The Ashes: 1st Test, Brisbane

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1st Test Brisbane, November 23-27, 2017

Australia:
Bancroft, Warner, Khawaja, Smith *, Handscomb, S Marsh, Paine †, Starc, Cummins, Lyon, Hazelwood

England:
Cook, Stoneman, Vince, Root *, Malan, Ali, Bairstow †, Woakes, Ball, Broad, Anderson

I would say that is our day as scoring looked tough on that wicket. Very pleased for Vince. Him and Stoneman with a very important partnership. With Root and Cook going cheaply, those guys knocks were even more vital.
Got to push on a bit now, hopefully Moeen can counter and we also have Bairstow to bat. Got to be looking/hoping for about 350ish?
Really think we can get at that Aussie batting line up

Can't disagree with the general feeling. Decent first day for England, with Australia doing a good job to haul things back either side of tea, before Malan and Moeen steadied things nicely. I watched the first session and most of the last (switched on just as Malan came to the crease), and feel England will be marginally the happier of the two sides, but overall the game is right in the balance.

On a few specific points. Cook got a decent ball, and a nice set-up, but didn't play it well. In particular he was hanging way too far back, which resulted in him pushing right out at the ball. His form is a bit of a concern. Generally with Cook, he does go through these poor patches, and will eventually come good again, but England will be hoping that happens sooner rather than later.

Thought Root was a bit scratchy, particularly against Lyon, and also a bit negative against the seamers.

Vince played nicely, and Stoneman grafted very well. Malan was looking increasingly assured after a tough start.

For Australia, Cummins bowled a couple of good spells in the afternoon/evening, and they'll have been pleased to have found a bit of reverse swing. New ball didn't do much (though again, a little), and pitch is on the slow side so far. Don't think Starc and Hazlewood bowled that well, particularly the latter who never quite found that right length.

Lyon bowled very nicely indeed. He wasn't really flighting the ball that much, but found the right pace to bowl on a pitch with moisture to extract appreciable turn, and there were very few loose deliveries (pitch map towards the end of the day showing 87% on a good length). I think England could have tried to be a bit "busier" against him, but given the turn he was getting not sure the really positive approach some seem to have been calling for would have been a good idea. As it is, England still forced Australia's three seamers into a decent workload.

For tomorrow, well, anything could happen. A couple of quick wickets with the new ball and suddenly England are in danger of falling for something in the region of 260-270. Equally, if Moeen and Malan can get started again, with still decent batting to come, England could be looking at 350+. Australia will be hoping the second new ball does a bit more, and that the pitch quickens up a bit to give their bowlers more help. They'll also be hoping for better performances from their seamers as a pack.

I'd say that is a fairly even day : England probably lost one more wicket than they'd have wanted , especially after nearly reaching tea for one down ; and now the Aussie pace men can start the morning fresh , with a new ball ...but on the other hand as this is Brisbane the home side would have hoped to do more damage to this inexperienced England lineup. 196/4 despite nothing from Cook or Root gives a bit of hope for the future of the series...

The pitch wasn't quick enough to really suit the bowlers ; but it is also true that it wasn't ideal for stroke making - between that and an outfield that yielded a number of threes I think the score may be a bit better than it looks.

Going to disagree with Goose re Lyon : I think there was quite a bit to encourage him today - though I suspect that was largely down to a bit of moisture in the pitch and will not last.  Smith will probably be happy enough that Lyon was able to bowl a number of economical overs and save him bowling Starc and Hazlewood into the ground. Can see what Pietersen meant about attacking the spinner even at the cost of wickets but I am not sure I'd agree : not much value making the pace men bowl more overs if you end up seven or eight down at the close !

Of course what happens tomorrow morning will eventually dictate how we see this day - with the wonderful perspective of hindsight

If Australia monster Moeen with the new ball and scythe through the rest of the order it will be a "wasted day" and the batsmen will be condemned for timidity...while if England can wear down the pace men and let their late order cash in then it may be seen as a bit of strategic genius to set things up so well : at the moment the game is , like Schrodinger's Cat , at the mercy of unpredictable quantum events

If it stays spin friendly and aus dog out a fourth innings win we of course will all be saying England missed a trick not picking two spinners.

You know what? I really miss Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward

Strange coverage of this first day. All the emphasis was on Australia's "fightback." One headline talked of Australia "roaring back" at the end of the day. Anyone reading that without seeing the score would have reckoned England were six or seven wickets down.
   OK, England's batting could fail on day two. But there can be few England fans who would have been unhappy if they learnt that E were nearly 200 for four at the end of the first day. England, particularly without Stokes, must be fielding one of their weakest batting line-ups ever to visit A. Three of the first five have never played an Ashes Test. None of those three has made a Test 100
   Good effort, in my opinion.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:You know what? I really miss Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward

Three second rate players who fool people into thinking they know what they're talking about, much prefer Boycs.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:You know what? I really miss Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward

I found the commentary less painful than what I had been dreading TBH, though I can't say I'd set the bar particularly high. More specifically:
- Swann and Gilchrist kept the banter to a minimum.
- Ali Mitchell was actually decent, though she does talk too much at times - guildford will regale us with the appropriate quote from the much-missed Richie Benaud I'm sure .
- Boycs is, well, Boycs. No batsman should ever get out to an attacking shot, etc.. Was obviously delighted with the grafting nature of today.
- Ponting offered some interesting insight, as expected, but was actually a bit too biased for my liking. Odd, as I don't remember feeling that vibe from him before (and yes, some of the English are just as biased if not more). Admittedly, I was holding Ponting to a higher standard than the others, so that may be a bit unfair.

Still, overall, I don't think I missed Sky's coverage that much, though Nasser's a loss. There did seem to be rather a lot of adverts, and they might want to do something about those rather long-ish pauses when the teams are switching, but a decent first effort I thought.

LionsV2 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:You know what? I really miss Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward

Three second rate players who fool people into thinking they know what they're talking about, much prefer Boycs.

just tuts and moans every time someone plays a shot and thinks every decision is not out

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:You know what? I really miss Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward

I found the commentary less painful than what I had been dreading TBH, though I can't say I'd set the bar particularly high. More specifically:
- Swann and Gilchrist kept the banter to a minimum.
- Ali Mitchell was actually decent, though she does talk too much at times - guildford will regale us with the appropriate quote from the much-missed Richie Benaud I'm sure .
- Boycs is, well, Boycs. No batsman should ever get out to an attacking shot, etc.. Was obviously delighted with the grafting nature of today.
- Ponting offered some interesting insight, as expected, but was actually a bit too biased for my liking. Odd, as I don't remember feeling that vibe from him before (and yes, some of the English are just as biased if not more). Admittedly, I was holding Ponting to a higher standard than the others, so that may be a bit unfair.

Still, overall, I don't think I missed Sky's coverage that much, though Nasser's a loss. There did seem to be rather a lot of adverts, and they might want to do something about those rather long-ish pauses when the teams are switching, but a decent first effort I thought.

Oh dear, I am getting old and forgetful! Had to look up Benaud's quotes although that's always a joy. Think this is the one that MfC was after:
''Put your brain into gear and if you can add to what's on the screen then do it, otherwise shut up.''

Also came across this gem from the late great man:
''What I want most from being a television commentator is to be able to feel that, when I say something, I am talking to friends.''
Vaughan and Swann should particularly take note of that. Too often they come across as loud mouthed pub bores vying for attention.

Hello all,

An even 50-50 day would be my first thought

closer look at what goes against Eng

--On a flat pitch what goes against Eng is their slow RR
they could easily be 210-6 tomm and 250 all out
having played so many overs they are about 60 runs short..especially factoring that new ball is due soon.

--They have no Stokes who has been instrumental in many a later order renaissance

--The pitch is flat and yielding any assistance to those who are bending their back and digging it in and other than Jake Ball to some extent....the remaining pacers are seam and swing conditions dependent type bowlers
there may be 4th inning turn and Ali is all that they have

what works in Eng's favour

--their new batsmen have all put runs on the board so their total is inspite of Root & Cook
--they still have depth in batting with Bairstow and Woakes to come.
this can be a defining series for Woakes to stand up and be counted as a proper all rounder in the absence of Stokes
--AUS has only 4 bowlers and not even a proper part-time and Lyon who is a decent spinner, better than Ali for sure will not get the 4th inning to bowl
--last but not the least they didn't crash on D1 to be out of the game and on the backfoot for the remainder of the series

for Eng to continue to be even they need to get 325

Sub-300ish and Aus will be ahead

England will need to bat through to tea tomorrow.Do that and they are in the game. It is worth pointing out that this Australian batting line-up  has its vulnerabilities as well so they are certainly not guaranteed a score of 500+. It is very evenly poised.

hmm want at least 400 on this pitch to be honest, yeah its taken a bit of turn, but could be on and off with weather etc so doubt it will break up at all, big first innings score and go from there

I do like to see that England may put pressure on Australia to bowl long. The low run rate might not be entertaining or propel them to big scores, but it may tire the hell out of an attack not famed for longevity. Cummins already looks low on staying power.

To be fair to Cummins it's only his 7th test match and has only played a handful of 4 day matches....he reguarly stayed above 145kph and even late in day didn't drop below 140 kph, so he has plenty in the tank...what we need is a solid first session, score 90+ runs in the session and hopefully not get bowled out lol!

Dream scenario for England would be to still be batting at close tomorrow with around 450 on the board. They would also take batting tgrough until tea to make around 400. Bare minimum to be competitive I think they need 350. Australia will have their own ideal scenario. Bowl England out for around 250 by lunch. If they can restrict them to anything less than 300 they will be happy with that.

I see something in between with England being bowled out for around 325 by mid-afternoon. That being the case then England will need early wickets to stay competitive.

wisden wrote:To be fair to Cummins it's only his 7th test match and has only played a handful of 4 day matches....he reguarly stayed above 145kph  and even late in day didn't drop below 140 kph, so he has plenty in the tank...what we need is a solid first session, score 90+ runs in the session and hopefully not get bowled out lol!

It's not a case of keeping up the pace but keeping control which he didn't.

LionsV2 wrote:

wisden wrote:To be fair to Cummins it's only his 7th test match and has only played a handful of 4 day matches....he reguarly stayed above 145kph  and even late in day didn't drop below 140 kph, so he has plenty in the tank...what we need is a solid first session, score 90+ runs in the session and hopefully not get bowled out lol!

It's not a case of keeping up the pace but keeping control which he didn't.

More my point, not that myself and HH agree often.

And I certainly am not saying it's Cummins's fault, but England should be looking to test him (and Starc too) for fitness. Hard fought test matches are not for the weak willed, weak minded or weakened bodies.

i actually thought Hazlewood looked the most tired of the aussie bowlers yesterday - really didn’t have any zip to his deliveries at all

I think initially tomorrow England will be looking to score as many runs as possible whilst losing as few wickets as they can. Australia meanwhile will be looking to take as many wickets as they can whilst conceding the least amount of runs as possible.

Once they bat Australia will try to score runs whilst not losing wickets whilst England will try to take wickets without conceding runs.

Ultimately the team scoring the most runs will win unless the five days pass without all wickets being taken. Assuming of course there is no declaration in which case anything is possible.

Hibbz wrote:I think initially tomorrow England will be looking to score as many runs as possible whilst losing as few wickets as they can. Australia meanwhile will be looking to take as many wickets as they can whilst conceding the least amount of runs as possible.

Once they bat Australia will try to score runs whilst not losing wickets whilst England will try to take wickets without conceding runs.

Ultimately the team scoring the most runs will win unless the five days pass without all wickets being taken. Assuming of course there is no declaration in which case anything is possible.

This Australian fast bowling trio just do not have the same fear factor as Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris. People talk about Johnson scaring England back in 2013-14, but Harris was often bowling high 80s/early 90s. Those two complimented each other.

Whilst Starc and Cummins are reputedly faster than the duo I named above, the don't seem to deal in the short ball barrage as well as Johnson. With Starc you know 99/100 his gun delivery will be a Yorker.

As for Hazlewood, he was blowing out of his rear end. He looked like a second division county tundler. Never really understood the hype surrounding him. The lost of Pattinson is a lot bigger than was originally made out.

Malan and Ali are both playing too many shots early on.

Lord Geoffrey will be furious.

I guess it's also a game of opinions when it comes to commentators.

Unlike many, I can buy into Boycott and often appreciate where he's coming from.

Vaughan comments that Lyon is bowling a little bit wide as he might be expecting Moeen to come down the wicket. Boycs' reply - ''Hope not.'' Gave me a smile anyway.

Excellent stuff from these two to get England through the first hour unscathed.

Lots of turn, though! Lyon threatening.

Ideal start to the day for England and Malan closing in on an Ashes half century on his Ashes debut.

Duty281 wrote:Excellent stuff from these two to get England through the first hour unscathed.

Lots of turn, though! Lyon threatening.

Agree, Duty. Swann increasingly having a pop at Lyon for not bowling on the stumps but the Aussie is still threatening as you say. Just like our batsmen, I feel Lyon needs to show patience and he is.

Meanwhile, Malan has gone a bit under the radar but played very well as he moves towards a 50.

CaledonianCraig wrote:I think key for England will be how those new to Ashes cricket will fair. Stoneman has been in very good nick on tour so far so conditions may suit him. Vince will need to contribute more than he has in his test career so far as will Malan. Jake Ball is in for his pace and he will need to weigh in with wickets or else his place could quickly be under threat. If those four can contribute then England will have a great base to build on.

Three Ashes debutants and three Ashes half centuries.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:I think key for England will be how those new to Ashes cricket will fair. Stoneman has been in very good nick on tour so far so conditions may suit him. Vince will need to contribute more than he has in his test career so far as will Malan. Jake Ball is in for his pace and he will need to weigh in with wickets or else his place could quickly be under threat. If those four can contribute then England will have a great base to build on.

Three Ashes debutants and three Ashes half centuries.

Yeah, frustrating, isn't it.

More seriously, all three have done well but it's important that Malan doesn't give it away now. At risk of coming over all Sir Geoffrey, things could still change very quickly. After an hour and a half this morning it's 242/4 which equates to continued steady but slow progress. I've no problem with that but we can't afford to think the job is anywhere near done.

Malan top edges a pull shot and is caught in the deep off Mitchell Starc. Malan goes for 56 and England are 246 for 5.

Ahem, I was saying ...

Malan eventually worn down by the short ball.

The plan works.

when one goes

very good start has turned to a poor one. was always the danger starting today. need a fairly decent partnership by last two recognized batsmen

Poor review from Ali on first look.

Lyon deserves that for all his effort.

England now in big trouble with two new batsmen at the crease, and only Broad/Ball/Anderson to come after them.

And Ali quickly follows out lbw to Nathan Lyon. England 248 for 6.

Woakes plays a very poor shot and Australia are now in complete control

compelling and rich wrote:very good start has turned to a poor one. was always the danger starting today. need a fairly decent partnership by last two recognized batsmen

To have established  a strong position, the Malan & Moeen partnership needed to score quicker or last longer. No great issue with us not scoring quicker against this good attack which was generally bowling pretty well but most of the commentary clowns had got ahead of themselves in suggesting we were comfortably on top.

And now it's 250/7 as Lyon gets Woakes and a deserved second ....

need a miracle from bairstow now

a average score on this pitch would have been 350. other than the spin its offering nothing to the quicks. going to need ali to have a game here

Its falling apart fast but if England can get to 300 they are still in the game ...just. Doesnt look like they will at the moment

I just walked in the door when the wickets started falling. After checking the score earlier on the mobile app I was thinking a score of around 400 might be on the cards.

Craig, can you please let me know your 2 bowlers from both teams for the tipping comp. I tried sending you a PM and left a post on that thread as well. You are missing out on valuable points.

My work is done for now. Hope to be back for some of the final session. Go well all.

PS Craig - you're meant to be at work.

Yes, that's what I was thinking.

Sleep well Guildford.
Hopefully when you rise again there will be a workable 1st innings total for England.

We are seeing the downside of having your 3rd best bat come in at 7 with players chicking their wickets away around him. Bairstow looks good but its not made easy for him trying to hide Broad and score. I cant help feeling he wouldve done a much better job of steadying things coming in at 6 than Moeen ever could.

The downside perfectly highlighted there as Bairstow falls cheaply.

300 now seems distant.

jake "sachin" ball

Very nice catch.

Australia have worked hard this session, remaining disciplined and sticking to their plans, even after a tough start.

the out and out tail have done well to get us past the 300, anything else now would be a bonus

Yeah, decent enough from Broad and Ball to give England a minor psychological boost.

I think we’ll be looking back at the second half of that session as the time that the test match was won for Australia. Some poor shots mixed in with patient bowling and clever field placings.

Boycott is adamant that this will be a low-scorer; I’m not so sure. Not a lot in it for the seamers once the new ball has faded, and Ali will have to perform well for England to have a chance.

Have a feeling Aussies will get around 400 on this pitch.