SLOW START SO CRITICAL
CRICKET - Ashes, 5th Test: Same old story for England
ONTHISASHES tour it has all become so depressingly familiar. When England bat first they post something that the Aussies cruise past, and when England bowl first they concede a score that their batsmen can’t get anywhere near.
So for the fifth time out of five, England coughed up a huge first-innings lead to the home side, this time 115, which was made 152 by the close of day two.
No England batsman made more than Chris Woakes’ 36, and he was dropped twice – including a chance at slip from his very first ball.
This was another day of torture for England fans who might have hoped that their batsmen find just one final push at a decent firstinnings score and cross the 300 rubicon at least once this series.
Alas no, with just 188 on the board, that remains a pipe dream thanks to the excellence of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, not to mention the England batsmen shooting themselves in the foot.
And nothing says kamikaze better than the direct-hit run out that accounted for Rory Burns when he was yet to score.
Zak Crawley pushed the ball into the off-side and set off, but Burns, who opted not to dive home, narrowly failed to beat Marnus Labuschagne’s throw.
It leaves his career hanging by a thread with a decent secondinnings score now simply a must, and former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting was decidedly unimpressed with what he saw.
“There had to be more desperation there from Burns,” said Ponting. “He’s back into the side and fighting for his Test career. And he’s not willing to put in a big dive to try and save his wicket.”
But Burns wasn’t the only player to earn the ire of the favourite son of Tasmania with an Ashes Test on his former home ground for the first time ever.
The rest of the England line-up again failed to go on and make the most of the conditions they had wanted to bat in, with Ben Stokes (right) out for just four.
Somehow England found a way to lose four wickets for just 32 runs in a middle-order collapse that left Woakes and debutant Sam Billings with a job to do at 110-6.
And the dismissal of Ollie Pope for 14 was enough to get Ponting riled again.
“That was poor batting,” he added. “Ollie Pope you can shake your head as much as you like, but that’s your mistake.”
At least Billings provided some energy and cricketing basics in his 29 before being caught on the boundary.
And when Australia came out to bat again
Stuart Broad couldn’t hide his delight at dismissing David
Warner for a second duck in the match thanks to a brilliant
Pope catch at point.
VIRAT KOHLI has stepped down from his role as captain of India’s Test team.
The Indian icon, 33, first led his country in red-ball cricket temporarily during the winter tour of Australia in 2014 before he permanently took the reins from MS Dhoni at the end of the series.
During his tenure as India’s
Test captain, Kohli helped them clinch the No.1 spot in the ICC Test rankings and saw them finish runners-up in the World Test Championship Final last summer.
Kohli said on Twitter: “It’s been seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance to take the team in the right direction.
“I’ve done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there. Everything has to come to a halt at some stage and for me as Test captain of India, it’s now.”