the opening twenty minutes, England have sound position.

Don't take any - Australia could cruise to 250/2 or 3 by stumps which will put them firmly ahead.

Eh? England are going to be batting tonight aren't they? Duty is losing faith, abandon all hope!

alfie wrote:

I'll wait for Craig's next road map

Craig's been fairly good with his directions although not so hot on the journey time.

I liked Moeen's wicket earlier - good bowling and even better thinking.

Meanwhile, Rogers plugging on just as he has on similar tracks down the years in the English County Championship. Another cricketer who thinks about his game.

VTR wrote:

Duty281 wrote:England grinding away and sticking in.

Crucial first hour of the evening coming up - nab two or more, and England are well on top, giving them a platform to attack from for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. If the obdurate Rogers is defeated in the opening twenty minutes, England have sound position.

Don't take any - Australia could cruise to 250/2 or 3 by stumps which will put them firmly ahead.

Eh? England are going to be batting tonight aren't they? Duty is losing faith, abandon all hope!

Well I'm starting to entertain the possibility that England might not win this test.....only because of Sunday's weather, mind you!

And with Murray winning Wimbledon on Sunday, there is only so much joy one island can take.

Clarke off to a good start. England don't quite look toothless, but it's not exactly a case of Australia looking at every ball like it might be their last.

No joy yet since tea and the score looks pretty healthy for Australia at the moment.
Still have a feeling a couple of wickets might come quickly - just enough things happening , like the Rogers six which was nearly a catch , and a ball beating him next up - to suggest the safe looking shoreline could be a little misleading.

But perhaps that's just me being optimistic

Fair to say , England would like a breakthrough pretty soon...

I haven't been able to watch much today. From what I have and a few comments read, get the impression that the pitch is still very sluggish but the bounce is more even than yesterday. Is that right?

Duty281 wrote:

VTR wrote:

Duty281 wrote:England grinding away and sticking in.

Crucial first hour of the evening coming up - nab two or more, and England are well on top, giving them a platform to attack from for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning. If the obdurate Rogers is defeated in the opening twenty minutes, England have sound position.

Don't take any - Australia could cruise to 250/2 or 3 by stumps which will put them firmly ahead.

Eh? England are going to be batting tonight aren't they? Duty is losing faith, abandon all hope!

Well I'm starting to entertain the possibility that England might not win this test.....only because of Sunday's weather, mind you!

And with Murray winning Wimbledon on Sunday, there is only so much joy one island can take.

Ahh Quite hopeful. Aussies are going pretty strong. But I think twist is still there. May be Aussies will reach near about 300 till the availability of next new ball with the loss of 2-3 more wickets and then anderson can wipe off the lower order. A lead of 70 runs will also be valuable.

Feel for Rodgers there, deserved the ton but a big wicket for Wood and England.

Another 50 partnership for Australia. They've managed to put on at least 50 for all the 3 wickets so far.
Now they w would need another partnership as Wood gets Rogers for 95.

Vital for England! I fancied Broad to get the wicket - I suppose his intimidation of Rogers certainly helped - but Wood has been bowling a good line and length.

This is England's chance - one new batsman and Clarke not quite settled.

Wood gets Rogers for 95 ...

A welcome wicket for England ; bad luck for Rogers , who had just about earned a century.

One veteran replaced by another as Voges comes to the crease - in an "interesting" situation...

This is it for England... Opening

Voges on Ashes debut, Watson being Watson and Haddin horribly out of touch in test cricket of late. This is England's chance to stamp authority. A moment they can't let go. Get Anderson on and attack Clarke. If they get him now, Australia will be looking down the barrel.

Anderson on now.

Well here is Jimmy, right on cue.

As you say , msp , now is the time to attack.

To be honest , I'd have had Anderson on straight after tea. But he'd bowled a fair bit earlier , so probably reasonable enough to use the other two first.

Voges watchful against Anderson.

Stokes at the other end and Clarke is keeping the runs flowing. Going to be a test for Stokes to see if he can keep any control ; though I guess it is the hopes of a wicket that has seen him brought on.

This pitch is going to be hard work for bowlers throughout , I'm thinking. May get a bit up and down as the game goes on ; but unless they can get some serious reverse going the bowlers have an uphill task.

Getting late here so I think I'll say goodnight to all...

See if you can pick up a couple more wickets , eh , chaps ?

Every single partnership has had a start. You'd have to think that eventually, one of them is gonna be big, and take the game away. Also, England are conceding at four an over. Their most miserly bowler has also been their leading wicket threat. Everyone else really has to step it up.

Clarke has given it away.

Yes Moeen!! Got the skipper. Caught and bowled.

Ali could be the magic man............They don't rate him so they get out slogging him..

Wouldn't say either player has gotten out "slogging" Truss, Smith was let down by very poor technique, think he was trying to play a leg glance but not exactly sure and Clarke would probably hit that for four 7 times out of 10.

CaledonianCraig wrote:For today if England can break through the 400 barrier then they will be pretty competitively placed. They'd perhaps hope to reduce Australia to around 200 for 5 at the end of the day. Australia will want to bowl England out quickly for less than 400 and be around 250 for no more than 3 or 4 wickets down at close of play. If they achieve that they will feel they are on top.

That was my road map for today so going by that things are in the balance. If Australia get through to close with no more wickets down it may just have been their day. Another wicket or two for England and it is their day.

Ali seems to be one of those guys who you can milk heavily if you wait for the bad balls, because they do come in droves. You can't however, just go after him. Australia have really donated two wickets to the Moeen Ali Plays All Five Matches For The Summer Fund.

Thought it was a good bit of bowling to get Smith. Saw him coming, darted it down leg and Smith had to try put bat on it otherwise it was a stumping opportunity.

Good day for Mo this far, though has been a bit expensive the past couple of overs

Not knocking the bowling Mat, but Smiths technique in general was awful. Possibly the worst I've seen at international level and his dismissal and the mess he got in to just summed it up.

Yes, India made the same mistake in 2014. They just have to be patient with him, consistent line and length isn't his strength.

Another 14 overs remaining in the day, if England can chip out a wicket or 2, it will be there day. Australia really need these to see them through to stumps.

Mat wrote:Thought it was a good bit of bowling to get Smith. Saw him coming, darted it down leg and Smith had to try put bat on it otherwise it was a stumping opportunity.

Good day for Mo this far, though has been a bit expensive the past couple of overs

Mat - totally agree. As I posted earlier, good bowling and thinking by Moeen. He's having a very good day. If Rashid had done as well, we would have been deafened by the applause.

To be honest, if a leg spinner did that, I'd be in awe of the control he has.

another gift from the Aussies. Voges gives it away. One more before stump and its definitely England's day.

Another one!! Great to get a wicket so close to the end of play.

The persistence and discipline of the English eventually prevails.

Voges chucks his wicket away after getting himself set. Good little inroad for England...the chance to take another before stumps with Australia on the defensive is also there.

Australia have been incredibly generous today. England's day, and they should be looking at a 70-100 lead now.

That is England's day for me. That late wicket just edged it. Australia will be doing very well if they come out of their First Innings now with a lead.

Moeen's ashes

Olly wrote:Moeen's ashes

Very good day for him I'll admit. And surely the wickets will be a big boost for him.

So stumps with Australia 264-5. England's day very much. They added a further 87 to the total through the last 3 wickets, and then took out the Australian top 5 through some disciplined bowling. They would be hoping to bowl Australia out for not too many and would be hoping to get a first innings lead of at least 70-80. Australia would hope that Watson can lead the batting charge tomorrow and Haddin, Johnson and Starc can chip in. They would want to get as close as possible to the England total, should be hoping to reach at least 400. The pitch is still not offering a great deal to the bowlers, so 1 big partnership can take Australia pretty close to England. The Australians would be particularly disappointed that all of the top 6 have gone pass double figures, Smith, Clarke and Voges reached 30s and all of them barring Rogers, and Watson who is still there, failed to make a substantive score.
Good, collective bowling performance from England. Ali, Anderson, Wood and Stokes among the wickets and Stuart Broad who hasn't got a wicket as yet, helping the others with some hostile overs, particularly troubling Rogers in the 90s before Wood got him.
Australia should not go the Indian way against Moeen Ali, they have to take a more nuanced approach to him, have to say positive but should be a bit more patient for the scoring opportunities to present themselves. Credit to Ali today, he batted well, and then chipped out Smith and Clarke, Australia's best players of spin, and the most likely in their lineup to overcome a slow wicket. He was awful in the West Indies and didn't bowl well iagainst New Zealand and his place was rightfully questioned, but he has won himself a bit of time with the performance today.

CaledonianCraig wrote:That is England's day for me. That late wicket just edged it. Australia will be doing very well if they come out of their First Innings now with a lead.

Yes, England's day. Top and tailed it with 40 or so more runs than Australia would have wanted this morning and then Voges' wicket at the close.

Proper, engrossing day of test cricket.

England finally found some discipline in the last session, and choked out the Australian batsmen. 180/2 to 264/5 represents a crucial swing. Just as important as the 97 runs that England swished in the morning.

All the Australian batsmen got in, got settled and promptly departed. That, and the fact that none of the dismissals have been bowled/LBWs, probably displays their frustrations with the slowness of the pitch, exacerbated by their failure to impose themselves on the English bowling.

Broad was unfortunate to go without a wicket, but his intimidation of Rogers cannot be underestimated. Anderson only one, but he was sweetly skillful with the new ball. Ali annoys the opposition, and I think Wood will have a more prominent role in the second innings.

The situation is decently placed for England. They have ten overs tomorrow against an anxious, unsettled batting line-up, and then they have full use of the new ball to inject some much-needed pace against, hopefully, the tail of the Australians. If they do bowl well, a lead of 90+ should be expected. It will be tough, even in that circumstance, to eke out a win with the poor forecast for Sunday allied with the slow pitch.

Australia need Watson and Lyon to settle and be there to face the new-ball when it arrives. 166 isn't a huge deficit if one/two/three of Watson/Haddin/Johnson get into a counter-attacking rhythm...much like we saw in the last Ashes series in Australia.

Right now, though, the English have half a length over the Australians. So many furlongs left.

Starc can give it a good tonk too Duty - and we all know too well England's problem with the tail in recent years

kingraf wrote:Australia have been incredibly generous today. England's day, and they should be looking at a 70-100 lead now.

Raf - Australia were generous yesterday as well with their bowling. Not consistent enough and too many poor balls, probably gifting England around 50 more than we might reasonably have scored.

In line with msp's recent post, poor today that 4 of their top 5 made double figures but didn't go on to reach even 40.

PaulHv2 wrote:I know Smith has been scoring a lot of runs, but his technique is awful.

It is the most baffling thing in all of cricket that Hampo, his average is far higher than his talent should allow, for a top order batsmen he has the most fundamental of anyone I can think of.