Key events
3rd over: England 23-0 (Salt 17, Duckett 6) Starc manages three dots and two singles, but then he strays onto the pads and Duckett comes to the party with a lofted flick for four, so it’s been a sparky start from England.
“Do you know if there is an overseas TMS link for today?” asks Matt Dale. “I can’t seem to find it on the BBC website.” Hoping the hive mind can help.
2nd over: England 17-0 (Salt 16, Duckett 1) Ben Duckett gets off the mark less flamboyantly, with a nudge to leg for a single off Hazlewood. Salt is beaten again, perilously close to the off bail, as Hazlewood finds a classic length and some movement off the seam. But Salt hits back with a lofted square drive. He already has four fours, which is one more than ten of the Aussies managed at Lord’s between them (Head four, the rest three).
1st over: England 12-0 (Salt 12, Duckett 0) Well, well. Salt plays another cracking cover drive off the last ball, and in the middle he guides the ball past the slips. So this over looks like a triumph for England. But the guide was jammy – Salt seemed to be pulling the bat away – and he also played and missed, twice. So honours were actually even, whatever the scoreboard has to say.
1st ball: England 4-0 (Salt 4, Duckett 0) In comes Mitch Starc, curls the ball back in towards off stump – and sees it fly through the covers for four as Phil Salt finds the middle of the bat. An opening gambit from the Zak Crawley handbook.
An email! “Factoid,” says Mark Hooper. Do I detect some scepticism in the air? “The latest as in the most recent? Amazing! (I know, etc)“ Ha.
A couple of factoids for you. One from Mike Atherton, so good at adding facts to all the opinions on Sky: this is the latest international game ever played in England. And one from me: it’s Steve Smith’s first outing as Australia’s captain since … February 2024, when he led them in three ODIs against West Indies.
Teams in full
England 1 Phil Salt, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jamie Smith (wkt), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Olly Stone.
Australia 1 Travis Head, 2 Matthew Short, 3 Steve Smith (capt), 4 Josh Inglis (wkt), 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Cooper Connolly, 9 Mitch Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
Teams in brief: no Jofra, no Carey
Jofra Archer, so good at Lord’s the other night, is overdue for a breather, so Olly Stone comes in to join Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts.
For Australia, Alex Carey and Sean Abbott join Mitch Marsh on the sidelines. Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly come in, so Hardie will be the third seamer, behind Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and Connolly will join Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head in the queue to fiddle through a few overs.
Australia win the toss and bowl
A grey morning, with rain around later: no captain would bat first today. It’s a big toss to win … and the Australian captain calls right. Hang on, he looks familiar – it’s Steve Smith!
It’s also the last day of the County Championship. Do keep a window open on your browser for Tanya Aldred, the queen of the county scene. Start at the bottom with a post so succinct that it may one day be held up as a model at preamble school.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the last stop on a long and winding road. It’s the end of the home international cricket season, the final act of the drama, the fifth set of the match. It could be anything from a cliffhanger to a damp squib.
England have to beat Australia for the third time in a week to complete a barnstorming comeback. Australia have to remember how experienced they are and put these upstarts in their place. And both sides have to beat the weather, which is looking dodgy all day and downright dismal from mid-afternoon.
The captains should really meet in the middle now and agree to play a T25. But that might require a better relationship between cricket and common sense.
All being well, the toss is at 10.30am BST.
