Postcard from Sydney NSW

Day 2 Report

Cricket watchers were still filing into there allocated seats at the sun-kissed SCG when the now not unexpected calamity occurred at the start of England's batting .

 Cook was LBW to a Harris inswinger in the second ball of the day..coincidentally just at the time the Barmy Army were launching into Jerusalem . Captain Cook was going down with his ship 8 for 2. Nightwatchman Anderson who had bravely fended off lifters from Johnson eventually nicking one to Clarke 14 for 3. The Ego landed and was quickly dismissed when nudging one to Watson off a probing Harris 17 for 4. O well mabe Bell might rescue the innings...sadly not. The player of the Northern Hemisphere series prodded one from new Notts recruit Siddle into the welcome gloves of Haddin for 2 having survived 32 balls. This was grisly stuff as English supporters around us [and there were plenty] Yorkshire CCC caps seen, club emblems showing from Essex , Durham and all points between , glum faces all , resigned looks..

The play continued of course with Ballance and Stokes performing quite well in the circumstances. The carnage was only briefly interrupted though as blossoming Test man Stokes was bowled by that man Siddle for 47; a ball that flicked the off bail. Yorks pair Ballance and Bairstow scored 18 a piece whilst boo boy Broad clubbed 30 not out . England all out for 155 in 58.5 overs. The inability of England to occupy the crease so evident yet again

Australia themselves lost early wickets as Anderson in particular bowled well. I was impressed with the Lancastrian , he fought hard in the field and his dismissals of Warner LBW for 16 bowling round the wicket and Watson caught Bairstow for 9 were clever examples of his craft. Skipper Clarke was well caught by Bairstow off Broad for 6 whilst Smith went for 7 caught low down by Cook off Stokes. The Aussies needn't have worried.. the accumulator Rogers on 73 and the lucky Bailey on 20 ensured the hosts finished on 140-4 at stumps at 6 o'clock a lead of 311 runs.

The ground is a mixture of old and new and was ''in the pink''...stumps / banners etc. to support the McGrath Foundation which funds nurses in their cancer care work. The Barmy Army were ''taken on'' vocally by the Richies..a large quirky group of Richie Benaud lookie likies in beige and ivory shaded clothes and silver wigs in tribute to the poorly man himself who lives just up the road from the ground.One odd feature was the viewing chair contraption which hung like a circus ride in the air . It was allegedly sponsored by a bank hmmm. You can see it on photo

The SCG is a great cricket ground..no drop in pitch here to accommodate other sports. Siddle enjoyed the wicket certainly..he will love Trent Bridge. He puts the ball on or around off stump and in that much quoted corridor of uncertainty. One can see now great scoreboard pressure applied on visiting County sides to TB if he can work in a trio with Adams and the Bulwell metronome. AM

Day 3 lasted until just after tea - England's second innings lasting 32 overs before the inevitable defeat.

At this rate the ODIs are going to be a struggle to last the 50 overs.


Today was the day for England's batsmen to stand-up and be counted but on the only standing-up on show was of comic bent - other than Stokes, the batting was pitiful verging on pathetic. If 70% of cricket is played with your head, then England's batsmen must have been headless today and the new Downton Abbey Axe will have to be swung at a few necks before the next Test series.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013-14/engine/current/match/592401.html?CMP=chrome

3 make débuts but same ol' misery persists

In spite of Ben Stokes' effort to shine as beacon of optimism through chunks of the first day of this final test at Sydney, by the close another log had been added to the funeral pyre for the tour of misery for England.

SG Borthwick

GS Ballance

WB Rankin - whimped off twice

At one stage Australia were 97/5, after England had won the toss but then got off the hook, getting after débutante Scott Borthwick as well as his fellow Durhamian, Stokes.

Australia 326 all out, Stokes 6/99 Borthwick 1/49 - another débutante, Boyd Rankin, was wicket-less. Steve Smith 115

At stumps England 8/1 - Carberry 0

Take a stiff, you can smell the match being struck from Nottingham....................... 5-nil here we come!

England Rogers-ed

The whitewash bucket and brushes will be getting readied after Australia had little trouble knocking off the necessary runs against an England side lacking confidence to do anything well and now go 4-nil down

At least 3 catches were dropped as Australia cruised to 231/2 and a 8 wicket win.

116

2 Steps forward and 3 Steps back

After England had took two steps towards optimism (on day one and two)  they took three massive crutch splitting strides towards despair (on the third).

Day four will see Australia needing just 201 runs with 10 wickets under their baggy green cap.

Australia's last pair had put on 40 precious runs before lunch and England's openers too seemed comfortable enough before 10 wickets fell in familiar domino style for 114 runs. The very ordinary Nathan Lyon grabbing a freebie 5-fer 5/50, shows how low the nadir that England have sunk to is.



Day two saw England's remaining wickets roll-over - 255 all out but the day will be remembered as the first day of the series where England have ended with a positive air of optimism surrounding them after their bowlers showed some similar control to their Australian counter-parts have shown all winter and have reduced the hosts to 164/9 - 3 wickets each for Broad and Anderson

England crawl to stumps

Australia again won the toss and this time inserted the beleaguered tourists in the Fourth Test, witnessed by a record crowd at the "G".

Disciplined bowling through-out day one allowed the Victorian crowd to watch a procession of England's batsmen get to double figures but not much further at a scoring rate that would fail to challenge a sloth in a point to point. Kevin Pietersen today chose to climb out from that place where he's been hiding, in a subdued manner, surviving to stumps.

England 226/6 

71

Jacques Kallis has announced that he will retire from Test and First Class cricket after Boxing Day's game.