Key events
WICKET! Smith c Carey b Cummins 22 (England 159-6)
Snicko takes centre stage again as Jamie Smith pulls at a shorter delivery from Pat Cummins and the ball carries to Alex Carey behind the stumps. The umpire prepares to give it out but wants the third umpire to check whether the ball carried. This time, it clearly did. There is a noise, and a spike on Snicko, but – just as we saw yesterday – the video and audio don’t quite match up. Smith is sent on his way and England, led by Ben Stokes, are not happy.
45th over: England 159-5 (Stokes 28, Smith 22) England have found it difficult to deal with Green’s bounce from back of a length since tea but Smith finds an answer as he gets on the front foot to slog over midwicket for four. Stokes adds another boundary with a stylish square drive.
44th over: England 150-5 (Stokes 24, Smith 17) SIX! Smith lifts Cummins over the boundary as he finally begins to settle into his innings. But, next delivery, Smith is almost gone as he lifts his hands to fend away a shorter ball that takes a deflection and pops up towards Khawaja at slip. Khawaja isn’t sure whether the ball carried – and replays suggest that it didn’t. The third umpire is relieved from making a decision over whether the ball struck bat, helmet, or both on its way through. That’s the second very close call behind the stumps that has left the Australians frustrated after Joe Root survived an earlier, similar appeal.
43rd over: England 143-5 (Stokes 24, Smith 10) Green to Stokes and the all-rounder is forcing the England captain to play even when he’d prefer not to off an awkward length. Stokes resists anything short until the last delivery when he gets into position to hook but pulls out of the shot at the last second – another sign of his intentions with 24 runs coming from 90 balls, and only two boundaries, so far. Maiden.
42nd over: England 143-5 (Stokes 24, Smith 10) Smith swings hard at a fuller delivery pitched outside off-stump, and a thick edge takes the ball well wide of Labuschagne at second slip on its way to the rope. Stokes adds a much more controlled boundary with a crunching drive through cover – opening up for his first runs after being tied down for 27 deliveries.
Ben Barclay gets the creative juices flowing with a loose reference to Bob Dylan: “I tuned into the Guardian ‘over by over’ report, to read Brook c Carey b Green 45 England 127 -5, and suggest: ‘Its all over now, by over’ report, or perhaps ‘its all over now, baby blue, by over’.
“It would be a lot more entertaining to see these two very good teams battle it out, but England often spoil the fun by beating themselves before the Aussies even can.”
As ever with this England outfit, the risk is that by focusing on their failings it is all too easy to undersell the opposition’s performance. The Australia bowlers have mostly impressed today, and made the most of understanding the conditions.
41st over: England 132-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 5) Cameron Green might be causing concern with the bat, and been underutilised with the ball, but he practically demands to continue after tea after a couple of threatening overs before the break. Stokes plays only when required in another maiden.
40th over: England 132-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 5) Jamie Smith is happy to duck and weave around anything short but is forced to press forward at the final delivery of the over. An outside edge falls short of Labuschagne at second slip to end a maiden over.
Pat Cummins has been one Australia player to spend time off the field during the previous session, but is back now and at the top of his mark with Jamie Smith on strike.
Peter seems to be searching for small wins: “Did I hear correctly, are there 3 subs on at the moment? Is this due to the conditions, if you’re not sure perhaps you could ask Ricky Ponting on his views.”
The temperatures have been above 40C in Adelaide, so perhaps the bowlers and fielders are looking for any excuse to take a break, while the batters are of course left to sweat it out in the middle. Certainly one to keep an eye on over the next two-and-a-bit hours of play.
Prateek is up at the crack of dawn in India to “watch Bazball finally dog it out on perhaps the best batting conditions of the series (at least the pundits seem to think so).”
“Ever since Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket, I’ve been a Ben Stokes advocate. He … just finds himself all alone, and it’s sad to say, that perhaps among all the English bats in this series, he’s been perhaps the most clear in his approach, even though the scores don’t signal that way. I fear that the last two Tests might be just the last rites of the fun ride that was Bazball.”
Australia take two wickets in the second session at Adelaide Oval and they could hardly have been bigger with Joe Root dismissed not long after lunch and Harry Brook sent on his way in sight of tea. England put on 73 runs in between the two breaks but will have their work cut out trying just to bat through the last session. Nathan Lyon is bowling with his tail up – and surely with a point to prove – while an under-fire Cameron Green looked as threatening as anyone during his brief cameo that ended Harry Brook’s knock.
England captain Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith will be back on the field shortly but in the meantime here are what some of our readers are thinking …
Tea: Australia lead by 239 runs
39th over: England 132-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 5) Green digs into the pitch with the ball rising off the back of a length and Smith unable to keep down a defensive prod. The edge flies wide of Inglis in the gully who dives and gets a hand to it – that was the toughest of chances, but you do expect to see them held in that part of the field. Stokes finishes the over – and session – with the tightest of leaves. England head to tea still trailing by 239 with half of their wickets already done and dusted.
38th over: England 127-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 0) Lyon to Stokes with Australian fielders crowding the bat on the offside on the brink of the teabreak. The England captain is hobbling around, likely with cramp, but is too quick to take his guard and Australia will get another over at Smith.
37th over: England 127-5 (Stokes 19, Smith 0) Green gets the breakthrough as the Brook-Stokes partnership ends at 56 runs. Jamie Smith comes to the crease after scoring only 52 runs in four innings across the opening two Tests, and is very nearly gone without adding to that tally. Much the same delivery that sent Brook packing almost lures Smith into a nick to Alex Carey, but the right-hander fails to even make fleeting contact. A hugely impressive first over of the day from the Australian all-rounder, just a no-ball and wicket coming from it.
WICKET! Brook c Carey b Green 45 (England 127-5)
Cameron Green is thrown the ball for the first time at Adelaide Oval and takes only three deliveries to silence at least some of his critics. Seam up, an awkward length, movement away from the right-hander, and Brook can’t get his bat out of the way in time as he half-heartedly plays and edges behind.
36th over: England 126-4 (Brook 45, Stokes 19) Snicko is called into action and this time does its thing! Lyon pushes the ball behind Brook as the right-hander can’t help but chase it and Australia rise as one to appeal for caught behind. The finger is raised before Brook reviews immediately – and replays show any sound came after the ball was well past the bat and on the way to clipping the thigh pad. Brook – and perhaps Snicko – survive, but Lyon looks threatening.
35th over: England 125-4 (Brook 44, Stokes 19) Australia set a field for Brook suited to short-pitched bowling. The right-hander controls a pull shot through square leg where Cummins – he’s back on the field – limits England to a single. Starc ends the over getting the ball to nip back into Stokes – perhaps a first sign of reverse swing.
34th over: England 124-4 (Brook 43, Stokes 19) Stokes clips Lyon off his pads through midwicket for a couple before the off-spinner finds a testing line targeting the left-hander’s off-stump. The rise in volume and frequency of Marnus Labuschagne’s chatter might be a sign of Australia recognising that this partnership is threatening to get out of hand.
33rd over: England 122-4 (Brook 43, Stokes 17) Mitchell Starc takes over from Scott Boland and unusually, for this series at least, is still without a wicket to his name even as England push into three figures. Harry Brook looks increasingly comfortable and brings up the 50-run partnership with Stokes with a slashing cut shot to the boundary.
32nd over: England 116-4 (Brook 38, Stokes 16) Nathan Lyon takes the ball with Pat Cummins taking a breather off the field. Brook angles the face of his bat to pick up a pair of singles behind square leg, while in between Stokes drives for one. The England captain could do with turning over the strike more and getting Brook on strike as much as possible at the moment.
The drinks break in Adelaide has given Brian Withington time to let his mind wander far and wide towards a hopeful query: “Call me an optimistic cynically naive old git, but I’m sensing some signs of recovery here. Brook looking very determined, Stokes obdurate, the wicket flat and the sun bleedin’ hot. What can go wrong?”
31st over: England 113-4 (Brook 36, Stokes 15) Boland leaked 24 runs from his previous three overs as Brook in particular set out to target the Australia quick. A tighter line ties down the England right-hander this time, until he ends the over easing a single to deep point. That’ll be drinks – the second of the session with the mercury rising beyond 40C in Adelaide.
30th over: England 112-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 15) Brook punches Cummins down the ground for a single to leave Stokes with four deliveries to face. The England captain has no interest in playing at anything short or outside off before Cummins finishes his over and immediately leaves the field.
29th over: England 111-4 (Brook 34, Stokes 15) SIX! Harry Brook can only deny his natural instincts for so long as he charges Scott Boland and carves a drive beyond deep cover and over the rope. The right-hander comfortably picks up a pair of twos on either side of the wicket. A promising over for England, 13 runs from it, as they seem to be going after Boland.
28th over: England 98-4 (Brook 23, Stokes 13) Pat Cummins returns with Ben Stokes on strike. That tale of course comes with plenty of history, often with the Australian captain in the ascendancy. But there is no way through Stokes’ determined defence this time. A maiden over.
Martin Pegan
Thanks Rob, for steering us through a session-and-a-half that often felt like a snapshot of the series so far. Stop me if it feels like you’ve heard this one before … Australia’s tail lifted the hosts closer to – but still short of – what past players and pundits have insisted would be a reasonable first-innings total at Adelaide Oval. Then, even after their own predictably fast start, England soon gave up any perceived advantage as they suffered a top-order collapse with three wickets falling for a mere five runs. For all the talk about how much this surface might favour the batters, and the old adage not to judge a pitch until both sides have taken their turn to swing the willow, half of the dismissals have come through catches in front of the wicket. Quality bowling? At times. Poor shot selection? Absolutely.
England now have little choice but to dig in and can at least cling to some hope of reaching Australia’s 371 with Ben Stokes still at the crease, while dreaming of Harry Brook partnering his captain well into the afternoon. I’ll be with you until stumps – please do get involved with an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X.
Rob Smyth
27th over: England 98-4 (Brook 22, Stokes 13) Boland drifts onto the pads of Stokes, who tucks him through midwicket for three, and then Brook squirts wide of gully for a couple.
It’s time for me to hand over to Martin Pegan for the rest of the day. Thanks for your company and emails; see you tomorrow.
26th over: England 92-4 (Brook 20, Stokes 10) Lyon gets a bit of turn to Brook, who inside-edges into the leg side. One from the over.
“Let’s take a minute to celebrate this Australian team as a team and as a collection of individuals,” write Felix Wood. “They’ve gone about their business this series – ignored the noise and trusting each other that one or other of their mates will always stick their hand up.
“For England, I’m not really sure where they go from here, but I think the situation they’ve got themselves in over the No3 slot, where the incumbent is clearly not up for it but they’ve pre-crowned his successor when he’s clearly not ready and possibly will never be suitable sort of sums it up.
“I hope though how it’s ending doesn’t make people forget how fun Bazball was for a while – nor that before it England were just as frustrating to watch, equally prone to collapse and frozen in fear to boot.”
25th over: England 91-4 (Brook 19, Stokes 10) Boland comes on for Starc and puts a long-off in place for Brook, who works a simple single into the leg side. Brook promised to rein it in and so far he’s done exactly that, with just one boundary and lots of singles. And he’s still scoring at a strike rate of 76.
Stokes gets his first boundary with a beautiful off-drive, a shot he played so often during his memorable maiden Test hundred at Perth 12 years ago.
24th over: England 86-4 (Brook 18, Stokes 6) “Awwww that’s close to pad first!” shouts Labuschagne when Stokes defends a ball from Lyon on leg stump. Stokes is almost strokeless, particularly against Lyon, and has 6 from 33 balls. That scoring rate would be a concern for most England players, but we’ve seen Stokes do this many times before, most notably at Headingley in 2019.
23rd over: England 85-4 (Brook 17, Stokes 6) Starc is consistently bowling around 90-92 mph, which is some going for a 35-year-old in 39-degree heat.
22.2 overs: England 83-4 (Brook 16, Stokes 5) Stokes turns his back on a perfectly pitched short ball from Starc that hits him on the back of the helmet. Starc asks Stokes if he’s okay, Stokes nods and the physio comes on to check for concussion. He’s OK to continue.