[Cricket] World Test XI

[Gwylan]

It’s Lillee from the Birmingham end after tea and Stokes is playing within himself – that’s a maiden.
Warne to continue from the Pavilion end and that’s a bit loose, helped around the corner by Hammond and they run three.

England 77-4 (Hammond 29 Stokes 15) overs 27

 

[Gwylan]

It’s been quiet since tea: Warne and Lillee have bowled between them and the batsmen are playing pretty comfortably - Hammond has unfurled his classic cover drive against Lillee and Stokes has swung Warne away through mid-wicket but the rest of the time they've been content with singles.

England 95-4 (Hammond 35 Stokes 27) overs 34

 

[Gwylan]

Warne in again to Stokes and that’s driven superbly for four. Stokes has had enough now and brings up the 100 by smashing it into the crowd at cow corner – that’s the first six of the day. Stokes is in the zone now and aims for the top tier at long on but he doesn’t time it and it flies at comfortable head height to Bradman at mid-on.

England 105-5 (Stokes c Bradman b Warne 37)

 

[Gwylan]

That was a completely unnecessary shot – England are still trailing here. Now, has Botham brought his sensible head: it looks like it as he blocks out the rest of Warne’s over.
Thomson replaces Lillee and that’s a fast ball that rises to Hammond’s hip- that’s deftly played for a single. Botham likes the look of Thomson and after a sighter, smashes it through mid-wicket for four.

England 110-5 (Hammond 36 Botham 4) overs 36

 

[Gwylan]

Warne in to Hammond again and he blocks a couple, is beaten by one that turns. Hammond pushes a single and Botham follows suit.
Thomson is building up a head of steam now and sends one past Botham’s head. And that beats him all ends up. Not that one though, it’s short and hooked away by Botham – England one stroke away from overtaking Australia’s score. And Botham tries to do this in one shot but has made an awful mess of it – it’s short, Botham tries to swing it away and gets a top edge and goes down Lillee’s throat at long leg.

England 116-6 (Botham c Lillee b Thomson 9 Hammond 37 Prior 0) overs 38

 

[jakarta]

England get 150, I'll be Happy.
England get 200, Very Happy.
England get 250, Ecstatic.

Surely the Aussies can't bat as poorly again in the Second Innings?

 

[Gwylan]

Unbelievably, England are still behind Australia’s score – all hopes of a long bat into tomorrow afternoon are gone. These two really need to knuckle down. The wicket has calmed down now – Stokes and Botham were both out to poor shots rather than any demons in the pitch
If Prior has been told to bat sensibly, he hasn’t listened. Hammond takes a single off the first ball and Prior has a wild yahoo at the next ball, he misses it and it only just misses the wicket, he sweeps fine the next ball and gathers two – the scores are level
Hammond comes down the wicket to have a chat with Prior – these two really need to bat sensibly.

 

[Gwylan]

Thomson steams in to Hammond, who gets right in line and plays him straight. A single off the last ball and he steals the strike. That’s the lead.
England 120-6 (Hammond 39 Prior 2) overs 40

 

[Gwylan]

Hammond comes down the pitch to Warne and steers him wide of mid-on for two. He pushes a single into the covers and Prior helps himself to one
Oh, that’s a shot – a crashing square drive off Thomson and then a neat clip to mid-wicket. That’s a drinks break

England 129-6 (Hammond 42 Prior 8) overs 42

 

[Gwylan]

Prior faces Warne and there’s a bit of nervousness here as he fails to pick the googly but that’s swept for two and a nicely driven for one.
And he’s well in line against Thomson, he pushes one and Hammond flicks one to long leg

England 134-6 (Hammond 43 Prior 12) overs 44

 

[Gwylan]

There’s been solid play off the last few overs – they’ve taken no risks against some tight bowling.
England 149-6 (Hammond 49 Prior 20) overs 52

 

[jakarta]

Easing away, hang in there until Stumps and take a fresh guard tomorrow.

 

[Gwylan]

Warne to Prior and that’s some aggression, he’s down the wicket and smacking it to long-on for four – that’s the 150 up.
He sweeps a single . And Hammond reaches his 50 with a lovely cover drive for two – this has been a good innings, holding his side together.
Miller’s back for Thomson and that’s short and it’s hammered by Prior to the mid-wicket boundary. And Prior gets on top of that for two more. Oh, that’s sharp, it glances off Prior’s shoulder and speeds its way to the boundary for four leg byes – that’s the 50 partnership.
Prior’s in the mood now and smashes at the next ball but he catches the bottom of the bat and only succeeds in spooning it to Ponting at mid-off

England 166-7 Prior c Ponting b Miller 31 Hammond 51 Larwood 0) overs 54

 

[Gwylan]

That was reckless by Prior – there are only four overs left tonight. Hammond plays Warne carefully and takes a single off the fourth ball. There could be some fireworks from Larwood but he sees out the over

 

[Gwylan]

Hammond treats Miller with some respect, the field is spread out and there’s a single anywhere. There’s a gap there between point and third man: Hammond plays it with soft hands and they run a sharp two but he fails to get a single to take Larwood off strike.

England 169-7 (Hammond 54 Larwood 0) overs 56

 

[Gwylan]

Is Larwood going to play this safe? Is he heck as like. He steps back and cracks Warne away for four and that’s a lovely single, nicely placed in the gap. And Hammond gets an edge and a rather streaky one off the last ball.
Miller to bowl the last over and Hammond takes no risks. He blocks every ball until the last one, it catches the edge and flies through the gap – the field has come in to prevent the single and it’s four more.

Close: England 179-7 (Hammond 59 Larwood 5) overs 58

 

[Gwylan]

What a day – 17 wickets fall in one day. We’ve seen some magnificent bowling from Botham and Lillee, a classy innings from Trumper and a dogged one from Hammond (with good support from Hobbs, Stokes and Prior).

England have a lead of 60 – which may be invaluable on a low-scoring pitch like this But there’s always the Bradman factor, the chances of his failing twice are as about as likely as Katie Price refusing a spread in Hello magazine. What does tomorrow bring?

 

[jakarta]

That was a days Test Cricket, slightly sunburned and also a little pissed as I get on the Train back to Sussex.

I think we must be ahead (not only on the scoreboard but psychologically) but would have thought our First Innings can't last too long tomorrow morning.

Aussies are like cockroaches, you think you have obliterated them but they crawl back from somewhere...

Oh - can we have end of day Scorecard?

 

[jakarta]

Bounce and another request for yesterdays Scorecard?

 

[Gwylan]

England
Cook lbw b Lillee 6
Hobbs lbw b Miller 23
Gower c Gilchrist b Lillee 0
Compton b Lillee 0
Hammond not out 59
Stokes c Bradman b Warne 37
Botham c Lillee b Thomson 9
Prior c Ponting b Miller 31
Larwood not out 5
Extras 9
Total 179-7

Bowling
Lillee 13 2 33 3
Thomson 13 1 31 1
Miller 12 1 37 2
Warne 20 1 68 1