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‘I’m speechless’: David Warner’s cruel Ashes heartbreak

David Warner was caught out by the stump microphone after being brought undone on a day where Australia pummelled England.

Nic Savage and Tyson Otto
7 min read
December 17, 2021 - 6:35AM
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 10: Australia captain Pat Cummins pats team mate Josh Hazlewood at the end of play during day three of the First Test Match in the Ashes series between Australia and England at The Gabba on December 10, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 10: Australia captain Pat Cummins pats team mate Josh Hazlewood at the end of play during day three of the First Test Match in the Ashes series between Australia and England at The Gabba on December 10, 2021 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Albert Perez - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Australia has piled misery on England to reach 2-221 at stumps on the opening day of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide.

England’s controversial selections and abysmal over-rate were the big talking points that finally shifted the focus of the cricket world away from Pat Cummins’ extraordinary Covid-19 drama.

The Aussie captain was unavailable to play the day-night test after learning he was deemed a close contact of a man who recorded a positive Covid-19 test.

Australia’s top order showed it has not been phased by the loss of Cummins with David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne plundering runs against a hapless English attack

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Labuschagne will resume his marathon innings on Day 2 after reaching 95 from 275 balls.

The only blemish to the opening day on the field was another failure by opening batter Marcus Harris.

Warner’s dismissal just five runs from his century was the other upsetting moment for the home side on Thursday.

Warner seemed certain to score the century he narrowly missed in Brisbane, but he was brought undone by a sloppy shot off the bowling of Ben Stokes. Warner’s back-foot slog picked out Stuart Broad on the off-side, leaving him stranded on 95, having fallen for 94 at the Gabba last week.

David Warner was so close. Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images.
David Warner was so close. Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images.
David Warner was fuming. Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images.
David Warner was fuming. Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images.

“I can’t believe it. I’m stunned,” Aussie legend Ricky Ponting told Channel 7.

Cricket icon Shane Warne told Fox Cricket: “I’ve got nothing. I’m speechless”.

Warner was visibly seething after his brain snap and yelled out a loud expletive which was caught by the stump microphone before he began walking back to the dressing room.

The records had earlier been tumbling while Warner and Labuschagne were at the crease.

Warner and Labuschagne put on 173 for the second wicket — the fifth time the pair have put on a stand of more than 100 in just 10 times batting together on home soil, according to Adam Collins.

The mercury is set to soar towards 40C in Adelaide on Friday, leaving England in real danger of being left to fry out in the field on Day 2 after the tourists also failed to pick up a wicket with the new ball under lights.

A slow over-rate meant England was only able to take the new ball with 37 minutes left to play, but are now staring down the barrel of heading into Day 2 with an ageing Kookaburra ball and eight Aussie batters still left in the shed.

Here’s how the day’s play unfolded.

Labuschagne dropped on 95

Jimmy Anderson and Joe Root had their heads in their hands after seeing keeper Jos Buttler put down a regulation catch that would have finally ended Marnus Labuschagne’s marathon innings.

Labuschagne was given a life for the second time by Buttler when he was on 95, having also been dropped by Buttler early in the day.

The dropped catch was particularly painful for England with Anderson having finally found a way to get the new ball moving in the final 30mins of play.

It was a crucial period for England, who needed wickets after being given the new pink ball under the treacherous conditions underneath the Adelaide night sky.

Awkward detail spotted in Smith’s coin toss

Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first at Adelaide Oval, but eagled-eyed cricket fans spotted a hilarious detail in the star batter’s outfit.

The iconic green blazer had the number 47 stitched up the emblem, representing Australia’s 47th Test captain – which is Cummins.

Warner survived bizarre scare

David Warner made it to he night session on the back of a hilarious scare where he nearly played on off the bowling of Joe Root.

The opener attempted to reverse sweep, but he got tied in a knot as the ball bounced into his helmet and rolled down onto his back before dribbling behind him and missing the stumps by just centimetres.

Warner had a smile on his face as he realised how close he came to being dismissed in such hilarious fashion.

David Warner was untouchable. Photo: Kayo.
David Warner was untouchable. Photo: Kayo.

“What are you doing that for please,” a frustrated Shane Warne told Fox Cricket in commentary.

“He’s shown patience all day and this is the time of day where your partner at the other end has to come down and say, ‘C’mon not long left to the break now, c’mon, hang in there’.”

‘My goodness’: Ashes stunned by insane catch

Australian opener Marcus Harris is back in the sheds thanks to a superb piece of fielding by England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Coming from around the wicket, veteran seamer Stuart Broad fired a short delivery at the body which Harris looked to pull through square leg.

But the left-hander only managed to get a glove on the ball, which flew between Buttler and a leg slip.

The gloveman dived to his right, claiming the catch a full stretch horizontal to the turf.

Harris was gone for 3, and the Aussies were 1 for 4 in the eighth over.

The battle we’ve all been waiting for

The second Test is underway, and it only took one over before Stuart Broad got his first look at David Warner, who is nursing a rib injury he sustained in Brisbane.

Broad terrorised the Australian opener during the 2019 Ashes, dismissing the left-hander on seven occasions in the five-match series.

And the veteran seamer thought he had his man straight away, trapping Warner on the leg with his first delivery of the series.

The umpire was unmoved at the non-striker’s end, and England captain Joe Root elected not to call for the review. Replays suggested the ball would have bounced over the stumps.

Stump mics captured the moment Broad asked Warner: “What guard are you taking? Still batting on off stump?”

Soon after in the sixth over of the day, Broad struck Marcus Harris on the pad and the umpire on this occasion raised the dreaded finger.

The Australian opener called for the review, and Hawkeye replays suggested the Kookaburra would have missed leg stump.

Harris lives to survive another day.

Barmy Army’s classy response to Cummins rumour

After it was confirmed that Cummins would miss the second Test, internet sleuths set about uncovering the identity of the person who had tested positive to Covid-19.

Some cricket fans theorised that the Barmy Army had planted a Covid-19 positive person in the restaurant next to Cummins to cause disarray in the Australian camp.

But the Barmy Army were quick to laugh off the rumour, offering their best wishes to the Australian Test captain.

“Stay safe Pat, see you in Melbourne,” they posted on Twitter.

Meanwhile, veteran seamer Stuart Broad has been presented his 150th Test cap, meaning he will play in the day-night Test.

England will play a five-man pace attack for the Adelaide Test, with Broad and James Anderson replacing Mark Wood and spinner Jack Leach in the starting XI.

Neser the big winner as Test debut finally arrives

Steve Smith will captain the Australian Test side for the first time since the infamous ball-tampering saga in Cape Town nearly four years ago while Travis Head, who was not in the Australian starting XI two Test matches ago, will serve as vice-captain.

Queensland seamer Michael Neser will make his Test debut at Adelaide Oval, replacing Cummins in the starting XI for the pink-ball fixture.

Neser has been on the verge of a Test debut for several years since he was named in the Australian squad for a two-match tour of the United Arab Emirates in 2018.

He has been 12th man on 16 occasions and was the only member of the Test squad not to feature in the 2019 Ashes series, where the Australians employed a rotation policy for its bowlers.

On Wednesday, national selectors elected for West Australian seamer Jhye Richardson to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood.

Neser had days earlier claimed impressive match figures of 7/65 against the England Lions, but it wasn’t enough to force his way into the starting XI.

But after years of patiently waiting on the sidelines, it took an eleventh-hour Covid-19 scare for Neser to finally get an opportunity at Test level.

“Gutted to miss this Test but really excited to see Neser finally get his chance in the baggy green,” Cummins tweeted on Thursday morning.

“He has done the hard yards and is a seriously skilful player. Super frustrating but Covid has thrown us all some curve balls over the last couple of years. Will be cheering along!”

ABC’s Chris Rowbottom reported that Victorian quick Scott Boland had been rushed to Adelaide and will be on standby, although he is expected to serve as 12th man.

This will be third consecutive Test match that Australia has used a different captain, the first time it has happened since 1956/57.

‘Very lucky’: Covid-19 scare could have been so much worse

The Australian cricket team could consider itself lucky that Cummins was the only casualty of Thursday morning’s Covid-19 saga.

As revealed by Cricket Australia, bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were dining at the same restaurant as the Test captain on Wednesday evening.

The duo were dining at a separate table that was outdoors, and SA Health therefore deemed them to be casual contacts, rather than close contacts. Starc and Lyon were therefore free to play in the Adelaide Test.

Speaking on SEN, cricket reporter Peter Lalor said the Australians were “very lucky” Starc and Lyon would be able to play.

Australian XI: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head (vc), Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon

England XI: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes

Michael Neser will make his Test debut at Adelaide Oval. Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images
Michael Neser will make his Test debut at Adelaide Oval. Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images
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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/second-ashes-test-live-big-winner-after-pat-cummins-ruled-out-by-covid19/news-story/5cf4665af6d2a4db8d714ad7c1a06689