4th. Ashes Test. Manchester.

[K]

Play has been abandoned for the day.

So the tea score on the previous page is now the stumps score.

Not a bad start for Oz, but a pity Marnus got out.

[K]

Odds:

Oz 43%
Draw 37%
England 20%.

So the punters reckon it was Oz's day.

[K]

Stokes bowls a huge wide, and Smith reaches for it and strokes it for 4. He reaches 50.

Botham says Smith almost had to dive to reach that ball.

Holding says it'd be interesting if he'd gotten an edge or lofted it to backward point, what he'd think of the shot.

Here's the video of the shot:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket ... 52o3j.html


Botham was amused; Holding disapproved. (Next over, Holding pointedly praised Marnus leaving a wide one. )

[Pies4shaw]

So, there we have it. Smith reaches 60, again. At the moment, his series batting average is 146. The plan to intimidate him and exploit his “weakness” against the short ball is working, though - he hasn’t reached 100 (yet) since they started trying to hit him in the head. It’s probably just a little galling for them that his average since they started aiming at his brain is 152. Still, if one looks more closely, one can see the merit in England’s strategy: when they concussed him, they confined him to just the bare 92, whereas when they haven’t managed to concuss him, his series average is 173.

[K]

It's hard to have a plan to bounce someone when the tracks are all flat. (I doubt that is the plan.) If they're going to produce tracks that turn from day 1, the Leach plan may be better. I wonder what Lyon thinks. If it were Warne, they would not dare do this. (If it were Warne, the disaster of the last Test wouldn't have happened, of course.)


But for Smith's changed plan against the bouncer in this Test, have a look at the comments of Athers & Ponting quoted in this thread.

[K]

[Donny]

Play under way.

3/171.

[Donny]

Play under way.

3/171.

[Donny]

Two fours for Smith, from Archer's bowling. The second one was a sharp catch & bowl chance.

3/180.

Smith 70*, Head 18*.

[23 YIPPEE!!!]

Need a innings total of Day a competitive 344 first up

[Donny]

Broad takes his third. Head out for 19.

[Donny]

4/204. Smith 80*, Wade 12*.

[Donny]

5/232. Wade 16.

Smith 95*, Tim Paine 3*.

[Donny]

Ton up for Smith. His 26th. Test century.

5/241.

[Donny]

Smith out for ..... hang on. NO-BALL !!