The Ashes Daily: England battle to keep Ashes alive despite Carey century - and Snicko controversy - on day one in Adelaide

0:00Nas:That is from Crawley. Chris Wokes nails it for four. The Ash is alive and Test cricket alive.

0:08Ath:Ice in his veins. Pat Cummins has led his team to a famous victory.

0:17Nas: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. Well, the end of day one, a very hot day in Adelaide and an action-packed day again, Michael Atherton. 326 for eight, Australia having won the toss and batted. How would you sum up that day?

0:44Ath:I think England will be pretty happy getting eight wickets. As you say, it was a baking hot day, about 35 degrees. Quite a dry, flat pitch that Will Jack's got one or two balls to spin already. But all the numbers suggest that Australia, in day matches here, when they bat first since 2000, they've only once been bowled out below 400. So I think if you can take eight wickets, you're pretty satisfied with the outcome. But I think the outcome flattered England's bowling a bit at times, which was good in parts, Joffre Archer especially, not so good in other parts an important drop early on when Osman Khawaja had five as well when Australia were wobbling at 50 for two so as always in a day as you know you you'll you'll look back and think well that's okay but it could have been better I mean the action and and the news

1:35Nas:started before a ball went down Steve Smith in the nets just near where we are right now had a net wasn't fit you know dizziness Khawaja gets his opportunity it's an incredible story because two games ago or two days ago, he looked like his test career was done.

1:52Ath:Absolutely. When he was left out of the team, they preferred Joss English. I always get that name wrong. He must have thought his test career was done and dusted. And this has happened to him before, of course, four years ago, this corresponding tour. He said he thought his career was done and over. And then he got a chance. Travis Head was ill for the Sydney test match. Usman Khawaja came in, got 100 in both innings and went on to extend his career impressively. And it looked as though he was set for 100 today as well before he got out. He actually struggled a bit at the start. I think he was 5 from 28 when he was put down by Brook at second slip.

2:32Ath:But it was almost as if that moment galvanised him into action. His feet suddenly started to move. He got a few clips away. And then I thought he's going to get 100 here. There's nothing surer than that. And in the end, Will Jack's got him, but he played nicely.

2:46Nas:He missed out. You said before the game you wouldn't have gone back to him. They had to today. Would you have opened with him or would you have batted him at four and seen how he played?

2:54Ath:I thought it was certainly the right decision to leave him out with Australia 2-0 up. And he struggled a bit, in truth, against Pace over the last couple of years. The feeling is he's been hanging on in there. So I thought it was right that they made the time to make that change. but then with Smith Hill, I don't know whether I would have gone back to him opening and head in the middle order. I thought there was more of a debate and a discussion to have there but it looks like they've set their marker down now and their mind on head opening with Wetherold and that's how they're going to see it through to the end of the series.

3:27Ath:So they probably say the minimum disruption, minimal disruption, is to just have Cowaja come in for Steve Smith.

3:34Nas:That was one great story for journalists like you. The other one is Alex Carey on his home ground, having given that masterclass in wicketkeeping at the Gabba. I think he's now the leading run getter for Australia in this calendar year, batting at six. And also he's a tough cricketer, which is what they needed today.

3:51Ath:Yeah, it was a very emotional day, wasn't it? On two counts, really. You know, before the start of play, this is obviously the first national event since what happened in Bondi on Sunday. And then John Williamson sung, you know, his haunting anthem, True Blue, out on the field, the whole ground. stood in silence it was a bit of a spine tingling moment and then obviously late in the day you know the roar when Alex Carey brought up his hundred was incredible it's a record crowd here more than 56 ,000 they love their local boys doing well they've seen Travis Head get 300s on the bounce here in the last three tests in Adelaide so they're well used to that feeling of cheering on their hometown heroes and pretty emotional for Alex Carey obviously looked up to the skies when he got his 100.

4:37Ath:His father, Gordon, had passed away in September from leukaemia. This was his first 100 since then. I think he described his dad as his mate, mentor and coach. They obviously had a very close relationship in cricket as well as just a normal father-son relationship. So emotional day for him and his family. And I thought, you know, he's just a cricketer at the top of his game. As you mentioned, he was brilliant at the Gabba. He's wicket-keeping fantastic. He's obviously taken a great deal of confidence from that. That's bled into other parts of his game. And they needed that innings today from him because, you know, with those two wickets after lunch that came straight away, they were struggling a little bit.

5:14Nas:And what did you make of that moment where everyone thought, every England player thought he nicked it? I think Alex Carey himself in the press conference said he might have got away with one. How do you explain that sort of situation and the use of technology? I think Simon Tafel's tried to clear it up on social media. what is your overall feeling about that moment and that snick?

5:34Ath:So he's on 72. He'd had a bit of a life, hadn't he, earlier with Brydon Kast. Dropped a very difficult chance. I mean, it would have been a great catch, extra cover. But 72, he goes to slash one to Josh Tong. England are convinced. Massive appeal. You could tell from the appeal that England were absolutely convinced. It's given not out on the field. So that's the starting point. England refer. They use a slightly different technology here. They use Snicko. We use Ultra Edge at home. But what the third umpire sees then, remember the decision is not out. So he has to be absolutely certain with the evidence before him that he can overturn that decision.

6:13Ath:I think the third umpire gave the only decision he could give because the spike, and there was a spike, and the visuals of the ball passing the bat were so far out of sync. You know, I think the regulation is that if it's one frame out, he's fine, they can do it. But it was massively out of sync. So I'm not sure what the third umpire could do, given that the on-field call had been not out. But I think certainly England's instinct was that he hit it. Alex Carey, after the game, said, you know, that might have been a possibility. You know, you interpret that how you wish.

6:50Nas:But it brings into the question the use of Snicko, doesn't it? because the last game, Jamie Smith, was it? No, it was Perth, wasn't it? Jamie Smith. And Simon Taufel cleared that up. He said, third umpire's been told, if you're one frame out, that's fine. That's just the error in the system. But then if it's two or three, it just becomes a little bit confusing for a viewer, a person on the ground, that then the whole point of technology is to try and clear these things up.

7:18Ath:Yeah, fair enough. I mean, we are from an era when there was no DRS and no technology and no snicko where you just got sawn off at will or got away with one at will, whichever it may be. So I'm, just because of the era that I played in, I'm always a little bit more relaxed about it because we grew up with mistakes just being part of the game. And technology has made the game and decisions in the game much more reliable than they were. but I don't think you can ever expect things to be 100 % right all the time. You hope to get that but I think you have to accept that just occasionally something will go wrong and I think this was probably one of those occasions.

8:07Ath:That doesn't make it any easier for England to bear because he was 72 at the time, quite an important moment in the game but when you come from an era where there would have been a dozen of those incidents every day when we played, wouldn't there?

8:22Nas:Absolutely, most against me. We'll touch on England in a minute and how they bowled. What do you think Australia are thinking? 326 for eight, when they're sitting in their hotel rooms this evening, are they thinking missed opportunity?

8:36Ath:I think they are. I mean, it's not a bad score, obviously, 326 for eight. But as I mentioned earlier, they rarely fail to get out for less than 400 here in a day game batting first Adelaide Test. And just the manner of the dismissals, you know, a few tame dismissals really. Travis Head, you know, driving uppishly. The two wickets after lunch, first ball after lunch, Lavashay and Green just chipping aimlessly to mid-wicket. You know, there were a lot of soft dismissals in there. And I think they will think that this was a kind of opportunity, flat pitch, 35 degrees, baking hot day, where they could have almost put things beyond England.

9:12Ath:but they haven't done that and now everything will rest on England's first innings. You do feel that with the temperatures that are expected, 39 degrees tomorrow, already we've seen a bit of turn from Jacks, Lyon obviously in their team, that a lot is going to depend on England's first innings. They have to get up to and beyond Australia on first innings so that they're not left with too much to do right at the end of the game.

9:36Nas:How do you think England bowled?

9:37Ath:Well, I thought Archer led the attack really well today. He obviously came in for a lot of criticism at the Gabba from former Australian players. Some of it understandable, some of it not, in my opinion. But he was fast today in his opening spell. I think he averaged 89.3 miles an hour in that opening spell. Obviously, wickets in his second, very economical third spell, where he leaked, I think, six runs in five overs. So I thought he led the attack excellently, good figures. The support wasn't quite there, was it? pride and cast, he's got all that energy and character and mongrel that Ben Stokes talks about but at the moment, in what we've seen in the three tests, just lacking a bit of skill and accuracy Tong, I thought, started really well but didn't quite maintain that threat and Will Jacks is a spinner learning his way he's picked up two vital wickets today, so England will say that he's done his job, got bonus wickets, but he's a bit expensive he's gone for more than 100, so it was an in and out bowling performance but I think they'll certainly settle for getting eight wickets.

10:40Nas:The problem with Jax is he's learning his way. He is a part-time spinner, so that control of length is not there. We've seen it from England's seamers. We saw it today. They were too short. Brydon Carson in particular, tongue after lunch was too short. At times, Jax was too short. He got gifted a couple of wickets. It's a real concern, isn't it? You're going into an Adelaide test match where we all know what you need in Adelaide. Let's be honest, you need a quality spinner. and England are not making do, but it's going to be Jacks. It could come down to Jacks against Lyon.

11:11Ath:Yeah, and it says a lot about where Shoei Bashir must be right now because you've got to play your best spinner here. And I'm sure England realised that. So they're basically saying that they think at the moment Jacks is as good or better than Bashir. And they've invested so much time in Bashir, But, you know, combination of circumstances, broken finger in the summer, not in a county, so can't play at the end of the season if he was fit. I can't remember whether he was even fit by then. Lack of cricket ahead of the first test in Perth. He's played a Lions game against Australia, but none for 120 in that.

11:49Ath:Two for 150 at Lilac Hill. Figures not flattering. So Jax brings a little bit more in the field and with the bat. And if there's not much between the bowling, you can understand the selection. but you know you do need a good spinner here and that's just a kind of measure of where England's spin is at.

12:07Nas:Catching better today obviously Harry Brook put one down and cast a really difficult one what about the captain saying before the game we need a bit of mongrel we need a bit of dog from this basically a bit of character and a bit of fight did you see that?

12:20Ath:I thought there was a noticeable uptick in energy vitality whatever you want to call it in the field on a difficult day 35 degrees, going to get warmer tomorrow. So you can't fault that, but as I often say when we're talking about it, I think those are kind of basic requirements, really. That's the starting point, effort and energy and all that kind of thing. They were at times a bit short on consistency and skill, Archer apart. But certainly in terms of the kind of energy that Stokes was asking for or the response he was asking for, I think he will have been pleased with that brilliant catch from Crawley.

13:01Ath:Bad miss from Brook at slip. That was, you know, Khawaja on five, 50 for two, what might have been. But there are always those moments in a day's play.

13:08Nas:Let's throw it forward. You've played some cricket here. You've watched a lot of cricket here. How do you think with a 39 degree day tomorrow, will this be the way a typical Adelaide pitch goes? I go back to that incredible game where England got 500, Flintoff declared, and Australia ended up winning the game and Shane bowled England out on day five. Do you see that sort of pattern, flat, flat, flat, and then suddenly flick a switch?

13:32Ath:I don't think they ever kind of explode here, like if it's Mumbai or something or Chennai. I don't think red soil that suddenly starts to disintegrate. It won't be like that. But you'd think under 39 degrees, temperatures hot today and then hot again, that the pitch is going to start to wear. So the first half of the game is where you set the game up. So early wickets tomorrow, get rid of Australia's last two wickets and then bat big. All those batters, they've put their faith in and they've given a lot of latitude to over the years. Pope, Crawley, obviously Brook, Root. Get in, go big, make the first innings count and try and set up the game there so that you're not leaving yourself too much to do on fourth innings because you just don't know what it's going to be like on that fifth day.

14:19Nas:Australia won the toss, batted on a very flat pitch. They're 326 for eight. I reckon they feel they should be way ahead of England and almost put this Ashes to bed. Now, all will depend on how England bat. They've got to get those two wickets. Mitchell Stark can be dangerous with the tail. But England's top eight, most of whom this hierarchy have stuck with over the years. It is time to deliver in the next two days as it gets hot and the pitch remains flat.

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