The first Test starts at Trent Bridge this morning.
Alastair Cook and Michael Clarke displaying The Ashes at Trent Bridge yesterday.
The first Test starts at Trent Bridge this morning.
Alastair Cook and Michael Clarke displaying The Ashes at Trent Bridge yesterday.
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The small cup being held is not a cup trophy as is normal in other sports but is a terracotta urn about 11 inches high. It supposedly contains the ashes of a bail and was presented to the England captain by a group of Melbourne women, It followed a scathing newspaper report after England had been beaten by Austalia in England for the first time. The report stated that English cricket had died, and the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.
England won the toss and decided to bat first.
England: A Cook (capt), J Root, J Trott, K Pietersen, I Bell, J Bairstow, M Prior, S Broad, G Swann, S Finn, J Anderson
So Bresnan and Onions left out of the initial 13 man squad. As planned 22-year-old Joe Root opens the batting with Alastair Cook and hopefully this will be the England partnership for years to come. No way back for Nick Compton if it goes to plan!
Australia: S Watson, C Rogers, E Cowan, M Clarke (capt), P Hughes, S Smith, B Haddin, P Siddle, J Pattinson, M Starc, A Agar.
19-year-old spinner Ashton Agar gets a debut cap for Australia.
Cook out for 13
Root out for 30
Pietersen out for 14
Trott out for 48
124 for 4
Thoughts of a 5-0 whitewash for England seem a bit unlikely.
Bell out for 25.
178 for 5
At this rate Australia will be batting before the day is out.
Prior out for 1
180 for 6
Most of the wickets have been down to poor play by England rather than exceptional bowling by Australia.
I'm sure Cook would have been hoping to post a first innings score of 400+ after winning the toss. Some dire shots from the England top order.
Broad out for 24
Bairstow out for 37
Finn out for a duck
213 for 9 and the last 2 are in.
Watson out for 13
Cowan out for a duck
19 for 2
Finn's on a hat-trick
but Michael Clarke survives by a whisker
Shane Watson and Michael Clarke both out cheapily - thank goodness!
Rogers out for 16
Close of play on day 1 Australia 75 for 4 with Smith on 38 and Hughes on 7 the not-out batsmen.
Early wickets for England on Day 2 are essential and hopefully if they bowl well a small first innings lead is achievable!
Starc out for a duck
114 for 8
Hughes is still in on 21 watching the devastation.
It's a sunny day at Trent Bridge so it's not yesterday's cloudy conditions. England's bowlers are getting the ball to reverse swing which is causing all sorts of problems for the Australians.
What a collapse!
Agar, the 11th man, is making a nonsense of what has happened before and is making a real fight back.
Agar has already broken the record for a debut 11th man in tests.
He won't be 11th man in future.
Incredible aggressive fight back from Australian 10th wicket partnership; Agar and Hughes, to put them into an unlikely first innings lead
Ashton Agar is making the sort of test debut that dreams (or nightmares for England) are made of. At lunch 69 not out and if England don't wrap things up pretty quickly after lunch who knows what he'll get. He has singlehandly totally changed the game and swung it in Australia's favour. England are at a disadvantage with Broad unable to bowl adequately.
Trott can bowl a bit and I'm not sure if Pietersen is still able to.
Agar just missed out on a debut century falling at 98.
Hughes was not out on 81
Australia all out for 280 with a healthy lead of 65.
The conditions should favour England's batting for their second innings but this could well be one of the most extraordinary tests of all time and absolutely anything could happen in the next half hour
Root out for 5
Trott out for a duck
11 for 2
Could be all over today -
Tea taken, Stark is on a hat-trick.
A spaceship has just landed at Trent Bridge and abducted the players.
It's quite possible that this could happen before the close of play.
Ashton Agar's parents were able to be at Trent Bridge today to watch their son's innings.