Sloppy England throw away chance to shine under lights ahead of day-night Ashes Test

Night fever: the Adelaide Oval is lit up as England bat against a Cricket Australia XI
Getty Images
Chris Stocks8 November 2017

Mark Stoneman, Joe Root and Dawid Malan all scored half-centuries on the opening day of this pink-ball warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI — but Alastair Cook’s Ashes preparations took another hit as he fell cheaply for the second successive innings on tour.

Cook was out for a second-ball duck in England’s opening two-day contest against a Western Australia XI in Perth last weekend. And he failed again here, making just 15 from 28 balls before he edged seamer Jackson Coleman behind in the seventh over of the day.

That saw England slip to 24 for one after they had lost the toss and been put in to bat by the hosts.

However, there were more encouraging signs for Stoneman, the Surrey opener, following up his 86 in the first warm-up match with 61 today and Root, England’s captain passing 50 for the first time on this tour after he scored nine in Perth last Saturday.

Malan, too, will be pleased to have posted back-to-back half-centuries on his first tour of Australia. The Middlesex batsman made 63 to cement his position at No5 in England’s order for the First Ashes Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on November 23.

He did, though, fall in the final over of the day to Coleman as England, who lost three wickets for just eight runs late on under lights, reached stumps on 278 for eight.

There will also be some consternation among the tourists that they were troubled so much by rookie leg-spinner Daniel Fallins, the 21-year-old returning figures of four for 71 on his first-class debut after claiming the prized wickets of Stoneman, James Vince, Root and Jonny Bairstow.

The fact two of Fallins’ wickets came from full-tosses — Vince and Stoneman were the guilty parties — tells you that this is not a bowler who is likely to be the next Shane Warne.

But the rest of the home attack was not great, either.

The lack of pace among the opposition seamers — and also in the pitch — means that this four-day match is likely to offer England’s batsmen little value in terms of getting themselves ready to face Mitchell Starc and company in the Ashes.

Also, the fact four of the top five — Malan being the exception — failed to hang around long enough to bat under lights will also be a cause of frustration for the tourists, given this match is their only chance to face the pink Kookaburra ball before the first-ever day-night Ashes Test here next month.

As well as Cook, Vince fell in the opening session. The No3 batsman posted 33 before he was bowled, attempting a slog-sweep to Fallins.

England went into tea — remember, there is no lunch in a day-night contest — on 87 for two.

Stoneman on his way to 61
Getty Images

Stoneman and Root both reached their respective fifties in the second session as they put on 70 for the third wicket. But it was Fallins who struck twice more to send the tourists into the dinner interval on 180 for four.

Skipper Root, who reached his 50 in 75 balls, was caught trying to slog the leg-spinner, while Stoneman had smashed a full toss to midwicket before that.

Fallins picked up his fourth wicket early in the final session when Bairstow edged a wide delivery behind to leave England on 195 for five.

Malan’s second half-century of the tour steadied the innings but, along with Chris Woakes and Craig Overton, he fell victim to the second new ball under the Adelaide lights.

Meanwhile, England have confirmed that Surrey’s Tom Curran, the replacement for Middlesex paceman Steven Finn — who has torn cartilage in his left knee — will arrive in Adelaide on Friday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in