Ashes paper talk: The view from Australia
Friday 10 July 2015 07:20, UK
The view from Down Under on the second day of the first Test as Chris Rogers misses out on a ton and Alastair Cook suffers a painful blow.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
The stage is set for under-pressure all-rounder Shane Watson to produce the innings of his career in the Ashes opener in Cardiff, with Australia’s first innings pursuit hanging in the balance heading into day three.
HERALD SUN
Steve Smith’s only telling contribution on the second day of the first Ashes Test was to send Alastair Cook to the physio’s room nursing a sore groin.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
England had no complaints about a low and slow pitch after Mitchell Johnson was rendered a mere mortal in the first Ashes Test but the wicket has come back to bite Alastair Cook painfully after he copped a nasty blow to the groin region.
If ever there is a time when Australia need Shane Watson it is now. The much-maligned all-rounder has been saddled with the task of steering the tourists back into an absorbing first Ashes Test after England seized the ascendancy on a second day in which Chris Rogers was narrowly denied a century.
There are runs, and there are runs. Of the 350 made in Cardiff on day two as England took control of the first Ashes Test, two types of runs that do not appear in the scorebook came to define Australia's faltering endeavours.
The first is runs as in loosening of the bowels, a condition afflicting Stuart Broad when facing Mitchell Johnson's bowling. Then there were the five runs Rogers did not make when, for the second time this year, he played a tightened shot with a century in reach.
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
Moeen Ali says the influence of Trevor Bayliss was key to him dismissing Steve Smith and Michael Clarke.
Chris Rogers made history at Cardiff by becoming the first player in Test history to score seven successive 50s without reaching a century.
CRICKET.COM.AU
On a day, and a pitch, custom-made for the no-fuss, just-as-few flourishes kind of cricketer, Chris Rogers – the quintessence of that character – fell despairingly short of a deserved Ashes century as Australia and England continued to arm wrestle for control of the opening Test.
FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA
It’s fair to say that Cardiff isn’t Mitchell Johnson’s favourite venue. When he reached his “century” - 100 runs for no wicket - the local crowd gave him a standing ovation at the end of the over and as he walked towards them to the boundary rope, he took off his cap to acknowledge the applause.
It's always funny when it happens to someone else. England captain Alastair Cook was forced to leave the field after copping one of the most painful groin hits ever seen on a cricket field, but his team-mates found it nothing short of hilarious.
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