Australia v England cricket scores, results, start time, wickets, teams, how to watch

An important final 15 minutes before lunch coming.

Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have dug in since Australia lost their openers in successive overs to soft dismissals.

The pitch is not offering much for the bowlers, so there will be rewards in the afternoon if Australia’s batters can make England’s quicks bowl fourth and fifth spells.

Khawaja has looked more comfortable since being dropped on five. He has since made 16 off 12 balls, his confidence rising after a boundary off his pads and a full-blooded cut shot.

Labuschagne is getting bogged down. He has tried to get the scoreboard ticking along this series but England are bowling well to him. He will be looking for the sanctuary of the dressing room at lunch.

Harry Brook with the kind of catch you just can’t drop on day one in Adelaide, or anywhere really.

Mark Waugh, as usual, unimpressed with any shoddy effort in the field.

“That’s a regulation catch at this level,” one of the greatest slippers of all time offers on Kayo Sports.

Zak Crawley produced a cracker in close to send Travis Head on his way earlier. But after England’s calamitous efforts in the field at the Gabba – shelling five catches in Australia’s first innings – that’s ominous once more.

Usman Khawaja gets a reprieve on five. Josh Tongue has been probing on a good length outside off stump and when he finally gets the nick, Harry Brook puts it down in the cordon.

“At this level that’s catchable,” Mark Waugh, one of the greatest slips fielders of all time, said on Kayo Sports.

“You’ve got to catch that. Such a crucial drop at this stage of the game. That’s a regulation catch at this level.”

Khawaja has not looked comfortable at all so far. England have tried to bounce him, probably a bit too much, and also tested him with a fuller length. He needs to hang in there.

September 2020 – Smith suffered a concussion while batting in the nets ahead of Australia’s opening game of an ODI series against England in Manchester. Was struck in the head by a throw down from assistant coach Trent Woodhill.

November 2020 – Made a 62-ball ODI century in Sydney against India after waking up on the morning of match with vertigo and vomiting.

February 2022 – Involved in a fielding mishap and suffered debilitating vertigo symptoms. Smith was unconscious “for a couple of seconds” after landing heavily while attempting an outfield catch during a T20 between Australia and Sri Lanka at the SCG.

March 2022 – Smith was cleared to play the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi and made 78.

2023 ODI World Cup – Smith experienced vertigo symptoms while on tour in India. Missed a match against Afghanistan.

There were calls for Jofra Archer to back up his belated burst at the Gabba – and he’s delivered with the new ball with figures of 1/7 from six overs.

After a scratchy first few overs when he was too short, Archer lifted his pace and changed the rhythm of the game. His maiden in the fifth over was a turning point.

Archer has been around the mid-140s (km/h) for speed but his effort ball has a few extra kilometres. It was this extra pace which brought down Jake Weatherald, who was cramped hooking.

The challenge for Archer will be backing up in the afternoon when temperatures rise and he’s not as fresh.

Only yesterday, Greg Baum wrote this about Usman Khawaja, who just scurried through for a quick single that belied his 38 years:

Don’t forget it was accident that made Khawaja a Test opener in the first place, namely the bout of COVID contracted by Head during the last Ashes series here. Now accident – to wit, a back injury – might and probably should foreclose on his Test career.

Could it be that another accident, the illness that forced Steve Smith out of the XI, allows Khawaja a renaissance at No.4 just when we thought his career was over?

Read Greg Baum’s story here.

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