Australia v West Indies - day two of the first Test in Hobart – live!
11.53pm GMT
94th over: Australia 462-3 (Voges 191, S Marsh 146) Remember when Allan Border used to grind England’s nose into the dirt by batting on until lunch on the third day before declaring on 600-odd for four? Well at this rate Steve Smith will be able to declare on the same score at lunch on the second day. Holder beats Marsh with a gorgeous legcutter, the highlight of another good over. He is standing alone on the burning deck.
11.49pm GMT
93rd over: Australia 462-3 (Voges 192, S Marsh 146) Taylor beats Voges with a fine lifting leg-cutter. Good balls have never really been an issue for the West Indies fast bowlers. It’s the amount of filth that is the problem. Anyway, this is now a record fourth-wicket partnership for Australia against the West Indies, surpassing Bill Lawry and Doug Walters in 1969. The stand almost ends at 338 when Marsh, attempting to leave Taylor at the last minute, deflects the ball just wide of the stumps.
“Interesting point you made about away Tests. New Zealand were made to look ordinary by Australia, but already they look streets ahead of SL. How much of this is down to sides playing two or three match series with no preparation at all. NZ are playing SL, Pakistan and Australia this summer… why not play two sides and have decent series?” Yeah I agree, though there are many other issues too. NZ v Australia should be a brilliant series.
11.45pm GMT
92nd over: Australia 456-3 (Voges 187, S Marsh 144) A rare bad ball from Holder is cut for four by Marsh, though it went through the left hand of the leaping fielder at gully. The next ball brings a pretty big LBW appeal from Holder, although it was clearly swinging down leg. Holder has started well; he looks a proper cricketer.
11.41pm GMT
91st over: Australia 451-3 (Voges 186, S Marsh 140) Jerome Taylor (12-0-75-0) picks up where he left off last night. His first ball drifts miserably onto the pads and is flicked easily for four by Voges. Taylor is a much better bowler than this. The farce has started already. When Voges takes a quick single to cover, he gets four bonus runs when the throw whistles past the stumps and goes to the boundary. Marlon Samuels wasn’t backing up properly.
11.35pm GMT
90th over: Australia 440-3 (Voges 175, S Marsh 140) It’s a cloudy morning in Hobart, so theoretically this should be a good time to bowl. The captain Jason Holder demonstrates his faith in Taylor and Roach by taking the new ball himself. Holder was easily the most economical bowler yesterday, with figures of 15-1-45-0. There’s a little bit of inswing to Marsh, who gets going with a single off the pads. Voges then does the same. A decent start from Holder.
“Well, not so fast,” says Ian Forth. “Let’s throw our minds back to Brisbane 2002, 1st test of The Ashes. End of Day 1, Australia, 364/2. But end of Day 2, Australia all out 492, England 158/1. From then until now England 5 series wins, Australia just 3. So let us see what we shall see.” Fair point. Let’s not mention the fact that England eventually lost that Test by 384 runs.
11.14pm GMT
“Morning Rob, morning everyone,” writes my old colleague Paul Cockburn. Who now lives in New Zealand. The b*”!)($£”$”!. “While those slacker Australians have failed to put a single run at all on the board this morning, I am here to report that in sunny Dunedin New Zealand were all out for 431, and that in reply Sri Lanka are 20 for 1, with Mendis caught behind off Boult for 8. It’s going to be a long day for SL, I feel.”
Indeed. What started as an interesting trend - the inability of teams to win away from home - is now becoming a serious problem. I can never remember it being this bad, and I’ve been watching Test cricket since the 1740s. Even in the days of doctored pitches and dodgy home umpires it wasn’t this bad.
11.10pm GMT
Pointless stat of the day Adam Voges currently averages 341 against West Indies – a record for a Test batsman against one country. I had it in my head that Jacques Kallis averaged 9471.24 against Zimbabwe but apparently not: the figure was actually 169.75, though he did average 503 in Tests in Zimbabwe.
@robsmyth0 @plalor Today in history: Adam Voges has the single largest drop in Test average against one country
10.59pm GMT
“And I guess that’s what they call it Test cricket – cause it’s a test.” This, as well as being the most rousing chorus Elton John never wrote, is an observation that has been made regularly since the concept of test cricket was first discussed in 1861-62. It’s a cliché for sure, but one that reflects the uniquely arduous nature of this superior sporting format. It’s fair to say, however, that nobody was reaching for the cliché yesterday. Australia were playing Untest Cricket against a sadly inept West Indies, who conceded over 400 runs in a day for the first time since 1931.
Australia will resume in Hobart on 438 for three, with Adam Voges on 174 and Shaun Marsh on 139, nine short of his highest Test score. Even that might not be enough to stay in the side for the Boxing Day Test, with Usman Khawaja likely to be available. He could survive at the expense of his brother, of course, if Australia decide to go with four bowlers for a few Tests
until Shaun presents an irresistible case for dropping him yet again
. Either way it’s an intriguing subplot, and we need to embrace those with every fibre of our being because, even after one day, the main plot is a foregone conclusion.
5.05am GMT
Rob will be here shortly for the first session. In the meantime, remind yourselves how day one went with yesterday’s report.
Related: Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh tons put Australia in control against West Indies
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