It proved another memorable day's action at Trent Bridge with Ian Bell's superb knock putting England in charge, but Stuart Broad's dubious sportsmanship stealing the headlines.
Starc staying positive
After a long, hot slog in the field that saw them take only four wickets, Australia's
Mitchell Starc acknowledged it had been difficult day for the tourists. "It was a tough day, but that's Test cricket for you, it's tough out there," acknowledged the left-arm paceman. However, there were some bright moments with day two hero Ashton Agar picking up his first two wickets in Test cricket. And, despite England now seemingly holding the upper hand, Starc insisted Australia still fancied their chances of coming out on top. "There's plenty of time left in the game... it's an absolutely great wicket to bat on and there's no reason we can't chase down whatever is set of us."
Walking controversy
It was yet another fascinating day of Test cricket in Nottingham on Friday, but the action ended up being rather overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Stuart Broad's failure to walk. The incident prompted much debate with Andrew Strauss insisting that not walking is "one of the conventions of the game these days". The former England skipper also added that Australia had shot themselves in the foot by using up their reviews on "speculative" appeals earlier in the day, thus leaving themselves unable to challenge umpire Aleem Dar's call on Broad. However,
Michael Holding had a rather different take on the episode and said that, given Broad's actions were "contrary to the spirit of the game", he should now face action from the ICC.
Cork has a pop
Former England bowler Dominic Cork has had his say on the Broad controversy and insists Australia do not have a leg to stand on. Australia's fielders could barely disguise their disbelief and disgust when Broad was given not out and failed to walk, but
Cork claims many would have adopted similar tactics if the shoe was on the other foot. "Have you known any Australian to walk when he nicks it? Michael Clarke and the Australians having a go at Stuart Broad? Seriously Australia - it's sour tactics. I've played with Australians who would nick it to second slip and think they could just stand there. What makes me laugh is Australia standing on that pitch (slating Broad) for not walking. They've done it for about 50 years."
Nasser's video blog
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain was transfixed by another see-saw day in Nottingham but could not help but hail the contribution of Ian Bell. The right-hander swung the contest firmly in England's favour with a tremendous unbeaten 95, a knock which Nasser called a "very responsible innings under pressure". Like everybody else
Hussain was left dumbfounded by Aleem Dar's failure to spot "the most obvious edge of all time" and now feels England could go on to wrap up victory on Saturday.
As it happened
You can relive all the best action from the second day by
reading our interactive commentary from Trent Bridge. You can also view a gallery of
the day's best images here.
