The Ashes: Brook and Root give England promising start at the SCG.

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So at close of the first day of the fifth test match at the SCG England 211 for three. We had 45 overs cricket Joe Root 72 not out, Harry Brook 78 not out. They put on one hundred and fifty four in 32 overs and broken for the fourth wicket after England lost three wickets in the morning session. Ducket was out for 27, nicking off against Stark. Crawley was LBW to Nisa for 16 and Bethel was caught behind off Bowen for timber. Then came the recovery. Excellent afternoon for England with Root and Brook together and then a bizarre final session where we didn't get any play. There was a bit of rain, there was some lightning around the ground but that eased off and we had a passage of around about an hour, probably more than that, where it was dry and relatively clear. The play was called off half an hour before the scheduled close when in theory we could have got a lot more play. This evening there were boos around the Sydney Cricket Ground. I'm not surprised as well from the spectators who'd stayed quite a few, took a few and went home. But those who stayed very disappointed. There wasn't any more cricket on the first day and we can start half an hour earlier on the second day and throughout the game, which is great for the spectators on the second, third, fourth and fifth days, but not good for the spectators on the first day. Michael Vaughan is here, Jonathan Agnew is here, toughers is here. Well, who wants to have their say on that then?

Also I'll start. I mean, there's actually shadows at the feet of people wandering around now. So the sun's breaking through, we've got high cloud, there's some breaks in the clouds and blue sky and basically that there is not a machine out there that the, the motor mop that goes around to mop up the covers. That, that water could have been taken off an hour ago and no more would have gone on it. There's clearly determination to make this game last as long as possible after what's happened with the two day fixtures that there have been and people here who paid their money been denied probably up to an hour and a half of cricket by the time you could add on, if they were playing before half past five and we're owing now, it's just so people realize it's nearly 10 past 5, they could have got that off. They still could, frankly. And then you could play up to an extra hour and a half tonight and give the people who paid their money their value for money. But it's always the first day crowd that suffers because you can take the decision. And somewhere like here, where you see very clearly the next four days is bright sunshine, 30 odd degrees, you can play your extra time, you can make it up as far as the match is concerned. That's great for people who bought tickets for those days. Always bad news for people who buy a first day ticket because you don't get your money.

Yeah, if you deport days three and four tickets for the MCG and first day tickets for the scg, you've been splitting, you've been shortchanged. I mean, I always look at Test match cricket, we do everything we can to get off the pitch. You know, this was a T20 or a 50 over game that have been playing an hour and a half ago. So it's very clear that this week we'll be here for five days. I think cricket, Australia, they need a little bit in the coffers and that's what we've seen in the pitch. The pitch is a good one, which is great. But from what I've seen in terms of the rain, the light and the conditions in the last hour or so, I think we've probably sawn off the kind of public who have paid their money in the ground today by a couple of hours at least.

This is absolute disgrace.

Really disgraceful.

Absolutely disgraceful.

Where's the mop?

Where.

Where is the mop? It's not even on the ground.

Yeah, it's parked in the. The CEO's office.

They've taken all the fuel out.

The keys. Yes.

And it didn't rain.

It didn't. It didn't rain all that much anyway. I mean, it was just a little sprinkling. They could be out there playing now. You're right. And as I say, we've had a series so far.

Can I just say, I reckon it sums up the whole trip, because England have had the best day with the bat in hand and they've batted beautifully. We've had a great partnership and we're talking about the light and the rain and the fact that they should have played that little bit longer. It's been one of those series.

Yeah. Test bass cricket. He needs to address it, though, a little bit. How many times do we sit here after a day's play sort of scratching our heads going, why aren't we watching any cricket? Or what's happening here? Or why are the overs so slow? Or, you know, and all these kind of things. We've had no cricket. We've had two, two day test matches and everyone's just sitting there scratching their head, saying, why can't we see some cricket?

I mean, there is actually a gentle shower going over the ground at the moment. Just as we were talking there, someone sort of turned the tap on. But it's kind of the lack of intent to try to play.

It's more, you know, through our time watching test match cricket, this is the one format that we keep talking about. We need to do something to make sure that we're protecting it. And we've talked about, you know, throughout this series, the pitches haven't been quite right. The way that the players are playing have been, you know, it's been disappointed, particularly with the bat in the hand. Well, that's changed today because England have batted great. You know, the, the weather now in T20 cricket, you're playing this Test cricket is the one format that we do everything we possibly can to get off the pitch. The other two formats, we do everything we possibly can to get on the pitch. And I Just don't understand why we don't have that same mindset in Test match cricket.

At least people who get frustrated at home and they come and watch test cricket at home and get really infuriated by light and weather, know it's just as bad on the other side of the world. They can take some comfort from that or maybe add to the frustration of the whole thing. It's not, it's, it's not just at home. This has been just as bad here today.

Okay, so it's been to some extent a frustrating day for the spectators who, who turned up. They said, I think if you're Australian you'd be frustrated. Early wickets and then that large partnership and then denied any play after tea when you feel that there could have been some, at least, or at least there could have been some willingness to play on the part of whoever the umpires, the ground authorities, whatever. Let's focus on the play that we did see. Talk about, let's talk about England's batting. So some really good batting in the afternoon. What about the morning session and the loss of those three early wickets? Was it Michael? Was it kind of same old, same old.

Well, well, Ben Ducket now, you know, throughout the series he's either been LBW or B by Mitchell. Start by that full strike when I just snicked off, you know. So he's played a couple of nice flick through the, the onside where Starks tried to get it full and straight, he's got it a bit too straight. And then you know from an Australian perspective that when Ben Ducket gets in and he's hit a couple of nice shots, they'll just bow fist stump six stumps and he just doesn't leave any balls. And we've always said for a long time with Ben Ducket because he doesn't leave the ball in the UK you can get away with it cuz there's not that little bit of extra bounce. And we're always watching Ben going what's going to happen in Australia if you don't leave the ball? And he's been found wanting a little bit with that ball just outside off stump. He just kind of plays with half a bat and the outside edge has been found on a regular basis and that's an area for him to come back in four years and I'm sure he'll be around in four years. He's a good enough player to work that out. He's now had a whole series experience of playing here in Australia and to be an opening batter and have success. You've got to leave the ball that little bit better. So that's something for Ben Duckett to improve upon. Zach Crawley frustrates the life out of me because he looks so comfortable and he was playing the right way today. He did leave the odd ball and he waited for the ball. He played a lovely pull shot. That ball that got him out should not get him out. It was just a ball that nipped back slightly. He just kind of played it too square on the onside. You're thinking, there must be something in his concentration because I watch him closely. I think, oh, he looks such a good player. And then he just gets out. But that's been the story of his career. The reason why he averages 31 in test match cricket is because of that. His concentration levels aren't the strongest. You go to the start of the series where he played the big boom in drives. Well, those drives have gone away now. He's not chasing the ball outside off stump. But today I was watching him. That should not get you out as a quality opening batter. But he is a player that I've seen enough of to go. He frustrates the life out of me because I know there's a lot more in the tank. And I do think Ingrid have to stay with him because if he can play the way that he did in the second innings in Adelaide, the movement that he had today until that ball got him out was fine. He was fantastic. So he needs to understand the concentration levels at this point, kind of level to go on an average 40, 45 over the course of the next two or three years, which I think he could do if he. If he can find that concentration. But he is very frustrating. I can kind of hear the fans around the world going, it's Crawley. He averages 30. I think there's a bigger average in Zach Crawler than what he's given at the minute. And it's just concentration. Jacob Ethel, I thought he was done by some clever bowling. Round the wicket. Round the wicket. Then he came over the wicket and gets one to leave him. You know, you're going to get the odd decent ball. And then we saw, you know, test cricket at its best, where, you know, Joe Root and Harry Buck soaked up the pressure. The field was spread, they knocked it about and towards the back end before we came out off for light, Harry started to play the Harry Brook way. It was. It was a partnership, which, again, frustration and disappointment that that didn't happen earlier in the series because, let's be honest, from the Moment in Adelaide where England batted poorly in the first innings until Joffre Archer got that 50 innings and chasing 430 and I you've got a chance. The series was pretty much done there since that moment where we've all said the series has been gone. England have played good cricket since the moment that they can't win the series. They've got to try and switch the mentality and do that when it really matters. When it comes to 27 and in particular in four years time when it's back here in Australia.

I, I think the openers have got some technical problems, Mike. I mean, both of those. Duckett's been bowled a couple of times times from Stark. He's trying to hit that behind square. And I think the same with Crawley today. I mean, listen, I'm no batsman, Mike, but as an opening batter, you're told to play with the full face of the bat and knock it back past you. When you get the 30 or 40, 50 or something like that, you can start looking to sort of, you know, create gaps and angles by sort of, you know, turning the wrists on the ball. But anything that just seems to nip around for England's opening batters, they seem to be all at sea and whether that's the outside edges or one darting back and they're trying to go that. So there, there, there is some technical issues.

That ball didn't do a great deal.

No, just nip back. He was trying to be right.

The full face should be met. But it's just concentration because the previous over he did knock two back to mid on. He just went back into the ball, played it back to minute. It's just his concentration levels.

Wasn't the application generally so much better today though?

Yeah.

Wasn't that so much more of example how you bat in a test match and it's the last test of the series. They've been batting like that from the start. It was just strike rotation. We've hardly talked about that in this series. Busy, busy, busy, busy. Push run, push run. You know, you're active, but they're still scoring at best part of five and over. But there was no bassballing silliness. That was a really mature approach. Yeah, you get out, but just the whole mentality has changed, isn't it? That is not what were playing like. Well, for a long time actually. You can go back months. They haven't played like that. Just head down, play it properly. I, I, I'd like Harry Brook to get in and let him play. Harry Brook Wave he's got. He hasn't been giving himself a chance by getting in.

I, I, I just want to know what was spoken about pre Perth because since Noosa actually and we all kind of highlighted Noosa, but clearly they had some strong conversations around Noosa leading into the third test match at the Adelaide over because they have played differently. You know, they have played with a bit more control and they have been more mature. I just want to know why that wasn't the case after the Indian series at home in the UK where we saw them chase down that target at Headley when they played Bumbra brilliantly in the second innings. But it was like today, clever, smart, mature. I just want to know why they arrived in that first week in Perth and then the next week in Brisbane and they were so frantic. I would like to know if they're.

Playing differently because I bet they don't. I bet bet they say nothing's changed, we're still playing but because we know by watching we can see it. But indeed. But it'll be very interesting to see what they say.

Yeah, this, this England batting lineup and this basball sort of approach and what have you. We were mentioning it earlier on commentary. It's about everything's going through the gears. Well, sometimes you can get yourself into sort of third gear and just stay there for a while. As you said, they were going at 5 and over already and then all of a sudden bowlers have to start rotating the captain start thinking sinking and slips come out short pitch stuffs come into it. You know, just because you're in third gear, you don't have to then go to fourth gear and then fifth gear and then give the chance. That's what's happened to England bank. Just chill out and idle about it.

The covers are coming off, guys. Oh, brilliant.

There they go.

It seems to me just looking back, you're trying to think where was the change. I thought it's looking from the outside. But yeah, Ben Stokes innings at Brisbane because that he just batted and he just almost offended all day.

Crawley at Adler. You go to that first innings in, in Adelaide, Australia would underperform with the bat, I reckon. Australia 125, light of par. England batted really badly in that first innings when the, when the series was hot and the pitch was good and we thought go on, go and get 450. They batted really poorly in that first innings. There was too many mistakes. You go, you know, Ollie Pope's little flick off Nathan line. Too many kind of weak decisions, missiles and it was down To Joffrey to get them to that, that half decent. Not half decent, but a score that was just okay. You kind of look at the way that they play and, and it's all body language and mindset, you know, and today az is absolutely right. You know, you go back to Perth that first before, it was frantic, everything was 100 miles an hour. And England have scored at 4.7s today by just playing the game. Just playing the game, playing the ball late, running it down to third. But don't rule out this, this Australian side in terms of their mindset. Andrew McDonald After Melbourne, he said, oh, the series was done at 3 nil. This Australian team has switched off. They switched off in Melbourne and today I looked down and thought, wait a minute, this attack is no way the pitch is good. I thought some of Australia's ball in today and maybe it was down to root and Harry Brooks brilliance, but I thought they were very, very poor with the ball in hand. Start bottled halfdietzen spell Bohlin did n ball a couple of decent overs. But that, that attack today on that pitch was there for the take.

But isn't it the frustration? No Cummins, no Hazelwood, no liners. In the story of the tour, they.

Look like that, you know, sometimes we've had it with England sides, you know, on tours, when you go away and by the end of it you're. It's like, oh, it's the end of the term and you switched off and you just want to get on the. That looks like Australia at the minute. They look like a touring team that's come towards the end of a hard series and they just want to get on the plane home. It's. It's been very unlike Australia. You go back through the generations now. Australians generally want to hammer you 5 nil. This Australian team have not given me the indication that they desperately wanted to hammer this England side. 5 nil.

Yeah. @ Adelaide as well. England bat the overs, they win that game and it would have been the world record run chase, wouldn't it? You just had to almost bat the overs and so then you can drop down the gears and just knock it around. It wasn't too anything that Adelaide Test and you had the opportunity there to A, get back into the Ashes and B, create a new world.

Record. There's a point with the sing and side. They talk about, you know, this great culture and you know, you hear Baz Mullum talk a lot about the, the top inches, you know, the Penhouse. The mentality of playing at this Level, let's be brutally honest. When the series has been alive and England desperately needed a score, they've not been mentally strong enough to do that. And that's been with the bat and with the Paul. And once the series had gone, that is Adelaide, second innings. The world record's there for a reason. Teams don't chase 430, so it's kind of a free hit. We're not expecting anything. Suddenly they started to play and then they go to Melbourne. They get on a pitch that's juicy. They win that game today. They get on a good pitch, win a good toss and, you know, this game's not on a knife edge. It's just a nice game of cricket for an England player to play in because, you know, the series is gone. I know there's pressure for positions in the team and management positions.

But. And they've got their win as.

Well. They've got their win, the first win in 15 years. And, you know, they're up against an Australian side that I look down and I'm looking, I'm going. They don't look like they did at the start of the.

Series. Shane Bethel missed out. I mean, we didn't really learn much about him. We didn't really know much about 10 in Melbourne, it was. But in Melbourne, he played, you know, the way that he had to play, like, you know, the way that he's kind of used to playing. But. But he had a chance today and they did bowl beautifully at him. They did the round the wicket, over the wicket and he was very patient. What, 14 balls to get off the mark, that sort of thing. I mean, they really did tighten him down and yeah, he nicked and got out. It's a shame because that feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Well, for everybody, you know, we want, we need to see.

Him. I look at a player and he's got a very nice gift to play the game. He just needs games. I think in white ball cricket, I watch him and I think he understands his game of how he's going to score his runs in white. But crazy cricket, there's no way in a million years at the minute that Jacob can understand how he's going to score his Red Bull. He hasn't played enough Red Bull cricket. So it's so imperative that I know he'll go to the IPL, he'll go to the T20 World cup and, you know, he's not going to play probably red ball cricket till potentially June. It's so important. And if he has to Miss the odd one day series to play a bit of Red Bull cricket in the county game to get some time in the middle. I think for the England team going forward, it'll benefit them better for Jacob to play some 48 for him too. Absolutely. Because he is the future. Absolutely. He's got a wonderful technique. It's all very. It's a bit Lara, like with the back lifting, you go, whoa. Pure balance is great, but I just think he's got to play more cricket to try and understand his awareness of how he's going to score runs. Because he hasn't done enough of it. Because he hasn't been given the opportunity to play too much.

Cricket. Totally agree with it. And I know it was only 10, but there.

Wasn'T. You said it was a.

Lovely. It was a calmed, wasn't it? As I said, he, he had to get a good ball, you know, a good piece of bowling to get him out. You know, he saw the ball, he left it nice. He looked composed. He looked sort of like, you know, up for the fight but without slashing and sort of fidgety and.

Frantic. He's a.

Player. Yeah, he looked very solid and, and you know, as you said, a good 10. All right. But I mean he had, he had to be got out and that was a good bit of bowling that got.

Him. We've touched on Australia's bowling and the fact they looked just a bit short today. What about their team selection? No spinner for the first time since 1888. It's amazing to come here at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Okay, you go back a bit. And spinners held sway here and you know, captains thought about playing two spinners, not one frontline spinner thought about playing two spinners. Zoltz has given us some stats on this saying that the spinners have been less effective here in recent years. But I mean, is this an Australian attack and pitch crying out for a slow bowl or just something a bit.

Different? I think over the course of the next four days, I think both teams may have got their team wrong, you know, because you know the sun's going to shine and this pitch is a good one. There's a few cracks that are under the small covering of grass, but I think the footholds will be created. I'm stag. When you look at both teams, both teams have got, you know, you say world class all rounder in Ben Stokes and Australia have got an all rounder in Cameron Green that's developing or Bo Webster who's an all rounder. So that allows you five bowling options. So surely on a pitch here that is going to dry and dry and dry and the conditions are going to get, you know, hotter and hotter. I'm staggered that particularly Australia, Australia have got, you know, Todd Murphy's a good offspring. I kind of understand that Ingham were Bashir because if you didn't play in Adelaide it, he's clearly not bowling anything like in practice. So I can kind of get it from an England perspective but I reckon over the course of the next few days we're going to be looking down, going showy.

Pushers. Why? Both teams are almost playing specialist number eights. You know, they're specialist batters at number eight. So do they just not trust spinners anymore to get wickets or, you know, I mean the pitch, you look at it first up, no, a little bit green and oh, it might do a little bit, bit, that's fine. But that's day one, you know, spin bowlers come into the game obviously later on and with the sunshine knocking about, I'm, I'm slightly worried about this now for spin bowling because, you know, where do the, where do the young spinners now, where are they going to come.

From? Do you remember when T20 cricket was created and we all said, oh, it be the death of spinballing. Well actually spin bowling in T20 cricket, it's actually been the death of spin bowling in test cricket because the way that all these players play, the sweeps and the tricks and they dance down and they hit the ball and they've got these massive bats short, shorter boundaries. Look at the boundary sizes here. I think most teams go, well, it's a bit of a risk playing a spinner because a spinner might go at fives and sixes. Well, guess what, Cameron Green, what's he gone up today? Yeah, he's gone at 6 and 7. So, you know, I do think captains feel it's safer. Yeah, it's a bit like county cricket. You know, camps is and captains feel it's probably safe to bowl a 75 mile an hour bowler at 78 with a kick. Keeper stood up, wobble seam, ringfield driver on the offside, driver on the onside, try and bow for dots rather than play an off spin or a left arm spinner who might get whacked out the ground a few.

Times. And they've been obsessed about the pitch too, both teams, haven't they? The media has been absolutely obsessed about the pitch. Three days out, people talking about green mambas and that stuff. Three days to go yet how do measure.

Grass? Measure.

Grass. That shouldn't influence captains and management though, should. I mean they should be experienced enough to look at the service and say, okay, it was green but now it's not so.

Green. Well, it was interesting because McDonald was saying that Todd Murphy plays, wasn't he? It was. You know, that was the kind of the, the language that he was saying before the test match. Oh, we're going to go in with Murphy, we're going with Murphy. All of a sudden he's not.

Playing. I, I think the problem Australia have with Steve Smith as the skipper, I think he plays Ospin so well.

Himself. He doesn't rate.

It. No.

Exactly. I think that's an issue. I think he TR. Bowl so he goes, well, I'm not having an osprein in my.

Team.

True. It's.

True. Things like that do happen. You know, I was here for the Victoria game versus New South Wales. The ball spun, pitch.

Deteriorated. Say that game I didn't see.

You. Yeah, well you'd have been in the posh section. I would just sign the stands and there was a little bit of tweak there. So I think this pitch will certainly offer something which it may give will Jacks a great opportunity of getting a few wickets later in the.

Test. Yeah, and Spinners can still take wickets just cuz it's a bit of grass on the pitch. Otherwise I would have never.

Played. Yeah. I mean has it just been sort of the legacy of the series really that the seam bowlers have got the job done? He just. You say it's kind of like safety first.

Really. Yeah. Well also I think this pitch may crack and you know, the taller bowlers might get that uneven bounce which is it's going to be probably more threatening than, you know, an off spin, a lobbing a few. But I, I do think the way that these players play spin these days, off spin, a lobbing a few. Well, I just think that these players in this era, they think sports spins there to be whacked, you know, and that's why. But if you look at England, you know, England get out to Austin. That's why if I'm Australia, I'm watching. Surely you watch Washington Sundar bowl to him when he got 4 for 22 at Lords not spinning it. I think this England side is the one side that I would bowl a lot of spin to because I think they'll run past a.

Few. To be honest. The Spinners on offer in this series aren't very good, are they? I mean Lyon accepted until he Got injured. You know, Bashir is clearly unselectable at the moment. Although say not Will Jackson, we saw him in Adelaide, you know that that's. That he's not going to run through a, through a team, is he? Todd Murphy I think's ever played a test match in Australia. Has he only played in the subcontinent and West Indies. So, you know, I think you just play safe and you go for the SEO and I mean. But Steve Smith did say about the cracks, didn't it? The toss and, and that I.

Suspect that's why they've gone and they pack the batting. Both teams pack the batting. Phillips right. The specialist, number eight. You look at Australia, Webster at eight, Nissa at nine, Stark at number 10. So Australia pat the.

Batting. So there's a lot of talk coming into this match about the pitch and we've touched on it a bit. I mean how good for batting is this pitch at the.

Moment? I think it's a beauty. There's a bit of nibble there. The 20 overs of Kookaburra ball. I mean we've said it for years and the last few months that you just got to make sure that you don't have too much damage done against you. England had three wickets that fell and then two players realized it was a good pitch and just played normally. You know, when you're seeing Joe Root play that little glide down to third which we haven't seen him do in Australia, I've never seen him really dominate that third man area with the bat. He did that all day. And that tells you that the pitch is just bouncing without that steep bounce or without that kind of extra pace. It's a good pitch, but it will deteriorate. Now when we get today's, and I'm pretty sure we will get today's 3, 4 and 5, this pitch will start to do a few more tricks. But the first innings of the test match, it's so important that England are 211 for 3. You know, that is an over 400 pass kind of first innings wicket without any.

Question. But the good thing about today, I mean I thought at lunch, oh dear. It's felt that little bit of a wobble. There were three down and just, they've just, just taken it away. Which is, which is. Which is excellent. They played really.

Well. They did indeed. No more so than Harry brook who is second 78 not out and he has been speaking to Henri.

Moran. Well, Harry, funny old conclusion to the day. What were you guys thinking in the dressing room as play was delayed but we didn't necessarily see any rain.

Falling. No, we kind of knew that it was going to rain today and obviously we came off a bad light and at that point we knew the rain was going to come and yeah, we were just sat around waiting for it to be called off.

Really. Talk to me about what made that partnership with Joe different to what else we've seen in this series. Because it felt so calm and so.

Controlled. It's a good wicket. It's very nice pitch to that on. We managed to rotate strike nicely, get a few boundaries here and there and yeah, it was just a nice surface to play.

On. This ground is one that has traditionally taken turn. It's shown some cracks already, but once that ball softened up, you're saying it's as good as anything we've seen in the.

Series? Yeah, it's definitely the best pitch we've played on this series for sure. Yeah, obviously they haven't picked a spinner and they've gone with the five seam attack and yeah, they obviously thought he was probably going to do a little bit more than it did. But like I said, it's just generally a good.

Wicket. Batting with Joe is something that you've done a lot domestically and internationally. What's it like being out there with some somebody that is so good at strike.

Rotation? Yeah, it's awesome. You get to get back on strike and your innings ticks over. And yeah, there isn't many balls that he's not trying to get off strike. He's always looking to rotate and score runs and that's part of batting really. You've got to be able to. You've got to be able to score runs. It's not just about survival. You've got to try and put pressure back on the.

Bowler. In terms of the significance of this game, there's no such thing as a dead robber in, in international sport. I mean, this game feels like it's got quite a lot of significance in terms of the narrative of the.

Series. Yeah, it'd be nice to win this week and go home. Three, two down. Obviously we didn't have the great start in the first three games, but we're still all dying to win. We've just got to stick to our processes this week and do what we do best, which is putting the pressure back on them and looking to take wickets throughout and working towards modes of dismissal. And yeah, if we do that this week and stick to our guns, there's no reason why we can't come on.

Top. What was the conversation from Brendan and Ben, coming into the match, we.

Didn'T do much chatting, to be honest. It's all about consistency, really. We haven't done so much chatting the whole time that Baz and Stokes have been in charge. It's just reinforcing the same messages which I just spoke about there. As the batting unit putting pressure back on their bowlers, as a bowling unit working towards modes of dismissal and then in the field, always giving 100% and trying to chase it as hard as you can to the.

Boundary. A lot of chat about the future of the leadership of this side. You're going to be a name inevitably spoken about as a potential leader of this side. Where do you stand on it all? Is it.

Distracting? I haven't read any of it. I haven't seen anything, so I have no idea. But I'm enjoying playing under Basil Stokes here. They've been phenomenal for the last three, four years and, yeah, it's.

Been.

A highlight of my career so far. Obviously very short, but to be able to play under Baz, the coach that he is, he gives you so much confidence. He is the best coach I've had and, yeah, hopefully he stays on and we can carry on this good trend that we've.

Got. Have you thought about what would be a good total? A par.

Total? No, not really. Just taking ball by ball, moment at a time and yeah, hopefully go out there tomorrow and restart and hopefully me and Ruti can just carry on and get a big.

Partnership. And who's distracting you? Who's waving at you from up in the dressing room? Is anyone keeping a bit of an.

Eye? Creeps has just stood behind the camera a minute ago. So I was trying. I was trying to keep eye contact with him.

Actually. Zach.

Crawling? Yeah, Zach.

Crawling. So spirits are still high in this.

Camp. Absolutely, yeah. There's no reason why we can't be. We were living the dream. Every 10 year old in the world who watches cricket, plays cricket, wants to be here. And we were that 10 year old when we were younger. So I know we've lost a series, but we're still all living our dream and we're out here playing against Australia on the biggest stage. So you've got to have a bit of fun and smile whether you're on top or whether you're not. So, yeah, we've come to an amazing country and we're trying to enjoy it as much as.

Possible. Harry Brooke, thank you to you, Zack Crawley, less.

So. Thank you very much for.

Time. Thank you very much.

Cheers. Harry Brook speaking to Henry Moran, let's get an Australian viewpoint now. Glenn McGrath has been with us during the day, this is the first day of the Pink Test, raising awareness and funds for the McGrath Foundation. He's been speaking to Eleanor Oldroyd firstly about his assessment of the day's.

Play. So, Glenn, a curtailed day today, but what are your thoughts about day.

One? Yeah, it's interesting, isn't to see that pitch and to hear both captains at the toss were definitely going to bat whoever won. Fortunately for Ben Stokes come down tails again, I think, yeah, Steve Smith needs to work on his tossing. You know, at the start of the year, he went to toss and the coin just fell off his hand on the ground. Least he's getting a bit of height, but it's coming down tails every time. So he's lost four from four and yet. But they still have to go out there and bet. Well, Australia bow well in the first hour, pick up those three wickets. And then, you know, since then, you know, Harry Brook and, and especially Joe Roots looked, looked very good, very solid. And the pitch itself looks like a very good batting track at the.

Moment. And that kind of application that England fans have been crying out for, really, from those two in.

Particular. Yeah, no, Joe Rood, I think, you know, he's just class. He plays the way he plays. You know, Harry Brook, he's. He's got potential, hasn't he? Seems to have more time than anyone else, but just the way he goes about it, I think he's very much numbers game sometimes I can watch him and you can nearly see, okay, he's going to do this and then after that he's going to. And, and I guess when you get to bowlers who actually have that experience and can sort of feel what's going to happen, it's going to be interesting to see how he goes. But yeah, he's, he's quality. They're both going extremely well and, and England are in a good position.

Good batting track, as you say. But there was a certain amount of nervousness going into this Test match, wasn't there, about the condition of the wicket, whether it was going to favor the ball over the. The bat to an extreme extent, again, like it did in Melbourne. Maybe they've gone too far the other.

Way. Well, you know, batsmen do carry on, don't they? Like. Yeah, the pitch in Melbourne had a, had a bit of same probably a little bit too much. It's. I don't think we've ever spoken about, you know, 1, 2, 3 millimeters of grass more in, in our whole career. But yeah, that pitch did a bit. There's no doubt about that. Whether the batsmen could have applied themselves better and toughed it out and scored a few more runs than they did maybe. So I like to think it's, you know, bit the pitch was tough but the batsman, some of their shot selection was a little bit left to be desired. So here maybe I think the pork groundsman was under the pump, wasn't he? Had two, two day test matches out of four in an Asher series. It's, it's unheard of. You know, how much money has cricket Australia lost in those, you know, those two, two day tests and not to mention, you know, the food and, and everything else that's gone away. So I know they've donated it. So. Which is great. You know, I feel for the English fans of, you know, some of them have saved up all year to come out to watch a test match and if they've got tickets to day three, they, they've missed the whole game. So yeah, I, I think the groundsman here was under the pump a little bit to produce something that was going to go the, the top, the length. So yeah, the pitch itself looks, looks pretty flat though. There's talk that there's cracks out there and this pitch has broken up and, and gets pretty tough to bat on, sort of come through third or fourth inning. So we'll wait and see what happens there. There's some pretty warm days coming and forecasts and some fine weather. So I dare say we'll get to see the full extent of this, this pitch, what it's going to do and hopefully get well in a day.

Five. Do you think Australia got their bowling selection right? So they had the option of a spinner, didn't they? And they've not looked as if really they've known where to bowl to England in the afternoon session or is that just good England.

Batting? Yeah, it's good England batting, but I think it's a pitch itself and you know, I've watched the way Australia have gone about it. Those three wickets they picked up this morning, they, they bowled some good areas there. Whether England had to play some of those deliveries or not. Yeah, you can, you can chat about it. You know, Zach Crawley, who I'm a big fan of, just, you know, played across one and missed it. So. Yeah. But since then I think Australia looking at their bowling, if I'm, if to be super critical, I think they bowed a little bit too full or a little bit too short. Some stages they didn't hit that exact length that you have to on a pitch like.

That.

And. But now you have. You've got to give credit to the way Joe Roots batted, the way Harry Brooks batted. You know, Brooks been happy to come out of his crease and. And unsettled the bowler line and length. But, you know, with Kerry coming up to the stumps, there's always little battles happening out there. But I think the pitch itself is at the moment a very good batting.

Track. We're in day one of the Pink Test, which is in honor of the foundation that you set up to remember your late wife Jane. Just tell us about how things are going to unfold over the next few days, beyond the fact that loads of people will be wearing.

Pink. Yeah, so it's a. Well, it's a foundation that Jane and I set up in 2005 after our experience of going through breast cancer and having a recurrence and all of a sudden a breast care nurse being there and the positive difference that made in her life or in our lives was incredible, especially hers. And realised there was not enough of these amazing people out there. And, you know, that's why we launched a foundation to raise funds to place breast care nurses in communities across the country. Unfortunately, Jane lost the battle in 2008 and since that time, the support's been unbelievable. Jane never wanted it to be about her. It's not about me. It's about the families going through breast cancer. It's about the nurses. And then we achieved our mission that every person where they live had a free. Had the free support of a breast cancer nurse within a 75k radius. To achieve that back in 2024 was amazing. The government, federal government then came to us and asked us if we take our support to, you know, to all cancers, to anyone going through any type of cancer, which I thought was. Was brilliant. It's something I've always wanted to do and for us to have a positive impact there, I thought was. Was amazing. So, yeah, so last year we've been doing that. We put on 82 nurses in the last 12 months to provide support for different cancers and currently sit at 343 McGrath cancer care nurses. And they've supported over nearly 170,000 families going through this insidious disease. So, yeah, so we. The virtual Seat, Pink Seat campaign is something that's been going for a while, since COVID One of our guys came up with a concept and it's been a game.

Changer. And so you can buy your own seat, even if you're not.

Here. Even if you're not here, if you're in England, you can jump online, pinktest.com get your virtual pink seats, put your loved ones names on it, put a message of support or hope, post it on your social media. And, yeah, so the 480,000 virtual pink seats, we sold 450,000 last year. 450 equates to 8,000 families getting that support or having that support available in one of the toughest times in their life. So, yeah, they're real numbers and money that people donate can see the tangible difference, positive difference. It's making people's lives, which I think serve, really.

Important. Must be very moving for you to come here and see everything in pink and the players with pink. Pink, you know, tinges to their uniforms as.

Well. Oh, without a doubt. And, you know, it's generally a busy time of the year for me and you just go from one thing to the next to the next. But I try to take time and stop and just look around and see what's been created and it is something very unique and very special. You know, I've worked with Straussy, I know they do turning Lords red for Ruth, which I think's incredible as well. But that's the beauty of sport and the beauty of cricket and the Ashes. It. It brings people together from all walks of life. Doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, it brings people together and the. The feeling of goodwill today at this match, I think is. Is much needed in the world. You know, you look at the things that are happening.

Around.

We've. We've mentioned Bondi, the absolute tragedy there that happened. Yeah. Was it a few weeks, a month ago now, where we honoured the first responders this morning, which I thought was brilliant. So to have, you know, a message of hope, a message of celebration, of life, is a way I like to look at it is pretty special. And, you know, on day three, I try to take five, ten minutes out of my day and just stop and just look around the crowd and what's been created here is. Is something incredibly.

Special. Brilliant, Glenn, thank.

You. No worries. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in their pink shirts come day.

Three. I've got mine in my.

Suitcase. Thank you very much.

Ellie. That's brilliant. Thank you very.

Much. So that's Glenn McGrath speaking to Eleanor Oldroyd. You can watch highlights on the BBC Sport website and app now with our main highlights on the BBC iPlayer, available every day of the series from 5pm The TMS Ashes debrief is also on Iplayer with Alex Hartley and guest. Go to BBC Sounds for all our TMS podcast. Just search Ashes and we'll have an early start to the second day with the first ball at 11pm tonight and we'll be on air from.

1045. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5.

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