Spirited England end day one on top despite Carey brilliance…

Photo courtesy of Stacey Chapman

There have been plenty of questions surrounding England’s character and fight. Well, their efforts today cannot be faulted. After being put into the field in sweltering heat on a surface notoriously described as a “batting paradise” in Adelaide (in the words of Justin Langer), England will be pleased to walk off with Australia eight wickets down.

The bowling performance, however, was difficult to categorise. It was a curious mixture of short and wide buffet bowling, interspersed with patches of genuinely high-quality fast bowling. Brydon Carse’s opening spell failed to set the tone and he was fortunate to claim a wicket, courtesy of an unbelievable one-handed snare from Crawley at cover. Jofra Archer, though, was comfortably England’s standout. Bowling with real pace and hostility, he looked a constant threat and blew the game open with his post-lunch burst.

From an Australian perspective, there were some sloppy and frankly poor shots on display. Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Usman Khawaja in particular handed their wickets to England on a platter - an invitation that was gleefully accepted. Were it not for the graceful and elegant batting of Alex Carey, Australia would have found themselves well behind the eight ball.

Carey was head and shoulders above the rest, caressing and nurdling the ball into gaps, while also taking the game to England at key moments - particularly against the likes of Will Jacks.

There was, of course, a major moment of controversy. With Carey on 72, a mishap with Snicko meant the wicketkeeper-batter was wrongly not dismissed. Combined with Brook’s drop of Khawaja earlier, England could have been well and truly dominant had the margins gone their way. How such errors in technology can occur in a series of this magnitude remains difficult to comprehend.

Tomorrow promises to be a blockbuster. It is no exaggeration to say the Ashes are on the line. A commanding batting performance from England would put them firmly on course to reduce the series deficit to one. Or will it be the same old story of soft dismissals and squandered opportunities?