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Australia's bowlers tried their best but, frankly, did not look to have the class needed to take wickets on a batsman's paradise. The very few chances that their fielders did have, they spurned. The Aussies trooped off looking absolutely done; it will take some effort for them to rouse themselves tomorrow. If there is a crumb of comfort for Ricky Ponting, it is that his part-timers at least kept it fairly quiet in the last hour or two and England's run rate is 3.56; impressive but not decisive. There is talk of rain on days four and five, so England need KP to accelerate tomorrow to post a daunting lead.
But that's for the future: today belongs to Alastair Cook, still only 25 and already with 15 Test tons to his name. He can have a well-earned rest tonight on 136*. Several Australians shook his hand on the way off; a nice gesture, becuase they must be truly sick of the sight of him.
That about wraps things up. Jonathan Liew will be back here at about 11pm to talk you through the build-up to day three, and then the action resumes at midnight GMT. I'm Alan Tyers, thanks for your emails and Tweets, have a good day.
Nick Hoult via Twitter: England 834 for 3 in last two innings. Aussies look broken as they leave the field.
Opta Stats via Twitter: Alastair Cook has scored 432 runs in the first 7 days of this series so far .
OVER 89: ENG 317/2 Cook has now scored more runs between dismissals than any other England batsman, or so we learn from Sky. The previous record was held by Wally Hammond. Cook flicks to fine leg for two and then creams one through point for four, lovely stuff. He's then hit on the pads by Harris but that's going over the top and Ponting does not bother with a review. Seven off the over and that's stumps. Ponting was hoping to get another one in but the clock ticks round and I shouldn't be surprised if his team are not too devastated to be let off more toil.
OVER 88: 310/2 Bollinger too leg-side here; KP pulls him very fine for four and then, after a couple of better nuts, back on the leg stump and there's a couple of leg byes, which Cook and Pietersen run hard. Very impressive fitness, aside from anything else. Then another single off a leg-side delivery and this is very much not the good gear from Ruggy. 65 ahead.
OVER 87: ENG 302/2 They finally take the new ball and it's as Ricky feared: Harris is spraying it about the place. Pietersen plays a divine leg-side clip for four to bring up the 300. This! Is! Adelaide! But then Harris swings one back into the pads... but the appeal is strangled, that would have gone down leg by some way.
Nick Hoult via Twitter: Cook has batted for more than 20 hours in this series. Even Jack Bauer would be impressed
OVER 86: ENG 298/2 And Doug Bollinger is also back into the attack. He isn't getting a tune out of the old ball either, but you just never know with KP - he might do something dumb. And, yep, there she blows: they take a single into the covers, KP ambles and Michael Clarke's throw only just misses. Please, please, please don't get out tonight, Kevin. There's a ton for the taking, and we need you to up the tempo tomorrow...
OVER 85: ENG 297/2 Oh! Ryan Harris has an over, but with the old ball. His pace is down and it doesn't look like it's reversing. Couple of singles from the over.
OVER 84: ENG 295/2 North bowls. Single from Cook, watchful defence from Pietersen. If you are just waking up, morning! England are right on top of Australia here, after losing Strauss in the first over of the day. Since then, it's been all England, bar the loss of Trott for 78. Ricky Ponting has curled up into a ball and has shunned the new cherry, instead keeping North and Watson wheeling away, and they have kept it pretty tight in the last hour or so. KP 73* Cook 128*
OVER 83: ENG 294/2 Pietersen middles a few off Watson but all to the fielders. Hope KP doesn't lose patience. Maiden. You have to assume that Katich (limping) and Clarke (back) are not fit enough to turn their arms over.
OVER 82: ENG 294/2 Ponting has got North tossing it up, three men on the drive, hoping for a blunder. KP flicks through midwicket and that is a bit uppish, but it falls far short of Ricky himself. Anything tonight would be a huge bonus for the Aussies, but they look like they are just hanging on for the close of play, which will be in a half an hour. Only 20 off the last 10, so this plan is working fairly well for Ponting. Relatively speaking, likes. Obviously, in terms of the match, he is being totally pounded.
Simon Hughes via Twitter: KP had pads on for 10 hours. Well played to him for not getting out first ball. Cook 100 - outstanding. It's not how it's how many.
OVER 81: ENG 291/2 A quiet over from Watson and it looks like Australia are not going to take the new ball tonight. You can see the thinking: with the bowlers looking dog tired, Ponting cannot afford to waste his one remaining realistic hope of bowling England out. Still a pretty solemn indictment though, innit?
OVER 80: ENG 289/2 Couple off a North over and the new ball is available. BUT! They are not taking it... Watson is going to continue.
Steve James via Twitter: Bowlers and rugby union props. Can't find them anywhere in this country...
OVER 79: Eng 287/2 Cook turns Watson into the leg side and they go for one. Excellent fielding by Doherty and KP has to really hurry but the throw misses by a whisker. Think he would have been home anyway, but...
David Sutton from Manila with a superb if obviously made-up email: Rain coming! Heard from my mate in the Aussie air force that they are up seeding the clouds with a special chemical bought from the Chinese (left over from Beijing Olympics)
Jim via email: I have to say from an Australian point of view this is becoming increasingly painful. Rain of any significance seems very unlikely for Adelaide in December so no salvation there I fear. Interestingly if the Gabba Test had been on this week it would have been significantly rained out. North just spun it again!!!
Drinks for them; gypsy's for me. Eng 285/2 Cook 121* KP 70*
OVER 78: ENG 285/2 KP has had enough of being polite to North and slog-sweeps him expertly for four.
OVER 77: ENG 281/2 Watson bowls a maiden to Cook. 37 from the last 10 overs, so at least Ponting can say that England haven't got away from his part-timers.
OVER 76: ENG 281/2 Ooh, that's a beaut from M North first ball of the over. Turn and bounce, Cook beaten outside off. Nicely bowled. Apparently he bats as well, on occasion, this North. Good to see a bit of turn there: something for Swanny to think about? Then just a single from the rest of the over.
OVER 75: ENG 280/2 To be fair to Watto, which I am obviously loath to be, he is bowling as well as could be expected here. But Cook could play this stuff in his sleep. Just a single from an untroubling over.
OVER 74: ENG 279/2 North keeps it tight for a bit, but the pressure is released when KP drives him for four through the covers and that's five from the over, as well as the 100 partnership. Excellent from both batsmen; complementary too: Cook serene, KP bustling. Cook 119* KP 66*
OVER 73: ENG 274/2 Good line and length from Watson and KP, although he's straining at the leash, can't get him away. Maiden. Good effort, Blondie. New ball not that far away now, but these look like a very tired and run-down outfit. Might they even save it for tomorrow?
OVER 72: ENG 274/2 Call off the RSPCA: Ponting has stopped flogging Poidersiddle. Dangerbowler M North will try his luck. And he's got one to spin! Marcus North has got one to spin! Xavier Doherty! Xavier Doherty! Are you watching, Xavier Doherty? That's how you do it. It doesn't matter, it was well wide of Cook's off pole, but at least it's something. Drive through the covers for three; plus a couple of singles makes five.
OVER 71: ENG 269/2 More modest fare from Watson, nothing wrong with it as such, but not going to trouble well-set batsmen on this dancefloor. Class cover drive from Cook for four. According to Nasser earlier, Botham was on about how it was going to be a wash-out on days four and five; the forecast though is for just showers. Meteorologists? How many Test wickets did they get? I tell you what, Clive, it blinking well better not rain.
OVER 70: ENG 265/2 More hard yakka for P Siddy. An over of short stuff, and this is taking it out of Peter, tough beggar that he is. Pace is down. But what else can Aussies do? Doherty isn't much use, Bolly doesn't look right: but my goodness they can't afford Siddle to break down for the rest of the series. Cook and KP swap pulled singles and survive without any alarm.
OVER 69: ENG 262/2 Watto bowlo. Four for KP through the covers, lovely. And then - excuse me while I cackle and spit liquid over the screen - another drive through the off by KP that not one but two Aussie fielders dive at and miss, giving the proud son of Pietermaritzburg another boundary. Ha, ha, ha. Oh man, Australia couldn't get arrested here. Unlike the 200-person police v yoofs argy-bargy in Victoria that held up my cab and nearly made me late to relieve Jonathan Liew earlier this evening.
OVER 68: ENG 253/2 I really do love watching Kevin Pietersen bat. Thumping straight drive for three, then that whipped drive again; it wasn't even leg-side and he has put that away through mid-on for four to bring up his 50. He is looking very, very good. Come on Kevin, make it a ton. Make these Aussies suffer for Adelaide last time. Nine off the over. KP 51* Ali Cook 108*
OVER 67: ENG 244/2 It's the popular Watson to bowl. He's floating it up, really, but it's decent line and length stuff. A measure of how deep is Australia's misery: Watson's probably been their most consistent bowler. Oof. Single from Cook.
Drinks England are 243/2 with Cook on 105* and KP on 44*
OVER 66: ENG 243/2 Siddle running in with plenty of heart; he really is in the 125 percent club this lad. But by God it looks like hard work; Cook leaves a good one, defends a straighter one, then takes a single off his pads. Sigh. Turn again, Poidersiddle. An interruption for some sightscreen / eyeline / divs in hospitality suites related problems upsets KP and we have to wait for a bit, before two defensive shots from KP and a leave-alone complete yet another fruitless over for the Aussies.
Benjamin Elks via Twitter: Fantastic performance from Cook so far
OVER 65: ENG 242/2 Another over from Doherty, not too bad in the main apart from one absolute pie: a leg-side full toss that KP crunches to the midwicket boundary. Ponting cannot trust this guy not to serve up freebies, and that is a big worry for Oz. Cook 104* Pietersen 44*
OVER 64: ENG 238/2 KP with one of his crazy ego shots: a sort of front foot slap back down the track and it goes about two feet over Peter Siddle's head. Risky and foolish? Or domineering and inventive? It all depends on your point of view. Actually, it all depends on if he gets out.
OVER 63: ENG 235/2 Doherty ain't getting any spin here and that, combined with the lack of dip or changes of pace, makes him an unthreatening proposition. Single for Cook, then a very nice drive from KP through the covers. And who is that fielder making a despairing and futile dive to cut it off? Why, it's 12th man Mitchell Johnson. Hasn't he suffered enough?
Lizzy via email: Good morning Alan. Exhaustion has been replaced by delirium chez Lizzy. Maybe KP should get out to Doherty just to keep him in the side?
OVER 62: ENG 229/2: Peter Siddle replaces Doug the Rug, and Ponting is rewarded with a maiden. That's not to say that KP did not play some shots; just that they all went to fielders.
Nick Hoult via Twitter: Cook has spent all but 11 overs of the series on the field of play. Great tribute to the team's fitness
OVER 61: ENG 229/2 KP smashes Doherty back over his head - he really is after Xavier here. He then takes a single down to long on, and that brings Alastair Cook onto strike. Doherty drops short and Cook cuts him for four to bring up his century! Well played. That's 103 off 173 balls - his 15th Test century; and he could well end up as England's leading run scorer before his career is over. Unless Australia come up with something soon, he might do it in this series. His concentration, not to mention his stamina, has been mighty impressive.
Jim via email: Sounds like Michael Vaughan is still wounded from tougher times against Australia to be enjoying this so much.
OVER 60: ENG 220/2 Cook and KP single, single, single from a mixed bag from Doug, who hasn't got his line, before KP hooks a short one for four. He then singles again, but Cook, on 99*, can't get the one he wants from the last ball of the over. Eight off it, and Ponting has one more problem to worry about: Bollinger.
OVER 59: ENG 212/2 A maiden from Doherty from Pietersen, who looks fully determined here. Patience, Kevin.
OVER 58: ENG 212/2 Cook takes a single off his pads from Bollinger. Pietersen plays that drive-whip of his, and it goes through straight midwicket but uppishly - you could see him getting caught in that position on this slightly spongy deck - and they run hard for three. Bolly then gets a bit straight and Cook turns that away for four with consummate ease. He looks in the F of his L here as he moves on to 97. Doug is a-gripin' and a-groanin', practising his action and generally looking unhappy with his game. Or maybe he's just pondering a tricky clue in his tea-break crossword. Four across: Animal that makes miaowing noise (3) C-something-T. Maybe that's why Australia took so long to emerge after the interval.
OVER 57: ENG 204/2 X Dogg bowling. Cook singles to bring up the 200 and give KP a chance to make Xavier Doherty his own / fall in a humiliating way. Ooh - nice shot. Four through midwicket for Kevin. All timing.
A single from OVER 56: ENG 199/2 Just one run off the over as the noted intellectual Doug Bollinger bowls to Cook, who clips one to square leg before KP defends five decent balls in a brisk, businesslike manner.
05.03 We are underway; and there should be 36 overs this evening. At this over-rate, we might be here for a while. Subplots to look out for: can Aussies catch? WIll KP over-ego the pudding and attack X Dogg too much? Will they ever get Cook out?
05.00 Australia are late getting onto the ground after tea. Eventually, they are shoved out of the dressing room with a broom and made to carry on bowling at England. This has taken up a good three minutes or so, I'd say. Perhaps it's Andrew Strauss' fault, eh, Ricky?
04.58 Morning everyone. Alan Tyers here to take you through until the close of play. Please email me your views, rants and such; or Tweet at me @alantyers, if that's your prefered method of communication.
04.54 Let's pay tribute to that mammoth Cook and Trott stand of over 500 runs. When they started batting:
- King George IV was on the throne;
- A pint of beer cost eightpence for mild, ninepence for stout;
- Adam Ant was number one in the singles charts with 'Look at Me! Look at Me! For God's Sake, Look At Me... My Liege';
- Ivor Gaffigan was prime minister of the United Kingdom, which in those days included Ireland and parts of northern France;
- Sharon Osbourne was born.
04.46 Pietersen looking quite good. There'll always be the odd rush of blood, but Pietersen without the odd rush of blood would be like a Tarantino film without the pretentious references to defunct film genres. It might be technically 'better', but you wouldn't like it quite as much. Cook sailing serenely to another century. It's really come to something when Ashes centuries by Alastair Cook become common currency.
TEA: ENGLAND 198/2 (47 behind) Cook 90* Pietersen 14*
OVER 55: ENG 198/2 North takes the last over before tea, and a Cook square drive for one, moving him on to 90, is the only activity from the over. Tea, and it's been another fine session for England. That session produced 108 runs from 28 overs, which will do very nicely indeed.
OVER 54: ENG 197/2 Less of the pyrotechnics from Doherty and Pietersen this time, but Pietersen does manage an all-run four down to deep mid-wicket. Despite the soporific tenor of this afternoon's cricket, England are still going at a pretty handy rate - nearer to four an over than three - and Australia are, despite that wicket, still in quite a bit of trouble.
OVER 53: ENG 193/2 Marcus North - the little rain that into every life must fall - returns just before tea, and Cook drives him down to deep cover for two. Cook tends to relax after taking runs early in an over, and he just sits in his crease and blocks the rest of the over.
OVER 52: ENG 191/2 Cook - who must be privately delighted that Doherty's back in his sights - works him down to fine leg for three. A single each to Pietersen and Cook, making five off the over, and the folly of picking a bowler to combat one batsman in the opposition line-up is being slowly exposed. It's akin to making Flintoff captain for the last Ashes series because he was Harmison's best mate. Why didn't they make Pietersen's best mate captain? Piers Morgan could hardly have done a worse job...
OVER 51: ENG 186/2 Here's Harris, who's bowled very well to his plan, and he's going to persist with Bodyline 2010 to Pietersen. But having sat in the dressing room with his pads on for the best part of two years so far this series, Pietersen isn't going to chuck it away with a rash hook shot. You'd think. He doesn't take the bait this over, at any rate, but Kevin Pietersen's not the kind of player that likes to duck, because Kevin Pietersen likes to play the hook shot the way Kevin Pietersen likes to play it, and Kevin Pietersen likes to dominate bowlers, because that's the way Kevin Pietersen plays, and that's the way Kevin Pietersen likes it. Kevin Pietersen, Kevin Pietersen, Kevin Pietersen.
OVER 50: ENG 185/2 "Xavier! XAVIER! You can come back and bowl again. Pietersen's in. What do you mean, 'cheapens your art'?" So it is that Doherty returns to the attack, and Pietersen is down the wicket straight away! No runs there, but the next ball is dragged down and crashed through the off-side for four. Super manipulation of the bowler's length by Pietersen, who has a dodgy moment the next ball when he comes down the track again and gets a thick outside edge that loops just over cover for two. A forcing shot off the back foot earns him another two, and simply by dint of Pietersen replacing Trott at the wicket, we have eight runs from the over and superb afternoon entertainment. Never a dull moment with Pietersen.
OVER 49: ENG 177/2 Pietersen generally begins with a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I single, but this one's actually rather serene. A simple push into the off-side, and with the field still set back for Harris's bouncer strategy, it's an easy run to get off the mark.
WICKET! Trott c Clarke b Harris 78 ENG 176/2
At last! Australia have their breakthrough, and it's rather a soft end for Trott, who must have spied a third Ashes century in his third Ashes Test. Harris dug it in again - not all that short - but perhaps it stuck in the pitch a little, for Trott got it a little high on the bat as he tried to paddle it to leg. The ball looped up to mid-wicket, where Clarke dived low to take a good catch. After more than 500 unbroken runs, Australia finally break the Cook-Trott partnership. Of course, that just brings in Kevin Pietersen...
Michael Vaughan on Twitter: "Have to tell you all I am loving this... Aussies are now down to plan L"
OVER 48: ENG 176/1 It's not Clarke, it's Marcus Saqlain North to replace Doherty, and Cook flays a full toss through the covers for four more. North knuckles down and keeps Cook at that end for the rest of the over.
OVER 47: ENG 172/1 Clarke's got his cap off and looks ready to turn his arm over, but Ponting changes his mind and tosses the ball to Harris instead. Perhaps after that last, over he wants Clarke to replace Doherty rather than partner him. Harris continues to pursue the bouncer policy, and Trott is tempted into the hook! There's some kind of noise and a muffled appeal as Haddin tumbles to take it, but it was probably helmet rather than glove. That was definitely glove, though! And Haddin's dropped it! Trott hooked again, gloved, and although Haddin had both feet off the ground as he reached to his left, he did manage to get both hands to it. Comfortably, too. It's a catch he would probably take eight or nine times out of ten. Not today, though. Nothing is going for Australia today. It's telling that the only way they've been able to get a wicket is by a batsman leaving a straight ball.
OVER 46: ENG 170/1 Trott doesn't quite pierce the leg-side field this time, but he still starts Doherty's over with a single. Cook comes down the pitch, but Doherty sees him coming and spears the ball in quick and low. Cook reacts and defends it, before leaning back and cutting hard for four. And the same again! This time to the right of the man at backward point. And a third! Doherty's just lobbing pies outside off-stump, and Cook is tucking it heartily. Thirteen off the over, and I'd surmise that's the last we see of Doherty for a while. Cook on to 78, and England are just 75 behind.
OVER 45: ENG 157/1 Siddle's visibly wheezing as he trundles in for what is only his fourth over of the spell. Cook with a controlled hook for one, and Siddle's back round the wicket to Trott. His length to Trott is pretty good - not short enough to duck under, short enough to be uncomfortable. Siddle then tries to surprise Trott by slipping in the yorker, and Trott just jabs down on it and sends it down to long leg for a run.
OVER 44: ENG 155/1 Trott turns Doherty into the leg-side for two, before cutting for four to bring up the 150 partnership. Two more down to deep point round out the over. Good over for England, who are treating Xavier Doherty like a warm bubble bath filled with essential oils.
OVER 43: ENG 147/1 Cook given out gloving a hook to the keeper! But he calls for a review immediately! And on the replay, it doesn't look anywhere near either bat or glove. It probably flicked the upper sleeve or the shoulder on its way through to Haddin. And the decision is overturned! Ricky Ponting looks like a man who's realised he left £20 in the trousers he's just dropped off at the dry-cleaners. Cook, reprieved on 64, takes a single round the corner - that's the first run for 22 balls - before Trott is disturbed by a couple of short balls from round the wicket. He just weaves out of the way of the first, and tickles the second behind square for a single. Like this bouncer tactic from Australia. Like it a lot. And it's the kind of thing you wouldn't see in any other format of cricket. Perhaps it's time someone invented a type of cricket in which you had to bowl bouncers? Maybe by dangling the stumps from an eight-foot high beam? You know what, I reckon I might be on to something here...
OVER 42: ENG 145/1 That's right, James. Stick the boot in. Doherty bowls another maiden to Trott, who barely looks awake, let alone interested.
Steve James on Twitter: "Any chance of these blokes giving us a game?"
Drinks: England 145/1 (100 behind) Cook 64* Trott 65*
OVER 41: ENG 145/1 Siddle continues what I'm tentatively going to dub 'Bodyline 2010' to Cook. Cook's not playing ball, though, not with two men out in the deep. Clearly Bodyline doesn't put the batsman in quite the same state of fear as they did in the 1930s. Quite apart from the development of helmets and leg-side fielding regulations, padding is far more robust these days. Chest guards these days are made of steel-reinforced Kevlar and tested to destruction by ex-marines firing Uzis at them. In the 1930s, they were made of duck feathers and satin. Another leaden maiden, and that's drinks.
OVER 40: ENG 145/1 Cook may fancy a piece of Doherty, but Trott's quite happy to play him out, safe in the knowledge that he can comfortably out-bore anybody else in world cricket. Maiden.
OVER 39: ENG 145/1 Just a slip and a short mid-wicket for Siddle, the rest of the Australian fielders scattered like seed in order to stem the flow of singles. Trott manages to get the ball through, though, clipping again through mid-wicket for four. It's almost as if Trott's been told there's a pile of cash on the outfield just straight of mid-wicket, and if he hits it he wins it. Doesn't have to be a pile of cash, obviously. A British passport, perhaps. But it looks as though Siddle's had quite enough of looking round to his right to see the ball flyling through mid-wicket, and he's going to give Trott a peppering. Short-leg comes in as Siddle goes round the wicket, but Trott simply tucks off his ribs for one more. Siddle continues the bombardment to Cook, but Cook simply ducks. Five off the over, and England trail by exactly 100. Australia aren't even on the back foot. They're practically falling over their stumps and failing to get their legs over.
OVER 38: ENG 140/1 Cook tries to hump a Doherty delivery into the Indian Ocean, and ends up miscuing it to mid-on for a run. Trott retakes his guard - ah, home comforts - and pushes a single into the off-side. Doherty's not found a great deal of turn so far, but if Cook's intent on giving him some hammer, Ponting might be tempted to keep Doherty on and try to buy a wicket. Siddle to return now.
OVER 37: ENG 138/1 Still Harris - bowling his 13th over of the innings - and Trott cuts hard into the ground and over the fielder's head for two. England 107 behind now.
OVER 36: ENG 136/1 Here's Doherty, and Cook greets him by cutting for four. We're almost where we left off in Brisbane. Cook's looking to score heavily off the left-arm spinner, and yes, he will try and drive against the spin out of the rough if he wants to. He can't get it away, though, and four runs are all that come from the over.
OVER 35: ENG 132/1 The mercury's now pushing 36C at Adelaide. It'll be one of those days where the players will actually be looking forward to their ice bath this evening. "Fellas, your ice baths are ready. Unfortunately, you'll have to share it with Merv. We made the mistake of storing all the XXXX in them and he just dived in..." Cook cuts Harris behind square for four more, before driving for another three. Harris is running out of things to try, and he goes round the wicket to Trott for the last two balls of the over.
OVER 34: ENG 125/1 Bollinger strays too straight again, and Trott takes an easy two through the leg side. Perhaps we're being a little harsh on the Australian bowlers. Cook and Trott are judging the line so, so well. Anything outside off, they leave. Anything on middle stump or inside, and it's disappearing through mid-wicket. Anything overpitched is being driven mercilessly. Like that! Trott drives gloriously for four! England are now more than halfway to Australia's score, and there's still 57 overs left in the day. England could be 100 ahead by stumps if they get a hustle on.
OVER 33: ENG 119/1 Cook's overseas average is over 51, which is 10 runs more than it is at home. What can this mean? Does he love hotel rooms? Does he play better when his mum's not watching? Should we be playing calypso music and feeding him bhajis before he goes out to bat at Lords? Harris bowls a maiden to Cook, who just flips slightly with a wild, fresh-air heave outside off stump.
OVER 32: ENG 119/1 Cook clips Bollinger for three to reach what must be the least surprising fifty of his career. Honestly, he's just looked so serene. Didn't even get dropped this innings. And two balls later, Trott plays it through mid-wicket for four to complete his fifty too! All around the field, you can see Australian heads dropping. Ponting has his hands on his hips and slips. Haddin barely has the will to stand upright, let alone start a verbal scrap. Trott's fifty took 84 balls, Cook's took 102.
OVER 31: ENG 112/1 Harris continues, Cook fends one to where a short leg would have been, but it runs away for a single to move him on to 49. Harris epitomises the problem Australia's bowlers have had all day, though. They can't seem to get two consecutive balls in the same place. Harris drifts one into Trott's pads, and he picks up an easy two. Have a squiz of our live Hawkeye analysis. The wagon wheel will show you exactly where Trott's scored his runs, and the pitch map will show you how Australia have let him do it.
@chris_scott1530 on Twitter: "Commentator 'pretty sure the England middle order isn't up to much... because they haven't batted...'"
OVER 30: ENG 109/1 Trott pulls! It's straight up in the air! Who wants it? And would you believeit, it drops safe! That short ball from Bollinger really harassed Trott a lot sooner than he was expecting it to, and the pull skewed off the upper half of the bat and looped up in a high arc to mid-wicket. The closest man, though, was Siddle at mid-on, and the ball landed just a couple of yards away from him! Is there a hot-weather equivalent to the phrase 'when it rains, it pours'? Like: 'when it's hot, you also get migraines'? Might need a little work, that adage. Cook gets one with a pull out into the deep.
Nick Hoult on Twitter: "I think KP has now spent more than 8 hours with his pads on if you include the Gabba."
OVER 29: ENG 107/1 That is just a sumptuous shot by Trott. Harris pitched it up on off stump, probably thinking that at worst Trott would have to try and pierce the off-side ring with his drive. Instead, he steps across his stumps and flicks it through the on-side for four of the loveliest runs you'll see. That brings up the 100 partnership for these two, and Ricky Ponting must be so sick of the sight of Cook and Trott by now you'd almost forgive him for taking out a contract on them. But the next ball Trott almost inside edges onto his stumps! It flies down to fine leg, and Trott picks up a streaky single. A big LBW shout off Cook, but it was almost certainly missing the off-stump. And, look, Cook got an edge on it.
OVER 28: ENG 102/1 Bollinger to begin, and Cook opens the face and guides his second ball between the two gullies for four. That's a deceptively excellent shot by Cook, who then glides the ball through the leg side for four more as Bollinger strays in line after lunch. And four more! Cut away behind square! Already Cook has bludgeoned as many runs this session than England managed in the half-hour before lunch. It moves him on to 47, within nurdling distance of a half-century.
02.40 Here come Cook and Trott. There's a kind of certitude about these two at the moment. They may get a magic delivery or fall to a phenomenal piece of fielding, but there's a feeling that neither of these two will throw it away. I remember during the last Ashes series the accompanying press pack got very excited for about two or three days about something Andrew Strauss said about Australia losing their aura. Well, if losing the Ashes in England costs you an aura, goodness knows what you forfeit in getting tonked for 517/1 at your home fortress. Your underwear, probably.
Shane Warne on Twitter: "Australia will fight back today! No other choice..." [rest of tweet inaudible amid munching of chicken burger]
02.18 AUSTRALIA ARE PANTS! THE ANALYST SAID SO! I DIDN'T SAY SO! IT WAS THE ANALYST! THE SAGE! THE ORACLE OF EALING!
The Analyst on Twitter: "First session to England. Aussies' bowling and fielding not a patch on England's. Whisper it quietly but Australia are Not Very Good."
02.16 Lots of kiddies in yellow and green kit playing games of Kwik Cricket on the outfield. When did Test grounds stop letting spectators perambulate around the outfield at intervals? One idiot with a spade, a knife and a realisation that they haven't bought a birthday present for their nephew is all it takes, isn't it? "What a turnaround," writes P Meissner. (Just an initial. LIKE THAT'S OKAY.) "England are normally playing catch-up and making errors, drops, bowling inconsistently, and now the Aussies are doing it. For the first time since I've been following the Ashes I feel as confident as our team do."
02.10 Good, reassuring recovery by England after the early loss of Strauss. Cook and Trott have been resolute and skilful, and if they push on this afternoon it could be a fairly long, thankless day for Australia. The character of this England side is not in doubt. The unknown quantities are Pietersen and Collingwood - the next men in, and somewhat short of runs this tour, which hasn't been entirely their fault. If Australia can break this partnership, they might fancy their chances of driving stakes through the England middle order. Still, England's session.
@elksy91 on Twitter: "Cook and Trott partnership going strong. Come on England!"
LUNCH: ENGLAND 90/1 (155 behind) Cook 35* Trott 39*
OVER 27: ENG 90/1 Harris begins the last over before lunch. The Australian fans are unsuccessfully trying to incite a Mexican wave. I never realised how these things started, until I found myself seated right smack in front of the perpetrators at a Trent Bridge Test match a few years back. Never. Again. I sat there for around eight hours, and during the day they tried to start roughly 750 Mexican waves, about four of them successful. I'll be honest with you, the first 500 times it was funny. After a while, though, you did want to shove your plastic radio into one of their tender places. Their persistence and zeal was remarkable, although you wonder whether they wouldn't be better applying it to fighting against child poverty or working with recovering heroin addicts, rather than attempting to cajole 25,000 drunk cricket fans into voluntary spasm. Harris finishes the session with a bouncer - and it's given as a wide. Rather sums up Australia's morning.
OVER 26: ENG 89/1 Seven minutes to lunch, and we're finally going to see some spin. Doherty comes in to Cook, and he's managed to find a little turn. More than Swann did in his first over, at any rate. Cook's not going to hang around to see how far Doherty can tweak it, though, he's down on one knee and spanking it out to deep square leg for one. Another single to Trott, and that's a nice tidy start for Doherty. Whether he'll continue after lunch is another matter, of course.
OVER 25: ENG 87/1 Back comes Harris, and things should start to get a little more interesting now. Marginally - Trott tucks it off his legs for one, before Cook does the same. England now just 158 runs behind, and Australia really need a breakthrough here. Two untroubled runs off the over. Shot of Stuart Broad on the England balcony, reading a book about former AFL player Ben Cousins. "Not often you see a fast bowler reading a book," chunters Mike Atherton. Well, not all of us went to CAMBRIDGE, Atherton. Some of us didn't have books when we were growing up. (I did. Ironically, my favourite was by Mike Atherton.)
OVER 24: ENG 85/1 Well, Ponting's at least succeeded in getting the run rate down. Oh, hang on. Watson spears it - well, more sort of wafts it - in the direction of Cook's pads and Cook flicks it well in front of square this time, beating the man on the deep square leg fence and running away for four.
OVER 23: ENG 81/1 Oh, for heaven's sake, Ricky Ponting. This is stultifying. I know we asked for a nice, quiet day, but this is something else. Aha! Better from Cook, seizing on Siddle's leg-stump line and tucking it away for three to move to 29. Siddle compensates by pushing the next ball even further outside off stump than usual. How on earth do Australia reckon they're going to get rid of these two like this? Not through a heart attack, I'll tell you that for nowt.
OVER 22: ENG 78/1 Trott with a gorgeous drive for no runs as Watson continues. This little mise en scene, with Watson floating it up outside off stump with a ring of fielders saving one, is what's sometimes known as cat-and-mouse. I've never been entirely comfortable with the analogy. Essentially, a cat can catch and kill a mouse. A mouse has very little similar recourse to the cat. All it can do is run away and hope it doesn't get caught and killed next time. In order to improve the analogy, we need to introduce some jeopardy into the cat's existence. Eg: this little schtick between Watson and Trott is real cat-and-mouse-with-pellet-gun stuff.
OVER 21: ENG 78/1 "Catch!" goes the cry as Cook tries to put some lead in his pencil by cutting a wide ball from Siddle. By the time anyone can react, though, it's whistled through point for four. That, though, is a very good reply from Siddle, slanting it across Cook and beating his defensive stroke. Might be Doherty time soon...
OVER 20: ENG 74/1 Watson strays in line, firing it in at Cook's leg stump, but gets away with it as Cook's clip finds the sweeper on the boundary. Cook and Trott have now put on 400 runs without their partnership being broken. This is a very definite lull, so I'd appreciate a little flurry of emails to shank the tedium.
OVER 19: ENG 73/1 Cook gets the first run for 14 balls with a little push into the off side. Siddle then finds a beautiful outswinger - think Phil Newport on a greentop at Worcester in about 1992 - to whistle past Trott's outside edge. A good stat courtesy of Australia's Channel Nine: Trott's current Test average of 61.6 is the highest of any England batsman with more than 1000 runs. There we are. Proof. Proof that Jonathan Trott is better than Hobbs, Hutton, Hammond, Gower, Boycott, Compton, May and Afzaal.
OVER 18: ENG 72/1 The ball's still fairly new, there's still a little something in the pitch, and already Australia are doing the cricketing equivalent of cowering in the corner and whimpering 'please don't hurt us'. Watson's spraying it well outside the off stump, and Trott can just leave the entire over alone. This, unfortunately, is also Test cricket. Still, if your attack looks as toothless as Ricky Ponting's has this morning, what else do you do?
OVER 17: ENG 72/1 Here's Mitchell Johnson! Like the uncle who manages to squeeze himself into every wedding photo, Mitchell just can't stay away. He's only fielding - he's been dropped, remember - as a substitute for Doherty. Siddle switches ends and bowls a tighter over to Cook, a maiden. Ponting's given him an extra slip and told him to keep the ball on one side of the wicket. Sensibly, Siddle's chosen the off-side. John Sutherington, one of yesterday's correspondents, has shuffled back for more: "Tuned car radio in to LW198 at about 12.50am after a night of karaoke at the local pub, from Chris Farlowe's 'Out of Time' to Bobby Darin's 'Mack the Knife'." How perfectly pleasant. I note, though, that you either drove home while under the influence of alcohol, or performed karaoke while not under the influence of alcohol. Both are equally indefensible.
OVER 16: ENG 72/1 Shane Watson enters the attack. A little early for declaration bowling, no? Siddle only got three expensive overs before being hauled out of active service; if England get after Doherty too, Ricky Ponting's options will begin to look about as thin as Shane Warne's hair. Trott pushes it though mid-wicket for a single - there we are, leg side again. Cook mistimes a cut for two and then gets a leg bye. An Australian bowler then strays onto Trott's pads for roughly the 260th time today and Trott beats the man at deep square leg, working it in front of square for four more. The last three overs have cost 27 runs. Declaration bowling? Don't laugh, now...
OVER 15: ENG 64/1 Bollinger resumes by giving Cook the bouncer treatment. Haddin just about manages to gather the first, but can get but a fingertip to the second, and it runs away for five wides. Cook thick edges low through around fifth slip for four more, before Bollinger finds a better length and gets Cook feeling for it outside off stump. Cook may be in terrific form at the moment, but you sense it's a fragile purple patch. One ugly prod and you fear all the awkward memories will come flooding back, like that character in The Fast Show who goes postal at the very mention of the word 'black'. Nine off the over.
Nick Hoult on Twitter: "England four an over when the ball is supposed to be at its most responsive for the bowlers."
Drinks: England 55/1 (190 behind) Cook 14* Trott 32*
OVER 14: ENG 55/1 Trott edges down to third man for four. It kept low, but Siddle just managed to find a little bite in the surface. That's less clever from Siddle, though, feeding Trott's favourite stroke through mid-wicket. Trott makes no mistake, flicking it away for four to bring up the England fifty, and the 50 partnership. And far too straight again to Trott, who can glance it away fine for two more. All of a sudden, England are getting over their suicidal start and rattling along at a fair lick. That's drinks.
OVER 13: ENG 45/1 Bollinger replaces Harris. Cook pushes through backward square leg for one, Trott gets two leg byes in the same general area before taking another single down to fine leg. That's three synonyms for 'behind square on the leg side' in 25 words. Not an easy gig, this live blogging shenanigans.
@ofarrimond on Twitter: "Credit to England for holding steady after early shock. Touch wood."
OVER 12: ENG 41/1 Cook glances down to long leg; Trott does the same; Cook pushes one to mid-off, where Bollinger pulls off a good tumbling stop. Siddle's just bowling a little too straight to both batsmen, but the ball is nibbling a little out there. Trott plays and misses at one that beats his inside edge.
OVER 11: ENG 38/1 An advertising billboard at one end of the ground is displaying a giant picture of Shane Warne, face obscured by a giant McDonald's chicken burger. Say what you like about Shane Warne, but he's a man who likes to say yes. Chicken burgers? "Yes!" Hair replacement? "Yes!" Poker? "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Trott gets four for a bottom-handed whip through the leg side, but not quite the way he intended. He gets two for the stroke out to deep square leg, but the throw hits the stumps and bounces clear, and the batsmen steal two more as Clarke hares down to the boundary in pursuit. A short leg comes in, but the batsmen exchange singles before Trott flicks through mid-wicket for four more. A delicious, 10-run over. More delicious than a McDonald's chicken burger, at any rate.
Ian Chadband on Twitter: "Siddle, in conversation with his captain, suddenly and mysteriously wipes something from Ponting's chin. Very caring, very odd"
OVER 10: ENG 28/1 Siddle replaces Bollinger, and Cook will need to be wary of the change of pace. Siddle's a good 6-7mph slower than either of the new ball pair, and a good deal less accurate too, if this over is anything to go by. His second ball is a wild full toss outside off-stump that so startles Cook he barely attempts a stroke at it. That's a more familiar Cook shot, though, check-driving through mid-off as Siddle overpitches. That's his first four of the match.
OVER 9: ENG 24/1 Harris steams in for another. Cook tries to get him away with a cross-batted slap off the front foot but mistimes, and takes a single off the last ball of the over. Just get the shine off that new ball, Cook and Trott will be telling themselves. Just stick it out. "Harris doesn't look the right shape for bowling long spells on a flat pitch in the heat," types Tim Fox. "Hope we can grind him down today and blunt him for the rest of the Test."
OVER 8: ENG 23/1 Trott is dropped badly in the gully! He drove at a wide one from Bollinger, thick edged it, and it went straight to Hussey at around shin height. He's a fairily reliable pair of hands, Hussey, but this one doesn't just go through his hands but through his legs too. Huge let-off for Trott, and the reaction of the Australian fielders shows how crestfallen they are. Trott already on his third life after that missed run-out earlier.
OVER 7: ENG 21/1 Two slips and two gullies as Harris charges in to Cook. Will his right knee last the day - or two days? He flew home from the series against Pakistan in England this summer with the injury, and despite playing a good deal of one-day cricket, it's not really been tested much over five days. Good over from him, though. A maiden to Cook, who nonetheless plays it fairly comfortably and is getting well behind the ball.
OVER 6: ENG 21/1 Cook tucks it away for a single, before Trott plays the shot of the morning. The shot of most mornings, probably. Bollinger pitched it up outside off and Trott just stroked it away for an effortless four. All balance, that. Balance and timing. All balance and timing. And placement. All balance, timing, placement, ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.
OVER 5: ENG 16/1 Trott drives outside off stump and misses! Phwoar, this is real Test cricket. Australia are trying to bowl very straight to Trott and trap him LBW. Trott gets an inside edge into the leg side, and he's in real trouble as he wants a run and is sent back by Cook! Doherty misses with the throw! Trott was gone by miles! He'd given up trying to make his ground. Almost identical to Katich's dismissal this time yesterday, but while Trott threw the stumps down Doherty missed by about three feet. Not having the best series in the field, is Xavier.
OVER 4: ENG 16/1 Bollinger's really bustling in here, grunting and puffing and hitting the pitch hard. Just want you want to see as a captain. An Australian captain, that is. He empties a bouncer on Cook, who ducks under it and watches it sail over the head of Haddin for four byes. Cook then clips to the leg side for two, before Bollinger produces a beauty that seams away from Cook and leaves him groping for it like the proverbial blind man in the proverbial Spearmint Rhino.
Ian Chadband on Twitter: "Strauss shoulders arms to a straight one from Ruggy Dougie, third ball. Is this the maddest Test series ever?"
@pad87d on Twitter: "Regretting catching the first over this time..."
OVER 3: ENG 10/1 By the way, the scoreboard's up and running after yesterday's malfunctions.Here's Ryan Harris, and this is some pretty quick stuff. He's already up to 91mph, but Cook stands up to him and pushes off the front foot for a quick single. Trott then jabs a bat down on a straight delivery and gets two through square leg. Oh well, at least it's not two for three.
OVER 2: ENG 7/1 All of a sudden, Australia are utterly buoyant. There's nothing like prize wickets to keep you cool on a hot day. Bollinger pitches his first ball up and Trott - pressure, what pressure? - steers it through backward point for four. Bollinger replies well, beating the outside edge and then firing in a quick bouncer to Trott and following it up with a choice word or two. Nobody sticks in an Australian craw like Trott, who responds by serenely marking out his guard for the fourth time today.
WICKET! Strauss b Bollinger 1 ENG 3/1
Shocker! Well, we were never going to get a nice quiet start, were we? By any standards, though, that is a shocking miscalculation from Strauss. A single to each batsman, but then Strauss played no shot to a ball that was on middle stump and ended up hitting the top of that stump. Clearly Strauss left it on length. Shouldn't have done that.
ENGLAND RESUME ON 1/0 (244 behind)
23.59 Just to put that in a slightly nerdy statistical perspective, you have to go back to 1992 to find a team who scored as few as 245 in their first dig and avoided defeat. In 1992 Australia were skittled for 145 on day one, bowled India out for 225 and ended up turning it round and winning narrowly. The players are out - Australia first, then England at a safe distance. You can see the heat. Everything shimmers. We're going to see a lot of bare torsos today. Most of them, I would estimate, male. And most of those, I would further posit, aged between 40 and 80. Bollinger to take the new ball. Strauss to face.
23.50 They say you have to wait until both teams have batted on a pitch before you can judge how good it is. It's a fairly decent bet, however, that when England got back to their dressing room yesterday evening they were not gripped by an overwhelming sense of uncertainty. This is Adelaide, and the Adelaide wicket is so utterly akin to a road that it actually doubles for one in safety videos. You'd say 400 is an absolute minimum for a first innings score, so 245 was a pretty paltry effort.
Rob Key on Twitter: "England big chance of 500 again here"
23.40 Now, as the players walked off the field yesterday evening, there was a bit of handbags between Ricky Ponting, Brad Haddin and Andrew Strauss. "It means Australia are getting increasingly more irate," reckons Nasser Hussain. Anybody want to hazard a guess as to which one of those instigated it? The general consensus appears to be that it was something to do with Strauss walking off the field before the umpires had called time. Or something. Alan Tyers, however, can exclusively reveal what was said with the use of lip-reading technology (also known as lip-reading).
Michael Vaughan on Twitter, never knowingly unpatrioted: "Pitch looks very good... Boiling hot... Will Ponting be cool or not? Aussies are looking like they know it's going to be a long day. Good"
23.30 Given that this is the Ashes, this may seem a futile aspiration, but we'd all like a nice, quiet day today. No calamitous run-outs, no hat-tricks, no Jim Lakers, no Balls of the Century; just staid, unremarkable runs. Having grabbed this Test match by the throat on day one, England have a marvellous chance to shove it up against the wall and nick its iPhone. And beautiful batting wicket or no beautiful batting wicket, to do that they'll need to bat very well indeed. Anything less than 400 in their first innings, and the game is on again, guaranteeing the people of two nations a weekend of nervous butt-clenching. One thing, however, is most definitely in England's favour. It is absolutely roasting in Adelaide today. Thirty-five degrees C - more, perhaps - and a long day of toil in the field could well finish the Aussies off in this Test match. Play starts in half an hour, so if you want to make yourself a cup of tea or some trifle, you'd better get cracking. If however, you have nothing to do but sit and wait for the men in white coats to take the field, then why not get emailing, tweeting, or... no, that's it. Just emails and tweets. We're not the BBC. Yet.
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What might happen next: Alastair Cook breaks another of Bradman's cherished records by scoring 310 in a day as England ease into a commanding lead.
...and what probably will: It rains. Groundsman/curator Damien Hough then refuses to cover the pitch. "It may be against the Laws of Cricket, but annoying Kevin Pietersen is one of the laws of life," he explains. On the kind of sticky wicket not seen since the 1940s, England declare at 11 for nine in the hope of bowling Australia out cheaply. It then rains again, but this time the pitch is covered with heated, scented hover-covers before Ricky Ponting's men resume.
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I don’t sit here and believe I can get the whole of this country to like me, people are always going to have their own views, but for me it’s about respect.