Fifth Ashes Test. The Oval.

[K]

Stokes top edges the sweep but it falls safe in acres of space.

Gower: "England through the day have used their feet really well."
He says there's not a lot of turn today, and the boundaries hit two metres down the pitch have all been "beautifully struck".

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The England lead is 185.

Is it possible for Oz to bat out almost two days? They did so once in the UAE. (Can't remember exactly how long that was.)

[Jezza]

2/117.

[K]

There s confusion (from Gower, at least) about whether Erasmus called no ball, or just warned Hazlewood...

It was very tight, replays show.

Gower: "Anyway, it's been called."

Gower: "I have been very impressed with Hazlewood... this tour. ... Just the basics of bowling. Line and length. Pace..."

[K]

Nice of you to fly by, Jezza.

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"122 for 2," Gower says, not quite in Ritchie Benaud style.

[K]

Marsh hits Denly's pads with what should be LBW, but Erasmus says not out. They talk but don't review.

HawkEye gives three reds.
Bad umpiring. Bad reviewing. Bad cricket all round.

Paine/Oz are totally clueless about reviews. I wonder whether the players really should be expected to develop this skill, though. I'm not sure it makes sense.
The TV review is either reliable or not. If it's not, they shouldn't be using it at all. If it is, why limit it to two, where the teams have to take risks to use it?


England 2/135 (46). Drinks.

Taylor talks about the "costly mistakes".

[K]

The 50 partnership comes up.

The game is slipping away.

[K]

Marnus is on.

But Denly glances for 4.
I loathe Denly. He's been given two lives this innings already.

Denly almost holes out to mid off, but it just clears Marsh and goes for 4.

Athers: "Well, they have had their opportunities..."

[K]

Hazlewood. The England lead is 224 with 8 wickets in hand.

Appeal for LBW against Stokes. Not out. They consider. They don't review.

Nasser: "Kind of guessing when it's that far down."
Stokes had half charged.
DRS has a three-metre rule, Nasser says.
HawkEye says missing this time.

Bancroft fields. He's on for Harris. I don't feel sympathy. If you don't drop catches, you won't split the webbing in your hand.

They show the missed LBW, just to rub it in.
Nasser says Paine had not moved at all down the legside. Why did he not review then?? The terrible reviewing has probably cost Oz a series win.

[K]

Now Ponting & Holding condemn the non-review of Paine.
Ponting says they needed a wicket at the time.
Holding repeats the point about Paine not moving down leg.
He says this is not the first time Paine has stuffed up.

[K]

Stokes skips down and hits the Marnus full toss for 6 to bring up 50.
...


Wade misses the run out. He needed to hit at the non-striker's end and Stokes would have been gone. He missed.

You could excuse him as a keeper, but he's not keeping, so he has to be judged by normal standards. The number of missed chances by Oz keeps growing. It's like watching a train wreck.

[K]

Denly nicks Siddle but it falls short of Paine.

[K]

England 2/193 (60). Tea.

They lead by 262. Denly is 82*. He is totally undeserving, but has benefited from fielding and umpiring incompetence.

Oz had chances but were not good enough to take them. The abysmal reviewing of Paine will come back to haunt them -- if they actually care about winning a series many think they have dominated instead of just drawing.

[K]

They discuss DRS. Taylor says Oz have lost confidence in it. He says the "50-50" decisions are not 50-50 but more like 66-34 in favour of the home side.

Taylor thinks Oz should have played Starc, maybe in place of Lyon (if he's really struggling so much with his finger).

Healy on Oz: "They're off. They're not on the plane, but..."

[K]

Lyon bowls Stokes. 67.

Nasser: "Middle and leg, hitting off."

England 3/214 (64).

Taylor: "Need to get Bairstow a.s.a.p..."

Lloyd: "That's a snorter."
Nasser: "It sure is."
Lloyd: "Good signs for England."

[K]

Siddle beats Bairstow.