Morning everyone, or afternoon everyone. Across England, theaters are closing their doors – but don’t worry, there’s a show that must go on: the long-running spectacle known as England’s Test team. It’s been a bumper year delighting spectators in New Zealand, India and Australia, as well as England, where people secretly prefer something to moan, and the football team is constantly threatening to bring the country down by becoming enough. Is.
The gods of the game, who were always troubled, decided to make this match a handicap. He inflicted two big losses on Australia – an injury to oust the world No. 4 bowler, and a Covid ping to take out the world No. 1. He even handed the captaincy back to someone who lost it in disgrace (there’s still hope for Tim Paine). They did everything they could to tell Marnus Labuschagne that he had to keep quiet. And still the Australian team has traveled all over England.
He stacked 473, decided that was enough, abandoned his provisional attack, and allowed England to make only half. The role of Pat Cummins was effortlessly filled by Mitchell Starc; Josh Hazlewood by Cameron Green of All the People. The role of Nathan Lyon, who had been put on hold by a rookie for a few months, returned to his rightful owner on the final day of the first Test. In this one, he took great delight in showing England how wrong it was to turn down their specialist spinners.
Only two things can stop Australia from leading 2-0. One is the weather – there was a good forecast of rain today, but only in the morning, so it seems unlikely to make much difference unless it is conducted by the covid protocol.
The second is a tough regard action of the kind that was once England’s stock in business. The last time we saw one of them was Cardiff in 2009, before that time was Johannesburg in 1995. It would now be manna from heaven for England fans, but it’s very unlikely. And if Australia’s batsmen were overly cautious last night, they could have done so.
Join me at 2.30pm Adelaide time (4pm in the UK) to see if this familiar tale can create any kind of twist.
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