The Ashes first Test, day two: Nathan Lyon looming as key player as England eye big lead
The performances of umpires Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson have come under more scrutiny on day 2 after 10 incorrect calls left former players flabbergasted. Here are five things we learned on Ashes day two.
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
England have assumed control of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston after a maiden century to opener Rory Burns. His unbeaten 125 provided the backbone for the home side’s 4-267 on day two, leaving them just 17 runs behind Australia’s first innings of 284.
The Aussie bowlers toiled hard - and were perhaps a little unlucky not to get deeper into the England batting line-up - but with three days remaining, the hosts have a distinct advantage.
Russell Gould looks at five things we learned from day two of the first Test.
Stream the 2019 India Tour of West Indies on KAYO SPORTS. Every T20I, ODI and Test LIVE on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14-day free trial >
IT TAKES ALL TYPES, AND TIME TO BE A GOOD TEST BATSMAN
Going in to the Ashes, England opener Rory Burns was widely regarded as the most brittle part of a brittle top four that would be held together by captain Joe Root.
Through seven Tests Burns had only passed 50 twice, was out cheaply to Ireland in both innings at Lords last week, and came in with a horror run in county cricket.
His technique, with his slanted head and wavy hands, gave the haters-ammunition, too.
But Test cricket is hard, especially for opening batsmen, especially in England, and they need time to find their way.
It’s fair to say Burns’ century at Edgbaston, despite his run tally, was not one for the ages.
He played a false shot to one in every four balls. But whatever luck he had, steering edges where fielders might otherwise have been, squeezing the ball to other parts, Burns didn’t go out.
“Find a way,” he said was his plan. He survived and he scored, and that could be enough to give him the confidence to go on with it this series.
NATHAN LYON COULD DECIDE THE GAME
Nathan Lyon’s first ball in the series landed about a foot outside Joe Root’s off-stump. The English skipper decided it was in leave-it-alone territory. But it gripped in the pitch, spun almost that full foot, and just missed that off stump.
There were gasps from all the close-in fielders, and the crowd, given it was still early on day two.
He probed for the rest of the day, and should have had Rory Burns to lbw but for a cautious approach to reviews. He also continually beat the centurion’s outside edge.
Lyon’s importance to Australia in recent years has been immense, and his 343 Test wickets evidence of how good he is. With England likely to take a lead in to the second innings, the man they call “Gazza” looms as the man most likely to be a fourth innings match-winner, as he so often has been.
BAD UMPIRING REALLY STANDS OUT
It might seem a tad unfair to focus on the umpires who have to make judgments in real time and their errors are usually shown up by slow-motion replays.
But the men in the middle of a Test match are part of what’s called an “elite panel”, which would suggest some level of extraordinary ability.
Unfortunately both Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson have shown themselves to not be very elite in this game. Through two days they made 10 wrong decisions, five each, and looked unconfident in them all.
Nathan Lyon’s hopeful appeal for lbw against Rory Burns when the opener was on 21 was followed by brief discussion with captain Tim Paine but the decision not to review was taken.
However, subsequent replays showed the ball was spearing into the leg stump - a decision that cost Australia dearly with the unorthodox left-hander finishing the day 125 not out.
James Pattinson and Peter Siddle both thought they had dismissed Joe Root for nine and 14 respectively only for technology to once again intervene and rescue the England skipper from a wrong decision.
Pattinson and the entire Australian slip cordon was convinced Root had edged behind to Paine in the opening session of the day.
Wilson, hearing two noises, raised the finger but Root’s review showed the ball had in fact clipped the bail, not his bat,and it had somehow failed to dislodge.
Dar then gave Root out when Siddle’s delivery thumped into his pad but he failed to see an inside edge from the Yorkshireman’s bat.
It became the sixth on-field decision to be overturned by Gaffney after just two days of the Test.
But beyond their actual performance the bigger issue is the restrictions that put them on Test cricket’s biggest stage. The best umpire is Richard Kettleborough, but he’s English. The rules state umpires have to be from neutral countries. Maybe change that.
Former Victorian coach Darren Berry slammed the men in charge on social media.
“This is now beyond a joke every decision being questioned and for good reason,” Berry wrote in a tweet that was later deleted.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime.
“Seriously the ability to make a substitution … in game must be introduced.
“It’s soul destroying for the umpires.”
Ricky Ponting is the latest to add his voice to that argument, claiming the best umpires are missing out on the biggest series in the game.
English and Australian umpires dominate the ICC’s elite umpires panel but are ruled out of officiating the Ashes due to the global cricket body’s requirement for neutral nation umpires to control matches.
“I would like to think the game has come far enough now for the game to not have neutral umpires,” Ponting told Cricket Australia’s website.
SLOW PITCHES WILL BE A FACTOR THIS SERIES
The tightness of the Ashes schedule, five Tests in 48 days, has already put a premium on having a battalion of fast bowlers.
If the Edgbaston wicket is a forecast of what’s to come by way of pitches, then that availability is doubly important.
A dry surface slowed up by the middle of day two and the good bounce and carry the Australian bowlers were after only appeared via back breaking hard word.
Stuart Broad bowled only 22.4 overs on day one and said he was “exhausted”.
He said the pitch slowed down, and when combined with the all going soft, which happens after about 50 overs, the toil for the bowlers is not insignificant.
If the next four wickets are presented in a similar way, with conditions cooling around the county, there could be 10 tuckered out fast bowlers when the Ashes urn is presented to the victors at The Oval next months.
THE BOOS AREN’T GOING AWAY
David Warnerarner and Steve Smith both fielded in the slips for the majority of day two.
If not there, they were in that range close to the batsman. Cameron Bancroft, too.
But on those occasions, and there were plenty when Burns was batting, that they had to go and retrieve the ball from the boundary, the crowd welcomed them in the most impolite way.
Warner was even booed when he went to get Tim Paine’s helmet from the change rooms.
It wasn’t one or two times, it was every time the trio were in the action.
The boos didn’t last long, and it wasn’t the whole ground. But someone, somewhere, booed.
After his first day heroics, Smith, who was booed, and cheered, upon reaching his century, said he “didn’t even hear it”.
It’s a good attitude to have, because it won’t stop. Remember a new horde of people enters the ground each day. They all want their turn.
Originally published as The Ashes first Test, day two: Nathan Lyon looming as key player as England eye big lead
‘Pretty ugly’: Low score worry at World Cup
Just two venues are being used for the T20 World Cup, which means a lot of used pitches in play and that’s making things hard for the reigning champs.
Quick’s big appeal for India series
Five Test matches is a big workload for Australia’s frontline fast bowlers and a regular back-up made a massive opening Sheffield Shield impression.