The Ashes Daily: A "bewildering" Boxing Day at the MCG

0:00Last up, that is from Crawley. Chris Wokes nails it for four. The Ashes alive and Test cricket alive.

0:08Ath:Ice in his veins. Pat Cummins has led his team to a famous victory. Yeah, go! Down, he gets his goal. It's a landing. England's captain, Ben Stokes. While he is there, England have hope. Put the beer away. Put the champagne on ice. 24 years of pain in Australia. Finally they're beaten at home by England. Welcome to the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. A bit of news first. Apologies if I'm sniffing and spluttering and coughing and sneezing. I've got a severe case of the man flu. So I've been watching every single ball in bed today. Michael has been our man. Are you sure you're not hungover after Christmas Day?

0:49Ath:Not at all. I am so ill. Unless a man like you just would not have turned up. But you did turn up with 94 ,100 and others at this ground, a record-breaking crowd. They'll leave having watched a lot of incredible cricket there. Explain. Well, they'll leave completely bewildered and bemused because that's how I think most of us are. How do you explain that? A day in which 20 wickets fell. I think I was listening to one of the stats guys on the radio. I think it's only the ninth time in Test history that the third innings of a game has started on the first day. And obviously a bizarre end with Scott Boland coming in on a king pair and then edging the final ball of the day.

1:29Ath:It's a huge roar. So Australia ahead, but just a bizarre day, really. I mean, obviously you start with the conditions. It's cool. It's overcast at the start. Ten mils of grass on the pitch, which is the most of any of the pitches that we've seen so far in this Ashes series. and in the last four years here at the MCG, this has been the most bowler-friendly surface, I think runs per wicket here, since that dull double hundred by Alistair Cook. How we would love a dull double hundred by Alistair Cook now. No, I wouldn't go that far. Since that point, the groundsman here has obviously left more grass on the pitch.

2:06Given his official title, by the way, he's not the groundsman.

2:08Ath:Executive manager of turf. Thank you very much. The executive manager of turf. Did the executive manager of turf get it right today? 20 wickets in a day. I was looking at a stat earlier in the day about Perth here and the Gabba now have the highest seam movement anywhere in the world since the last Ashes. So they knew what was coming here. Yeah, was it too much? I mean, it did a fair bit, didn't it? I think when you've got the likes of Joe Root, you know, 15 balls struggling to get away. Steve Smith getting bowled. The best players are struggling. You have to say the conditions are very much in the bowler's favour.

2:48Ath:I mean, it wasn't a minefield or a snake pit. But, of course, what happens now is that I think partly because batters don't trust their defence so much and partly just because it's the way of things. Whenever the ball does a bit, the default reaction is we're going to go and have a go before we get one with our name on it. And Harry Brook obviously played that kind of innings today, but he top scored. He's the one who got runs for England. So you can't be unduly critical of that. But it's just the general nature of how batters play. They don't trust themselves to stay in. So they try and go hard, which means the game moves forward at an unbelievably fast pace.

3:31Ath:And that's what we saw today. We'll come on to the batting on both sides, and in particular Harry Brooks' first delivery. Bowling England having won the toss, Ben Stokes' obvious bowl first pitch. How do you feel they went? It looked like they pitched it up a lot more. Yeah, I don't actually think... Well, Brydon Kars didn't bowl that well. He's struggling to left-handers at the moment. Australia have got four in their top six. So would you give Tung the new baller? Sorry to interrupt. They've got two left-handers at the top. Yeah, I mean, I suppose there's a number of things. One, Kars has been ahead of Tong and Atkinson in the pecking order on this tour.

4:07Ath:You know, Tong didn't play in the first two tests. Atkinson was left out in Adelaide. You'd have to say, even though Kars has been the leading wicket-taker, he's been flattered by his figures. So you question the pecking order at the moment. And then I suppose the other alternative is you've got somebody like Potts, who is a real line-and-length seamer, who you kind of think these conditions would absolutely suit. so in the end Carse's figures are quite expensive and in a low scoring game you know that looks like it might be costly but I thought Atkinson made his point today you know his opening spell was pretty good seven overs one for seven I think four maidens in there so he built pressure he picked up a couple of wickets he scored useful runs late in the day to get England into three figures so I thought he made his point and obviously Josh Tong five wickets excellent performance from him he definitely bowled it fuller and a couple of the Australians I mean, he's got Steve Smith out now four times in four first-class innings.

5:04And Labochain struggles with that angle as well.

5:06Ath:Yeah, and they were both very full balls, weren't they? I mean, you'd say Smith was a bit loose, but it was full and it was attacking and nipping back. And Labochain was full again and drawn into the drive. So it was obvious what you had to do on this pitch. You had to attack the stumps. You had to bowl not a half-volley length, but a full length to attack the stumps and make the batsmen play. And that's really all you had to do. You didn't have to overcomplicate it. Obviously, there was no need to go to the kind of, you know, bounce a ploy that we've seen earlier in the series from England. It was a day for just being, you know, old-fashioned, patience, line and length, let the pitch do the work, and you're in the game.

5:45Ath:And England's fielding was a bit better today. It's been under scrutiny. There was the run-out from Kars, good catch from Stokes tracking back, good catch to end the innings from Brook at slip. So that was all reasonably positive. but then the carnage at the top of the order. And Australia's batting, I thought there were two or three soft dismissals in there. I mean, even the Wetherald one, people will argue are unlucky, caught down the leg side. But when your head goes over, as we mentioned in the last game when he didn't review, then you are playing away from your body, so you are vulnerable down the leg side.

6:17Same with Kerry, the ball after Stokes, as he did...

6:20Ath:Crowley had been put in there. He put there, same as Adelaide, put in there, next ball, gloved it to him. And then Cameron Green, when he was building that partnership with Nisa, A, to just drop and run, but B, he stuttered, and C, he didn't run in a straight line. He ran at an angle, which meant that Kars could find the stump. So I thought when they were walking off, they thought maybe it was more a 200 pitch than a 152. And I think that's fair comment, because as I say, the ball did enough, it did plenty, but it certainly wasn't a snake pair. I've seen far worse pitches than that. So I think we all felt England are well in the game there.

6:54Ath:at that point you knock a team over for 150 and you're well in the game but then eight overs later England are 15 for four and chasing it all of a sudden. Has that just been a common theme throughout the series that England have had good bits where you feel they are in the game and then they just leave the door do you think they leave the door open or do you think the Australians are just too good and keep bursting through them and coming back? Well I mean some of those batters must be low on confidence now. You take Duckett obviously has been struggling for runs and then when you add the scrutiny that he's been under this week you wouldn't have put a big bet on him making runs today.

7:34Ath:Bethel I just think he's on a hiding to nothing. This is a kid who's hardly played any cricket in first class cricket for the last 12 months and suddenly you're thrust out at three on a very helpful pitch in front of 95 ,000. Well, he's obviously a very good player, but good luck coping with that, because I think that's a bit of a hiding. So is that the right decision? I've read you in the Times, and you've obviously been quite big on Bethel over the year or so. You've also had a little go at him for not coming back from the IPL. So it's his own doing, or ECB's doing, that he's not been playing cricket.

8:09But that's where we are at. So is it the right thing, or did they just have no other option? At the MCG, pitch like that, the bowling attack like that, go on, youngster, we don't think you'll get some at three, but good luck.

8:23Ath:Well, there's a number of issues in there, aren't there? It's not hindsight to say we've been very critical of the management of his 12 months and I think it's been ridiculous the way he's been mothballed. He's hardly played and I genuinely think that's ridiculous. Should he have been at three today? well, he handled himself pretty well when he did bat at three in New Zealand and that's the place that is open. But equally, you could make the argument, well, go on, Joe, you go up there. But that argument has been kind of made in the past and it doesn't seem to me that England even want to contemplate that because he's done so well at number four and kind of owns that position.

9:04Ath:So then you're left with minimal disruption. But, you know, I felt for the young man going out there today. I didn't think that was an easy task at all. Crawley got out defending to start, which can happen. You know, Joe's trying to battle through and doesn't get any. And before you know it, you're 15 for four in eight overs. And then that sparks the reaction, really, from Harry Brooke. Let's go back to eight for three, because that's when he arrived at the crease. First ball, and he charges. And this is on the back of Rob Key in a press conference and to us. saying we played some dumb shots out of it.

9:38That's on the back of Harry Brook himself saying, I've got to rein it in. But I actually think he got the tempo pretty much spot on today.

9:48Ath:I don't quibble with the approach. I mean, I'd quibble maybe with first ball. Give yourself a chance. But, you know, if you say to Australia at that point, 8 for 3, 15 for 4, whatever, what would they not like to see? I think it's at that point, Harry Brooke trying to counterpunch and taking the game from them. And he played a couple of extraordinary shots. He didn't feel it was going to last forever. But, you know, 41 was the top score in the day. So the game is about getting runs. I don't think you can be too critical of the approach. First of all, you know, well, I'd give yourself a chance.

10:28Ath:But otherwise, not too critical of the approach. And Ben Stokes, actually, I thought, found the right tempo. he tried to score when possible he tried to be solid in defence that was his way today and he batted for what an hour or so and then you know he nicked off as well Trent Copeland who's very good on seven actually they have that analysis board and he did a bit on Harry Brook and he put in all where the wickets were on the pitch and he tried to explain, he explained it very well he also highlighted Harry often does it in balls one to three, maybe that's why it was first ball he charged but in an over generally like in white ball cricket you go at the first ball to put the bowler under pressure.

11:05But the reason he's doing it is obviously if all the wickets are between that five and seven metre length, if you can get to that, you're putting Stark or you're putting Boland or you're putting Nisa off their length, and also the field has to spread, and then singles came, and him and Stokes got good tempo.

11:21Ath:There was an unbelievable field at one stage to Stark. I think he had three or four slips and a gully, and then there was a fly slip, a deep point, and a long off to Mitchell Stark. You know, it's an incredible field. And that was the effect of that shot. Oh, you hit him for six, didn't he, over cover. And the other significant factor has been Carey. Obviously, to Boland and Nisa, if Brook wants to do that, suddenly Carey is the extra dimension now because his glove work is so good when he comes up to the stumps. You don't really want your keeper up to the stumps in conditions like this where it's nipping around.

11:57Ath:But if Brook's response is to try and disrupt length, then he becomes quite an attacking weapon in there. How would you have written it? I know you've got to go and finish your copy now if he had charged first ball and nicked it. Well I mean all these things are you know there's an element of hindsight there's an element of judging on outcome not necessarily intentions or intent. I didn't mind him counter-punching today I thought that was the way to try and change the you know The way that day was going, I didn't have a problem with that, as I say. If he gets out first ball, I mean, there were gasps around the ground, weren't they, when he did it?

12:38Ath:And obviously, you're going to get criticised if he gets out first ball like that. But I thought the approach was fine. I thought, if you look at whoever got runs on this pitch today. Yeah, Nisa had a cop, didn't he? Nisa, Atkinson, Stokes himself played with some positive intent, as you said. And I thought Harry Brook got his tempo spot on. But what's happening in this England line-up is there is now a repetitive nature. Well, Jamie Smith with the nip backer looks vulnerable. Yeah, it's very interesting. You know, as you say, five-test series, tough thing in Australia. And gradually the bowlers start to just a little chink in the armour, a little weakness.

13:13Ath:And Smith looks as though he wants to, you know, push his hands at the ball without the requisite footwork. And that's creating the gap. and Boland in particular is somebody who will challenge the top of the stumps with the nip backer. And you always whinge about opening batters never having a night watchman and Scott Boland, the local hero, strolled out there as a night watcher. I'm sure Jake Wetherald was thankful for it. He probably spent his life dreaming about batting on Boxing Day but maybe not twice. And then the roar at the end of the day. I mean Boland is a local hero here. I was here four years ago when he got that six for seven in the second inning.

13:49Ath:I'm not sure I'd heard a kind of atmosphere like it, a very wild atmosphere here at the MCG. Whatever he does, he took a catch and they went bonkers. Last ball for four bonkers. And they're ahead of the game. It's not a big lead, but it's a reasonably significant one if the scores are going to be low. Depends on what the pitch does tomorrow. Does it flatten out? Does it quicken up? I don't think Boland is the threat with the bat. I think the other end, Travis Head, As with Perth on day two. Well, that was the other thing. You need to get Travis Head tomorrow because he's going to bat like Harry Brook.

14:24He's going to play his shots and he could be dangerous tomorrow.

14:27Ath:And that's why I wondered whether Boland might come in with Wetherold. And actually, you might just hold Head back a bit for the older ball tomorrow to have a crack. But I suspect you're right. He'll come out swinging after the first 20 balls. Any idea, having 20 wickets today, any idea how this pitch will play? No. No, no. It's getting warmer. It's 22 degrees tomorrow. I was going to say it's 33 on the third day, but we might not be here on the third day. Any thoughts on how to play? Will it get flatter? You'd think so. It's going to get cut. It's going to get rolled. As long as it wasn't damp and it's not dented, you think gradually conditions might ease a bit, which doesn't necessarily make batting last the disadvantage.

15:08Ath:Who knows? We'll see how tomorrow morning pans out. There's still going to be plenty there, because even with a cut and a roll, there's going to be enough of that kind of thing. It's like coarse grass. It's quite thick, coochy grass. So there's going to be plenty there for the bowlers to have a crack at. Incredible crowd. Record-breaking crowd. Incredible cricket, as it has been throughout this Ashes series. I'm off. Get yourself some Lemsit. I'm back to my deathbed for me man flu. Afferton's out on the town in Fitzroy. If you want to catch up with him and abuse him, he's in Fitzroy tonight.