England appear to be heading towards their second best day of the Ashes so far.
If the first day of the First Test in Perth was a false dawn, the first day of the Third Test at the Adelaide Oval is beginning to resemble the first shoots of recovery.
Australia suffered a blow before the start of play when star batsman Steve Smith was ruled out because of concussion issues but when returning skipper Pat Cummins won the toss, the fear was that England were set for a long and punishing day in the field.
SMITH REPLACEMENT STEPS UP
The drama started before a ball had been bowled on Wednesday morning. Rumours began to spread about an hour before the game that Smith, who had captained the team in the first two Tests, might be ruled out at the last minute because of a concussion issue.
Smith was seen soon afterwards, walking disconsolately across the outfield. Cricket Australia released a statement saying that Smith had been suffering from ‘vestibular’ problems – issues with balance and dizziness – and that he had been replaced by Usman Khawaja.
Any thoughts that might tip the game in England’s favour were dispelled when Khawaja played some beautiful shots in the course of a fine innings of 82.
Usman Khawaja stepped up in the absence of Steve Smith for Australia in Adelaide
TRUE BLUE TRIBUTE
There was a moving tribute to the victims of the Bondi Beach terrorist atrocity before play on Wednesday. Australian singer John Williamson performed True Blue as a tribute to the 15 people killed at a Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, a song that sought to underline the message on the big screens at the Adelaide Oval that ‘We Stand Together’.
True Blue is a term used to describe someone authentically Australian, embodying values of mateship and resilience. ‘True Blue, is it me and you?’ the song ends.
‘Is it Mum and Dad, is it a cockatoo? Is it standing by your mate when he’s in a fight? Or she’ll be right? True Blue… True Blue.’
BROOK’S COSTLY MISTAKE
England took some fine catches during the first two sessions but the demons of Brisbane – where they dropped five chances in the Australia first innings – still returned to haunt them.
Harry Brook put down a sharp chance to dismiss Khawaja at second slip off the bowling of Josh Tongue. Khawaja had scored five at the time. It was a costly error.
Harry Brook put down a chance to get rid of Khawaja and England were punished
PLENTY OF GREEN
Australia all-rounder Cameron Green became the IPL’s most expensive overseas player ever when the Kolkata Knight Riders paid more than £2m for him at the league’s auction on Tuesday.
Maybe the Knight Riders would have been a little more modest in their spending if they had waited to see the first day’s play at Adelaide unfold: Green was out for a second ball duck in the Third Test.
WORST SHOT OF THE ASHES
There has been some stiff competition, particularly from England’s top order, but Marnus Labuschagne’s tame chip to Brydon Carse at midwicket the first ball after lunch, has to be the worst shot of this Ashes series so far.
After two matches where all of England has bemoaned the irresponsibility of our batting, this was a day when Australia threw away their wickets with merry abandon.
Marnus Labuschagne looks disconsolate after getting out with a dreadful shot
LYON LIONISED
There was much debate and much surprise in Brisbane when Australia spinner Nathan Lyon was left out of the starting line-up for the Second Test. But not only was Lyon recalled for the Third Test, he was honoured before the start of the game on Wednesday morning.
Lyon was a groundsman at the Adelaide Oval in his youth and started his Sheffield Shield career with South Australia before moving to New South Wales.
He celebrated his return to the starting XI by being immortalised with a citation on the ground’s Avenue of Honour alongside Don Bradman, Shane Warne and Mitchell Johnson on the outer wall of the Chappell Stand.
Lyon may yet burnish his reputation in the next few days. The early signs are that the pitch is taking spin.
BEST PLACE TO WATCH CRICKET?
I sat with a couple of friends on the hill at the Cathedral End for a while during the afternoon session.
It’s one of the most beautiful places to watch a game of cricket at one of the best grounds in the world at one of the biggest occasions in the sport. Their tickets cost them $20 each. Fifa would be aghast.
LEANING OVER THE ABYSS – NO THANKS
Visiting journalists were offered the opportunity to experience the RoofClimb at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. The views from the top of the cantilever stands, out towards the Adelaide Hills, are breathtaking.
There are so many spires it is easier to understand why it is called the City of Churches. I sat in the seats on the lip of the roof of the Riverside Stand, perched precariously around 150ft above the ground. It costs $265, approximately £130, to book a half-hour slot to watch the Test from up there.
We were also offered the chance to do what is called a ‘lean-out’ at the top of the stand, which entails standing with your back to the chasm below and, attached by your harness to railings, leaning out over the abyss. I declined that opportunity.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
I fulfilled a long-standing ambition this week by going inside the famous scoreboard at the Adelaide Oval, built in 1911 and still standing as one of the most beautiful edifices in sport.
The scoreboard is one of three protected aspects of this lovely ground: the others are the hill at the Cathedral End and the oak trees and fig trees that stand behind it.
The oaks were planted to stop fans getting a free view from nearby Montefiore Hill. But then fans started climbing the trees to watch the game instead.
SALT AND PEPPER
This has very little to do with the Third Test but it is, nevertheless, worth recording a happy cricketing coincidence that occurred when the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders played the Desert Vipers in an International League T20 contest at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Tuesday. Opening the batting for the Knight Riders were Phil Salt and Michael Pepper.