2nd Test Day 2: Marsh and Paine Silence Critics and England's Chances

After three deliveries of Day 2 of the 2nd Test, England must have thought they were in the ascendancy and on their way to surging to a dominant position in the Test match. Removing the set batsman in Peter Handscomb in the first over would have been as good as the English could have hoped for before they walked out onto the field. By the end of the day, they would have thanked the weather gods that ensured they only had to face nine of the allotted 28 overs they should have to conclude the proceedings, allowing them a chance to lick the wounds and reassess just where they sit in this Ashes series.

• Shaun Marsh deserves to be on top of the world. The howling that came from most of Australia over his selection in the 1st Test team had to have hurt. He knew how many chances he’d had, and he knew he had to make this one count. His half century in Brisbane wasn’t enough. Today he fought in the same way we saw him do so in Ranchi to save the Test for Australia, and he was able to continue to stay in his shell as Tim Paine made the running in the first session, and then Pat Cummins stuck with him in the second session. His century was celebrated by all and sundry, and his final score of 126 not out will rank as one of his finest innings. There’s no better way to swing the masses to your side than to score runs, and at a time that Australia desperately needed them. It’s been said before, but could this finally be the innings that brings the best out of Marsh, and allows him to have a long and solid place in the Australian team? No doubt all Australian supporters - whether they backed his selection or denounced it - will hope so.
• The other maligned character of the team did his job admirably as well. Tim Paine scored his third Test half century yesterday, all the while being peppered by the ball, with one blow on the finger that has cruelled his career being particularly nasty and at one stage looking as though it was a real problem. Perhaps it still will be, but he fought hard and rode his luck, and helped get Australia to a position of relative security. While it is his keeping he will be judged on, the fact that he made these runs eases any perceived pressure on him in that regard. And he played some lovely shots. Great to watch.
• The DRS made its presence felt on Day 2, with two LBW decisions against Marsh and Paine both being overturned on review, with the ball suggested on both occasions to be going over the stumps. At normal speed both look like terrific decisions by Chris Gaffney, but the technology thought otherwise. While there is still a lot of scorn over the ball tracking predictive line – and no doubt England would have been furious over it here – there was indeed an obvious amount of excessive bounce in the wicket, and when viewed on slow-motion you could possibly believe the balls were going over the top. Both reviews hurt England who were left to imagine what could have been.
• While some commentators and English personnel will feel their bowlers were a touch unlucky on Day 2, in the end they were out-fought by the Australian batsmen. At five down for 209 Australia should have struggled to make 300, and yet reached 442 before declaring the innings closed with two wickets in hand – those three wickets to fall providing another 232 runs. Given that Australia’s middle order was considered to be its weak point prior to the start of the series, no matter what fortune England may have felt they were missing, it doesn’t ring true enough that this kind of first innings total should have been achieved. If Australia had bowled like England did at Nathan Lyon, fans would have been furious for the waste. Surely England could see this as well.
• For all of their talk about lack of luck, England was saved again by rain, much as they had been on the first day. With 28 overs to be faced under lights with a new ball, England was fighting an uphill battle against Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins. That they only had to face 9 of those overs as rain returned to wash out proceedings was a massive slice of fortune for the visitors. Losing only one wicket means they can start again in daylight with some hope to see off the new ball and build an innings. That wasn’t necessarily going to be likely under lights.

Day 3 may well provide some answers to the future of the Ashes contest. England will likely look for rain, and need to bat all day in order to be a chance to save this match from this position. Indeed, they will probably need to bat until the middle of Day 4 to get close to Australia’s first innings total. The home team will look to get early breakthroughs and put this match well out of England’s reach by the end of the day, in the hope that they can secure a 2-0 lead and place one hand firmly on the Ashes urn.