WEBVTT - Sydney D1: Rain stalls Root, Brook as English finally fight 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.239 The Unplayable Podcast is proudly presented by quantas the official 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.439 podcast partner and the official airline partner of Cricket Australia. 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:08.799 Once again this season, Quantus is prouds Toby be flying 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:16.840 Australia's cricketers as they take on the world. Hey everyone, 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:19.560 welcome to the Unplayable Podcast. Day one of the SCG 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.280 Test matches ended in a rather wet note. Unfortunately, England 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.880 finished at three for two hundred and eleven after only 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:30.080 forty five overs were possible on day one. A bit 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:32.479 of rain in Sydney. Who would have guessed it, but 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:34.400 he had to break down those forty five overs and 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:37.160 a little bit of the stuff around the outside is myself, 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:39.479 josh I onn Ifinger and Louis Cameron. Why don't we 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.600 start with the rain lou because that was obviously a 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.160 disappointing end of the day. There were parts and times 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:46.440 where it looked like we could be playing, we didn't 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:48.440 end up playing, and all in all was a bit 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:49.640 of confusion and disappointment. 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.600 Yeah, I mean Sydney is the reason why this is 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.800 the only ground that has the sponsors, sorry, the covers sponsored. 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:57.880 Yeah, the big. 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:01.480 Nrom main insurance logo all over those white sheets. I'm 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.320 pretty sure nowhere else. I mean, to be fair, we 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:05.559 actually just haven't seen that much rain. Yeah, but money 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.319 well spent, you'd have to say absolutely that is that 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.679 is genius. Yeah, but like they might sponsor it to 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:12.440 other grounds. I just haven't seen it because it hasn't 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:13.319 really rained too much. 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.560 This year, so that's a tick so far. Yeah, it was. 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:17.160 It was a bit. 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.200 We kind of have this conversation every year in Sydney 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:21.680 and every time it kind of rains, like what more 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:23.480 could we kind of be doing to either get the 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.880 game going or maybe entertain the forty nine more than 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:28.639 forty nine thousand people who came. 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:29.679 To a massive crowded Yeah. 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.840 I didn't realize Sydney held that many people. But I 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.120 think when the members come in and they get the 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.720 standing room only area kind of activated that they can 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:39.600 really flood through and. 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:41.119 Kind of come down to watch. 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:43.560 I kind of feel like cricket doesn't do a great 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.280 job of like all right, there's no cricket on, Like 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:49.480 what's how are we entertaining those people? And I'm not 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.640 saying like we need to go full big bash or whatever, 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:55.080 but like, could we have like a I don't know, 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.000 a traveling circus troop like on hand to you know, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.720 just something like I'm joking, but like just something to 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:04.040 entertain people. 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:05.600 Slip and slide on the outfield or something. 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.040 Well that's right, yeah, yeah, something fun like that. Like 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.200 all the TV stations, right, they have all this kind 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.560 of filler content ready, and I think Channel seven were 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.280 doing their best or who they think will be playing 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.639 the twenty twenty seven matches, Like this is all kind 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.399 of stuff we talk about when we don't have any 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:23.400 cricket to play, right, So could we be doing that 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.600 from a ground perspective, I'm sure those conversations are happening. 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:29.760 It was disappointing, but as you said, lots of members 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.000 came in today. We heard on the coverage that members 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.160 were lining out from six pm last night to make 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.040 sure that they got in today. There was lots of 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.760 pink around, even though it's not quite Janie mcgra day yet. 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:41.640 But if you do want to donate, of course to 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.840 that very worthy cause of the McGrath Foundation, had to 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.760 pink test dot com dot au. We began today with 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:51.040 a really touching tribute to the first responders and those 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.840 lost in the Bondai tragedy a few weeks ago. Some 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.600 great shots of Ahmed al Lahmed his arm in a 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.080 sling but saluting to the crowd and getting to shake 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:03.440 the hands of all the players. That was so, that 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.640 was a really nice way to start the day. England 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.160 won the toss and chose to bat, even though Australia 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:09.560 went heavy with the quicks again, Lou. 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.320 That's right, the first time in one hundred and thirty 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.920 seven years Australia haven't played a spinner at the SCG. 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:18.560 That's kind of beggar's belief really, that it's been that long. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:20.160 You would have thought that, you know, it might have 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:21.720 rained a bit in the lead into a test in 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.520 the forties, fifties or sixties and they went all seen 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.600 or you know, there's just a transition period when there 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:30.160 was no good spinner to kind of pick. 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:31.960 And we were trawling through. 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.200 The archives, you know, old scorecards trying to figure out 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:36.440 is if JJ Ferris was was a. 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:40.680 Seema or TV exactly? Yeah, what what did George McShane bowl. 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:45.200 You can't even compare the game to what it is, like, 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.320 what the game we're playing now compared to what they 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.040 were playing back then I'm sure it was. I'm sure 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.240 it was great, but it's not the same sport as 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:52.720 what we're doing now. You look at the scorecards, so 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.600 like I think Australia in that first innings in the 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:59.320 ninety sorry, in the eighteen eighty seven eighty eight Sydney Test, 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:03.800 England made one hundred and thirty off one hundred overs 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.480 Charles the terra turner just about like fifty overs straight 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.040 and you know it took five wickets, but he was 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:10.960 like that only used three bowlers. 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.360 I think the third bowler of bowl four point four 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:13.920 or something like. It's. 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.960 Yeah, so it's a long time ago, different game. And yeah, 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.040 you wonder whether they would have made the same decision 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:22.720 if Nathan Lyne was available for this game. That's a 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.000 hypothetical we'll kind of never know the answer to. But 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:27.200 you know, Dan Vittori was sitting up here in the 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.880 press conference room where we are now and just kind 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.920 of said, well, the pace has been the winning formula here, 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:38.640 and yeah, it seemed like the selection was more based 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.200 around pace taking wickets as opposed to them being worried 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.520 about a really green wicket and picking the extra batter 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:47.719 because you know, obviously it's bow Webster in the team 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:51.240 at not you know, Jy Richardson in that equivalent spot. So, 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:54.839 but you know, it did look like yeah, so I 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.000 don't know if they've misread the pitch completely, but it 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.200 does look like a like a good batting wicket. Yeah. 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.800 You know how when something happens, you know, fifteen years 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:05.080 ago for the first time, you see those graphics on 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.520 social media, like, oh, Barack Obama was president, those of things. 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.040 You can't really go all the way back to eight I. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:12.280 Mean New South Wales. 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:13.880 I don't think it was a state, like we weren't 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.080 a federated country at that point. It's incredible still twelve 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:21.000 years before federation. So yeah, the iPhone certainly had been 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:22.760 invented in eighteen eighty eight. 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:24.960 But it looked like the right call early from Australia, 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.479 even though maybe the first few overs were a little 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.120 bit flat from the Aussies, they got things ticking and 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:34.440 they took three for twenty two. All the frontline fast 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.360 bowlers got a wicket. Nissa stuck and Boland and it 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.279 was another promising start from Ben Duckett, but he again 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.680 sneiacked off caught behind. Jacob Bethel played some good shots 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.160 as well before Boland got him with a beauty and 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:50.719 that top order. Again, it's promised a lot, just hasn't 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.200 managed to deliver. But the Aussie bowls again, when they 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:55.640 get it right, they're so hard to play. 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:57.760 Yeah, look at another promising start from Duckett. 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.800 But I think you know the emphasis he's on what 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.720 you said there, Like when Australia have been wayward. He's 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:05.280 kind of gotten off to a quick start. I think 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:07.680 that the same thing happened in that fourth innings in Melbourne. 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:10.520 He score quite quickly, and here he was off to 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.200 twenty seven off twenty four balls mostly Stark, you know, 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.000 a couple of wide ones, a couple on his pads 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.120 and that got him going. But when Stark gets it 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:20.720 right to him, he gets out. Like its just as 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.720 simple as that Alex Carey took a good catch. The 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.159 numbers make an interesting reading. It's been five for seventy 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.960 nine off seventy seven balls in this series, so that's 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.080 head to head, that's head to head. Yeah, duck at 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.719 the Stark sorry, so you know, like we know that 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.239 McCallum is into that kind of stuff. It's like we'll 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:39.400 go on, get get a quick thirty and get the 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:42.200 momentum going in our favor and that can be good enough. 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.600 Sometimes that's you know, Crawley's made a career out of it. 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:47.680 You know, the ironic kind of thing. I think by 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.400 the end of this series, Duckett, you know, sorry, at 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:51.800 the start of this year is Duckett was a guy. 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.200 I think we all thought this guy's got some real potential. 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:56.480 He's averaging over forty. Is a Test batsman. I know 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:58.840 he plays on flat wickets, but that's still really good 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:02.120 going against new ball. And then Crawley is a guy 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.400 at average thirty. He's statistically the worst opener of all time. 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.039 I think if you put the minimum filter it, you know, 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.120 two or three thousand Test runs. Crawley is the one 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.200 now who like, I know, he only got sixteen today, 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.960 but he just looks like he's got a real solid 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.040 method for batting in Australia. He's much more watchful against 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:21.119 a new ball than what he was at the start 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.040 of the series, and he got a really good ball today. 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.440 So it's just an interesting contrast between the two openers. 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:28.640 And it's hard to judge Crawley on the Perth Test 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.160 because he didn't make it pass the first over twice city. 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.840 So how can you how much can you really judge 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:34.800 from that Test match him? 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.480 Well, I reckon a bit actually, because that he tried 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.560 to bat in that first Test in Perth like he 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.040 does in England, like anything. You know, that knee height 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.120 kind of length. Think about the first ball that comes 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.080 ball to him, the twenty three ashes. You know, it 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:48.960 was a bit of a loosener from Commons, but it 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.160 also wasn't the worst ball in the world and he's 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.800 just pumped it through cover for four. He has made 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.160 a living off doing that in England. Well, you just 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:00.360 can't do that in Australia, especially on these wickets. There's 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.960 always been the extra bounce, but there's also that extra 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.760 scene movement in Australia now. So he looks like he's 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.679 actually took some really good lessons from that per thousand 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.040 going okay, well, I can't drive on the app, i 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.160 can't play the way I normally do. I've got to 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:16.160 use matallent slightly differently. And he's waited to get in 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.520 before he's kind of done. That didn't work out for 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.520 him today, But yeah, just an interesting interesting point with 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.400 those two and it'd be interesting to see what they 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.320 do with those two going forward. 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.400 Yeah, and Crawley he's the one that his average always 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.200 gets brought into the conversation. He has been England's leading 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.000 run score in this series and he still is averaging 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:35.720 only in the mid thirty so it's hard to sort 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:37.960 of wrap your head around. But he's an enigma, that's 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.800 for sure. I've just got a message through as well, Loue. 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:44.120 Today's crowd of fifty three thousand and one that's been 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:48.920 upgraded too, is now the largest SCG crowd since nineteen 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:50.920 seventy five when Australia played the West Indies. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:53.280 It's four thousand more people come in the nine minutes 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:54.840 we started to recording. 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:56.440 Podcasts that happens. 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.440 Yeah, So that's the official word from Cricket Australia. Maybe 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:03.600 if you came in late after lunch today, Ben Dukett, 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.000 I want to just read through his scores this series. 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.400 It's been a pretty torrid series for him so far, 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:12.160 is averaging seventeen point eight. In Perth he got twenty one, 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:16.640 twenty eight, Brisbane zero fifteen, Adelaide twenty nine to four, 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.480 Melbourne two thirty four and today twenty seven. So he 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:24.080 hasn't actually passed thirty five for the entire series. 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.680 Yeah, and like a different one compared to say Harry Brook, 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:28.079 who we're going to talk about it in a minute. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.680 He was up here at the doing the press conference 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:32.840 talking about it. What a frustrating series it's been for him, 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.199 because he has done much better than that in terms 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.760 of I think he's been out five times between thirty 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.400 two and fifty one kind of in that range, and 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.320 he would have been out again in that range when 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:48.320 he kind of skyhooked that won the land between three fielders. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.560 But yeah, like that were probably the two big variables 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.439 I thought coming into the series, like, you know, we 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.120 knew Route, and we new routes an excellent player. 0:09:57.160 --> 0:10:00.760 We knew Stoke is Stokes is an excellent player. I 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:01.480 kind of thought that. 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.640 The series would hinge potentially on Crawley and sorry on 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:06.679 duck and Brook and how well they would go out 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.720 here will neither of them have had great series? 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.760 No, Joe Rout and Harry Brook came together at the 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:14.720 end or in the middle of that first session and 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:18.120 then didn't really look troubled too much. As you sort 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.599 of touched on the short ball tactic. Maybe ruffled a 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:25.280 few feathers with Brooke and trying to prevent himself from 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.400 taking it on all the time. And he did speak 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:29.800 about that and having to stain his bubble a bit. 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:31.800 But other than Joe Root's first ball where he played 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:35.720 a pretty outlandish cover drive and cleanly missed it, he 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.360 didn't look troubled at all. Their partnership of one hundred 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.480 and fifty four is the largest for England this series, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.320 and they're both in the seventies, not out overnight. Both 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:47.160 will have their eye one hundred. It would be Brooks 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:50.000 first in Australia and it would be Roots second. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:53.400 Yeah, and you touched on the first ball that he faced. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:55.880 I mean not only did he miss it trying to 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:57.880 drive again, I mean it was pretty full and it 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:01.040 just shifted away late. But I thought I was telling 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.120 what he tried to do, So what he did after 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.640 he missed the ball, he practiced an even more violent swing, 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:09.640 as if like the problem was he didn't swing hard enough. 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:13.480 It's like for a player who's that good like you, 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:17.040 you don't see the Australian's cover driving in that manner 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:21.280 in their first fifteen to twenty thirty balls, the way 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:23.640 that some of the East England guys do. Yes, if 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:25.040 they get a half holly, they'll push it away, but 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:29.160 they don't swing their absolute you know, swing their bum 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:30.599 off to trying to hit that ball. So I just 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:32.520 thought that was interesting. But it's hard to criticize him 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.600 because you're right, like, beyond that point he was fantastic 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.920 and kept a really calm head through some mad cap, 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:40.360 kind of. 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.160 Hardy Rooks stuff. The late cut. I think the route 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.959 played that really really well. He did end up cover 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.120 driving really well. There are a couple of balls. 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.720 There's one ball from Green that must couldn't have been 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.480 wider than a fourth start maybe a third and three 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.840 and a half line ball, and he just added it 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.440 down to third man four and that when he doing that, 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:01.520 he's so hard to bolt to. 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.800 And with that little shot down to third man that 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.800 you talk about, I often get frustrated when there's not 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:11.160 a fielder on the rope protecting that boundary. But when 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.720 Steve Smith eventually did put a fielder down there to 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.400 stop him getting boundaries, he was still finding the rope. 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:18.440 He was hitting on either side of Jake Weatherold who 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.280 was down there. So he's just that adept at it 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.920 and if the pitch and the conditions are right where 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.400 he can judge the bounce while it's such a profitable 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:27.960 area for him. 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:29.920 Yeah, And I think that's probably been the frustrating part 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.760 for England fans this series, is they're watching one of 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:35.400 the all time greats guys who averages fifty more than 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:37.840 ten thousand Test runs, and just his judgment around that 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:39.160 has been poor this series. 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.640 Like he's got the conditions in his favor. First day 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.880 batting wicket, pretty true bounce. 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:45.920 Absolutely, you can go and you can play that shot 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:48.280 once you're kind of in. But there's been some other 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.920 times on some spicier wickets where it looks like that, 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:55.040 like he still wants to score that way. Well, he's 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:56.960 good enough to find other ways to score and he 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.800 has succeeded in conditions. You know, he's gone to India 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:02.760 and improved his player against spin, and you know he's 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.480 put shots away for different parts of his career, and yeah, 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.319 I think it'd be frustrating to to kind of get 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.360 to the end of the series and look, he might 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:13.640 well end up with two hundreds, but you know one, yeah, 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.480 one was you know, a really good knock, but you know, 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.720 I think there were five or six others that weren't 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.160 you know, didn't give his team much and he'll finish 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.800 with two hundreds in Nashi series. I'm not sure how 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:25.599 many English players have kind of done that over the 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.360 last last little bit in Australia. 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.760 Yeah, curiously, he hasn't actually passed fifty in any of 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.280 the other innings other than that one hundred and today. 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.080 So a bit of a mixed results for Roots in 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:40.080 this series. That shortball tactic that they bumped Brook with, 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:42.520 especially at first, and they did get it to Root, 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.920 but it didn't prove as effective. He almost hold out 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.320 early on. So Australia have put pretty much every fielder 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.040 on the rope except for maybe a gully and sort 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.520 of a fly slip, hoping that he takes it on 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.760 and skyes it. And they were getting cam Green to 0:13:57.800 --> 0:13:59.760 do a lot of that donkey work, and then even 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.600 Start was buying some short stuff. But then when he 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:07.000 came from the other end, he got onto a massive 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:09.600 pull shot that went into the big scoreboard sort of 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.120 down near the bill o'releigh stand I believe, And so 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:14.640 when it comes off, I mean he's got all the 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:16.640 white ball shots so you can see why he wants 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:18.600 to take it on. But it does come with risk, 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:19.080 doesn't it. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.840 Yeah, and again a failure to read the conditions. Like 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.520 in England you miss hits, can go for six and 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:26.840 you've got short square boundaries. Well we actually have really 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.560 big square boundaries in this country. And the seg is 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:35.200 no exception the one. Yeah, I remember the field when 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:36.960 he was on forty five. I think it was off green. 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:39.400 There was a square leg kind of on the ring, 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:41.960 a very square mid on mid wicket on the ring. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.560 Then you had a deep forward square, a deep backward 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.600 square and a deep fine leg. Great idea, let's play 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:49.720 a pull shot to it to a ball about. 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:51.760 High level high. He was really lucky to get away 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:53.680 with it. And then they had the exact same field 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:55.160 when he tried it from the other. 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:55.760 End, as you said. 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.120 And yeah, there was I think the over or a 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.280 couple of balls before he hit that six, kind of 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.400 scooping over his left shoulder. There was one that fell 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.840 short of joss ingliss at fine legs. So some real 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:10.960 helter skelter kind of stuff. I mean, even when they 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:11.920 pitched up to him at the. 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:12.720 Start of his innings. 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.480 I think It was twice in his first eight balls 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.360 that he French cup balls passed the stumps off off 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.440 Scott bowl and so he could have been out three 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.000 or four times, you know, four balls short balls in 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:24.960 a kind of around that there was some There was 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:25.600 some good stuff, I. 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.080 Suppose, yeah, there were And when when he middles at it, 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.560 I mean, it just looks incredible racist to the boundary. 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:32.880 It was a super quick outfield here today as well. 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.120 I know there's been a lot of speculation on the 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:36.840 length of the grass on the pitch, but the length 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:38.280 of the grass on the outfield might have been a 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:40.040 bit shorter than we used to sing as well, because 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.240 the MCG was slow here. It's a lightning fast. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.000 That's right. Yeah, just over all good batting conditions. 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:48.280 And yeah, a spinner would have been handy at times, 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:50.720 I think, But yeah, we'll have to wait and see 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:52.640 how it cracks up on one of the other things. 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.080 I think with the selection of the non selection of Murphy, 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.000 and you know, Webster is a tall guy. Green as 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.600 a tall guy, some cracks do start to open up. 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.240 As Steve Smith hinted at the toss, he kind of 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.920 expects them to. They certainly did in the Sheffield Shield 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.680 game that he played in here in November. Having tall, 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:14.040 fast bowlers who can hit those cracks will really help. 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:16.800 I found it interesting today when Stark took the wicked 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.440 of Ducket after being put away for a few boundaries, 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:23.560 no celebration whatsoever, just made it look very cool and 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.120 calm and as if he sort of didn't really rate 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.480 the wicket potentially. But he's now got twenty seven to 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:30.760 for the series. He's on track for one of the 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.720 best in recent times, certainly in terms of recent memory. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:36.960 But I found it interesting when he went down to 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.080 fine Leg. He got a big cheer from his home 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.960 crowd after that wicket. When Scott Boland a few hours 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.240 later got the wicket of Jacob Bethel, an even bigger 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.360 raw for a Victorian here in New South Wales. So 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:49.680 I did find that a bit curiously. 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:50.280 Why would that be? 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.000 Do you think maybe they know that Stark doesn't really 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:54.120 love bowling at this ground. 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.240 That might be the key thing there. 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.480 I think it's twenty nine wickets by Pat Cummins in 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.720 the twenty nineteen Nashes. That's the best haul by an 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.720 Australian bowler in an ASHES series since since Johnson's thirty 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:07.280 seven in thirteen to fourteen, So. 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:09.920 He's what is he only two two. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.359 Away from equaling three away from going past it? You 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.119 adding what he's done with the ball, Yeah, we've spoken heaps. 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.920 Sorry you adding what he's done with the bat. He's 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.920 had a remarkable series. I think if he gets some 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.440 runs in this Test, it'll basically be the best all time. 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.040 So the best all round Ashes series since Warns forty 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:30.000 wickets and around two hundred runs in the two thousand 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:35.399 and five Ashes series. So yeah, spectacular stuff from Mitchell Stark. 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.800 I kind of think the lack of emotion around his 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.760