Didn’t know we had another two-day affair of Test Cricket also between England v Australia with the same fast wicket this time during the annual Boxing Day Match at the MCG in Melbourne.
Wickets fall faster than trying to make a big statement with the bat on hand dominated by both teams.
But at least we still had a winner of that Kookaburra Ball going the other way to England whose win in Australia was a long time coming since January 7, 2011.
Make sure you check Sports Benches for your GH weekly recap content every weekend with sports still plays on with our current summer series going into January.
Day 1
Brilliant to see England back up their winning toss with the decision to bowl first.
Can’t believe they’ve cleared out these 11 Aussie decks so fast for 155 with the resurgent quick Josh Tongue leading the way (and a 5fer too) in such overcast and clear UK-like conditions at the MCG.
It suits them very well every time they play their own cricket like this during the Northern Summer across the UK.
That doesn’t mean England were guaranteed to lead out in front just yet when they too had their first go with the willow but then England got completely decimated also quick-smart by just 110.
Like Tongue, we got a standout star of own who just came back but don’t forget he’s someone who can bat a bit though by none other than Michael Neser in place for Pat Cummins.
Day 2
Day 1 going into Day 2 saw Australia currently at 4/0 with a 46 run lead.
Unfortunately, that fast MCG pitch saw Australia being dragged to England’s lips once again this time all out for 132 with 175 run chase to come for England.
Not even Travis Head’s okay 2nd innings shift would escape the ever reliable Bryson Carse who didn’t hesitate dismantling these Australian tail-enders with a 4fer recorded to his name.
And yes like the Previous Test, we did see a great battle towards the checkered flag between the bat v ball.
At the end of the day, bat has won over ball past 175 (178/6) for England by four wickets.
It was crucial but well-stated by Zak Crawley’s stable approach along with Ben Duckett who was able to rebound following a series of poor form that inspired confidence for England’s opening pair.
We also saw Jacob Bethell’s future-proofed run getaway that is more like Ben Stokes but top-order at 3 for 41 before Harry Brook brought home winning runs whose batting form in the middle order (at No.5) was okay with consistent 40s. Look out for him next Test.
Post-Game Summary
For those who didn’t like the Channel Nine commentary team during their final years before they switched to Tennis back in 2018, this & this when it comes to the current state of Test Cricket has justified Nine’s decision to go with better summer sports product than Cricket.
It’s not like the 1990s and 2000s when Test Matches regularly lasted close to full five days before T20s came in and now they dominate the game both from a financial and workload view while Tests finish faster than expected.
Cricket will always continue on the history of Nine’s Wide World of Sports and not an employee there but that’s life.
At the end of the day, it’s all about the climate being judged across every sport instead of simply judging on-air talent.
Obviously more questions than answers as to how we can promote Tests going forward since they very rarely last full five days but yeah, everyone isn’t happy.
Other than that, Australia were not the same without the injured Nathan Lyon when a replacement like-for-like spinner would’ve helped.
Going for all-out attack wasn’t the best idea with some top batters & all-rounders were still poor unfortunately as expect 1-2 changes in the hope of wrapping this five-match contest by 4-1.
England, meanwhile, they’re all good right now with their starting XI.
But you never know if they do wish to give a front-line spinner like Shoaib Bashir a go to showcase his own magic at a spinning-led track in Sydney. That means Gus Atkinson would have to make way where he was okay mainly as a quick but not like New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Anything can happen by January 8 but we still got one more Test nonetheless before we head off to Melbourne Park for the Australian Open (Tennis) later next month.
