Australia v England Second Test, Day Three Report Card

Featuring more tackle catching, double figures, caught and bowled and Bizarro umpires

More Tackle Catching
Grade: Still A+

England started well on the third day of the Test, perhaps enthused by the novelty of playing in one. Michael Neser and Alex Carey were swiftly caught behind without adding too many further runs to their overnight score, although both could consider themselves unlucky. Based on his glovework so far, they would not have expected Jamie Smith to hang on to such chances.

Those early wickets brought Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland together, and the two Australian fast bowlers took one look at the prospect of bowling in the Brisbane heat and humidity and said, with a clear and emphatic voice: ‘No, thank you.’

Instead, the duo sensibly batted time, Starc shepherding the strike, while Boland defended resolutely. Even after half an hour, it felt as if the partnership had gone on long enough that Australia, given their first innings over rate, might only have to bowl a handful of overs before the sun went down.

But half an hour is as half an hour does, as the saying doesn’t go. So the pair continued on, eventually seeing out the entire first session, much to the infuriation of Ben Stokes.

Eventually, Starc, already Player of the Series, was caught for 77 (147), having batted for more than two and a half hours. Even the catch, however, highlighted the difference between the two sides.

Inspired by the thrilling innovation of tackle catching, invented by Carey and Marnus Labuschagne on day one, Stokes and Ben Duckett both went for Starc’s lofted drive. They got a little tangled in the process, but, ultimately, they mostly just clipped one another’s legs.

Disappointing. In Australian conditions, you need to be wholehearted with your tackle catching. This is a truism as old as time itself. Yet England never seem to learn.

Tackle your captain, Duckett. Commit.

Double Figures
Grade: B-

The dismissal of Starc brought Brendan Doggett to the crease, who swiftly worked his way to thirteen. A notable feat, given that it meant that Australia had produced an innings in which every single batter had made it into double figures. More importantly, not one of them had sullied the neatness of the scorecard by going on to triple figures. Superb stuff. Proper innings. Australia really putting the bat into Gabbatoir.