The Ashes: Carey controversy on enthralling opening day

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You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Wicked well clipped it to Midwicket Carson yet to move to his right. Two gifts, absolute gifts. 94 before greens out for a duck, all happening in the first over after lunch. Kerry on 98 waits for Stokes who comes in, bowls to him. He drives into the offside. This will be his hundred. The ball just prevented from going for four, so he comes back for three. And a terrific innings from Alex Carey.

So England end the first day in not a bad position. Australia 326 for 8, having elected to bat upon winning the toss. A lot of shoulders will have sagged on a boiling hot day for England in a must win match. And yet somehow they've prized out eight wickets, some through luck, some through judgment. And alongside Phil Tuft or Jonathan Agnew, Glenn McGrath to chew over the day's events. First of all, I mean let's go through some of the highlights. 106 for Alex Carey on his home ground. An emotional celebration. Usman Khawaja, who's come back from the dead Lazarus like shouldn't have been playing in this game. And of course the whole day began with Steve Smith being out of it. And as so often has happened in this series, Jonathan Agnew stories about Usman Khawaja not being able to do something or somebody else not being able to do something has resulted in Australia benefiting from it in the first test. Travis Head knocking that 100 and now Usman Kaja coming back from the dead and getting 82.

Yeah, and he played well. I mean he should have been dismissed on six. I think to be fair to the slip fielders, this is a slow pitch and we've seen a couple of edges drop well short of of root at first slip. Jamie Smith difficult for him keeping wicket, the ball going through ankle high. So therefore the slips do come up closer. And it, it was quite a little flirty push off the front foot that Quadra gave, that flew to Brook's left. He will, he will definitely feel they should have caught it. And that's one of those big moments in a day of test cricket. And what it did show also was that that's the length that he bowled to Usman Khwaja. You're trying to get him out, he doesn't want to get on the front foot, he likes to play from the crease there it was the right sort of length, pushing, driving, edging. And I just felt that for all the good things we have said about England today, I think there was a lot of bowling that was too short. I don't mean the bouncer stuff, that only happened fleetingly but just short of a length and, and Ben Stokes had been earnestly talking yesterday in his pre match stuff about the need to hit the top of off stump. That's the length we have to bowl. We've talked about it and talked about it and talked about it. Well, I haven't seen the data but there have been a lot of balls well today that weren't, that weren't bouncers, they were just too short and wide and the left handers said thanks very much and they just, you know, Wetherall got away. Kawaja. They all, they all and then carry. If you're going to bowl that length then you're going to get cut and on this size and this shape of ground you're going to concede runs. So that was disappointing. And I mean we just talked about jacks. It is bizarre that the part time spinner should bowl more than anybody and he's gone for five and a quarter runs and over. Yes, he's taken two wickets. Rather donated to cross batted shots but that's a bit, that's a strange one. You know, I know it's been hot but you know to concede that number of runs I want. I wonder what the reason was for him bowling that number of overs because Carsoni bowled 13 for instance his first day of a game. Yes it's 34 degrees but it's going to be, it's gonna be hotter tomorrow. But that's. That seems like a lot of runs given away by the part time spinner that didn't have to be.

Well, we're going to talk more in depth about Will Jackson. Bring in Phil Tuan on that. But just quickly off the back of that extraordinary stat that prized out of Andy's Altzman. Joe root has bowled 299 overs in Test cricket in the last three years and Will Jackson bow 259.3 overs in red ball cricket. And Joe Root didn't bowl a single over today which was, it was baffling. Glenn, we'll get, we'll go back to the beginning of the day because Agus talked there about Boris. Probably a bit too short it seemed to me. Joffre Archer actually hit his straps pretty well but it's at the other end where Brighton cars begun by getting the ball to swing quite dramatically. First couple of overs and he was bowling a full length and then suddenly, I mean did he just lose his length or did he have a different plan because he was suddenly bowling it short and getting carted and you thought at that point that England were going to be in serious trouble today?

Yeah, I'm not sure sometimes when you start with a new ball you're not, you know, the body's not fully warm and loose and you're bowling and you sort of get it up there and it comes out of the hand nicely and it swings the first few over swings and then when you loose and you try to hit the deck more and you're running harder it you know you probably must a little bit it you're not as relaxed and maybe that's what happened the first few overs. Got it up there swinging and then as you try to bow quicker just dragged it down a little bit and and more hit the deck top of bowler. I think Carson's a more hit the deck type of bowler anyway so that's probably his natural length. I thought they bowled a little bit too short. There wasn't enough consistency in England's bowling but they, they got the, got the wickets. Archer, I thought he Started well. He finished Brisbane with a fair bit of venom. And you wanted him to bring that into this match.

You know, he.

The way he got weather all that I thought was good piece of bowling. He said it was. Was keeping it. And then surprise ball that he went to pull it straight up in the air. You know, Travis had a bit of a loose shot, but a great catch by. By Crawley. So, yeah, that sort of gets things going for. For England. Unfortunately, they couldn't capitalize straight away. But, yeah, again, a lot of talk about bowling with consistency, bowling with patience, executing plans. I don't know. I didn't see it. I don't know if they can execute as well as they'd like to. I think it's more that than they. Than being impatient because there's. There wasn't. I haven't seen any time this series where they've just kept the ball in that area and built pressure. You know, we've got. What do we got? 80, 83 overs and they bowled 12 maidens. You know, it is test cricket at the end of the day. You would have thought if you consistently bow in good areas, the maiden count will be significantly higher.

And five of those maidens were bowled by Joffer archer out of 16 overs. He's finished with today with 3 for 29. Toughers. But there were some gifts in there. It was. It was a bit like the bizarro world in which we've been watching England gifting wickets. But the first two wickets were. Were gifts, really. I mean, beautifully taken by Crawley to get rid of head. But then we had the first over after lunch. Yeah, Australia had gone to lunch at 94 for two. They'd repaired the damage of those gifts. We thought, long hot day. Manus Laban, perfect for him. He can bat all day, couldn't he? First ball after lunch, he just bunts this ball.

Strange dismissal, wasn't it?

Departure. And then two balls later, Cameron Green sort of falling over a bit, clips a ball straight to cars. Before you know it, the 94 for 4 and the Ashes are back on.

Well, absolutely. And that is when you need a Glenn McGr in your side or. Or a Pat Cummins in your side. No, not with the back. Sorry. As he was practicing batting. You need someone then when you've had a little bit of fortune and things have gone your way, you're allowed that in Test match cricket. You know, couple of soft dismissals, you go, right, come on now, let's give them nothing. Give them nothing. You don't have to try. And in a Funny sort way you don't have to try and get a wicket, you just have to be there or thereabouts and let that pressure sort of build on the incoming Australian batsman. And England just didn't do that for my money. Got hit both sides of the wicket full and short as well and you, you just start to build momentum. I think Andy said 450 run partnerships and all of a sudden you can just feel like sand going through your fingers that we've missed just another little moment. But take nothing away from Alex Carey. Came out in that pressure situation, came in front of Jos Inglis as well and delivered again and took the game not away from England but, you know, to a, you know, 300 plus score and played beautifully. Disappointing for England and Johnstadt. Yeah, I mean it just doesn't seem right. Spin bowler for a start off. Shouldn't be bowling predominantly the most overs on the first day.

Apart from something like Shane Warne.

Well, yeah, yeah, okay. You're talking about the. Indeed the best now.

Yes, but not Will Jack and he's.

Your part time spinner. So a little bit of a head scratch there if you're thinking down that route. Will you go with you, you go with your proper spin. It doesn't matter about how we can play with the battle. And I think if you're thinking that that Will Jax is going to be playing such a major part in the thing, why haven't you got a proper spinner?

But, but explain to me why Joe Root wouldn't have bowled there as well. I've just, I've just given you those numbers. Joe Root has taken 73 Test wickets. He's bowled nearly 300 overs in Test cricket in the last few years. Why would he. Because it was left to Will Jackson, frankly. I mean, describe his bowling for us. The length. He just didn't control a length.

No, he didn't control a length.

Bowling standard.

Yeah, it was, it was, it was, it was. Yes. And Joe's a little bit better than that. Yeah, yeah, he can actually get it. You know, listen, he's got a better ball in him, Will Jack. He has got a better spinning ball that can bounce, you know, but Joe's a little bit more of a sort of a roundy arm slinger. One that can perhaps, you know, go at three and a half, three and over or something and create a little bit of problem. And anyway, if you got two, you may as well just have a little go at both of them, you know, because you get, you get lined up a little bit as well.

I like the way that root bundles through his overs too. Hurries the bats when he turns quickly.

Boom, boom, boom, leggy, doesn't he? He the weird one. Then he has the bouncer and he has, you know, worry about, about that.

But I don't think Joe, I don't think Joe would be given 100, 100 runs away.

No, I agree. Yeah. And even though, just change him around a little bit. But listen, England have stuck to the task. We've been pretty hypercritical, haven't we, of his England side.

And if England had batted like that, frankly, the dismissals. Yeah, people have been all over them.

Yeah.

Well, well, let's get, let's get back to Usman Kwaja because they then developed this partnership at 94 for 4. It felt like a false position because we'd seen the way the wickets had gone and you knew a partnership was going to come from somewhere and it did. A partnership of 91 between Kua and Cary, two left handers. And for Kaja to come back into the side the way he has done. Steve Smith ill on the morning of the game, it felt like Kaja's entire career was over.

Yeah, it was, it was written. He was written off and he finished 39 years old. Well played. Thanks very much. You know, they, they made the decision, didn't they, that, that going into this game, obviously that they're moving away from Usman Quadra and suddenly you get your chance and he's got out there and he's. He scored what, 82? He did get that chance earlier on, but bats were entitled to do that.

Yeah.

And you know, well, who, who, who knows what that means for Usman. Usman Kaja.

What, what happens, what happens at Melbourne now? I mean, does Josh English step down as ka. Because Kaja is batting in an unfamiliar position at 4.

Yeah. So a little bit different from coming in an opening and he's been under the pump and you know, it's been a bit of a, I would say a Christmas present, but it's his birthday tomorrow, so you probably go birthday present before Christmas. But you know, he did have a life on, on six. You know, if, if Brook takes that catch. He did try to. I don't know if he, if he should have just caught it rather than try to make it look even better than what it was. I don't know what it was, but if he caught that. Usman's out for six. Australia really under the pump and could be completely different. Uzi wouldn't get. He wouldn't have 82 against his name. But that's test cricket. You got to make the most of it. And that was a similar moment to what Travis Head had at Brisbane. He's looking. Wasn't looking that good getting beaten. Then he got dropped by Smith and all of a sudden something clicked and he just played positively. Uzzy did the same thing. Usman went out there. From that moment on then he looked a lot more positive. So you've got to take your chances. Melbourne I, to be honest now, I can't see Usman. You know, if he comes out and gets 100 in the second dig, then it's going to be tough. Smith will come straight back in. You know, I can't say Osman really.

Well, you, you feel if they made the decision to move on here, okay, circumstances may they have to come back then that, that, that decision remains, doesn't it?

Yeah. Can you go from opening to batting four to now batting six?

Yeah.

Is he going to be 11 by Sydney?

I don't know.

So anyway it's, it's. Yeah, I can't say that happening.

I mean one of the features of his batting was that he went quite quickly, actually. 82 of 126 balls, which is a lot faster than we normally expect from Usman Kwaja. And at the other end he had fabulous support from Alex Carey who's. Well, I mean he was assisted, you'd have to say a little bit by the England's bowlers.

But the thing is, all right, from what I consider, I, I am concerned about the Snicko and I'm not just saying that because of carry today, but we've had a number of incidents in this series where the Snicko has simply not been good enough. They've been little murmur ones that have been given out. We'd normally get a spike. There have been occasions where the spike has shown well after the ball has passed that's been given out. And I did talk to Ranjan Mandala. He won't mind me saying this, the most experienced match referee in the business at Brisbane talking about other things. But this came up and he said we are really concerned about, about Sniko in this series. It's just not right. And I just don't see how that spike. Well, there's a spike. It was slashed outside the off stump. A spike appeared but it, it appeared it was a proper spike. But it appeared this time before. Yes, before the bat. It couldn't have been anything else. It's all like predictive spikes. Predictive Snicko.

Oh, it's about two foot in front of the bat.

Yeah, but the buns. Other ones have been two feet after the bat. It's obviously, it's not marrying the software where. Isn't working. Right.

No.

And. And so that's a problem. But for me, and not just me, a lot of working on ABC and that and they're, you know, they're very, very fair and very balanced. Yeah. He should have been out. Caught behind on 72.

Breaking news. Carey has just said in the press conference he thought he hit it and he looked like he thought he hit it. He looked incredibly guilty.

He's had a very guilty shot about two or two after.

It's interesting because I thought I could see a gap between and. But the. The other telling sign is when he walked down to. Who was he batting with the start he was nodding his head, yeah, I think I hit that.

Or.

What's he saying? Has England burnt another review? Yes, they have. No, I. I think he. He did have that guilty look.

Whether he heard there is a problem with Snicker.

So I don't know.

Definitely an issue with that software.

And to be clear on this one, if you're wondering precisely, we're talking about. So we've had once before and we've been told that they've got a. A frames leeway and it did say either way. It's just that so far it's always been the other way. It's been the way that after the bat on this occasion, there was a big, big spike and it looked like it was probably two frames, not the one. So England didn't get the leeway. It couldn't have been dodgy software.

It's obviously Australian controlling the software, so.

Hopefully it'll be sorted out before next innings.

Yeah, just as we have about.

Probably, but.

No but we laugh and joke about it, but it's pretty crucial. It's important, you know, if you're going to get. Go to the. If you're going to go to the software and to the. It's got to be wrong.

It's supposed to work. It's supposed to take the error out, isn't it?

Well, it really is. That is the idea of it. Let's get some reaction from the England camp now. Bowling coach David Saker has been speaking with Henry Moran.

Pretty tough day as far as the heat and the way the wig was pretty flat. But I was really impressed by the way we went about it. Obviously Joff was very good with the new ball and I thought we tore away really well.

For the whole day.

Australian heat is heat almost like none other in world cricket. I mean, that was brutal conditions out there and it's only going to be tougher tomorrow.

Yeah, well, we got here about 8 o' clock in the morning. It was very hot then, so you can only imagine how much hotter it did get. So, again, that's one of the impressive things, that the boys just kept coming. Yeah, it was a pretty good performance. I think Jaxy did a great job holding up one end and the Quicks did a good job from the other.

Ben Stokes, call for England to show a bit of dog in this game, a bit of fight. Have we seen that today?

Yeah, it was really impressive the way we have responded after two losses. That was great. Come back the way we did today. But it's only day one and there's still a lot of cricket left.

Whose day was it?

Pretty even at the start of the day. If we were batting at the end, I think we would have probably said that we had won the day. But it's pretty even. That's a pretty good day's cricket.

What have you made of the surface? Because some have said that it's not doing an awful lot, others have said it's maybe a little livelier.

Well, that's the thing. You probably need to see two sides bat and bowl on it before you make too much of a comment. But it looked pretty flat to us. Obviously, the heat is also a factor, so, yeah, I'm not sure it was moving around too much.

There was quite a lot of discussion from the Australia camp that they were surprised that England hadn't picked their main spinner on this tour for this game. From what you've seen today, still the right call.

I think it was.

Yeah.

There's probably two things to that. There's also giving us a bit more batting strength. But, you know, Jaxy's been performing quite well in the nets and they've liked what they've seen. I thought he bowled quite well today. It's never easy for a spinner to bowl that many overs in day one of his cricket match and I thought he did a good job.

Joffer Archer's performance, as you say, was a standout. He's somebody that's come into this series with a lot of pressure, but he's performing.

Yeah, just to string the games together is really impressive for him and he seems to be getting better as the series goes, so that's really important or good for us looking forward. But he bolts some really quick spells and quite sustained pace. As so that was impressive. And hopefully comes out and get his five for tomorrow.

Why is it that every time a team seems to get on top in this game, something happens and blows it open again? It's been a funny first day.

Yeah. And I think Test match cricket just keeps pulling those things up. So if you take your foot off the pedal for one minute, something will end up biting you. And I think we got two clumps of wickets back to back twice. So that's the game. And if you keep on the game game all day, you get get rewarded. That's what I think is a pretty even day at the end.

What's a good score on this surface, do you think?

350 plus would be probably a decent score, but if you look at the history of Adelaide Oval, first innings are pretty big scores. So at eight for 320, we'll take that.

You've been part of previous Ashes tours and you know what it takes to succeed and the challenges that this country poses.

Of course.

What do you make of where the squad's at mentally, physically?

Well, mentally and phys. Physically, they're in a good space. I think it's just about just keep fronting up. It is a brutal place to come and play. The Australians are never easy to beat and you have to be on every time. And I think the first two tests, there are times in the game we've just dropped off enough and they've just taken the opening and we haven't been that far off. The scorecard might indicate that, but I don't think we've been that far off. And the first series is still alive. So get a win and then the whole thing can change.

And just finally the job is to bat big and England will know that. And there's no room for errors like we've seen in the first couple of matches. How strong from your coaching department has that message been to the team?

Yeah, we need a really good batting performance, the first innings in particular. The game will be won by us if we bat really big first innings, and that's going to be the messaging and there's no reason why not. I think the wicket will play better tomorrow than it did today and at some stage it'll get quite hard to bat on, so our first innings will be quite important.

David Sa there with Henry Moran. He sounds pretty happy with 326 for 8. I think England, unsurprisingly, pretty happy with that, given that we found out From Andy Zaltzman that 570 is pretty much the average for Australia batting first, Adelaide. But I want to pick something there. I don't want to, you know, just really go after Will Jacks, because we were on there when we were working out how many overs you Bolt bowled one season. You bowled a thousand overs in a season. Will Jackson bowled 259 overs in three years. Is it now David Taker is defending him.

Yeah.

But is this just an acknowledgment that the Showa Bashir experiment was a mistake?

Well, yeah, I mean, he come out at the end of the day's play and you've got to say, you know, everyone's done pretty well, which they have. England be happy in this situation. But for my money. What did he say? He sort of. And he got his two wickets. That's fine. Well done. But I mean, if you're going at five and over, just over. Five and over, that's not my money. Holding up an end, really. So. But then he hasn't got the work. He hasn't had the work. He hasn't had the work in his legs. And, and where's, you know, where's your groove? You can't find your groove anywhere because there's just not one there. And so to be fair, he didn't do a bad job. But, you know, to say that he's. He's held up a necessity, going at five and overs a bit of a stretch.

I mean, in a way, England, I.

I agree that's a lot of runs for one bowler to give away. Holding an end up, you know, five and over. I'm amazed that Stokes kept him on so long.

Imagine if he bow badly for the day.

But, I mean, David Sa, who's the coach, you got to come out and say stuff. You know, he just had to just to dissect it, dissect it afterwards. But that's 100 runs given away in. In 200 favors, you know, in a game that England, you know, desperately need to win. I. I'm surprised that Stokes bolt him so much, I must say.

Yeah, well, let's just hope it gets hundred and then. And then you think yourself, oh, well, hold on. That that would be fair enough.

Well, I mean, he's there, it sounds to me to bolster the batting at number eight.

And it's always difficult. It's so difficult. We always found ourselves in this situation. Coming down here, you know, you have a couple of bad batting performances. Oh, you know, can Stewie go and keep and bat seven? You know, who could we get in and, you know, all rounders and everything. All of a sudden, you know, your clear planning sort of goes awry. But listen, he got his couple of.

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We've spent quite a bit of time obviously praising Alex Carey who batted splendidly, praising Usman Khawaja who got eight, being a little bit skeptical, to say the least about wheel jacks and Brydon cars. But England have got Australia 326 for 8 and in part that's because Joffre Archer bowled 16 overs, 5 maidens, 3 for 29. Now he's come under the microscope a lot at the end of the last test in Brisbane, you know. Oh, it's only now that you're bowling quick. Well, he stuck at it today, didn't he bowl and he, he was the only person who really gave Stokes property of control and, and the Aussies were forced to play him with a lot of respect.

Yeah, I mean, look a Bit stiff when he came back at the end there. I don't blame him. One over with a new ball in your C. I think we forget that. I mean, what England want is him to be up firing tomorrow. You know, he's. He's got the two. He's got number 10, 11 to go at. He's got the chance of a five for, you know that that's his, that's his moment to come flying in tomorrow and just finish off his innings and then England, England to get. To get batting. But it did, it did bowl nicely. He's a rhythm bowler. I know I keep saying this, but just because sometimes he doesn't bowl a spell of 90 or 192 miles an hour doesn't mean he isn't trying.

He is.

He's a very rhythmical bowler and sometimes it doesn't, it just doesn't quite come out as you know, the timing isn't quite there. It's not like Brydon Castle, Darren Gough or these people just run up and just hurl the ball down. There's a lot of stuff going on with Joffrey. He's got very smooth action, but it's a very rhythmical ball. But I know he bowled really nicely. I mean, I, I'm certainly not going to accuse him of having bowled too short.

Glenn, you bowled a lot of overs in Australia with. Did he get his lengths right? Did get his legs right?

Well, he's a dangerous bowler, isn't he? You want him to come on short, sharp spells unsettle the batsman. My only issue with his joffer is, you know, a bowler of that caliber, you want him firing ball one. You watch him warm up before he bowls. Sometimes he doesn't even roll the arm over. The first ball is actual first ball. He's rolled the arm over. And I, I know in Brisbane when I saw him there, yeah, he was bowling two overs at 135 before he cranked it up into the 140s. And you can't give a batsman, especially at this level, an over or two.

To get used to.

And yeah, they need him firing from ball one. You know, he's got to. He's got to loosen up, find a way to loosen up better and then come in first ball and just let it rip. So, yeah, he's. He picked up some vital wickets. I think that one of Lavishane, first ball after, after lunch was a bit of a gimme, even green sort of going hard at it and it sort of held in the pitch a bit. That was A couple of, you know, get gifted wickets, really, but, you know, you look at him, 29 off 16, Ben Stokes, 53 off 19. Take those two guys up. Yeah, they're going over five runs and over. So, yeah, it's. Yeah, he's done well, but I think, you know, he can be ready to go from the first ball of his spell and then that would be. He'd be even more dangerous.

We've heard from the England camp, we get some reaction from the Australian team now. Alex Carey has been speaking to Adam Gilchrist and Alyssa Healey. From the host broadcaster, the man of.

The moment, Alex Carey. So much emotion around this game. We've just given you a big hug. We want to keep hugging you, mate.

That's what you do to people.

Spectators of the game, 56, 000, adoring local fans calling out your name. Excuse me. It looked like a very emotional moment for you, mate. Congratulations.

Yeah, thanks. It was. It was great, Great to be out there with Mitch and a decent day's cricket. I think, you know, the crowd, as you mentioned, 56, 000 in Adelaide, it's. Yeah, it's pretty special. And, you know, to make 100 here in front of home fans and. And family was, yeah, special. Special. And I guess, you know, as well, I was looking to the heavens.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we saw pictures of Eloise tearing.

Up and you've spoken openly about your love and affection for your father and the role he played in your life, not just as a person, but as a cricketer and a sportsman. The character has shone through. That was amazing scenes.

Yeah. I'm sure not to tear up, but. No, it was. It was great. And, you know, to have, you know, mum, brother, sister, Eloise, the kids. Yeah, it was a great moment. And as you mentioned, you know, dad was, you know, played the biggest role probably in my cricket. Coached me all the way through, you know, as dads want to do, and sort of let me go once I got into my. My older teenage years, but would always shoot a message and put the reverse sweep away and keep hard on me. But, yeah, look, it was. It was great. You know, I won't go to too much death, but it was, yeah, special moment for myself, but for the family too, I reckon.

Fair enough. And you're. It's more than okay to get emotional. Well done. Absolutely. First. First Ashes Test century. It mean a little bit something more after 2023. I mean, you've been through a lot since that moment. We don't need to talk about it.

But I'm More happy to talk about that, I reckon.

Yeah. Okay. But first Ashes test. How cool is that?

Yeah, it was good. Look, went out there in a little sticky situation, too. We lost. Lost two straight after lunch. And to build a partnership with Usman, who we saw back into this team, and we know how quality he is, and, you know, never, never good. Losing such a quality player. And Steve Smith early in the day, but, you know, for Usman to come out when I guess there's been a lot spoken about him, and we know how good a player he is, and his record speaks for itself and, you know, that's a quality 80, I guess, for both of us. We wanted bigger hundreds to really drive the game, but to be 8 down over 300 on day one's not a bad situation, but, yeah, hopefully we can keep scoring runs in the morning and then our bowlers can go to work.

We've just watched some highlights there, and I can hear that they're playing the audio as well. The Cary cry going around this ground. Did you ever think, I guess you hope it might happen, probably with a Sharon in your hand?

Yeah, that's probably true.

I actually didn't hear it. That's how much I. I get in the zone out there. Yeah, it was. Oh, that's. You know, that's very special. Would have been nice to go a little bit deeper and see us through tonight, but, yeah, Mitch is. Mitch is playing really well as I've got a big bug on my head. Mitch is playing well. Gaz was really good there, chipped away. Would it would be nice to push over 350 in the morning. But also, you know, they created over. Over 10 chances and, yeah, hopefully you can do the same tomorrow when it's our time to bowl.

We're averaging over 50 this year with bat in hand, obviously gloving the ball beautifully as well. A lot spoken about the Gabba Test, but we know you've been doing it over extended periods of time. Do you get confidence from both skills, doing them well, or is it just a search for perfection the whole way around?

Oh, yeah. I'm always looking to improve and, you know, today, you know, getting out just over 100, you know, you want that big score and got to be better next time. But the game is always presenting opportunities to learn from, and I feel like I'm learning little bits as we go along and to be in this environment where you can really express the way that you want to play and be encouraged to do so. I think, you know, we've seen players come in and really flourish. Bo Webster come in and played really well. Jake Weatherell is doing the same. It's a fun group to be around, you know, staff leadership, you know, the boys that are running the leadership program. I really encourage guys to come in and play their way and, yeah, enjoying my cricket. But again, I want to just do everything I can to help us win. Win a series against England. But without looking too far ahead, we've got a good opportunity. It'd be nice, like I said, to get a few more in the morning, but it's a decent track and hopefully Miss can keep up the form.

That was Alex and carrie. I scored 100. A very fine 100 it was, too. But he did say in the presser that he got a feather, but he isn't a walker. I don't blame him for not walking, but at the same time, I do think, as Jonathan said, the technology needs to be looked at. We have litigated that case.

But did he say he got a feather or thought he may have hit it? Sometimes you think you've hit it and you haven't. I don't know.

Glenn. Glenn, you can keep trying, but it's. It's. It is what it is. And look, there's no point in moaning about it. Australia 326 for 8 at the end of this first day as a vital Test match. And tomorrow we keep on talking about vital sessions, but in context of the entire series, if this series is going to stay alive, England have obviously got to win this game. And that means that tomorrow is absolutely pivotal. They've got to get those two wickets quickly with the mop, maybe, or the Hoover. Josh Tungsten alongside Joffre Archer. And then they've got about time and they've got about overs on a day that's going to be 39 degrees toughers. Has this team got it in them? They haven't shown that ability to stick around yet, but this is a situation where if they want to stick in this Ashes, they've still got to be batting at the end of tomorrow, haven't they?

Absolutely. It comes down to this. First innings. First innings runs are always crucial in Australia. You've got to be looking at 400, 450, and if. And if you get there even more. You know, I think they have. I think they have. I think Nathan Lyon is going to be crucial. He was absolutely fuming at Brisbane and he's on his home patch here. And with a little bit of. A little bit of spin and bounce, the captain, Pat Cummins, has come Back as well. But yeah, it's. It's a crucial day for the batting for England. You know, the bowlers are stuck in there manfully and got themselves into a reasonable position. Right, lads, you haven't shown it since we've been here. It's down to you. Go out there and get a bigger and fill your boots because otherwise it's done.

They've talked about it. Harry Brooks talked about it. He's acknowledged that he's played some. Some daft shots. But just because you know you have, it's not that easy necessarily to turn around. You've got some negative suggestions going on in your head as well, perhaps. So look, what can they expect tomorrow? Is tomorrow the day to bat or. Or is the sun beating down on it? Does it start to deteriorate quickly here at Adelaide? What do you expect?

No, I think tomorrow is definitely the day to bat. The pitch will quicken up a little. Ball will come on nicely, be able to hit through the line. So I think tomorrow is the key. They have to bat all day. They have to get 450, 500 in this first innings because this pitch will probably take turn. We've seen a couple not carry through. Adelaide is renowned for day four, day five, getting a little bit inconsistent up and down. Nathan Lyon loves bowling here. Here we've already seen, you know, Will Jax getting some turn and some bounce and that's what Nathan Line does. Gets that turn but that bounce, which is. Takes a lot of wickets too. So. But tomorrow that ball come in nicer if they. But you've got to get in, give yourself a chance, get into the. To, to your innings, get. Feel the pace of the ball and then, yeah, I think hitting through the line here will be better and easier than what we've seen in the first two tests. So there's an opportunity for. For England when they bat tomorrow, to bat long and bat big and get a good lead to keep this series live.

It's going to be interesting just the way they play, isn't it? It's whether they double down on the basball and the aggression and let's even go harder, or have just tweaked it a little bit and learned from their mistakes. And as Glenn said on a long, hot day here in Adelaide, just tweak it a bit, get yourself in and slowly start to wear them down. Don't be negative. Listen, if it's up there, whack it away, you know, and put the pressure back onto the bowlers because they'll be feeling it as well. But tomorrow is the day without a.

Doubt and 39 degrees is a tough day in the field. But you're under a helmet out there that can be equally as tough as tough and get a little bit oppressive. So see how the batsman England batsmen handle the heat when they get that opportunity.

You can watch highlights on the BBC Sport website and app now with our full Highlights show on BBC iPlayer from 5pm every day of the series. You can also watch the TMS Ashes debrief with Alex Hartley and guests on Iplayer. Search for Ashes on BBC Sounds for all our content and we're back on air tonight from 11pm The TMS podcast.

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