Ashes 2021-22 fourth Test, day two: Australia v England – live!

We’re back after lunch interval, by the way. Hang onto your hats, it’s Jack Leach with the ball, anything could happen!*

*Nothing will happen.

Eamonn Maloney has logged on in the lunch break with the funnies. “’Runs hardly flowed, but amongst the showers Smith and Khawaja were largely untroubled…’ Heard it rained a bit too while Smith and Khawaja were amongst the showers. Of which Root was the dampest with his fields.” Boom, and indeed, tish.

That was all too easy for Australia. Runs hardly flowed, but amongst the showers Smith and Khawaja were largely untroubled as they built a platform from which to attack later on.

It was a nightmare session for England. Toothless with the ball, Buttler and Root conspired to drop the only chance on offer, Stokes limped off with a side strain, and the general tone was one of malaise.

78th over: Australia 209-3 (Smith 51, Khawaja 39) Malan with the last over before lunch, and Smith treats it respectfully, until he can’t help but bring up his half-century with a single into the covers. Khawaja then gets the part-timer’s beamer, which he bunts through the covers.

77th over: Australia 206-3 (Smith 49, Khawaja 38) Leach bowls, Australia add three to their score. Lunch imminent.

76th over: Australia 203-3 (Smith 48, Khawaja 36) Wood didn’t last long, replaced by Dawid Malan’s part-time leggies. Malan lands his first couple to Smith very nicely, although without huge revs, then the Australian batters calmly milk a series of easy singles.

75th over: Australia 200-3 (Smith 46, Khawaja 35) Finally, after an hour of bowling, Leach gets an orthodox field to bowl too. It keeps Khawaja honest and encourages the batter to improvise, which he does on the second occasion, using his feet to time a shot through the covers for a brace.

74th over: Australia 197-3 (Smith 45, Khawaja 33) Wood remains in the attack after mopping up Stokes’s over but Australia rotate the strike neatly and continue on their merry, if not very urgent, way towards lunch.

Steve Rose has gone hyper-local with his reasoning for any booing caught on the TV mics during the rain breaks. “Randwick wear green,” he emails. “The groundstaff at the SCG wear green. At the Randwick End, some of the booing may well be parochial, never mind the weather.”

73rd over: Australia 195-3 (Smith 44, Khawaja 33) Bleurgh. Buttler and Root combine to drop a catch. Stokes does himself a mischief. Leach is into the tenth over of the most uninspiring ten-over spell you could imagine – one that contains a Hameed misfield. Time for bed, England.

John Catchlove is fishing for some Victoria-NSW beef. Frankly, I’m here for it. “Given that Sydney tests are washed out on a 1/4.5 ratio, he emails, “why does Cricket Australia persist in scheduling tests there? It always bloody rains in Sydney!! I believe Melbourne with a 1/11.5 ratio would be a better venue and deserves two Tests a summer. Sydney fans, few as they are could easily travel down here as they are all rich. That I am a long term Melbourne Cricket Club member has no bearing on my proposal.”

72nd over: Australia 191-3 (Smith 42, Khawaja 31) Ben Stokes is done. Side strain. Five deliveries into the fourth over of his spell of nothing but bouncers. Mark Wood completes the over.

71st over: Australia 189-3 (Smith 41, Khawaja 30) DROP! Leach found the angle across Khawaja, kissed the edge, Buttler’s gloves were nowhere near, the ball bounced off his thigh and just to the right of Root at a very catchable height, but the England skipper couldn’t react and hold on in time. Those chances simply have to be taken in a match as attritional as this.

“Morning Jonathan, Gervase Greene here.” Hello! “With Leach bowling old-fashioned darts and Stokes to someone invisible around backward square, I am assuming they are looking to bore the Australians out. Or is this a cunning plan to have the lynch mob assembling at Gatwick to turn off the telly?”

70th over: Australia 185-3 (Smith 39, Khawaja 28) Stokes lands a blow on Smith! After both batters navigate the opening few deliveries with some strike rotation, Smith takes his eye off a ball lasering into his chest from around the wicket. The impact was flush on his gloves, but it could have been much worse.

69th over: Australia 182-3 (Smith 37, Khawaja 27) More rapid ‘meh’ from Leach. Australia nudge a couple of singles. Khawaja almost invites catastrophe with an unnecessary stab at a delivery outside his off stump that almost turns into a play on.

68th over: Australia 180-3 (Smith 36, Khawaja 26) Stokes continues his Wagner tribute act, and after an over and half of searching for the line and length he gets a delivery to climb awkwardly at Khawaja’s front armpit from around the wicket.

67th over: Australia 179-3 (Smith 36, Khawaja 25) Better from Leach, bowling around the wicket across Khawaja, and then getting one to bounce and grip at Smith. Still, Murali in a dustbowl it is not.

66th over: Australia 178-3 (Smith 36, Khawaja 24) Ben Stokes replaces James Anderson in the attack. What is the plan here? Oh boy, the field is wild! A short leg, no slips, a short third man, a gully, plenty out on the leg side… Are we in for some Neil Wagner chaos? Yes! Stokes runs in and hurls down bouncers to Khawaja. The first two are too short and loopy, then the third is hooked off the glove! But it doesn’t carry to fine leg. He continues around the wicket to Smith, but the superstar has all the time in the world to dab a single into the on-side. Finally, some out-of-the-box thinking from England. The execution not yet spot on, but at least some innovation.

65th over: Australia 175-3 (Smith 35, Khawaja 23) Couple of singles from a nondescript Leach over. England just seem to be going through the motions and the game is drifting away from them.

As an aside, the coverage of the groundstaff sprinting into the middle every rain delay – and their jostling for position in the dash – is joyous.

64th over: Australia 173-3 (Smith 34, Khawaja 22) Despite the interruptions Australia have batted with control all morning, picking up runs when they’re on offer. Khawaja gets one when Anderson loses balance in his delivery stride and drops short, then Smith eases into a sumptuous cover drive for a couple. England are in need of inspiration. Smith is running the show.

63rd over: Australia 168-3 (Smith 30, Khawaja 21) Smith nudges Leach for a single to move above Justin Langer on the all-time run-scorer’s list for Australia. Khawaja then enjoys a bit of good fortune when he cuts uppishly, just wide of gully, after the ball skidded off the surface more than he expected. Still, the outcome is four runs.

And there’s more rain… and Smith pelts off the pitch like he’s Renton evading the rozzers through the backstreets of Leith. England are standing their ground, waiting for the drizzle to pass. And Smith is ushered back onto the field before the groundstaff can even lay the hessian. This is not doing much for Smith’s reputation, I can tell you.

Play resumes with a dot ball.

62nd over: Australia 163-3 (Smith 29, Khawaja 17) Khawaja defends Anderson and the 62nd over is completed.

Only the light covers are on, and there are plenty of people still out in the middle, including the umpires. This delay shouldn’t be long.

61.5 overs: Australia 163-3 (Smith 29, Khawaja 17) Anderson thinks he’s a chance when Smith plays around his front pad in front of his stumps, but like he has on so many occasions Smith gets wood on ball and glances a couple of runs to fine leg.

There’s an odd moment mid-over, as drizzle drifts over the SCG and Smith begins to walk off, only to be recalled by the umpires and told to play on. Smith has been very quick to get off the ground at every possible rain break opportunity.

And then two deliveries later he gets his wish and the groundstaff charge on like it’s a royal rumble.

61st over: Australia 160-3 (Smith 26, Khawaja 17) A rare maiden from Leach. Khawaja unable to pierce the field with the ball spinning into him from outside off stump.

60th over: Australia 160-3 (Smith 26, Khawaja 17) Smith calmly defuses another Anderson over, nurdling a couple of runs behind square leg for his troubles. Australia are an hour into the day and cruising.

59th over: Australia 158-3 (Smith 24, Khawaja 17) More who-knows-what from Leach and England. Neither attacking or defending, Australia are milking runs at will, and showing how much confidence he has in the match-up, Khawaja reverse sweeps extravagantly for four.

58th over: Australia 152-3 (Smith 23, Khawaja 12) Rain delay, what rain delay? After the brief interruption Smith straight drives Anderson for four. He looks in good order today.

Andrew Benton is online. “‘It’s really not obvious what England are trying to achieve…’ Jonathan, you must know by now that everything England does is one big learning experience and that they’ll take that learning and apply it next time. See if they don’t.” Ahem.

The shower has just about blown through, and we’ll be back on shortly. No overs lost.

57.3 overs: Australia 148-3 (Smith 19, Khawaja 12) A squally shower has just blown across the SCG. It doesn’t look set in, but the players are jogging off for the time being.

57th over: Australia 147-3 (Smith 19, Khawaja 11) More Leach. more easy runs for Australia. It’s really not obvious what England are trying to achieve with their spinner with gaps all over the place for the batters to pick at will, and no clear plan of attack for taking wickets.

56th over: Australia 145-3 (Smith 18, Khawaja 10) Anderson is settling into his work to Khawaja, slanting the ball across the left-hander, but he’s yet to find a penetrating line and length. Australia have settled into the day nicely.

55th over: Australia 144-3 (Smith 17, Khawaja 10) Jack Leach has been thrown the ball early on day two. From an England perspective there’s not much to get excited about – not helped by an ultra-defensive field – and Australia advance their score by four with the minimum of fuss.

54th over: Australia 140-3 (Smith 14, Khawaja 9) After his early burst, Wood makes way for Anderson, and the veteran shows he’s still got some spite, rapping Khawaja on his knuckles with a delivery that launched off a length. Haseeb Hameed’s heavily strapped fingers must be quivering in the field. After the strike is rotated Anderson beats Smith’s outside edge (around a sixth-stump line). Good start from the record breaker.

Colum Fordham has joined in. “It’s all very well to pick out Jimmy Anderson and Joe Root as our Test stars – and they are undoubtedly are – who do not feature in white ball cricket (although Root does play in ODIs). But Australia have just won the T20 World Cup with Hazlewood and Starc as their strike bowlers and many of the Aussie team play equally well in all formats (Warner is a shining example as a batsman). How do India, Australia and New Zealand, to name just a few cricket-playing nations, manage to play so well in all formats of the game?

I think one of the ECB’s many mistakes over the last five or so years has been to focus almost entirely on white ball cricket, neglecting Test cricket (and county cricket along with it) but still try to milk test cricket for the kudos and the filthy lucre (Ashes tours), inviting Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa to tour England in difficult circumstances, but backing out of away tours at the first opportunity (noticeably Pakistan).”

53rd over: Australia 139-3 (Smith 14, Khawaja 9) Broad fancies his chances to Khawaja, with that Warner-wicket line from around the wicket, but his attempt to build pressure is undone when the batter does well to rotate the strike midway through the over. Broad then sends down a rank delivery miles down the legside that Smith takes the P out of with an exaggerated front foot leave. Smirks all around. A nice reflection of the spirit of this series.

52nd over: Australia 138-3 (Smith 14, Khawaja 8) Wood offers Khawaja some width to drive and the Australian takes advantage, striking crisply square for his first three runs of the day. Smith then pulls with great control a very well directed bouncer. It only results in an easy single, but that was excellent cricket all round. Wood adjusts his approach to around the wicket to Khawaja, but he loses his line and concedes an easy leg-side run.

51st over: Australia 133-3 (Smith 13, Khawaja 4) A couple of thick edge squirts behind point earn Smith four runs and a bonus Broad teapot. A vintage Smith step to off and easy push to leg earns a couple more. Then he signals to the pavilion for more gloves, 18 minutes into the day.

Tim Lane on the Channel 7 commentary just said that Steve Smith is breathing down the neck of his coach, talking over a graphic showing the leading run-scorers in the history of Australian cricket. Now I cannot rid my mind of the Ghost pottery scene playing out in the Australian dressing room.

50th over: Australia 127-3 (Smith 7, Khawaja 4) Mark Wood is coming over the wicket to Usman Khawaja, trying to slant the ball across the left-hander. Khawaja leaves smartly and defends from the crease with soft hands to see off a maiden. Australia starting the morning conservatively.

49th over: Australia 127-3 (Smith 7, Khawaja 4) Broad, after his solitary delivery warm-up, sends down a tight over to Smith, doing his best to bowl full and straight.

48th over: Australia 127-3 (Smith 7, Khawaja 4) Mark Wood is entrusted with the first full over the day, which pleases Ricky Ponting. And his extra pace tests Steve Smith, his third delivery beating Smith’s attempted pull and inducing an ungainly deflection off arm guard and thigh pad. The fidgety run machine then rotates the strike neatly, and Khawaja sees off the rest.

I don’t think we need to concern ourselves with lost overs just yet.

47th over: Australia 126-3 (Smith 6, Khawaja 4) Stuart Broad sends down a decent delivery to complete the 47th over that was curtailed by rain last night, and we’re underway.

Right, the players are out, day two will be underway in a jiffy.

“Where do you come down on the idea of having a multi-format Ashes?” asks Ben Mimmack, no doubt prompted by Jonathan Liew’s comment piece on the idea. “Granted, I’m a middle-aged fogey but I just don’t enjoy watching any other format as much as I do Tests, so a multi-format series would be inherently less interesting for me. Plus, I can’t help but feel it would end up hastening the end of regular test series.”

I am open minded. I am concerned we might be trying to fix something that isn’t broken, and end up in a world of disastrous unintended consequences. But also, the logic of Jonathan’s argument is difficult to refute. In an age when cricket’s global calendar must surely be up for revision, is a standalone five-Test series with no preparation fit for purpose?

“Hi Jonathan,” hello Peter Salmon. “The question I have at this point is does Australia already have enough runs?” Ooh, you cheeky scamp.

And yes, probably, for their first innings. Although maybe not for an innings victory quite yet.

It’s warm, humid, and gusty at the SCG. There is a small risk of showers, but the odds are on our side for a full day’s play. The excellent pitch, with pace, bounce, and plenty of grass, is getting a heavy roll.

Andy Bull has had enough of Ashley Giles.

If Giles is right and more systemic change is needed, the pressing question is whether, given his track record in the job, he is the right man to lead it, given that he made such a mess of the (well-intentioned) rotation policy, and the mistake of binning the head selector to load more responsibility onto the coach.

Ramaswamy has dropped by with a conspiracy bomb. “Pat Cummins chose to bat after winning the toss only to extend the Test into day 4, to maximise the McGrath Foundation’s fundraising. The showers will help, of course. This is one ‘fix’ that I have to applaud.” I wouldn’t put it past Post-Tim Pat to even be in control of the weather and dose out showers at an appropriate gap to ensure the Test reaches the final session of day five with all results still on the line.

Andrew Biggs wins the Academy Award for the first email of the day, commenting on the relationship between England’s standout red ball performers and their lack of white ball exposure. Coincidence? He thinks not. “England’s two best cricketers have for different reasons not played white ball cricket. Jimmy took a decision not to, to prolong his career and Root has been overlooked.”

That is clearly going to have to be central to England’s debrief. As Mike Atherton’s masterplan for the way forward indicated, surely it’s time for specialist coaches for each discipline, and I suspect, as a pathway for almost distinct identities for each category.

Mark Wood bowled with raw pace at the SCG yesterday, but he was no guarantee to line up in the England XI after a “rough night” with illness.

Geoff Lemon has looked at the latest episode in the Stuart Broad v David Warner epic.

Here’s Barney Ronay’s take on a 24-hour period in which Test cricket flourished in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

Start your day of cricket by listening to Geoff Lemon, Adam Collins, and Emma John chew the fat.