England v Australia: Women's Ashes Test, day one – live!

“Afternoon Adam, afternoon everyone.” Hello Harkarn Sumal. “Is it okay that I’m frankly terrified by Jess Jonassen being listed to come in a number 9? The Australian batting order is monstrous. That power, the clean hitting, the uncomplicated, clean (but not slogging), simple techniques that they have all down their middle and lower-middle order, that’s where this game is likely to be set up and taken beyond England’s reach over two innings. It also probably gives the top order that confidence to go about their work positively without worrying that what’s to come behind them will fold. There seems so little in the Australian batting set-up, trigger movements and technique that can go awry. It clears the way for players to concentrate on judgement. I have a lot of fear. I can feel the fear. Also, it’s already ragging for our orthodox spinners – heaven knows what it’ll be doing by Sunday. At least Australia doesn’t have a leggie in this side (am I right in thinking the spin options are all orthodox?). I’m sure you try to be neutral when OBO-ing, but you must be so delighted to have this side represent Australia. As Rachael Haynes intimated recently when asked whether women should play more test cricket, the rest of the world has some catching up to do I fear. Yours with growing concern.”

You are right about the depth of Australia’s batting. Jonassen’s 99 on Test debut last time around four years ago was a bit of an outlier, in that, she struggled to make a run in the years since. However, during the ODIs of this comp she was outstanding. England agrees with her with both the ball and the bat. In terms of more Test cricket, take a look at Megan Schutt’s piece overnight.

30th over: Australia 106-2 (Lanning 27, Perry 10) Lanning gets off strike first ball, which is advisable in the final over before lunch. Perry enjoys the full toss that follows, smashing her over mid-off for another easy boundary before taking one to mid-off that gives Lanning three balls to negotiate. She does so well, getting forward to play out the final deliveries of a most eventful session.

29th over: Australia 100-2 (Lanning 26, Perry 5) Not a lot going on at Marsh’s end, Perry timing her behind in classic Perry fashion to bring up Australia’s 100. Back to Gordon. Can she create another chance before they break for lunch?

28th over: Australia 96-2 (Lanning 26, Perry 1) KNIGHT DROPS LANNING! Oh, she’ll be gutted with that. Gordon won the false stroke, the England skipper putting down her opposing number at cover. It’s not a tough chance, to her left at waist heigh. She has such a good pair of hands too. What a moment that might be.

27th over: Australia 95-2 (Lanning 26, Perry 1) Marsh races through at Lanning initially then Perry, who is off the mark with a push to midwicket. Back to the real quiz now, which is Sophie Gordon vs Meg Lanning.

“As Steve Smith has shown us enough times in India,” writes Tuvic Tuslow, “the only way to stay ahead on a dustbowl is by being agressive. Yes, the opposition might need to drop you six times along the way to allow you to score one of the greatest centuries of all time, but the point remains: gather as many runs as you can, because soon enough you won’t have much time to get them on this pitch either ways.”

Quite right. Healy has played the right way here – early runs will be vital.

26th over: Australia 91-2 (Lanning 22, Perry 0) Perry gets forward to defend the one remaining delivery in the successful over. “A shout out to Cricket Scotland,” says Mel Jones on TV, “for developing Kirstie Gordon.” England should be able to get four more overs in before the lunch interval.

Gordon has her first Test wicket and what a massive one it is, bowling Healy around her front pad! Not the most conventional dismissal, the opener missing a ball on her leg stump when shuffling across. The end of a fine innings but one that could have gone on to define this match had she been there for two more hours.

25th over: Australia 91-1 (Healy 58, Lanning 22) With 25 minutes until lunch, veteran tweaker Laura Marsh gets her first chance, replacing Sciver at the River End. She wasn’t expected to play here but with the track so dry, the home side went with her as a third specialist spinning option. She’s too short to begin to the chagrin of Beaumont at short leg, Healy’s pull smashing into his hand. The opener keeps the strike with a rare single for her today, moving to 58 from 76 balls.

24th over: Australia 88-1 (Healy 56, Lanning 21) BIG SHOUT for lbw turned down! After twice going beyond Lanning’s outside edge in her previous over, Gordon beats her on the inside edge this time. Technology (which isn’t available to the players for review) confirms that it is another good decision, the ball sliding down the legside. There’s nearly a bat-pad from the next ball too; the ball could easily have landed with Beaumont at short leg. But Lanning is savvy enough to put away a lesser delivery later in the set to let the pressure off, carving it off the back foot through cover. She’s into the 20s but Gordon is now very much in the game.

23rd over: Australia 84-1 (Healy 56, Lanning 17) Sciver is following her pattern from the Canterbury ODI, finding her groove after some nervous early offerings, now making it tough to hit her off the square. Has an important role to play.

Word from the England camp on Ecclestone is that she landed on right shoulder in that dive – she is sore and bruised. Because it is an internal injury, she won’t be permitted to bowl for the time she was off the field, which was about 20 mintues. rwhen she dived. Sore and bruised. Internal injury so she can’t bowl for

22nd over: Australia 82-1 (Healy 55, Lanning 16) So close! Gordon sends down a beauty at Lanning, just beating her outside edge from around the wicket. There’s a loud noise so they are up in the appeal but it was bat on pad rather than ball. Good decision. The tweaker beats her again to finish with one that really turns off this first morning surface. In another piece of good news for England as the over comes to a close, Sophie Ecclestone is back on the field. They hosts need something.

“’That is Healy’s first Test half-century.’” says OB Jato. “This statement literally defines everything wrong with women’s Test cricket right now!”

21st over: Australia 81-1 (Healy 54, Lanning 16) Nice fightback from Sciver, who gives Lanning nothing and gets through a rare maiden. There’s a generous response for local Anya Shrubsole who makes a fine diving stop to her left at point.

20th over: Australia 81-1 (Healy 54, Lanning 16) You can’t give Healy a full toss in this mood and you definitely can’t give her two in an over. After a tidy start from Gordon the young spinner loses here way here. Healy moves to 50 from 61 deliveries from the first of those bas balls, lifting her over midwicket for her 11th fours. That makes just six runs in non-boundaries on the opening morning of a Test. Have that. She takes the second fully over mid-on to make it 12. Easy peasy.

19th over: Australia 73-1 (Healy 46, Lanning 16) Sciver has to get into the game after a poor first couple of overs. Lanning takes her down the ground for a couple but the all-rounder then finds her mark. She was very good at Canterbury picking up Healy, Perry and Lanning, which is easy to forget given the carnage that ensued there after the lunch break.

18th over: Australia 71-1 (Healy 46, Lanning 14) Good start this from Gordon, who bowls with a bit of extra pace than Ecclestone from her lower trajectory. She’s good enough to locate Lanning’s inside edge, spitting out behind square. If Ecclestone is in strife, the Scotish import will have loads of work to do today.

17th over: Australia 69-1 (Healy 45, Lanning 13) Sciver is struggling but isn’t helped by Healy’s class, deflecting her perfectly down to third man for yet another boundary. She doesn’t help herself to finish, though, a half volley given the treatment by Lanning. These two are motoring, striking 40 runs in the ten overs they’ve been out there together, dealing almost exclusively in boundaries.

16th over: Australia 60-1 (Healy 40, Lanning 9) Lanning helped an Ecclestone full toss on its way before she went off. How often has a bowler sent down their first over in Test cricket completing the set of another? That’s what Gordon is tasked with doing, getting out of it with a nerveless four dots to the Aussie skipper. I’m afraid to report that Brunt is also hobbling around between overs, looking to favour that right ankle she hurt when celebrating a wicket at Leicester. Uh oh.

Bowling through tears, Ecclestone is off the ground after two deliveries. The right arm is causing her an enormous amount of pain. Kirstie Gordon, on debut, will complete the over. Disastrous for England if they’ve lost their best spinner.

15th over: Australia 56-1 (Healy 40, Lanning 5) Good news: Ecclestone is staying out there. Four balls remaining in the Sciver over, on to replace Brunt, and she directs the first of those down the legside for four byes. Not good. Before the break, Healy already helped herself to a ninth boundary with that aforementioned clip past square leg. England have a real problem on their hands here.

Two balls into the 15th over, drinks are called with Ecclestone getting looked at by the medical staff after diving unsucessfully to stop a Healy clip through square leg. She hit the deck and reached for her shoulder. She looks okay. Let’s hope so.

14th over: Australia 47-1 (Healy 36, Lanning 4) Ecclestone has found her range immediately, forcing Healy forward from the get-go. She beats her on the inside edge half way through the over prompting a loud lbw shout but from the bowler only. But missing her length to finish, Healy rocks back to cut another four. They go upstairs to confirm that Marsh didn’t keep it in, the fielder’s leg on the sponge.

13th over: Australia 43-1 (Healy 32, Lanning 4) Shot! After watching 14 dot balls, Meg Lanning gets off the mark with a beautifully timed push off the back foot, racing down to the rope for four. Otherwise, Brunt is right where she needs to be, asking the right questions of the Australian captain.

12th over: Australia 39-1 (Healy 32, Lanning 0) Excellent first over from Ecclestone, spin for the first time in the Test in this 12th over. The tall left-arm tweaker, who was so impressive in her Test debut at Sydney two years ago, beats Healy first up with a full delivery that did plenty, nicely pouched by Taylor. She’s giving it plenty of air, Healy defending the 20-year-old with full respect. She tries to score from the final delivery, uppishly to cover, but doesn’t beat the field. I’ve been arguing that Ecclestone is already the best spinner in the world. With England needing a win in this to stay alive, this is a huge four days for her.

11th over: Australia 39-1 (Healy 32, Lanning 0) I tell you what, Healy is on century-in-a-session pace here, taking on Brunt given the slightest width, slapping her through backward point for seventh boundary. Ooooooh, Brunt bites back with a beauty later in the set, once again able to cut past the inside edge; just over the woodwork. Healy finishes getting a long way forward to defend. Fantastic contest.

9th over: Australia 33-1 (Healy 26, Lanning 0) Brunt to Lanning is box office. It is quite remarkable that the Australian captain, the greatest batter of all time in the women’s 50-over format, averages 17 in her four Tests and has never reached 50. She’s leaving, leaving, leaving then defending here. When a ball arrives on leg stump to finish, she picks out midwicket. Maiden it is. England must get her early.

“Proposal off the top of my head,” writes Abhijato Sensarma. “Authorities want T20s and women cricketers want Tests, while purists are most comfortable with the best of both worlds – ODIs. But why can’t we have the best of three worlds by combining all three formats together to create a new one? In the true spirit of Men’s WC knockouts, including the part of revenue-generation, have ‘Two Day Cricket’ … On the first day, play 20 overs each; return the next day, and play a further 20 overs each. Four innings, ten wickets per innings, and endless fun all long (until the ODI-esque limit of 80 overs is reached, of course)!”

I like most out-of-the-box thinking but I’d rather than just gave them more Tests.

8th over: Australia 33-1 (Healy 26, Lanning 0) It doesn’t bother Healy that she has lost her opening partner, lashing the first ball of Shrubsole’s new over through cover for her fifth boundary. Oh, make that six! A gorgeous square drive the best of the lot so far. She’s 26 from 28 balls half an hour into a Test. As you do!

The plan early on in any Test Match is to hit the top of off and that’s precisely what Brunt has done, shaping away just enough to evade the opener’s outside edge. Another single-digit return for the West Australian. And in walks Lanning.

7th over: Australia 25-1 (Healy 18)

6th over: Australia 19-0 (Healy 17, Bolton 1) This is an excellent start from Healy, slapping a wider Shrubsole delivery with perfect timing over backward point for four. To finish, an even better shot along the carpet the other side of point for another boundary.

5th over: Australia 11-0 (Healy 9, Bolton 1) Shot. Healy said that she wouldn’t be curtailing her natural instints in Test cricket and it shows when Brunt goes short, the Australian taking her on with a punishing pull over midwicket. I like this elevation. If she’s there at tea, for instance, she’ll be well beyond 100.

4th over: Australia 6-0 (Healy 4, Bolton 1) Shrubsole is getting some lovely hoop early on, Bolton playing her very carefully. The Australian opener isn’t in great nick but she four years ago, when making her Test debut, got through some very tough sessions against the new ball from these two.

3rd over: Australia 6-0 (Healy 4, Bolton 1) Brunt is on top, giving Bolton little and winning an early play and miss. After getting off the mark with a single to cover it’s Healy’s turn, Brunt repeating the first ball of the match to finish, jagging back off the seam to again cut her in half. Dangerous start this from the Barnsley Express.

2nd over: Australia 5-0 (Healy 4, Bolton 0) Shrubsole running away from us at the pavilion end, Bolton defending and leaving studiously. Just as there was from the river end, the carry is there through to Sarah Taylor. The left-hander gets Australia off the mark via a leg bye, giving Healy one chance from the final ball of the over and she uses it well to drive a classy boundary through cover for four.

1st over: Australia 0-0 (Healy 0, Bolton 0) Brunt cuts Healy in half with the first ball of the Test! A beauty, jagging back off the seam. The opener gets into her groove as the over continues, leaving and defending well. Nice carry from Brunt, which is encouraging. Two years ago, the two balls in Schutt’s first over didn’t make it through to the wicketkeeper the track was so dead. Fingers crossed.

Oh, scrap that. Would you believe, there is a hole on the ground at backward point that the umpires want covered up by the groundsman. Odd. Try again: PLAY!

Katherine Brunt has the ball in her hand. This will almost certainly be her final Test Match for England. What a warrior she has been. Healy is on strike. PLAY!

Jerusalem is playing. The umpires are making their way to the middle, followed by Heather Knight and her team. The Australian openers, Nicole Bolton and Alyssa Healy, follow. The latter is at the top of the list for the first time in Test Match.

England: Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight (c), Georgia Elwiss, Nat Sciver, Sarah Taylor (wk), Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Laura Marsh, Sophie Ecclestone, Kirstie Gordon.

Australia: Nicole Bolton, Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Beth Mooney, Ash Gardner, Sophie Molineux, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminick.

Let’s be real: it is a dreadful toss to loss if this goes all Ciderabad. But at least England’s spinners already have something to work with out there.

Australia go with an extra bat, leaving out the leggie Wareham. England are playing three specialist spinners, overlooking seamer Cross. Full XIs shortly.

Actually, read this before the toss. Megan Schutt has views and isn’t afraid to voice them. Her latest column spells out why it is plainly wrong that only Australian and English women get to play Tests and how it isn’t fair that they only get to do so every other year. Crucially, she also comes with ideas for the future.