“There are lessons to be learned from today,” was the assessment of England’s opening batsman Mark Stoneman, with seven days of cricket left before the Gabba, and he was right. He bowled neatly enough but all four wickets came with balls that would not traditionally be considered wicket-takers. He is a big-hearted, heavy-footed left-armer whose debut came late after time out of the game playing Australian rules football. In the opening first-class game of the tour, he made 33, his average in the County Championship this year. It had been a careless end and one that left England “fractionally disappointed”, according to Stoneman.

Source: The Guardian November 08, 2017 13:41 UTC