Left Arm Around

Joe Root’s unbeaten century leads England to 325/9 at the end of day one of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane.

Root’s 135, his first Test hundred on Australian shores and 40th overall, saw the tourists bat out the full day of the pink ball contest- a milestone that appeared unlikely after a flurry of wickets fell.

Jofra Archer’s quick-fire 32 off 26, his highest Test score, was incredibly vital in an unbroken stand of 61 alongside Root.

12 years and 30 innings on since his debut match down under, you could sense the extreme relief and jubliation on Root’s face after clipping Scott Boland down to fine-leg for four and reaching three figures.

But after achieving such a landmark, both Root and Archer will be looking to go beyond 350 before making their way through the hosts’ batting lineup.

Mitchell Starc was once again the chief tormentor for Australia, recording figures of 6/71. The 35-year-old has a remarkable 16 wickets in the series thus far, including another in the first-over today.

Following the controversial omission of Nathan Lyon, who misses his first home Test since 2012, Australia opted for an all-out pace attack in the form of Starc, Boland, Brendan Doggett and Cameron Green.

Other than Starc, however, no other bowler seemed to genuinely trouble the visiting batters on a consistent basis as England scored at a fluent rate throughout.

But on a day that ended with an England flurry and Barmy Army chants, I wonder whether people will agree that this was another missed opportunity.

Without Cummins, Hazlewood and now Lyon to threaten Ben Stokes’ side, a scenario they would have snapped your hands off for, you feel England could have capitalised on such absences further.

While Starc has excelled in his new role as leader of the attack, Brendon McCullum’s side have been guilty of soft dismissals and surrendering positions of strength.

Despite falling to 5-2 inside 15 balls as Duckett and Pope were removed for ducks, a century stand between Crawley and Root set England back on track.

Kent opener Crawley finally went for 76, the perfect response to an opening Test pair, however any momentum built continued to falter at key moments.

Both Harry Brook and Will Jacks recklessly edged behind wide deliveries when set, while skipper Ben Stokes was brilliantly ran-out from a Josh Inglis direct hit.

The day ended in great fashion, of course, but it’s important to acknowledge that the Three Lions must be even better moving forward.

They can’t expect to make the same mistakes and expect different results….

Day two promises to be yet another cracker in this scintillating Ashes series.