SECOND TEST BRISBANE
‘Thank you Australia’
‘You may say God save the King but nothing will save the Australian selectors’ with apologies to GW.
What were the selectors thinking leaving Nathan Lyon out of the team? As Stuart Broad said, “you’ve given England a bit of a start”. Or were they thinking about the recent redundancies at the CSIRO and wanted to come up with some mind blowing experiment.
Guys you weren’t meant to be boffins just selectors and you couldn’t even pick a final team until the toss of the coin. The players must have really been confused.
Then the skipper SPD joined in when Crawley (16) tickled a ball to Carey, umpire shook his head along with Smudge.
Why don’t you just give the Lion the run of the forest and let them win the game to make the bean counters at Cricket Australia happy?
England won the toss on a greenish pitch and as is their want decided to bat and get the best of the conditions before night took over.
Sir Galahad in Mitch Starc got the local kingdom off to a great start when he had both Duckett and the Pope back in the castle without bothering the scoreboard.
Once Crawley settled in he looked completely safe and as is his style he hit some lovely fours through the off-side. He and old Joe put together a fine partnership and were untroubled by the quartet of Aussie trundlers. Sir Galahad continues to breathe fire and the two Englishmen were content to play him cautiously.
2/98 at lunch was a good opening for Albion and even the myriad of supporters which included Kings and Queens and knights in armour were downing their mead and malt but the court jester in his black Akubra was nowhere to be seen. When is he going to be sent to the Tower?
The King sent a message to his two knights suggesting that they let the colonials back in the game for a little while.
They did.
After a fine partnership of 117 with Joe, Crawley played a shot that even members of the round table would not have played and the ordinary ball from Neser was taken by Carey and England were 3/122. Other than Sir Starc, Neser was probably the best of the rest.
Old Joe after playing attractively in the wont of Messrs Stokes and McCulloch and went into his shell and let the young Prince Harry ply his trade which he did until he flayed and parried at a Stark ball for Smith to take an overhead blinder which I think he didn’t see. Brook 31 and England were 4/176 and losing their grip on the joust.
Shades of Perth.
The Viking came in and he and Old Joe took the score to 4/197 at tea.
Meanwhile the visitors from distant shores continued to soak themselves with malt and mead and they had already eaten the ducks that Duckett and Pope had given them.
‘Merlin’ (Old Joe) on 70 and the Viking 15. This a vital partnership for the team.
Always loved OJ, he is what I regard as a typical Englishman. Pale skin, cherubby looks and an accent that is worldly. Since having his ‘to do’ with Davey Jones a few years a go he has been Albion’s finest batsman before he became a batter.
He looks determined to score one hundred notches to day/night
All of the above was written before 8.37EST
Whoa is me not long after the jugglers and jesters have gone so to have Stokes (19) brilliantly run out by Inglis and Smith (0) from a beauty from Scotty Boland and England had plummeted to 6/211
Stokesie was looking good too. Marvellous throw from side-on.
Old Joe has hit two fours in a row to go to 96! Doggett has persisted in bowling bouncers to him.
Joe was determined to get there and Jacks (19) helped for a while but got the ‘sucker ball’ from Starc. Atkinson (4) hung around long enough for King Joe to reach his coveted century, his only Australian one from 40 overall.
It was a beautiful innings showing all the signs of a master with his driving superb and his ‘only Joe’ shots collecting runs.
Carse (0) came and went to Starc giving the Black Knight 6/46 and England slumped again to 9/264.
With Archer coming to the wicket the rest of the Englishmen had changed into their whites, not creams, so that they could get 40 minutes at the locals.
I think the two batters said ‘look at the lads, hey want to come and field, let’s tell em to get stuffed’. They did.
It didn’t happen as Archer 32 supported by Root now 135 put on the highest 10th wicket partnership at the Gabba by England.
They treated Boland and Starc with contempt and scored 50 from 37 balls at one stage.
At stumps England were 9/325 and the two batters had enhanced the score by 61 runs of 43 balls.
Starc easily the best of the bowlers with 6/71 while Boland and Neser took 1 each.
No spinners playing today George?
England in a great position to even take the score further tomorrow when play resumes. 37,177 enjoyed the day’s play particularly the serfs from Britannia who consumed as much mead and malt that any nation could consume.
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About Bob Utber
At 86 years of age Citrus Bob is doing what he has always done since growing up on a small farm at Lang Lang. Talking, watching and writing sport and in recent years writing books. He lives in Mildura with his very considerate wife (Jenny) and a groodle named 'Chloe on Flinders' and can be found at Deakin 27 every day.
CB
only caught the last hour (in Melbourne with the Sth Aust athletics team)
could not agree more re Lyon’s omission …
this last wicket partnership could really come back to bite Australia
RITV
Yep, they confused themselves with data to arrive at the Lyon decision.
Once again, Smith’s tactics to the last pair were baffling, like to the tail the second innings in Perth.
Who would have guessed, if you don’t feel obliged to try and hit every ball you might have a chance of building an innings. England might just have stumbled onto something here.
The pitch was clearly not what the Australians were expecting. Now what I was expecting.
The challenge falls to the Aussie bats.
Cheers, CB
RABBIT – neither could Lyon himself. Refreshing to hear his thoughts. Albion’s bowlers today were way of the mark and their keeper following his duck yesterday. You and I would have gobbled that catch.
JB – one day I must take count of the number of boffins involved with CA? That is on the playing side, I’ll hazard a guess and say 10 – 15