England in big trouble amid virus scare; Australia on top
England was hit by COVID-19 drama within its support staff before its batters sustained another top-order collapse at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as Australia moved within sight of a series-clinching victory in the Ashes.
Before play even began on Monday, Cricket Australia called for calm after a COVID-19 scare involving England’s support staff resulted in a 30-minute delay to the start of the second day action in the third Test. Australia was bowled out for 267 as the host earned a first-innings advantage of 82 runs, before England struggled to 31 for 4 in its second innings at stumps.
England pacer James Anderson gave a masterful display, bagging the key wickets of opener Marcus Harris (76 off 189 balls, 7 fours) and Steve Smith (16) in his tally of 4/33 off 23 overs. But, the visiting batters were soon under attack again.
Left-arm quick Mitchell Starc (2/11) dismissed Zak Crawley, caught behind for 5, and Dawid Malan, leg before without scoring, off consecutive deliveries. Debutant Scott Boland (2/1) delighted his home crowd by removing opener Haseeb Hameed for 7 and Jack Leach without scoring in the penultimate over of the day. With Ben Stokes (2 batting) and Joe Root (12 batting) at the crease, England had lost four wickets after just 12 overs and still required another 51 runs to make Australia bat again.
“On the bowling front, I thought we did really well to stick to our task throughout the day,” Anderson said. England’s all-time leading wicket-taker added that the tourist was “pretty pleased” to bowl Australia out for 267. Meanwhile, Australia opening batter Harris celebrated his first half-century of the series in the host’s opening essay.
Harris said that the support from the coaching staff and selectors had been “amazing” during his lean run of form. Earlier, Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said that there was no need to change current plans, which include staging the fourth and fifth Tests in Sydney and Hobart respectively.
Brief scores: England 185 & 31/4 in 12 overs (S Boland 2/1, M Starc 2/11) vs Australia 267 in 87.5 overs (M Harris 76, J Anderson 4/33)