The atmosphere, rather than being boisterous and hostile, was nervous and a little eerie. It had been a quiet week for Brisbane’s Courier Mail (besides blaming “Pommy singer Adele” for cynically slowing the Gabba pitch with a concert here eight months ago), but they had been saving themselves for this. On the cover stood Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, accompanied by a Shane Warne column encouraging them to revisit “Bodyline”. It may yet quicken, but Adele’s pitch denied them the chance in the early throes. Inside, Kevin Pietersen, in town to commentate, fired back at the host city.

Source: The Times November 23, 2017 02:15 UTC