11 hours ago
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At the end of a brain-boiling second day in South Australia two things could be said with a fair degree of certainty: England were staring at the termination of their already faint Ashes hopes and players on both sides had lost faith in the Snicko technology.
The match situation first, which at stumps pointed firmly towards Australia and the 3-0 lead that was ultimately loading. England had subsided to 213 for eight from 68 overs in reply to Australia’s 371 all out, trailing by 158 runs and hugely grateful to Jofra Archer, 30 not out, holding firm alongside Ben Stokes during the final hour.
Stokes had been reprising his efforts from the final day in Brisbane, shrugging off an early blow to the head from Mitchell Starc and grinding his way to 45 not out from 151 balls of utter toil. But Pat Cummins was the captain glowing with authority out in the middle, walking off with figures of three for 54 on a truly stellar comeback.
Unlike Archer, who had completed a five-wicket haul first thing, Cummins was not alone. Indeed, a theme of this series has been how much Australia’s bowlers have outstripped their opposite numbers as a collective. Even in conditions that felt like standing in a kiln – the breeze akin to a hairdryer – their nagging lengths, allied with the extraction of any possible movement, cracked England wide open.
Starc brought the air speed, Scott Boland chipped in with two for 31 from 12 overs, while the all-rounder, Cameron Green, sent down eight thrifty overs and broke a 20-over fightback between Harry Brook and Stokes when the former nibbled behind on 45.
And then there was Nathan Lyon, who bagged two wickets in his first over before lunch to move past Glenn McGrath’s career tally of 563 and slot in behind Shane Warne among Australians. It was also central to an early collapse of three for five in 14 balls and Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett looked foolish in contrasting ways. Pope’s wipe across the line to mid-wicket betrayed a frazzled mind, while Duckett was bowled by a pearler that drifted and gripped.
Cummins did not simply slot back in after a five-month layoff but rather grab the contest by the scruff of its neck. A beauty to square up Zak Crawley on nine triggered that initial collapse, while his removal of Root after the interval – a relentless fourth stump line that invited an uncertain prod – was the moment English hope evaporated.
And yet so much headspace was taken up by yet more confusion over Snicko. Alex Carey’s day one reprieve en route to 106 was simply the starter, with two similar incidents coming during a frenzied 10 minute passage of play after tea. It ended with Jamie Smith given out for 22, England 159 for six, and Stokes left to marshall the lower order.
The first was the true flash point, Smith possibly gloving to slip yet given not out on the field. Cummins reviewed but the now all-too-familiar syncing issues with Snicko meant third umpire Chris Gaffeney could not be certain whether the ball came off glove or Smith’s helmet and he duly upheld the decision.
The catch may not have carried – another theme, with Root handed a life this way earlier on – but Australia were fuming. Starc stood close to the stump microphone and barked: “Snicko needs to be sacked. That’s the worst technology there is. They make a mistake the other day and they make another mistake today.”
And yet two overs later England were the ones chewing on a wasp when an apparent toe-end behind was sent upstairs by the standing umpires. Again the murmur did not tally up with the pictures but Gaffeney was content to factor in the lag permitted by the protocols. As “OUT” flashed up on the big screen, Smith and Stokes shook their heads and boos rang out from England’s supporters on the hill.
The fact was, their team had begun the day tasked with grabbing a couple of wickets, then cashing in on largely benign conditions. Those two wickets came at a cost of 45 runs – Starc completing his second half century of the series – while the batters simply could not wriggle free from the straitjacket imposed by Australia’s attack.
Ali Martin’s full report to follow …
English (US)