Ashes 2017-18: Australia v England second Test, day two – live!

From an Australian perspective the story of the opening day was one of false starts with David Warner, Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja all getting in before getting out. Khawaja in particular will rue the missed opportunity to cement his status as his side’s number three, as Adam Collins discusses.

One of the most notable elements of the Adelaide Test is the festival feel of the place for the five days. Around the beautiful arena there are myriad hospitality options patronised by thousands of fans who make the pilgrimage as much for the event as the cricket. It’s a summer celebration for South Australia like a day at the races or an enormous fete. And they do it so well, promoting the region superbly as a tourist destination and source of incredible produce. If you ever get the chance to go, take it. It’s a sporting occasion worthy of the hype.

The star of day one for England was arguably Craig Overton. The Somerset seamer received his maiden England cap from John Embury before play and went on to snare the hitherto immovable Steve Smith as his first Test wicket. Not a bad day’s work.

Hello and thank you for joining us for live OBO coverage of day two of the second Ashes Test from Adelaide Oval.

At 209-4 Australia have their noses in front – just – following an engrossing first day’s play featuring a controversial toss call, plenty of niggle, some unwelcome showers, and no shortage of excellent cricket. We’ll cover off the big ticket items as we build towards the resumption of play at 1.30pm local time (2pm AET, 3am UK). This is half an hour earlier than scheduled in a bid to make up the nine overs lost to rain yesterday.

As always feel free to direct the conversation using the contact details at the top of the page.

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Settle into today’s coverage with Radelaide’s finest, The Angels, and a track that couldn’t be more appropriately titled. We’ll find out soon what happens at Adelaide Oval after the rain.

Day one was always likely to be a feisty affair after the English and Australian camps spent a week exchanging barbs, and so it proved, with the row between England’s attack and Steve Smith continuing to simmer.

Jonathan will be here soon. Here’s what happened during the first day, and night, of play: