A hundred in Test cricket heaven: Carey, Khawaja save Australia’s blushes |
Adelaide: A red ball, a hot day, and a raucous crowd that swelled to 56,298: a bigger gathering even than the throng who piled in here for “Bodyline”, some 93 years ago.
Day one of the Adelaide Oval Ashes Test was truly Test cricket in excelsis, and it was through a pair of proper Test cricketers that Australia avoided a first innings pratfall in a game that England must win to keep the series alive.
Alex Carey raises his bat to the heavens.Credit: AP
Alex Carey (106) and Usman Khawaja (82) showed a difference in Test-match class to some of their teammates in conditions that, being less quick and bouncy than Perth or Brisbane, rewarded the timeless qualities of concentration and shot selection.
Australia desperately needed the duo to stand up, having started the day with Steve Smith’s dramatic withdrawal from the side due to a recurrence of the vertigo problems that have occasionally affected him since 2019.
They were then afflicted by some faulty decision-making amid the top five. Jake Weatherald and Travis Head could have hastened a little more slowly, but it was the half-hearted shots played by Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green in the first over after lunch that stuck most prominently in the craw.
Labuschagne looked in excellent touch, as he has done all series, but flattered to deceive. Green, his pockets leaking cash after a $4 million price tag in the Indian........