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Different times, different tests, different cities, and different terrain. Similar to Ashes cricket in chaos.
The second Test kicked off in Brisbane with four overs of pandemonium after England were defeated by Australia in Perth in two days.
The drama of the day-nighter started at the toss when Australia confirmed that Nathan Lyon had been omitted, but that was nothing compared to the 20 minutes that saw two England ducks, a dropped catch, and a potential wicket that wasn’t.
Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope were removed from the same bowler, and Zak Crawley may have fallen behind Michael Neser, but the hosts did not win an appeal.
How everything came together, shown here:
- Crawley was twice out for a duck to Starc in the first Test, but with a crunching cover drive off the same bowler, shades of the England opener, hitting Pat Cummins for four from the first ball of the 2023 Ashes at Edgbaston, the series finally hit off the mark.
- Eng 5-1 – 0. 6 overs – Eng 5-1 – Just like in Perth, Starc strikes in England’s opening over, but this time Duckett is the victim. Duckett draws a full, swinging delivery into his first ball, giving him an edge to first slip. This is the first time an Ashes series opener has recorded three ducks in the first two Tests due to the left-hander’s duck.
- England exhibited little lesson in their capitulation in Perth with a terrible shot from Pope, who scores 2.3 overs. Pope tries to cut a wide delivery from Starc while trying to cut his third delivery and chops his own stumps. There was already evidence of steep bounce even at this early point, 15 deliveries into the match. This was a serious error of judgment from England’s number three for this reason.
- 2.6% – Eng 11-2 – Almost a hammer blow for England as Root evades Starc’s slips with an edge. Root fends for first slip, with the ball dropping in front of fielder Marnus Labuschagne, who is squared up by one angled across him. Steve Smith, the captain of Australia, makes a left-foot dive across Labuschagne from Labuschagne and manages to hold onto the ball with his left. A stunning catch would have been possible. Instead, Root receives four.
- If Australia had chosen to conduct a review, would this have been distributed at 3. 5 overs (ENG 21 to 1)? In place of Lyon, Crawley chose the seamer Michael Neser to play pink-ball. Neser makes an appeal to his teammates, but he receives little support. Nothing conclusive suggests the TV umpire would have overturned the on-field decision, but the replays do show a small chip on the technology.
After Starc’s five-over spell, England escaped further defeat.
The left-armer already had 12 wickets in the series before the second Test, which was an hour apart, a performance that echoed Mitchell Johnson’s that of England on their Ashes tour in 2013-14.
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell testified for Test Match Special, “Mitchell Starc is one of those bowlers that, especially when we were sharing hotels, he always walks down looking so calm when I’m sitting there eating my breakfast.
That’s what distinguishes world-class performers, they say. How a world-class cricket player eats their breakfast can be an indicator of that person’s excellence. He must be calm, I bet.
Starc’s opening performance also produced some extraordinary career numbers.
The 35-year-old joined legendary Pakistani bowler Wasim Akram for 414 wickets, making that number the most by left-arm pace bowlers in Test cricket.
In the first over of a series, Starc has taken a wicket on 26 occasions, three of which have been taken in this series.
related subjects
- England Men’s Cricket Team
- Australia
- The Ashes
- Cricket
- five hours ago
- August 16
Source: BBC
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