Key events
Stumps: Australia 271-4
Travis Head (142 not out) continues his love affair with Adelaide Oval with a fourth century in as many matches at the venue, while Alex Carey (52 not out) has backed up his first-innings ton to put Australia in a commanding position with a 356-run lead. England gave themselves a chance when Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer picked up where they left off with the bat last night, but once again the tourists were unable to make the most of any momentum they might have claimed throughout the day. Curious bowling choices even when Australia were on the backfoot during their second innings have left England with it all to do tomorrow if they are to keep their faintest of Ashes hopes alive.
65th over: Australia 266-4 (Head 138, Carey 50) Tongue continues to test Carey with a short-ball strategy but the Australia batter has stumps in his sights.
64th over: Australia 265-4 (Head 138, Carey 50) Jacks drops the ball in far too short and allows Carey to simply step back and crunch the ball back down the ground for four. He doesn’t need any help at the moment, and then brings up a fifty – to go with his first-innings hundred – with a quick single under next to no pressure.
53,696 have walked through the gates at Adelaide Oval today – the third highest crowd for a Test day at the venue – and the locals will certainly like what they have seen.
63rd over: Australia 256-4 (Head 136, Carey 43) Tongue goes around the wicket and dabbles in a shorter length to Carey. The in-form batter has little trouble working the ball onto the offside for two through point, then three more down the ground.
62nd over: Australia 251-4 (Head 136, Carey 38) Head dances down the track, opens up and smacks Jacks over cover for a boundary. He’s starting to pull out that same stroke once an over from Jacks. That brings up the 100-run stand for the South Australian duo.
61st over: Australia 243-4 (Head 129, Carey 37) Josh Tongue is back after picking up a couple of wickets earlier in the innings. It’s harder now with the ball 61 overs old and the legs perhaps feeling the effects of a decent stint in the field. Carey sends a sublime drive through cover and Stokes sets off on a chase but is unable to prevent the boundary. The England captain was at least moving freely there.
60th over: Australia 237-4 (Head 128, Carey 33) Head has had his breather and is again looking to attack. He steps down the pitch to lift Jacks over mid-on for four then ends the over with two runs to the other side of the off-spinner. The lead is out to 322.
59th over: Australia 230-4 (Head 122, Carey 32) It’s hard to tie down Travis Head for too long and he flicks Carse through midwicket for two, then guides the ball to third for a boundary. Root denies Carey a boundary at long-on with a desperate chase, as Head denies his partner four all-run from the same stroke as he is now barely breaking into a jog.
58th over: Australia 220-4 (Head 115, Carey 29) Jacks gets away with a full toss as Head mis-times a clip off his pads and has to settle for a single. That’s the first time the Australia opener has shown any sign of frustration since the teabreak at least.
57th over: Australia 219-4 (Head 114, Carey 29) The Australia pair are set and seem to have no intention of letting England back into the game with little more than half-an-hour to play before stumps. Head eases Carse down to third for a single before Carey defends four deliveries with a classically vertical bat.
Guy Hornsby is right on the money with all the talk of England “drifting”.
“Feels like the game is drifting here,” he says. “Not that it was in our hands much at any point, but the tail end batting and getting Australia to 149-4 felt hopeful of something. It would be no surprise if Stokes was carrying a niggle at least, because so much rests on him anyway, even before his batting and bowling this Test. You have to wonder what happens when (not if) we lose this Test. We may shuffle bowlers, but there’s no jeopardy for the batting line up.
“I’d like to see Bethell, but I could see McCullum bloodymindedly pick the same top 7 all winter. Which, I’m afraid, is part of the problem when you have deliberately cultivated a group with no real alternatives for so long. Sigh.”
At least Freddie knows where he is heading. Joshua Keeling seems to be all over the place …
“Am I mad for thinking England can still win this*? *Yes I am.”
Will Jacks has one for 77 from his 14 overs in this innings while England edge closer and closer to the point where they might be left to ponder what might have been. Freddie Simon has perhaps already reached that destination, before he sets off on a bike in Berlin …
“I see Will Jacks being thwacked for 5.75 per over, and think of those hundreds of overs that Liam Dawson bowled for less than 2 per over in this year’s County Championship, and my brain starts to overheat. I just don’t vibe with the reasoning that players who are not particularly good at domestic long format cricket will magically be good at Test matches.
“About to cycle through the dark to work in Berlin and feeling grateful for the Australian summer; there is heat and warmth somewhere in the world.”
56th over: Australia 218-4 (Head 113, Carey 29) Head has been playing within himself even after reaching an 11th Test century. Now he begins the over dancing down the track to crack Jacks over cover for four. He pulls out a sweep for a single and Carey needs little invitation to do the same.
55th over: Australia 211-4 (Head 107, Carey 28) Carse continues to Head as the Australia opener mis-times a couple of square drives before finding a gap in the same area for one.
54th over: Australia 210-4 (Head 106, Carey 28) Jacks is back and bowling around the wicket to Head. The off-spinner keeps the batter guessing with varying length before Heads ends a cautious over with a single to point.
53rd over: Australia 209-4 (Head 105, Carey 28) Carse replaces Archer who was unable to find a breakthrough during an otherwise impressive five-over spell. Head sneaks a single but if he unloads over the next hour the game could be taken out of England hands.
52nd over: Australia 208-4 (Head 104, Carey 28) Travis Head soaks up the applause as he makes it four centuries in as many consecutive Tests at Adelaide Oval. Head was unusually nervous in the 90s, but the floodgates could open from here.
Travis Head reaches a century
The hometown hero is done waiting as he smacks a fuller delivery down the ground to bring up his fourth century in as many Tests at Adelaide Oval with a boundary. It has been more of a fighting hundred than one for the highlight reels, but that has made it all the sweeter. Head has faced 146 deliveries and hit eight boundaries and two sixes. He bows down and kisses the turf in the middle of his home ground.
51st over: Australia 202-4 (Head 99, Carey 27) Head dropped on 99! He slashes hard at a wider ball from Archer and picks out Brook at gully. Brook didn’t even need to move as he crouched down but the ball popped out of his hands. The Australia opener has faced eight deliveries and been given a life since moving to just one run short of a ton.
50th over: Australia 201-4 (Head 99, Carey 26) Head starts the over with a crunching drive for two to move to within one run of a century. The field moves in and Root ties Head down to make him wait a little longer. Australia move past 200 but the crowd is full of voice waiting for another particular milestone.
49th over: Australia 199-4 (Head 97, Carey 26) Head works a shorter delivery away for a single to midwicket that brings up the 50-run partnership for the hometown duo. And that’s drinks with Australia leading by 284 runs.
48th over: Australia 197-4 (Head 96, Carey 25) Carey is in sublime touch and deserves more than one run from a late cut. Stokes cops a bouncing ball on the bonce and ends the over racing from the field.
47th over: Australia 193-4 (Head 93, Carey 24) A quality over from Archer to Carey. The England quick almost cuts the in-form batter in half with a delivery that jags back from outside off.
Brian Withington has tuned into the game during his morning only to find what he describes as “horrible viewing”. He’s not done there …
“This passage of play after Green’s dismissal has been as disappointing as I can recall in recent years. I truly hope appearances are deceptive but England look resigned to inevitable defeat with scarcely a flicker of resistance.”
I have to agree that there have been a lot of strange bowling choices this afternoon, from persisting with Jacks for too long, to England taking their time to throw the ball to Archer. And then there is Stokes, who is yet to bowl in this innings with the Ashes genuinely on the line. Maybe the captain has a niggle or more, after all.
46th over: Australia 193-4 (Head 93, Carey 24) Carey brings out his trusty sweep to start the Root over with two runs to fine leg. The Australia pair then rotate the strike three times without any real danger.
45th over: Australia 188-4 (Head 92, Carey 20) Archer pushes beyond 140km/h as the England quick forces both batters to play watchfully. The tourists needed to stop the flow of runs if they are to keep their Ashes hopes alive, and the threat of Archer looks like their best bet to do that at this stage. Carey ends the over with a single to deep point.
44th over: Australia 187-4 (Head 92, Carey 19) Head steps down the track and looks to clip Root onto the legside but is beaten in flight to slice the shot just short of long-off. It’s almost like Head gets a bit bored when the runs aren’t flowing but he ends the over with a relatively composed 92 runs from 130 deliveries.
43rd over: Australia 182-4 (Head 90, Carey 16) Jofra Archer returns for just his sixth over of the innings after a long stint at the crease while reaching a first Test fifty earlier in the day. A loosener down leg clips Carey’s thigh and flies out of the reach of Jamie Smith to the boundary. Archer ends the over nudging closer to 140km/h but might take a little while to get going.
42nd over: Australia 177-4 (Head 90, Carey 15) Root takes over from Jacks with England increasingly desperate to shake up the Australia innings. Three singles from the over all picked up to midwicket.
41st over: Australia 174-4 (Head 89, Carey 13) This has been an impressive spell from Josh Tongue but Alex Carey, in the form that he’s in, doesn’t need much to go wrong for the bowler to punch a drive through cover to the boundary.
Hard not to agree with Gervase Greene as England let the game drift along again even after snaring a couple of quick wickets.
“Any reason why Ben Stokes isn’t bowling? Fair enough he’s not quite the great bowler he once was, but 238 Test wickets suggests he knows a thing or three about the caper. I get that his gutsy batting this morning required some recuperation, but this game is on the line right now. He can’t afford to wait for the new ball … and for that matter nor should Jofra.”
I’m led to believe that Stokes is fit to bowl. And I therefore have no real answer to Gervase’s query.
40th over: Australia 169-4 (Head 89, Carey 8) Jacks has a partnership-breaking wicket to his name but surely must be ready for a rest. Not much on offer for the England spinner as Australia pick up seven runs without any real effort. It would’ve been a couple of runs worse but for a desperate dive on the rope from Ben Duckett to end the over.
39th over: Australia 162-4 (Head 85, Carey 5) Alex Carey is coming off a first-innings ton and looks just like a batter in form as he gets off the mark with an exquisite square drive to the boundary. Josh Tongue trying to cramp Carey with a fielder under the lid on the leg side.
38th over: Australia 156-4 (Head 84, Carey 0) SIX! Travis Head ignores any suggestion that the pressure is back on Australia as he steps down the pitch to crack a straight drive over Jacks and the rope.
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