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

Oh yes, that’s very out. Bird has reviewed, but I’m not going to dignify that with a second post. Three reds from a ball that jagged back off the seam and trapped him on the crease. The best bit was Broad giving it the big fist pump before he even looked around at the umpire. A fantastic session for England. Broad has 26-8-51-3. Probably not cooked, then.

114th over: Australia 325-8 (Cummins 3, Hazlewood 0).

113th over: Australia 322-7 (Cummins 0, Bird 4). Should be two in the over, Anderson winning Bird’s outside edge but Bairstow unable to get a glove to it moving to his right. Only McGrath sits ahead of Anderson for quicks on the all-time charts now, in fifth place overall.

Another chop on! Three in the session! Paine drags Anderson back off the bottom edge when attempting to pull the champion quick. With that wicket, his 520th, Jimmy overtakes Courtney Walsh.

112th over: Australia 318-6 (Paine 24, Cummins 0). “It is mystifying that Moeen Ali was on for so long,” says Simon Katich as Broad goes again from the southern end. It’s just about the best over of the morning, a maiden that easily could have been a wicket maiden had an away swinger to Cummins been just a fraction closer to the outside edge or off-stump. What England would give for another before lunch.

111th over: Australia 318-6 (Paine 24, Cummins 0). Jimmy back for another go before lunch too. It doesn’t change Paine’s approach, flogging a ball that isn’t that short really, racing to the midwicket rope. He hasn’t played a false stroke yet. Defends the rest as Anderson finds his length. Such good batting.

Stuart Broad Reviews Correctly! What a world! To be fair, it is hard to see how that was given not out initially, a full delivery coming back at the batsman. Perhaps a concern with the inside edge, but DRS shows there wasn’t one of those. Three reds, Marsh is gone. England have a third for the morning. Excellent bowling from Broad to get the ball moving back from over the wicket, too.

110th over: Australia 314-6 (Paine 20, Cummins 0).

109th over: Australia 314-5 (S Marsh 61, Paine 20). Shooooot. Once again, Paine dominating the ball through the covers off Curran. Into the 20s with the best drive we’ve seen this morning.

Must say, I did love seeing the Ian Harvey Slower Ball get a go yesterday from Curran. In his first spell too.

108th over: Australia 308-5 (S Marsh 60, Paine 15). They have shown Moeen respect so far today, but not this time. To begin, Paine climbs into a lavish cover drive. He’s in wonderful touch early on here. A beautiful boundary. Marsh ends the over on the advance, reaching the delivery on the full and hammering it past the bowler for four more. He’s conceded 57 runs in 12 overs. Yuk.

107th over: Australia 299-5 (S Marsh 56, Paine 10). Curran on for another twist. He’s a decent yard slower than the others in this quartet, highlighted early in the over by his short ball that dies before reaching Paine. He gets down the other end via a push down the ground. A slower ball finishes the set, Marsh missing out as it is down the legside. Watching the replay, he didn’t pick it at all. Expect another one soon.

106th over: Australia 298-5 (S Marsh 56, Paine 9). Singles for both, Marsh cutting to point then Paine driving in the same general direciton. The former respects the rest of Moeen’s over. He’s not doing anything particularly wrong. But just doesn’t look likely. “There’s nothing in it for him,” says Rogers on ABC. “Just do a job and bowl for the bloke at the other end.”

“I reckon we ought to find a few cricket references to carols and other festive songs,” suggests Johnny Starbuck on the email. “I did think about ‘Wickets falling’ for Shakin’ Stevens’ ‘Merry Xmas everyone’ but we need more help. I managed to get a sip of Ardbeg just before the last one and I have another bottle in reserve, with some Talisker if the Ardbeg doesn’t work. Either way, England fans need to do some serious work here.”

The perfect OBO task in the 45 minutes to lunch. Someone get LCD Soundsystem’s Christmas song into this list, please.

Another on the tweet, from Rudi Edsall. “Is the MCG currently the worst pitch in Australia?” An argument I’ve made the last couple of years. It’s the least interesting.

105th over: Australia 296-5 (S Marsh 55 Paine 8). Marsh batting beautifully here. Start of a new Woakes over, and he steers it behind point without a worry in the world. You get four for that. Oh, even better from Paine. That’s the off-drive of a man who has been out there for an hour, not 10 minutes. Dare I say it, he’s already in.

104rd over: Australia 287-5 (S Marsh 50 Paine 4). Shaun Marsh to 50! The same number of balls to get there as it took Warner to reach 100, Ric Finlay informs me via the ABC. 130 of them. Does so with a push to point, more great running from this new pair. They batted superbly together in Adelaide. Paine strokes the last ball of the over wide of cover for a couple. Assertive start from him.

“What is a good score on this pitch?” asks Lee Henderson. “Can England take 20 wickets on it? Can Australia? Answers here amongst a group of 6 is 350, no and maybe.”

It has been harder work than we thought it would be 24 hours ago. A bit tacky, maybe? Usually the case when players are chopping on. But to answer your questions directly, I’ll go with 400, yes and yes.

103rd over: Australia 284-5 (S Marsh 49, Paine 2). Well ran. Paine off the mark to fine leg. Could have walked a single, but instead they raced back for two. A better over from Woakes. They grab a drink. England’s hour. Somehow.

102nd over: Australia 282-5 (S Marsh 49, Paine 0). Shoooooot! Shaun Marsh took his time to consider how he come at Moeen. To the last ball, he went down the track and waited on a shorter ball, picking out the gap at point with perfection. Has deserved a chance to raise his bat here. One run away from doing so.

“Young AC,” writes in Robert Wilson. Merry Christmas, mate. “I missed the first day in my customary festive/dateline/hangover confusion. But after a traditional Parisian Christmas of screaming arguments with the neighbours over Israel, the Algerian War of Independence and the whole notion of French ‘comedy’, I blearily caught the highlights this morning. Good call about the sudden Tendulkar glimmer that Warner has added to his quiver. I know that Steve Smith is a phenomenon for the ages, a hiccup in the very laws of physics but I could watch David Warner bat until my eyes bleed.”

He’s the most interesting character in the game, for mine. Spent an hour interviewing him for a magazine feature in the middle of the year and came away with 6000 words of quotes I wanted to use. I’ll get a chance to write up the second half of it at some stage.

101st over: Australia 278-5 (S Marsh 45, Paine 0). Must say, I was about to have a gentle pop at Root for dragging Curran after two overs before Woakes went and did that. The new man Paine leaves the one ball he has to deal with to finish the over.

“Fiendish by Australia,” tweets @notDcfcBoss at me. “Getting out to awful deliveries will make England think they’ve bowled too well in the series so far.”

Gary Naylor makes a Game of Thrones reference that I don’t understand because I can’t bring myself to watch a show about dragons. I’m sorry. “Australia need to bring Daenerys Targaryen on to their coaching team.”

Another chop on! Woakes into the attack and gives Mitch Marsh a look at a very gentle delivery well outside the off-stump. But, just like his captain, he’s dragged it back on. Four balls into his work for the day, Woakes goes into the book. Ugly cricket but England won’t mind in the slightest. Suddenly, they are right back in this.

100th over: Australia 277-4 (S Marsh 44, M Marsh 9). Moeen to Mitch. He’s driving out to deep point for a couple, the area where he scored so many runs off the spinner in Perth. Happy enough to defend the rest. Not much going on from Mo early on.

99th over: Australia 275-4 (S Marsh 44, M Marsh 7). Shaun up the gears now as well. It’s a poor over from Curran, three times drifting onto the left-handers’ pads, three times taken for runs. The final of those is helped to the fine leg boundary for Marsh’s first four of the morning.

98th over: Australia 267-4 (S Marsh 36, M Marsh 7). Moeen into the act for the first time today from the southern end. Mitch Marsh happy enough to watch the first few before leaning into a drive that nets him a couple through cover point. Couldn’t be a better time for a number six to get busy. Conditions perfect. The Richies singing a song about “Shauny Marsh” set to Jingle Bells. We do a lot of things really well as Australians. Cricket, for instance. We’re great at that. Not singing at the cricket, though.

97th over: Australia 265-4 (S Marsh 36, M Marsh 5). It was a stand of exactly 100 that Curran broke up. The Marsh brothers together now. The younger of the two off the mark with a punishing cut behind point, flying to the rope. The shot of a man in superb form. Has another go next ball, but a diving stop keeps it to one.

This is lovely.

Curran has done it! Smith out! Yes, you’re reading that correctly. The man on debut said to BBC this morning that despite his disappointment at what happened yesterday with Warner that he could make up for it by getting Smith as his first Test wicket, and it is precisely what he has done with his second delivery of the morning. Not a ball for the highlight reel, short and asking for it, but Smith has chopped it back onto the stumps. The young man loves it, running down the pitch with both arms out.

96th over: Australia 259-3 (Smith 76, Marsh 35). In response to the Australian singing, the Barmy Army go with the funereal Abide With Me. Smith is beyond 500 runs in the series as well now. Well on the way to his third ton of the contest as well. Oh dear, Marsh gets one when Broad has a brain fade. The bowler had a ping at his stumps in his follow through for no obvious reason, it hits, allowing them to cross on the overthrow. Smith defends the rest, on the front foot then the back. “The new Rahul Dravid?” Simon Mann poses on radio.

95th over: Australia 258-3 (Smith 76, Marsh 34). What a shot from Smith. Anderson full, but not full enough to be clipped through square leg from outside off-stump for four. The first boundary of the day. Root has a very short, straight cover in place for Smith but he isn’t in the game when Jimmy dishes up his worst ball of the day so far, a short ball without any venom, put away behind square leg. Four more! “If you are in Melbourne,” Jim Maxwell says on radio, “get along to watch this.” It prompts The Richies (Australia’s answer to the Barmy Army) to launch into a rendition of the national anthem. Everyone having a nice time.

94th over: Australia 250-3 (Smith 68, Marsh 34). A couple through cover for Marsh, in the air but into the gap. It brings up the Australian 250. At lunch yesterday most had them reaching that mark by about half an hour after tea with Warner well on his way to 200. Or something like that. But that wasn’t to be. It’s been a grind ever since and a pretty good contest.

93rd over: Australia 248-3 (Smith 68, Marsh 32). Back to back maidens from Anderson’s end. Smith forced to use his bat throughout, without concern.

92nd over: Australia 248-3 (Smith 68, Marsh 32). “This pace is not going to worry Steve Smith,” observes Simon Katich on the radio as the skipper clips a couple off Broad to backward square leg then pulls a very gentle short ball to fine leg for a single. The MCG humming, the Barmy Army singing. A stunning day for cricket. For those still awake in the UK, a reminder of Smith’s record at this venue. Sorry.

91st over: Australia 245-3 (Smith 65, Marsh 32). Jimmy Anderson from the Melbourne Cricket Club End. Good early signs for the Australian no. 6, finding the middle of the bat throughout the over. A maiden. Apart from his close call first up yesterday, he’s looked tidy.

90th over: Australia 245-3 (Smith 65, Marsh 32). Bit of a shout for leg before second ball of the day, Broad coming around the wicket angling into Marsh. Denied by Umpire Ravi and no real consideration of a review. The left-hander then takes a single around the corner next ball to start his day. Smith is able to leave two of the three balls sent down to him.

Stuart Broad has the ball. He’ll be charging in from the Great Southern Stand End. Shaun Marsh is down the business end. PLAY.

A gentle, quiet start to the day. But we’re nearly there now, the players gathering at the boundary rope. James Sutherland and Tom Harrison, the CA and ECB Chief Execs, are currently talking to ABC radio. Usually good for a couple of news stories. For instance, Sutherland said he is an advocate for trialling four-day Tests. And Harrison adds that a day-night fixture for the 2019 Ashes is “unlikely” when Australian tour.

More great stories from the women’s game. What a year they have had. Also, a tri-series has been announced for March with India hosting Australia and England in 50 and 20 over fixtures. We need a lot more of this. The WBBL is kicking along nicely as well, a few weeks into the season and breaking records everywhere.

Okay, I’m here. Not before passing no fewer than eight match day experience (I think that’s what they call them?) people wishing me a nice day. Sure, why not. Meanwhile, here is the track [insert gag about this being a slab of the Hume Highway].

Poor Tom Curran. That was the loudest I’ve heard the MCG for a single moment of cricket since Shane Warne’s 700th wicket 11 years earlier. “The worst feeling I’ve had,” the Surrey man on debut said of having Warner on 99 only for TV to show he was over the line. But to England’s immense credit, they didn’t lose their minds after the episode, picking up Warner six runs later.

On this topic more broadly. SURELY it is time we automated the process for Test cricket? The ICC gave the job to the third umpire during England’s home ODI series against Pakistan in 2016 and it worked a treat. Why the wait? Let’s find out.

Edit: Geoff Lemon actually wrote about this last night. We spend roughly four hours a month discussing the topic in the pub, so I am not surprised he’s given it the big ones.

Busy, eventful and more difficult than it appeared. Just like his 2017. My take on Warner’s ton to get us going. For reading while listening to that Charlotte Wilson song, ideally.

Adam will be here shortly. Here’s Vic Marks on the opening day’s action:

It was a curate’s egg of a day. In the first session Australia raced to 102 without loss, 83 of which came from David Warner’s bat; in the second they were becalmed while losing two wickets. But in the evening Australia reasserted themselves, with Steve Smith back at the helm, protecting his side’s advantage as resolutely as a kangaroo does her joeys. At stumps Australia were sitting pretty once again on 244 for three. Smith, who barely missed a ball or played a shot in anger, was unbeaten on 65.

Smith is now so ruthlessly methodical that it is possible to perambulate the outside of this vast arena and still picture every stroke he plays. The great batsmen are so predictable and Smith undoubtedly is one of them. Yet the hordes of fans had probably come in the hope that it was Warner who would prevail, and he did not disappoint.