![]() You would think Australia would have learned by now not to wake the sleeping lion. A green pitch on a ground where Mr “Top of Off”, Glenn McGrath, reigned supreme, produced a battle of bouncers. This was a baffling Test and proof that cricket is a game of infinite possibilities. Emotion was high when Lyon walked out like a wounded soldier facing a firing squad and later when Mitchell Starc claimed a catch that he had clearly grounded. It went up a notch on day one when Bairstow was cheered to the rafters for hauling a Just Stop Oil protester off the field. The temperature was raised the day before when Jim Maxwell, the respected Australia commentator, made backpage headlines by saying Bairstow was too fat. Perhaps it was the feral nature of the cricket that turned the crowd into a baying mob over Jonny Bairstow’s dismissal. In total 32 per cent of deliveries were pitched short, the highest since ball tracking data began 17 years ago. This was a brutal match - 52 times the ball struck the body, glove or helmet. Anderson and Stuart Broad shared two for 152 in the Australia first innings when they were expected to shape the game. James Anderson has three wickets after two Tests, dropped two catches and is finding the pitches and this batch of Duke balls sucking away his powers. But others are still facing the same questions: Zak Crawley’s inconsistency continues, Ollie Pope is struggling in a big series again. ![]()
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