Australia is on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead in the Ashes series after an all-round masterclass from Mitchell Starc on day three at the Gabba.
England is reeling at 6-134 at stumps, still trailing by 43 runs, with captain Ben Stokes and all-rounder Will Jacks unbeaten in the middle.
Earlier on Saturday, the hosts posted 511 courtesy of a gutsy knock from Starc, who top-scored with a 141-ball 77 to frustrate England’s fatigued bowlers.
Under the floodlights, Australia’s seamers wreaked havoc with the pink Kookaburra during the evening session, with Starc, Scott Boland and Michael Neser each snaring two wickets.
Day 4 of the second Ashes Test begins on Sunday at 3pm AEDT.
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STARC TORMENTS POMS IN ‘CRUSHING’ SESSION
England speedster Jofra Archer arrived at the Gabba on Saturday with a pillow wedged under his arm, perhaps an indication he expected to enjoy a nap after wrapping up Australia’s first innings.
In the end, the pillow wasn’t required.
Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland were Australia’s unlikely heroes during the afternoon session of day three, holding down the fort for nearly 29 overs in a 75-run partnership for the ninth wicket, extending Australia’s first-innings lead beyond triple figures. It was the longest partnership of the series.
The duo’s two-hour stand allowed Australia to unleash the shiny, pink Kookaburra during the twilight session, with the floodlights starting to take effect. The shadows grew longer in the Gabba outfield with every over Starc and Boland soaked up, also ensuring conditions were cooler when they bowled their opening spell.
“It has been real clever cricket,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said on BBC Test Match Special.
“It has purely been about batting for time and making sure they get that new pink ball in hand when twilight comes around.”
During the morning session, Starc protected his partner from the likes of Archer and Bryson Carse by farming the strike, rejecting easy singles to keep Boland at the non-striker’s end.
In an attempt to get Boland on strike, England captain Ben Stokes emptied the slips cordon and spread the field, allowing Starc to dictate the game. He crunched wide balls through the covers, nudged expertly through square leg and even struck a couple of powerful lofted drives down the ground.
“(Starc) is creating all sorts of headaches for Stokes and his men,” former Test wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket commentary.
Ex-Australian all-rounder Brendon Julian added: “It has been a crushing session for England.”
Meanwhile, England’s fatigued fast bowlers were forced to toil away in the harsh Brisbane heat, getting more overs into their legs, and courtesy of the team’s aggressive approach to the batting, the quicks knew they were unlikely to get a break to rest their weary legs.
“That’s one of the better first sessions of Test cricket I’ve watched in a while,” wounded Australian captain Pat Cummins smirked in commentary.
“Pumping a few more overs into the bowlers in the hot Brisbane sun … the more overs we put into the bowlers, the more it compounds in our favour.”
Starc notches up his half-century | 00:26
ENGLAND QUICK’S UNWANTED 71-YEAR LOW
Despite taking four wickets during Australia’s first innings, England seamer Brydon Carse had another day to forget at the Gabba.
He finished with figures of 5-152 from 29 overs, making it the most expensive spell from an England fast bowler in Australia since 1954.
The 30-year-old was repeatedly guilty of dropping short and offering width, with Australia’s batters feasting on his wayward bowling. Even Scott Boland looked completely unfazed by the South Africa-born quick.
An outspoken critic of Carse’s on Friday, Australian great Mark Waugh declared the Englishman was “all over the place” on day three.
“Loose bowling, that’s been the story of the whole innings,” Waugh said in commentary.
“That’s just the wrong length to bowl.”
Former England seamer Isa Guha continued: “Six balls, six different lengths.”
Speaking to Fox Cricket, former Test spinner Kerry O’Keeffe suggested that Carse struggled to adjust his length when bowling to left-handed batters.
“I don’t know whether the statistics back it up, but I reckon Carse has a real problem with the left-hander, just a trend that I’ve noticed,” O’Keeffe said.
“He just seems to give off-side width so often.
“He looks far more comfortable bowling to the right-hander.
“This fella is the weak link when the opposition is packed with left-handers.”
The statistics do indeed back up O’Keeffe’s theory – during this series, right-handed batters have maintained a strike rate of 67.3 against Carse compared to 108.3 for the southpaws.
“He doesn’t know what channel to bowl,” he continued.
“This guy doesn’t like bowling the lefties.”
Atkinson claims his first of the Innings | 00:33
‘LOOK AWAY’: LYON’S FRUSTRATION HEIGHTENED
Will Jacks’ first delivery after the dinner break on Saturday raised plenty of eyebrows.
The pink Kookaburra turned sharply off the surface and generated plenty of bounce, prompting oohs and aahs from his teammates.
Jacks had only bowled two overs in the match up to that point, but the off-spinner remained at the Stanley Street End for the remainder of Australia’s first innings, beating the outside edge on multiple occasions.
Nathan Lyon, donning an orange vest, watched on from the dugout with gritted teeth.
“Look away now, Nathan Lyon,” Australian legend Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket commentary.
The veteran tweaker’s shock omission had already prompted plenty of debate in Brisbane, but the sight of Jacks getting turn drew the ire of former Australian spinner Kerry O’Keeffe.
“There’s grip, there’s bounce, there’s pace,” he said.
“It’s exactly why a finger spinner at the Gabba is crucial after day three.
“(Jacks) bounced it a couple of times, which heightens Nathan Lyon’s frustration.”
O’Keeffe believed that Jacks should have been brought into the attack earlier, questioning why the Surrey all-rounder only produced six balls across the first 97 overs of Australia’s innings.
“I just thought there were chances to bowl him, even (Friday) night,” he said.
“There was so much sameness about the (English) attack, blokes bowling 130km/h and the same trajectory, every ball.
“He can’t have been picked just to bat at No. 8.”
O’Keeffe also called for Jacks to play the third Test at Adelaide Oval, arguing he had leapfrogged forgotten spinner Shoaib Bashir in the pecking order.
“He’s got enough to play in Adelaide,” O’Keeffe added.
“He loops it. He bowls outside the off stump and looks to go through the gate, and he has the one that holds its line towards slip.
“There’s a bit about Will Jacks, and I just hope that McCullum and Stokes get more out of him.”
‘RECKLESS’: ENGLAND NO. 3’S MINDSET ‘BRINGING HIM DOWN’
Ollie Pope was living a charmed life at the Gabba on Saturday evening.
The England No. 3 never truly looked settled in the middle, repeatedly pressing at length deliveries with minimal to no foot movement. An edge dropped short of the slips cordon, while on multiple occasions his drives were airborne, narrowly evading fielders.
His dismissal felt like an inevitability, chipping a return catch back to hometown hero Michael Neser, gone for 26.
“You just can’t play that way at this level,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said on BBC Test Match Special.
“England will always play this way, but surely if they want to be a good team, they have to go up and down in the gears.”
Across seven Tests against Australia, Pope has averaged 18.71 with no fifties. Starc boasts a higher average in the Ashes furnace.
“His desire to keep attacking and keep imposing himself on the bowling unit is what’s bringing him down,” former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket commentary.
“Tonight was reckless. It just looked like reckless cricket.
“It’s all a little bit too predictable from what we’ve seen in four innings so far (this series).
“There’s a bit for him to think about before he goes to Adelaide.”
Pope lost the vice-captaincy ahead of the Ashes tour, while the Surrey product was at risk of losing his spot at No. 3 to young all-rounder Jacob Bethell.
However, during recent tour matches against the Cricket Australia XI, Prime Minister’s XI and Australia A, Bethell has posted scores of 44, 16 and 19, so he’s hardly bashing the door down the selection.
But England’s selectors may be tempted to make a change if Pope doesn’t turn things around in Adelaide next week.
Starc claims the Wicket of Root for 15 | 00:38
THIS IS STARC’S SUMMER
Five days into the Ashes, it’s already clear this is Mitchell Starc’s summer.
The left-hander’s feats with the ball across the first two Tests have been awe-inspiring, taking 18 wickets at 13.11 including a career-best performance of 7-58 in Perth.
But Starc has also now produced a heroic performance with the bat.
The New South Welshman top-scored in Australia’s first innings with 141-ball 77 that featured 13 boundaries. It was his third-highest score in Tests, while it was the most delivered he’s faced in an innings since 2013.
Starc has faced more deliveries in this series than Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith and Harry Brook, while he’s taken more wickets than Bryson Carse, Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer combined.
“In the history of Test cricket, has there ever been a time where at the end of game two, the presentation party has announced the man of the match and the man of the series?” Vaughan asked on BBC Test Match Special.
“They might as well give it to Mitchell Starc now.”
O’Keeffe continued on Fox Cricket: “He gives 100 per cent every time.
“What a golden summer he’s having.
“He could get wickets with a soggy tomato.”
Starc is approaching his 36th birthday, but he just seems to be getting better and better, with the ball and the bat.
More than fourteen years after making his Test debut, Starc is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
“What a warrior. Incredible,” O’Keeffe added.
“At 35, playing the best cricket of his life, his numbers with the ball just haven’t diminished. His pace hasn’t diminished. His strike rate is getting better.
“It’s hard to say you peak at 35 as a fast bowler. Mitchell Starc could be.
“The straightness of his bat has always been there, and he got a chance today to play those booming drives.
“What a player he’s been, in all forms. He’s a champion.
“We’ve underrated him for too long. This bloke is an out-and-out warrior.”
His Day 3 domination comes just days after Starc usurped Wasim Akram for the most Test wickets ever by a left-arm quick.
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