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Test Cricket News, Australia on a roll after Day 1 on 61-1 at the MCG having bowled England all out for 185 in the 3rd Test

by Sports Benches

Well done to Australia on Day 1 at the MCG when they successfully done the damage after tea that ended England’s 1st innings total of 185 as they are on 61-1 at stumps with a 124 run trail behind them ahead of Day 2 tomorrow.

It’s great to see Scott Boland secure his maiden Test wicket in addition to two brilliant catches down at the rope, while Mitchell Starc scared off Bairstow that scooped straight to Cameron Green’s hands at gully before Nathan Lyon completed the remaining England tail-enders of Jack Leach & Ollie Robinson.

Looking at the bat now & it’s nice to see David Warner scoring quickfire runs but disappointed not to continue on 38 when he was caught by Zak Crawley off Jimmy Anderson, Marcus Harris is also making good progress despite having yet to score big in this Ashes Series as he hopes to prove selectors that he deserves to stay by scoring a ton tomorrow in front of his home crowd. And we’ll see what their nightwatchmen Nathan Lyon has something to offer with the bat before the top-order options come in & help Australia produce a big innings total than England.

Meanwhile at the England camp, Jonny Bairstow did his best to stay in there on 35 before he was so vulnerable by Starc that sent him back upstairs. We also saw Ollie Robinson & Jack Leach score some handy runs while it lasted, but England were already in a bad state anyway as they need their bowlers to produce the magic tomorrow like Jimmy Anderson did with Warner not long before stumps.

Getting rid of these dangermen early like Labuschagne, Steve Smith, etc could mean a lifeline for their Top 6 batsmen to rebound in the 2nd innings especially with a few changes at Opening & Middle-Order spots that will be tested once again to handle the Australian bowlers.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #Australia #England #MelbourneCricketGround #MarcusHarris #DavidWarner #ScottBoland #NathanLyon #MitchellStarc #JimmyAnderson #JonnyBairstow #OllieRobinson #JackLeach

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Test Cricket News, England may have stayed in there but not for long as Australia continued to pile a few wickets in the middle session on Day 1

by Sports Benches

It’s been a quiet middle session mightily for England when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow hung in there to block & score some runs on the board but Stokes couldn’t execute that ramp shot over the rope as he was caught by Nathan Lyon at gully for 25.

The same goes for Joe Root who reached his test 50 after a great spell in the middle but got caught straight away when his head was not in-line & edged it to Alex Carey’s keeping gloves.

And while Australia’s momentum wasn’t the same after lunch, they saw Mitchell Starc & Cameron Green share the two wickets off Root & Stokes respectively before Nathan Lyon became the standout star when he caught Stokes at gully before he made Jos Buttler (3) mis-timed that loft drive to Scott Boland at deep square leg on the last ball of this session.

Score at Tea: England 128-6

All England can do now is gotta keep staying in there & block the good balls out with Bairstow on 21* with Mark Wood to come ahead of Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach & James Anderson while Australia hopes to finish off the England tail end before they can begin batting towards the end of Day 1 today.

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Test Cricket News, Pat Cummins’s return to the Australian Test team on a flyer this morning with three wickets v England

by Sports Benches

Great start by the Aussies at the MCG with skipper Pat Cummins back on the field after a short time in quarantine and smashing it with all three of England’s wickets so far this morning, love the way he produced some brilliant speed that matches with the line & areas which knicked the opposition straight into the slips & keeper.

Meanwhile, Joe Root needs his help to turn England’s poor AM start around after lunch when both openers (Haseeb Hameed & Zak Crawley) were gone cheaply with no idea to stop Cummins as well as Dawid Malan who was out a while ago on 14 as he was disappointed not to make up a big score in this 1st innings run.

All eyes on Ben Stokes to smash it big including Jonny Bairstow & Jos Buttler next in-line for England, while Australia let’s hope that Cummins continues his strong start alongside some support from the other quicks and spinner Nathan Lyon.

Score: England 61/3

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Test Cricket News, Australia kept most of the winning crop with Pat Cummins back & Scott Boland on Test debut at 32

by Sports Benches

Australia hopes to go one better at the Melbourne Cricket Ground & retain the Urn having won the first two tests with three matches to go in the 2021-22 Ashes Series.

It’s good that they have kept most of the winning crop in their starting XI such as David Warner in the opening spot as well as a strong top and middle order arsenal that begins with Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green (Seam All-Rounder) and Alex Carey (Keeper).

Although Marcus Harris retained the other opening spot with Warner who hasn’t found the decent numbers delivered so far, but I think it’s his make or break opportunity to thrive at his home ground in Melbourne and if doesn’t even if Australia won then it may be good time to change a different opener for the New Year’s Test in Sydney.

Then we can talk about the bowlers where Australia made two changes with Pat Cummins back for Michael Neser at 8, now it’s a tough call when Neser did very well on his unexpected Test debut in Adelaide last week at age 31 but there’s Cummins is an extremely important member of the Baggy Green side especially when he was just given the captaincy after Tim Paine resigned to take a break so Neser had to go.

Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon stays on who hopes to continue their strong start & inflict more damage to England’s batting card. And Scott Boland makes his Test debut at age 32 in place of Jhye Richardson which is a breakthrough moment for him at his home ground.

Brilliant start from Pat Cummins by the way with both of England’s openers upon his return from isolation as Australia hopes to break the partnership of Joe Root & Dawid Malan ASAP with England 35-2.

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Test Cricket News, England make four changes to their XI in the 3rd Ashes Test of 2021-22 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

by Sports Benches

England made four changes to their XI ahead of the third test today at the Melbourne Cricket Ground v Australia.

Happy to see Rory Burns replaced by Zak Crawley after an unfortunate first two tests, it’s not just the mediocre batting numbers but he also paid the price for poor fielding too. Meanwhile, Haseeb Hameed stayed on despite plenty of fans suggesting that he should be joining Burns towards the chop, but at least Hameed scored a couple of okay double-digit scores & deserves to be tested with a different opening partnership of Crawley.

No need to change the top-order pair that worked so well in skipper Joe Root & Dawid Malan as they hope to make up damage to the Aussies, but hopefully the promotion of Ben Stokes at 5 would help England at least deliver them a century or two in order to stay in contention.

Jonny Bairstow in for Ollie Pope at 6, who hopes to be an upgrade to help stretch England’s run chase as Pope may have fired off well in the 1st Test at The Gabba but couldn’t keep it consistent ever since which saw him walk out the door. And let’s hope that Jos Buttler continues where he left off from the 2nd innings in Adelaide last week by hanging in there & blocking out these good balls but he’s also under pressure to improve his catching behind the keeping gloves too.

Ollie Robinson stays at No.8 who continues to shine with the ball and can bat a bit, while Stuart Broad’s return last week in Adelaide didn’t help much for England despite a fantastic 1st innings v Australia’s batting so they got Mark Wood back in his place at 9. Now it’s kinda harsh to pull the plug on Chris Woakes on this one when he too showed some late form with the bat on 44 & should’ve replaced Robinson at 8 but he hasn’t done much with the ball though as England opted for a frontline spinner in Jack Leach & James Anderson retains his spot at No.11.

Both openers are unfortunately gone early just a while ago with Root & Malan up to the task to turn England’s poor start around as they are 35-2.

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