At Least, Some Fight From England

 

 

Ashes 2013

 

A better day for England

 

December 14^th 2013

 
 

For the first time in this series, Day 3 of a Test dawns with England still right in the hunt. Of course, there are a couple of provisos. At 180-4, the follow-on has not been saved yet but, with only six more wanted, surely England cannot lose 6 wickets for 5 runs… can they? With the new ball due in 12 overs and two relatively new batsmen at the crease, it is imperative that England get to lunch with no more than one more wicket lost. Ben Stokes has a chance to mark himself as a hero if he can bat on.

This was, by a long way, England’s best second day of the series. The two overnight batsmen fell relatively quickly, without causing more damage and, even if the tail hung around, finishing Australia off for 385 was better than was feared last night. England even got a decent start to their innings with Carberry and Cook adding 80, with Carberry again looking solid, without going on to make a major score. A series of 40, 0, 60, 14 & 43 suggests that he has the ability to succeed at this level and just needs one big score to break though. However, as Nick Compton has found, even centuries in consecutive Tests does not guarantee your Test future as an opener, so his average of just under thirty will need to increase soon.

Joe Root did not have the consolation of making a start. He became the first victim of daft use of DRS in the series. Shane Watson passed his bat with a good delivery and Marais Erasmus gave him out to a half-hearted appeal. Root, who did not believe that he had hit it, reviewed. No mark on HotSpot. No sound. Nothing on RealTime Snicko. No obvious edge on the TV images. Not out? Not a bit of it! The third umpire did not see enough evidence to overturn the decision. Joe Root was not happy.

England have lost wickets in pairs: 85-1, 90-2; 136-3, 146-4. Bell and Stokes have added 34 so far, looking increasingly confident. They need to at least double that in the morning for England to think that they are right back in the match. If England can get to lunch with no more than one more wicket down, they will be approaching parity in the match. However, Bell, Stokes, Prior and the tail need to dig in hard and England need fifties from at least two of them, as well as smaller, but significant contributions from others. For once this series, England have a chance to set the agenda on the third morning, rather than simply try to delay the inevitable.