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Steve Smith pulls off a one handed catch at first slip.
Match,Tour & Competition Experiences
- Thread starter WubbaLubbaDubDub
- Start date
Ashes 2017-18, First Test - Updates from Day 1 Evening session and Day 2 Morning session
Resuming on 178-5 after tea on the first day of this test, England would have been looking to make it through to the end of the day without losing any more wickets - Moeen and Bairstow were at the crease, with only Woakes and the tail to come. And so it seemed like a disaster when the wicketkeeper fell in just the third over of the session, edging to Handscomb in the slips off the bowling off Hazlewood, taking his first wicket of the series. However, Woakes then proved his worth as a batsman by scoring a quickfire 34 off 51 deliveries, before falling victim to a delightful inswinging yorker from Mitchell Starc that ripped out two of his stumps. What has not been mentioned so far is the sublime performance of Moeen - he moved onto 104 not out by the end of the day. At the end of the day, he was paired with Stuart Broad and beginning to manipulate the strike.
England enjoyed a phenomenal first session of the second day, with their innings only closing on the brink of lunch. Moeen added another 31 to his overnight score before edging to Renshaw, and at 337-8 England could have been all out for 350. Instead, Broad took it upon himself to frustrate the Aussies by making 47*, only denied a half century by the late wicket of Anderson, who had made it through numerous close calls before an unfortunate deflection off his pads took the ball onto the stumps, giving Lyon a memorable 5fer. Jake Ball added a useful double digits score too, enabling England to reach a very respectable 400 all out. From 78-4, it was a remarkable comeback and their bowlers will come out after lunch raring to take some early Australian wickets.
Resuming on 178-5 after tea on the first day of this test, England would have been looking to make it through to the end of the day without losing any more wickets - Moeen and Bairstow were at the crease, with only Woakes and the tail to come. And so it seemed like a disaster when the wicketkeeper fell in just the third over of the session, edging to Handscomb in the slips off the bowling off Hazlewood, taking his first wicket of the series. However, Woakes then proved his worth as a batsman by scoring a quickfire 34 off 51 deliveries, before falling victim to a delightful inswinging yorker from Mitchell Starc that ripped out two of his stumps. What has not been mentioned so far is the sublime performance of Moeen - he moved onto 104 not out by the end of the day. At the end of the day, he was paired with Stuart Broad and beginning to manipulate the strike.
England enjoyed a phenomenal first session of the second day, with their innings only closing on the brink of lunch. Moeen added another 31 to his overnight score before edging to Renshaw, and at 337-8 England could have been all out for 350. Instead, Broad took it upon himself to frustrate the Aussies by making 47*, only denied a half century by the late wicket of Anderson, who had made it through numerous close calls before an unfortunate deflection off his pads took the ball onto the stumps, giving Lyon a memorable 5fer. Jake Ball added a useful double digits score too, enabling England to reach a very respectable 400 all out. From 78-4, it was a remarkable comeback and their bowlers will come out after lunch raring to take some early Australian wickets.
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Tried a Doosra only spell by Nathan Lyon during a T20. Took 4/24 off 4 overs however England managed to get 179. Check out the video for highlights. Nice Gary to finish off as well.
Not sure why 2nd & 5th were not given out.
Not sure why 2nd & 5th were not given out.
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Pat Cummins' Yorker.
Oregonian
Club Captain
Playing as England. The second day of the first Ashes test match. I am enjoying playing in the veteran mode.
1993 Ashes, First Match, Day 1 - 30 overs played
Thought I'd have a go at replaying this series, just to remind myself England were once worse than they have been in this Ashes. Turns out it was a scarily lifelike day. I'm batting as both sides, just to make it even worse that England have been so abysmal.
This is the scoreboard after a third of the days overs have been played at Old Trafford. England's highest scoring partnership was 20 between Smith and Hick. Three of their players got out to the same trick - short pitched deliveries that used the soft pitch to their advantage in keeping low and clipping the top of off stump. Warne didn't quite match his first ball wicket that he managed in real life, but he did manage one in his first over, and then two more in following overs to boot. All of them turned prodigiously. McDermott had started the demolition, using the short pitched delivery to ball Gooch, bringing in Gatting. It was to be a golden duck for Gatts - his forward defensive stroke found an edge to second slip.
Coming out to bat, it took Australia three attempts to get through their first over after rain delays interrupted play after the first and the second balls. From then on, it seemed like a procession from Slater and Taylor as they took advantage of numerous wide balls to build a commanding partnership. That was until the final over of this session, when Slater misjudged a Caddick delivery that kept straight, and was given out LBW. Boon survived an optimistic LBW shout next ball before seeing out the rest of the over to put Australia in an excellent position just 32 overs into the 1993 Ashes series.
Thought I'd have a go at replaying this series, just to remind myself England were once worse than they have been in this Ashes. Turns out it was a scarily lifelike day. I'm batting as both sides, just to make it even worse that England have been so abysmal.
This is the scoreboard after a third of the days overs have been played at Old Trafford. England's highest scoring partnership was 20 between Smith and Hick. Three of their players got out to the same trick - short pitched deliveries that used the soft pitch to their advantage in keeping low and clipping the top of off stump. Warne didn't quite match his first ball wicket that he managed in real life, but he did manage one in his first over, and then two more in following overs to boot. All of them turned prodigiously. McDermott had started the demolition, using the short pitched delivery to ball Gooch, bringing in Gatting. It was to be a golden duck for Gatts - his forward defensive stroke found an edge to second slip.
Coming out to bat, it took Australia three attempts to get through their first over after rain delays interrupted play after the first and the second balls. From then on, it seemed like a procession from Slater and Taylor as they took advantage of numerous wide balls to build a commanding partnership. That was until the final over of this session, when Slater misjudged a Caddick delivery that kept straight, and was given out LBW. Boon survived an optimistic LBW shout next ball before seeing out the rest of the over to put Australia in an excellent position just 32 overs into the 1993 Ashes series.
1993 Ashes, First Match, Day 1 - Stumps
It turns out it wasn't just an England batting collapse, it was me playing terribly.
Australia had reached 46-1 with little trouble, but they soon encountered an England-style collapse, losing their remaining 9 wickets for just 85 additional runs. Too often their players were caught playing shots too late, resulting in LBW calls, or allowing the ball to pass through the gate from England's unfancied spinners. Their figures weren't quite as economical as Warne's, but they were close. The softness of the pitch worked in the spinners favour, allowing Such and Tufnell to take three wickets apiece. Australia's highest scorers were their openers, and Taylor was unfortunate not to get a 50 from an intense performance which saw him out with 46 runs from 66 balls.
The Old Trafford crowd had been treated to 48 overs of frenetic cricket and 22 wickets in a rain delay, all before 4pm. They could have been forgiven for expecting more of the same as England strode out to bat for the second time. But the expected wickets did not come, Gooch and Atherton combining to level the scores without a wicket being lost while forming the first 50 partnership of the series. Atherton fell soon after for 22 reasons, being bowled as he missed the ball completely - McDermott had found some extra late swing. This could have lead to a collapse, but Mike Gatting - out for a golden duck in the first innings - hit two boundariess off his first two balls before ending the day on a solid 22 runs from 51 deliveries. Graham Gooch played an elegant session and a bit to score the first half-century of the 1993 Ashes series, defending well early on and attacking more often as his innings continued. Warne was not at his best, lacking the turn and accuracy he had found in England's first innings, but Gatting and Gooch dealt with him well by rotating the strike. At the end of the day, England lead by 65 runs. At 118-1, they can be happy with their effort so far but will want a few more big scores to turn the match in their favour. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but it seems impossible for this match to end in anything other than a result one way or the other. Can England put the pressure on the Aussies to chase a big total? We'll know more tomorrow.
It turns out it wasn't just an England batting collapse, it was me playing terribly.
Australia had reached 46-1 with little trouble, but they soon encountered an England-style collapse, losing their remaining 9 wickets for just 85 additional runs. Too often their players were caught playing shots too late, resulting in LBW calls, or allowing the ball to pass through the gate from England's unfancied spinners. Their figures weren't quite as economical as Warne's, but they were close. The softness of the pitch worked in the spinners favour, allowing Such and Tufnell to take three wickets apiece. Australia's highest scorers were their openers, and Taylor was unfortunate not to get a 50 from an intense performance which saw him out with 46 runs from 66 balls.
The Old Trafford crowd had been treated to 48 overs of frenetic cricket and 22 wickets in a rain delay, all before 4pm. They could have been forgiven for expecting more of the same as England strode out to bat for the second time. But the expected wickets did not come, Gooch and Atherton combining to level the scores without a wicket being lost while forming the first 50 partnership of the series. Atherton fell soon after for 22 reasons, being bowled as he missed the ball completely - McDermott had found some extra late swing. This could have lead to a collapse, but Mike Gatting - out for a golden duck in the first innings - hit two boundariess off his first two balls before ending the day on a solid 22 runs from 51 deliveries. Graham Gooch played an elegant session and a bit to score the first half-century of the 1993 Ashes series, defending well early on and attacking more often as his innings continued. Warne was not at his best, lacking the turn and accuracy he had found in England's first innings, but Gatting and Gooch dealt with him well by rotating the strike. At the end of the day, England lead by 65 runs. At 118-1, they can be happy with their effort so far but will want a few more big scores to turn the match in their favour. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but it seems impossible for this match to end in anything other than a result one way or the other. Can England put the pressure on the Aussies to chase a big total? We'll know more tomorrow.
wasteyouryouth
Verified
Blimey. I just had the most thrilling win.
ODI Aus v Eng, I was playing as Australia.
I struggled to 207 all out.
England absolutely walloped me in the power play then some Maxwell slowed things down. Still I wasn't getting wickets so I was close to giving up and decided to bring Steve Smith on. About six overs later I gave Maxwell a well earned rest. England were 184 for 3 when Hazlewood came back on an took a wicket. So I thought: might as well give Cummins one last try. Five wickets in 11 balls later and the game is turned on its head. He'd have been on a hat trick going into his next over but Hazlewood took the last wicket and then the game crashed when I tried to load up a replay. But, I did manage to get one lousy camera phone shot of the scorecard before the last wicket.
ODI Aus v Eng, I was playing as Australia.
I struggled to 207 all out.
England absolutely walloped me in the power play then some Maxwell slowed things down. Still I wasn't getting wickets so I was close to giving up and decided to bring Steve Smith on. About six overs later I gave Maxwell a well earned rest. England were 184 for 3 when Hazlewood came back on an took a wicket. So I thought: might as well give Cummins one last try. Five wickets in 11 balls later and the game is turned on its head. He'd have been on a hat trick going into his next over but Hazlewood took the last wicket and then the game crashed when I tried to load up a replay. But, I did manage to get one lousy camera phone shot of the scorecard before the last wicket.
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wasteyouryouth
Verified
Played as England and got my second century (both with Bairstow).
1993 Ashes, First Test, Stumps on Day Two
A high scoring second day of play saw England post an intimidating second innings score and leave Australia with 393 to chase in their final innings. Common sense suggests that would be an incredibly difficult task, but Slater and Taylor started well to make it through to stumps without loss. The pitch that was giving assistance to spin bowlers and varying bounce to the pace bowlers on the first day and part of the second day seems to be more batsmen friendly now. England will be hoping that changes on the third day, for Australia's strong batting line up could conceivably chase this total.
The momentum changed often during England's second innings, with a slight hiccough after Gooch fell just shy of his century. Hick and Stewart fell cheaply to Warne, leaving England 244-6 with a lead of just under 200. But Chris Lewis and Phil DeFreitas responded magnificently to post a quick-fire 100 run partnership which ruined Australia's hopes of having a reasonable total to chase. Lewis eventually fell after hooking a short ball to a boundary fielder, while DeFreitas will be frustrated with his dismissal too. He played a shot straight back down the ground which looked like it had made it's way past McDermott, the bowler, and set off for a run but quick reactions from the Australian allowed him to get down low and get an easy run out with DeFreitas stranded in the middle of the pitch. Caddick and Such added some further useful runs for England at the tail, with Caddick finishing not out. It is an impressive total for an England side that looked like having a very weak middle and lower order batting-wise, and has set Australia a very difficult task to get a result.
A high scoring second day of play saw England post an intimidating second innings score and leave Australia with 393 to chase in their final innings. Common sense suggests that would be an incredibly difficult task, but Slater and Taylor started well to make it through to stumps without loss. The pitch that was giving assistance to spin bowlers and varying bounce to the pace bowlers on the first day and part of the second day seems to be more batsmen friendly now. England will be hoping that changes on the third day, for Australia's strong batting line up could conceivably chase this total.
The momentum changed often during England's second innings, with a slight hiccough after Gooch fell just shy of his century. Hick and Stewart fell cheaply to Warne, leaving England 244-6 with a lead of just under 200. But Chris Lewis and Phil DeFreitas responded magnificently to post a quick-fire 100 run partnership which ruined Australia's hopes of having a reasonable total to chase. Lewis eventually fell after hooking a short ball to a boundary fielder, while DeFreitas will be frustrated with his dismissal too. He played a shot straight back down the ground which looked like it had made it's way past McDermott, the bowler, and set off for a run but quick reactions from the Australian allowed him to get down low and get an easy run out with DeFreitas stranded in the middle of the pitch. Caddick and Such added some further useful runs for England at the tail, with Caddick finishing not out. It is an impressive total for an England side that looked like having a very weak middle and lower order batting-wise, and has set Australia a very difficult task to get a result.
1993 Ashes, First Test, Stumps on Day Three - Australia win by one wicket
Apologies for the length of this post, it was a very enjoyable match to play!
The crowd at Old Trafford were treated to a marvelous day of Test cricket, culminating in an exciting climax. Unfortunately for the home supporters, it was to be a phenomenal Australian victory in the third highest run chase ever recorded.
Australia began the day on 24-0, and the two openers looked in fine form - especially Slater - but Taylor faltered as he played and missed to DeFreitas and was out bowled. Boon came out looking for a big score after only scoring a single in his first innings, but he too was out bowled by DeFreitas, getting a slight edge on a viciously swinging and seaming delivery that removed his leg stump. At 72-2, England fancied their chances. But in came Mark Waugh, and he quickly put in a solid partnership with Slater that brought them both half centuries. At 159-2, the momentum was beginning to swing back to Australia but very quickly the game was brought back in England's favour again. Tufnell removed both of them. First, Waugh smacked him for six before trying the same thing again the very next ball, only to be caught in the deep by DeFreitas. Then Slater, looking for a century, padded up to a Tufnell delivery. Tuffers had been struggling to find turn, but this one had - and it meant Slats was out LBW.
163-4, and again it was all England. Two new batsmen were at the crease in Allan Border and Steve Waugh, but only one of them would last. Border mistimed a shot to Chris Lewis and was out LBW for 9, while Waugh amassed runs quickly. Still, with Border out Australia found themselves 178-5 and there was little doubt who was in control - it was all England, thinking they could spring a surprise. Unfortunately for them, Waugh and the new man Ian Healy were able to add 99 runs before one of them fell, Healy scoring 60 off just 56 balls before being caught at silly point by Gooch.
Next in with Waugh, whose scoring had slowed by this time, was Julian. He again scored quickly, 31 off 34 before getting out to Tufnell in a very similar manner to Healy's dismissal off Such. 323-7, and the match was in the balance. But the very next ball, the match seemed to surely be England's, Merv Hughes out in an exact replica of the previous delivery to give Tufnell his fourth wicket of the innings and seventh of the match.
Australia's only hope was that Waugh remained at the crease, but he wasn't holding the strike. For a while this worked, but eventually Warne was caught in the slips playing a forward defensive to a DeFreitas delivery. He departed for 17, leaving Australia requiring 47 more runs to win with only one wicket remaining.
Step forward Steve Waugh. He batted with McDermott, manipulating the strike very effectively. They were together for an hour, but in the final 50 minutes McDermott faced only seven deliveries. There were several half-hearted appeals for LBW to Waugh, and a single thick edge luckily went nowhere near the slips. His scoring slowed substantially, but he remained in.
England's excitement grew when the new ball was taken with around 20 runs still required, but with DeFreitas limited in the number of deliveries he had McDermott on strike, it was always going to be a tough ask. With just three minutes remaining in the day's play, facing the final ball of a Tufnell over with the field brought in to prevent singles, Waugh swiped the ball over the head of the fielder at midwicket for a boundary that brought Australia victory. With 106 off 168 balls, Waugh hit the first century of this Ashes series and it will go down as a very important knock. Without it, Australia would have had no hope.
England will rue their awful first innings score, and their inability to get Steve Waugh out. It is to be hoped that this result does not demoralize the team ahead of the next test match - at Lord's, where England have not beaten Australia since 1934.
Below is the Australia innings in full:
Apologies for the length of this post, it was a very enjoyable match to play!
The crowd at Old Trafford were treated to a marvelous day of Test cricket, culminating in an exciting climax. Unfortunately for the home supporters, it was to be a phenomenal Australian victory in the third highest run chase ever recorded.
Australia began the day on 24-0, and the two openers looked in fine form - especially Slater - but Taylor faltered as he played and missed to DeFreitas and was out bowled. Boon came out looking for a big score after only scoring a single in his first innings, but he too was out bowled by DeFreitas, getting a slight edge on a viciously swinging and seaming delivery that removed his leg stump. At 72-2, England fancied their chances. But in came Mark Waugh, and he quickly put in a solid partnership with Slater that brought them both half centuries. At 159-2, the momentum was beginning to swing back to Australia but very quickly the game was brought back in England's favour again. Tufnell removed both of them. First, Waugh smacked him for six before trying the same thing again the very next ball, only to be caught in the deep by DeFreitas. Then Slater, looking for a century, padded up to a Tufnell delivery. Tuffers had been struggling to find turn, but this one had - and it meant Slats was out LBW.
163-4, and again it was all England. Two new batsmen were at the crease in Allan Border and Steve Waugh, but only one of them would last. Border mistimed a shot to Chris Lewis and was out LBW for 9, while Waugh amassed runs quickly. Still, with Border out Australia found themselves 178-5 and there was little doubt who was in control - it was all England, thinking they could spring a surprise. Unfortunately for them, Waugh and the new man Ian Healy were able to add 99 runs before one of them fell, Healy scoring 60 off just 56 balls before being caught at silly point by Gooch.
Next in with Waugh, whose scoring had slowed by this time, was Julian. He again scored quickly, 31 off 34 before getting out to Tufnell in a very similar manner to Healy's dismissal off Such. 323-7, and the match was in the balance. But the very next ball, the match seemed to surely be England's, Merv Hughes out in an exact replica of the previous delivery to give Tufnell his fourth wicket of the innings and seventh of the match.
Australia's only hope was that Waugh remained at the crease, but he wasn't holding the strike. For a while this worked, but eventually Warne was caught in the slips playing a forward defensive to a DeFreitas delivery. He departed for 17, leaving Australia requiring 47 more runs to win with only one wicket remaining.
Step forward Steve Waugh. He batted with McDermott, manipulating the strike very effectively. They were together for an hour, but in the final 50 minutes McDermott faced only seven deliveries. There were several half-hearted appeals for LBW to Waugh, and a single thick edge luckily went nowhere near the slips. His scoring slowed substantially, but he remained in.
England's excitement grew when the new ball was taken with around 20 runs still required, but with DeFreitas limited in the number of deliveries he had McDermott on strike, it was always going to be a tough ask. With just three minutes remaining in the day's play, facing the final ball of a Tufnell over with the field brought in to prevent singles, Waugh swiped the ball over the head of the fielder at midwicket for a boundary that brought Australia victory. With 106 off 168 balls, Waugh hit the first century of this Ashes series and it will go down as a very important knock. Without it, Australia would have had no hope.
England will rue their awful first innings score, and their inability to get Steve Waugh out. It is to be hoped that this result does not demoralize the team ahead of the next test match - at Lord's, where England have not beaten Australia since 1934.
Below is the Australia innings in full:
wasteyouryouth
Verified
What a triller. Very tempting to give these teams a go sooner rather than later.1993 Ashes, First Test, Stumps on Day Three - Australia win by one wicket
Apologies for the length of this post, it was a very enjoyable match to play!
The crowd at Old Trafford were treated to a marvelous day of Test cricket, culminating in an exciting climax. Unfortunately for the home supporters, it was to be a phenomenal Australian victory in the third highest run chase ever recorded.
Australia began the day on 24-0, and the two openers looked in fine form - especially Slater - but Taylor faltered as he played and missed to DeFreitas and was out bowled. Boon came out looking for a big score after only scoring a single in his first innings, but he too was out bowled by DeFreitas, getting a slight edge on a viciously swinging and seaming delivery that removed his leg stump. At 72-2, England fancied their chances. But in came Mark Waugh, and he quickly put in a solid partnership with Slater that brought them both half centuries. At 159-2, the momentum was beginning to swing back to Australia but very quickly the game was brought back in England's favour again. Tufnell removed both of them. First, Waugh smacked him for six before trying the same thing again the very next ball, only to be caught in the deep by DeFreitas. Then Slater, looking for a century, padded up to a Tufnell delivery. Tuffers had been struggling to find turn, but this one had - and it meant Slats was out LBW.
163-4, and again it was all England. Two new batsmen were at the crease in Allan Border and Steve Waugh, but only one of them would last. Border mistimed a shot to Chris Lewis and was out LBW for 9, while Waugh amassed runs quickly. Still, with Border out Australia found themselves 178-5 and there was little doubt who was in control - it was all England, thinking they could spring a surprise. Unfortunately for them, Waugh and the new man Ian Healy were able to add 99 runs before one of them fell, Healy scoring 60 off just 56 balls before being caught at silly point by Gooch.
Next in with Waugh, whose scoring had slowed by this time, was Julian. He again scored quickly, 31 off 34 before getting out to Tufnell in a very similar manner to Healy's dismissal off Such. 323-7, and the match was in the balance. But the very next ball, the match seemed to surely be England's, Merv Hughes out in an exact replica of the previous delivery to give Tufnell his fourth wicket of the innings and seventh of the match.
Australia's only hope was that Waugh remained at the crease, but he wasn't holding the strike. For a while this worked, but eventually Warne was caught in the slips playing a forward defensive to a DeFreitas delivery. He departed for 17, leaving Australia requiring 47 more runs to win with only one wicket remaining.
Step forward Steve Waugh. He batted with McDermott, manipulating the strike very effectively. They were together for an hour, but in the final 50 minutes McDermott faced only seven deliveries. There were several half-hearted appeals for LBW to Waugh, and a single thick edge luckily went nowhere near the slips. His scoring slowed substantially, but he remained in.
England's excitement grew when the new ball was taken with around 20 runs still required, but with DeFreitas limited in the number of deliveries he had McDermott on strike, it was always going to be a tough ask. With just three minutes remaining in the day's play, facing the final ball of a Tufnell over with the field brought in to prevent singles, Waugh swiped the ball over the head of the fielder at midwicket for a boundary that brought Australia victory. With 106 off 168 balls, Waugh hit the first century of this Ashes series and it will go down as a very important knock. Without it, Australia would have had no hope.
England will rue their awful first innings score, and their inability to get Steve Waugh out. It is to be hoped that this result does not demoralize the team ahead of the next test match - at Lord's, where England have not beaten Australia since 1934.
Below is the Australia innings in full:
It was certainly the best match I've played so far on AC. Played first innings for both teams on Hardest batting difficulty, which was evidently a mistake, then reverted to Hard for the second innings for both teams. Wasn't sure how it would play out as there's a wide variation in ratings - highest is Warne on around 88 while the two England spinners have ratings at the other end, I believe in the 30s ... Generally I found you could tell the difference. Warne would get much more turn than the other two, and was much more comfortable with special deliveries.
Not sure how mentalities come into it. Field placings were generally good - at the end, it genuinely felt that England were trying to stop me score singles to keep Waugh on strike. One big caveat though - I often found both sides would leave a huge gap on their off side, and I could hit any wide delivery into that area with almost zero risk. Meant the scoring rates were a bit higher than I'd have liked. May have a fiddle with the sliders to try and find a way of upping the difficulty slightly, but also forcing me to play a bit more slowly. Possibly the main difficulty is bowlers bowling too wide, too often.
Very excited to play the rest of the series.
1993 Ashes, Second Test, Lunch on Day One
After England's narrow and disappointing loss in an exhilarating first Test, the Ashes roadshow moved onto the home of cricket, at Lord's. Both teams made changes to their sides. For England, Neil Foster replaces Phil DeFreitas, one of England's top performers in the first Test, as he picked up an injury between games. And for Australia, an extra spinner comes in as Tim May replaces Julian. This may have been a mistake as the pitch seems hard and in perfect condition, giving the batting team the advantage. In contrast, the first test had seen a spin friendly wicket throughout. England won the toss and elected to bat as expected. They would face 35 overs before lunch.
After a slow start saw them going at one an over for the first six, Graham Gooch played at a ball in the corridor of uncertainty delivered by Mark Waugh. The dibbly-dobbly did for him, as his wafted shot carried through to the wicket-keeper and there was no doubt about it - he was out caught, leaving England 5-1. The Lord's patrons feared the worst - this had all the makings of an England collapse, with a part-timer at one end and Merv Hughes topping 90mph regularly at the other. But Atherton, looking to prove a point after a poor first Test for him personally, rallied - appropriately for a ground with such fantastic heritage, he ensured this Test has started off much less frenetically than the last. He left well, blocked well, refused to take runs unless they were certain and played his shots where he thought it would be safe. After coming in earlier than he would have hoped, Gatting did the same. They both made it through to lunch with half centuries on the cards in the next session. That is not to say this session was without incident after Gooch's dismissal - far from it. Athers got lucky to a full delivery from McDermott - an edge that could have found its way to slip or gully instead ending up reaching the boundary for 4. He also survived a close LBW shout from Shane Warne, having missed a sweep. Gatts too could have been out LBW, and his was the more debatable decision, although likely still the correct one - a lack of turn ensured the ball hit his pads, but outside the line of the stumps. Warne was the pick of the bowlers, keeping things tight. Border has played his part too as captain - some excellent field placings have largely restricted England to singles. They will resume after lunch looking to build on this promising partnership and take the next session too.
After England's narrow and disappointing loss in an exhilarating first Test, the Ashes roadshow moved onto the home of cricket, at Lord's. Both teams made changes to their sides. For England, Neil Foster replaces Phil DeFreitas, one of England's top performers in the first Test, as he picked up an injury between games. And for Australia, an extra spinner comes in as Tim May replaces Julian. This may have been a mistake as the pitch seems hard and in perfect condition, giving the batting team the advantage. In contrast, the first test had seen a spin friendly wicket throughout. England won the toss and elected to bat as expected. They would face 35 overs before lunch.
After a slow start saw them going at one an over for the first six, Graham Gooch played at a ball in the corridor of uncertainty delivered by Mark Waugh. The dibbly-dobbly did for him, as his wafted shot carried through to the wicket-keeper and there was no doubt about it - he was out caught, leaving England 5-1. The Lord's patrons feared the worst - this had all the makings of an England collapse, with a part-timer at one end and Merv Hughes topping 90mph regularly at the other. But Atherton, looking to prove a point after a poor first Test for him personally, rallied - appropriately for a ground with such fantastic heritage, he ensured this Test has started off much less frenetically than the last. He left well, blocked well, refused to take runs unless they were certain and played his shots where he thought it would be safe. After coming in earlier than he would have hoped, Gatting did the same. They both made it through to lunch with half centuries on the cards in the next session. That is not to say this session was without incident after Gooch's dismissal - far from it. Athers got lucky to a full delivery from McDermott - an edge that could have found its way to slip or gully instead ending up reaching the boundary for 4. He also survived a close LBW shout from Shane Warne, having missed a sweep. Gatts too could have been out LBW, and his was the more debatable decision, although likely still the correct one - a lack of turn ensured the ball hit his pads, but outside the line of the stumps. Warne was the pick of the bowlers, keeping things tight. Border has played his part too as captain - some excellent field placings have largely restricted England to singles. They will resume after lunch looking to build on this promising partnership and take the next session too.
1993 Ashes, Second Test, Tea on Day One
An evenly matched second session of this Test match saw the intensity and pace of the game speed up. Both Atherton and Gatting continued their steady run scoring, both reaching 50 within the first 15 overs of the session. But disaster struck when Gatting played a half-hearted shot outside his off stump to a Warne delivery, and he was caught by Border in the slips. It only got worse for England two overs later, with Robin Smith falling, also c. Border b. Warne. This time it had been an attempted cut shot that was struck at speed into the hands of the Australian captain. From 148-1, England were now 155-3 and a collapse seemed to be in order.
In came Graeme Hick - and along with Atherton, he picked up the run rate without another wicket being lost before Tea, building a 65 strong partnership that now leaves England on 220-3 and in a good position. Atherton has been sublime in picking up his 119* off 217 balls, taking advantage of the increasing number of loose balls from the Australian fast bowlers, who have still failed to pick up any wickets between them. McDermott has been hit for 54 runs off his 16 overs, while Hughes is struggling with an expensive 84 from 18 overs. The next session will be crucial, with only Alec Stewart remaining as a recognised batsmen to come in for England. But if Hick and Atherton can make it through the day, hopes will be high that England can bat for a long time tomorrow too. Question marks remain over the pitches friendliness and how Australia will take to it, but batting long is England's best hope of avoiding a defeat that they could not come back from in this series.
Latest scorecard:
An evenly matched second session of this Test match saw the intensity and pace of the game speed up. Both Atherton and Gatting continued their steady run scoring, both reaching 50 within the first 15 overs of the session. But disaster struck when Gatting played a half-hearted shot outside his off stump to a Warne delivery, and he was caught by Border in the slips. It only got worse for England two overs later, with Robin Smith falling, also c. Border b. Warne. This time it had been an attempted cut shot that was struck at speed into the hands of the Australian captain. From 148-1, England were now 155-3 and a collapse seemed to be in order.
In came Graeme Hick - and along with Atherton, he picked up the run rate without another wicket being lost before Tea, building a 65 strong partnership that now leaves England on 220-3 and in a good position. Atherton has been sublime in picking up his 119* off 217 balls, taking advantage of the increasing number of loose balls from the Australian fast bowlers, who have still failed to pick up any wickets between them. McDermott has been hit for 54 runs off his 16 overs, while Hughes is struggling with an expensive 84 from 18 overs. The next session will be crucial, with only Alec Stewart remaining as a recognised batsmen to come in for England. But if Hick and Atherton can make it through the day, hopes will be high that England can bat for a long time tomorrow too. Question marks remain over the pitches friendliness and how Australia will take to it, but batting long is England's best hope of avoiding a defeat that they could not come back from in this series.
Latest scorecard:
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