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

The players are out in the middle and the final day’s play will be underway shortly.

Continuing the Cook conversation (09:18), Raymond Reardon wants to know “whose name has Cook’s 244 not out replaced, as Sir Donald Bradman has the second highest individual batting record at the MCG of 270 runs”.

Cook has replaced Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards whose 209 was the previous highest score by a visiting batsman in Tests at the MCG. The honours board in the Percy Beames bar reflects the highest scores and best bowling figures by Australians and their opponents.

In case you missed this thread from yesterday, it’s worth revisiting. Geoff is always insightful but angry Geoff is especially fun.

Hard to see any demons in this day-five drop-in.

“Extremely flat, no foot marks” says Michael Clarke from the popping crease. “It looks like it did on day one”.

This will be the fourth Test this series to reach day five, which suggests a tighter contest than the 3-0 scoreline might signal. However, this is the first time England have gone into the final day pushing for victory, as opposed to battling to avoid defeat.

Ian Forth has a question about Alastair Cook’s signage (see 09:18). “Don’t want to be picky (oh, all right then), but hasn’t someone accidentally pressed the bold button on Cook and his score in the Percy Beames bar?”.

The excellent Melinda Farrell has the answer. “It’s a temporary board. The permanent one will be the same. Terrific work getting something up so that it can be a part of this Test”.

I’ve been reminded by Gary Naylor that England have previous when it comes to losing the unlosable.

Let’s workshop the doomsday scenario…

Smith and Warner bat solidly to lunch, building a lead of 30-40. Wickets fall to the new ball in the afternoon but some lusty hitting from one top-order batsman and the tail sends the target around 150 in an elongated final session. England then collapse in an almighty heap leaving Anderson and Broad battling to save a draw with light fading and an unexpected 50,000+ walk-up crowd.

Speaking of Mr Naylor, he’s handpicked his three standout moments in Test cricket from 2017.

For what it’s worth, I have no problem with ‘ball tampering’. I’ve never been convinced why it’s such a big deal. The potential benefit to the spectacle is obvious, especially in Australia, where the Kookaburra is near-impossible to move in the air and recent pitches make it a slog to get it deviating off the pitch. Why not allow for ingenuity to improve the spectacle?

Bat technology has improved, pitches have become more docile, why is the bowler penalised for fighting back? And not just penalised, vilified. It seems disproportionate.

Swing bowling is one of the game’s great arts, and if some measure of ball manipulation is required to achieve it, so be it.

As is often the case on slow days stories appear out of the ether to fill time. Yesterday’s distraction piece was a series of nod-and-wink accusations of ball tampering against England. From the off it stunk like a beat-up and England coach Trevor Bayliss gave it short thrift after the day’s play.

One of the storylines of this Test has been Alastair Cook’s accumulation of records. Among the milestones the England opener has passed at the MCG is the highest total scored by a visiting batsman in Tests at the famous old ground. His reward is a massive scoreboard-style banner in the venue’s Percy Beames bar, adding his name to one of the most iconic scenes in Australian sport.

TMS was on hand for the installation.

In case you care (I know you do, really) Phil Taylor is demolishing Gary Anderson in a vintage performance at the darts. He’s one set away from the semis in his final appearance at the world championships.

Yesterday may have been frustratingly wet but Adam Collins still found plenty to enjoy out in the middle, not least “the contest within a contest between two legitimate champions of the sport, Jimmy Anderson and David Warner”.

Here we are then, live OBO coverage of day five of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. England fans will be hoping it’s redemption day as their side begins play the only possible winners from a stodgy contest dragged down by a disappointing surface. Australian supporters already have a 3-0 scoreline in the bag but they’ll still be keen to see their troops force a draw and show the kind of resilience they haven’t been famed for in recent years.

To recap: Australia will begin day five 103-2 in their second innings, trailing England by 61 runs. Because of yesterday’s rain today’s play has 98 overs scheduled. Action will get underway half-an-hour earlier than usual with a 10am start (11pm UK).

The good news is the inclement weather has blown through and we should be in for a dry day’s play. It’s a touch on the chilly side though with temperatures unlikely to get much beyond 20C courtesy of a strong south-westerly.

Can England winkle out the eight wickets they require to force a consolation victory? Will the MCG surface reveal any late demons to derail Australia’s dead-bat defiance?

As always, please feel free to join in via the contact details above.

Jonathan will be here shortly.