When the first ball of the third day was eased into the off side for a couple by Steve Smith, a long morning lay in store for England. Life was not tough for Shaun Marsh either, as Stuart Broad dropped too short and too wide and was cut, then James Anderson went too full, and three runs through point brought Marsh a half-century. It was a timely one; Glenn Maxwell, his rival for the No 6 spot, was making 278 for Victoria in Sydney, the highest Sheffield Shield score of the last five summers. Ball joined Woakes in a short-pitched attack on the Australian captain JASON O’BRIEN/PABowling with the old ball is unforgiving in Australia. In the first two days, 14 wickets fell, but just three of them have come after the ball was 40 overs old.

Source: The Times November 25, 2017 02:03 UTC