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Jack Leach

An Unbelievable fightback from Australia on Day 4 when they lost their opening and top-order early before Usman Khawaja turned around with another Test Match 100, Australia declared 265-6 that includes a 387 run lead as England are on 30-0 right now going into Day 5 with 358 more runs to meet the 388 run target & win the 4th Test.

There’s one word to describe Usman Khawaja’s batting spell at the Sydney Cricket Ground and that is outstanding to see with both hundreds made in an Ashes Test, he’s a proper red-ball batsman who knows how to get off the mark alongside a mix of strikes downtown & safe to say that Usman learned a lot while being away from the Australian Test team by returning there as a better player. And hats off to Cameron Green on his 2nd Test 50 (74) since India last year at the same venue, not only he did well to back Usman up but he played some nice shots along the way when he came on at six which shows he’s more than capable of being a long-term all-rounder option alongside some backup as a fast bowler for Australia at Test level.

Meanwhile at the England camp, credit to Mark Wood who not only came off from a brilliant quickfire 39 yesterday in the tail end at 8 but he did a great job removing David Warner & Marnus Labuschagne early with the ball. We also want to give a shoutout to spinner Jack Leach who got out Marcus Harris & clean bowled Steve Smith through the gate at the same time, and hats off to sub keeper Ollie Pope with four catches during Australia’s 2nd innings run.

Although England have let themselves down on occasions while Khawaja & Green extended Australia’s lead run tally, but they’ve got three sessions left to meet the 388 run target with patience, communication and reading to make up the maximum runs is key towards winning. Australia on the other hand only needs 10 wickets to win to finish up the job ASAP tomorrow & go 4-0 up with one Test match left in Hobart beginning on Friday.

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How good is it to end Day 2 with four early wickets on hand from the Aussies at the MCG where Mitchell Starc bowled two stunning back to back wickets, he produced a brilliant straight line that executed well with speed which made Zak Crawley hesitate with the edge before he strapped Dawid Malan first ball LBW. We also saw Scott Boland pick up two wickets as well having targeted a great area off Haseeb Hameed without that off-stump protection including a peach of a delivery two balls later which punished Jack Leach straight into the stumps. And hats off to Alex Carey with two stunning catches off both England’s openers behind the gloves as these fielders gotta be on their toes tomorrow & not make up dropped/unlucky catches.

Meanwhile, England have lost it when they lost both openers, Malan out first ball at 3 & a nightwatchman (Jack Leach) got sent back really quickly despite a brilliant 1st innings spell with the ball for the majority of Day 2 today. Crawley and Hameed just couldn’t kick on before they were held accountable by the Australian quicks as it’s probably the last time we’ve seen Hameed at Test level for now before the 4th Test in Sydney, it’s best if Jos Buttler hands over the keeping gloves to Jonny Bairstow or Ben Foakes and be a makeshift opener with Crawley who knows how to defend & take his time.

Stumps at Day 2: England 31-4 and trails by 51 runs.

Australia gotta keep that strong start and inflict more damage on Joe Root (12) & Ben Stokes (2) before they can finish up the job on the middle and lower end & retain the Series Urn once again for the third straight time that goes back from their last Ashes tour at home in 2017-18, while England needs Root & Stokes to build a huge partnership that could determine their stance towards the next three days of this test or else it’s too late.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #TestCricket #Australia #England #MelbourneCricketGround #ScottBoland #MitchellStarc #ZakCrawley #HaseebHameed #DawidMalan #JoeRoot #BenStokes #JackLeach #AlexCarey

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Well done to Australia on Day 1 at the MCG when they successfully done the damage after tea that ended England’s 1st innings total of 185 as they are on 61-1 at stumps with a 124 run trail behind them ahead of Day 2 tomorrow.

It’s great to see Scott Boland secure his maiden Test wicket in addition to two brilliant catches down at the rope, while Mitchell Starc scared off Bairstow that scooped straight to Cameron Green’s hands at gully before Nathan Lyon completed the remaining England tail-enders of Jack Leach & Ollie Robinson.

Looking at the bat now & it’s nice to see David Warner scoring quickfire runs but disappointed not to continue on 38 when he was caught by Zak Crawley off Jimmy Anderson, Marcus Harris is also making good progress despite having yet to score big in this Ashes Series as he hopes to prove selectors that he deserves to stay by scoring a ton tomorrow in front of his home crowd. And we’ll see what their nightwatchmen Nathan Lyon has something to offer with the bat before the top-order options come in & help Australia produce a big innings total than England.

Meanwhile at the England camp, Jonny Bairstow did his best to stay in there on 35 before he was so vulnerable by Starc that sent him back upstairs. We also saw Ollie Robinson & Jack Leach score some handy runs while it lasted, but England were already in a bad state anyway as they need their bowlers to produce the magic tomorrow like Jimmy Anderson did with Warner not long before stumps.

Getting rid of these dangermen early like Labuschagne, Steve Smith, etc could mean a lifeline for their Top 6 batsmen to rebound in the 2nd innings especially with a few changes at Opening & Middle-Order spots that will be tested once again to handle the Australian bowlers.

#AUSvENG #Ashes #Cricket #Australia #England #MelbourneCricketGround #MarcusHarris #DavidWarner #ScottBoland #NathanLyon #MitchellStarc #JimmyAnderson #JonnyBairstow #OllieRobinson #JackLeach

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It’s been a quiet middle session mightily for England when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow hung in there to block & score some runs on the board but Stokes couldn’t execute that ramp shot over the rope as he was caught by Nathan Lyon at gully for 25.

The same goes for Joe Root who reached his test 50 after a great spell in the middle but got caught straight away when his head was not in-line & edged it to Alex Carey’s keeping gloves.

And while Australia’s momentum wasn’t the same after lunch, they saw Mitchell Starc & Cameron Green share the two wickets off Root & Stokes respectively before Nathan Lyon became the standout star when he caught Stokes at gully before he made Jos Buttler (3) mis-timed that loft drive to Scott Boland at deep square leg on the last ball of this session.

Score at Tea: England 128-6

All England can do now is gotta keep staying in there & block the good balls out with Bairstow on 21* with Mark Wood to come ahead of Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach & James Anderson while Australia hopes to finish off the England tail end before they can begin batting towards the end of Day 1 today.

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England made four changes to their XI ahead of the third test today at the Melbourne Cricket Ground v Australia.

Happy to see Rory Burns replaced by Zak Crawley after an unfortunate first two tests, it’s not just the mediocre batting numbers but he also paid the price for poor fielding too. Meanwhile, Haseeb Hameed stayed on despite plenty of fans suggesting that he should be joining Burns towards the chop, but at least Hameed scored a couple of okay double-digit scores & deserves to be tested with a different opening partnership of Crawley.

No need to change the top-order pair that worked so well in skipper Joe Root & Dawid Malan as they hope to make up damage to the Aussies, but hopefully the promotion of Ben Stokes at 5 would help England at least deliver them a century or two in order to stay in contention.

Jonny Bairstow in for Ollie Pope at 6, who hopes to be an upgrade to help stretch England’s run chase as Pope may have fired off well in the 1st Test at The Gabba but couldn’t keep it consistent ever since which saw him walk out the door. And let’s hope that Jos Buttler continues where he left off from the 2nd innings in Adelaide last week by hanging in there & blocking out these good balls but he’s also under pressure to improve his catching behind the keeping gloves too.

Ollie Robinson stays at No.8 who continues to shine with the ball and can bat a bit, while Stuart Broad’s return last week in Adelaide didn’t help much for England despite a fantastic 1st innings v Australia’s batting so they got Mark Wood back in his place at 9. Now it’s kinda harsh to pull the plug on Chris Woakes on this one when he too showed some late form with the bat on 44 & should’ve replaced Robinson at 8 but he hasn’t done much with the ball though as England opted for a frontline spinner in Jack Leach & James Anderson retains his spot at No.11.

Both openers are unfortunately gone early just a while ago with Root & Malan up to the task to turn England’s poor start around as they are 35-2.

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