Unfortunately Stroller, for us, the days of relying on the brilliance of Glen McGrath to break the English attack are long gone.
Given all the pre-match bollocks from the Aussies and our concerns over Stoneman, Vince and Malan, I'd say that was a very good day for England. They'll need to push on past 350, though.
Given the hype about their three fast bowlers in the same Aussie team for the first time, the spectre of Mitchell Johnson (who when he wasn’t bowling at 4th slip was better than these ones) etc it’s a great day for the newer English players, helps set the tone for the series. I think we will have to rely on Bairstow and Ali to get a decent total though. Bit of rain, low scoring rate - Test cricket!
The Ashes: After the hype, ‘normal’ Test offers excitement in spades please log in to view this image Malcolm Knox Thursday dawned with fake news: Bodyline! The Gabbatoir! Scared eyes! Joh for Canberra! But the real Queensland, as opposed to the fictitious one, is only an hour behind the times. When the actual game began, the Gabba wicket behaved as it has year after year, more bark than bite. The only credible invocation of the terrors of the past were the handlebars on Mitchell Starc's moustache. Two young England batsmen grafted for their lives against steady Australian bowling. The impact of solid, conservative, professional Test cricket from both teams was almost startling. Stop the presses! Normal cricket takes place! please log in to view this image Australia barely on top after day one of ... Throwback: 2013-14 Ashes series please log in to view this image Video duration 01:26 The Ashes: "The pinnacle of Test cricket" Australia barely on top after day one of the Ashes The Ashes got underway with a rain-disrupted first day at the Gabba, as neither side was able to gain the ascendancy. The Australians not only didn't fulfil the fake-news bulletin, they didn't even attempt it. Without the option of an all-rounder, their quartet bowled with the headline-eschewing attributes of caution and thoughtfulness, everything to a plan within their thoroughly planned lives. As far as those plans went, it was a case of better the devil you know. Alastair Cook used to plunder Australia's bowlers before they realised, around 2013, that he does not like to play the off-drive. Ever since, they have served him a diet of half-volleys around the off-stump. As counter-instinctive as it is for fast bowlers to throw pies back to a short-order Cook, the tactic continues to work and his productivity has fallen. Accordingly, Mitchell Starc bowled nine good full balls to the former England captain, and then a perfect one. Simple. So much for the known threat. To the unknown quantities Mark Stoneman and James Vince, plans had to be developed on the run. This uncertainty was apparent from the first ball Starc bowled to Vince, short and on the pads. After demonstrating such clarity in how to dismiss Cook, the Australians soon went to the plan you have when you're not having a plan: off-stump line, patience, discipline, starve the batsmen until they commit a mental error. For the most part, they bowled more like this was Bengaluru than Brisbane. The shortcomings were soon apparent. Stoneman and especially Vince showed a taste for hitting the ball through the off, and simply waited for some width. The first hour passed as if all of Brisbane was holding its breath. Presently, when Stoneman and Vince began to find the cover boundary, their travelling fans found their voice. Until late in the afternoon, both Stoneman and Vince were up to the mental challenge, countering with broad bats and cool heads. Either side of a rain delay, the pair were seldom troubled as they exceeded the highest England partnership in the entire series last time they were here. SPORT NEWSLETTER Get the latest news and updates emailed straight to your inbox. Was the Australians' conservatism an overreaction to the slow, tacky surface? The vaunted Starc-Hazlewood-Cummins attack, keenly awaited for six years, reverted to stock-bowling method. The bouncers they occasionally unleashed dollied into Tim Paine's gloves. All three pacemen bowled within themselves, focusing on accuracy. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Starc was far from erratic…but too far? It's always a fine balance. please log in to view this image Familiar failing: Alastair Cook fell early, struggling again with the off-drive. England won the morning, most of the afternoon, and would have had a clear advantage for the day if not for Nathan Lyon, easily the most dangerous of the Australian bowlers. His dip and turn kept Vince and Stoneman in the crease, and his economy rate was England's concession to the threat he posed. Now that he is the Greatest Of All Time, Lyon is starting to behave like it. It was Lyon's fourteenth over that changed the game's tempo. He went through the well-set Vince twice, and then drew the edge, which Paine failed to glove. The Australians were suddenly invigorated, and with the pitch drying and quickening, Stoneman jammed out two yorkers before Cummins bowled him with a peach, or some such stone fruit. Soon after, Lyon put on an impression of Vivian Richards in the covers and, with a swoop and a shy, put an end to Vince's adventure. An excellent one it had been, and the young Englishman turned his prior Test average of 19 into the stuff of pure fiction. Increasingly, the Australians came to life. In keeping with the lessons picked up during a year on the subcontinent, the pacemen gained more swing with the old ball than the new. Cummins rifled through Joe Root's forward defence, and the pendulum swung Australia's way. Moeen Ali wrested it back, clouting Lyon over the rope. Dawid Malan blazed some drives and a memorable hook shot off Hazlewood. England's middle-order had arrived. Thrust and counter-thrust, here was a contest growing into itself. An excellent first day's cricket. As it turned out, the predictions, like the weather forecast, fell far short of the real thing.
From what I can work out it seems to pretty even as it stands. Shame Root was out as I think if we had gone in just 3 down we would have a had a bit of an advantage.
I'd have taken that at the start of the day, make the Aussie bowlers work for the wickets. Tomorrow morning session looks pivotal from an England perspective, get through that with minimum damage and be around 270/280 on the board then they have a good platform to post a decent first innings score...... Amazed that the pitch turned so much on day 1, what has the groundsman been up to?
Been a lot of rain apparently. I'd have taken that score before the start. I take it back about Malan. Having watched the highlights, he did well, as did Stoneman. Vince was class.
Good to see the rookies do so well, their confidence will be well-boosted by that. A good platform to build a decent score but the new ball will be the big danger in the morning, the tail needs to wag...
I think it's going to end up as a draw Col. There's supposed to be a lot of rain about on days three, four and five. Hopefully it stays tight until the third test so Stokesy can turn up and smash the granny out of them, especially Lyon.
Psychologically we are already well up. They were praying for us to continue where we left off last time we were over there. The second batting partnership of the series outscored every single English partnership in the last Ashes series in Oz. #NoRollOver
Now that I'd like to see. Crap weather over there eh? They should play it somewhere sunny like Birmingham.
Really annoyed about bt sports; having to listen to TMS. Will try for a dodgy stream over the weekend I reckon.
Early days, but I think the selectors deserve some credit for having faith in these three. They have seen something in their techniques and/or temperaments that said they could perform in this series.
