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Poms’ horror drop-fest continues! | 01:04
Australia dominated from start to finish at the MCG on Friday as England endured a horror day in the field to fall 252 runs behind.
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Annabel Sutherland produced a stunning 163 while Beth Mooney (98 not out) made her highest Test score as the hosts finished 5/422.
England dropped six catches as Australia produced four consecutive half-century partnerships and it looks like the match could be over on day three on Saturday.
Australian opener Phoebe Litchfield (45) started well while captain Alyssa Healy (34) was given out with scores level at the start of the second session two after a controversial LBW decision was upheld by the third umpire.
“I feel there was an inside edge there Mel. It’s very difficult to tell (if) it could’ve happened at an identical time hitting the bat, hitting the pad,” Australian great Alex Blackwell said on Fox Cricket.
“But I just felt in real-time, you could see a deviation from the bat towards the pad. So I think that’s a really tough call there.”
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England finally took a catch late in the day when Ash Gardner (44) skied one and Lauren Filer juggled it but just managed to hold on.
Here are the biggest talking points out of day two.
A STAR SHINES AT HER HALLOWED HOME
The superlatives flowed as frequently as the runs continued to mount alongside Annabel Sutherland’s name in her history-making innings of 163 at the MCG on Friday.
So brilliantly did the Victorian, who surpassed the record score of 83 by England wicketkeeper 90 years ago, perform, the applause and plaudits were widespread.
As Sutherland walked from the hallowed ground as the seventh Victorian-born player to score 150 or more in MCG Tests, she received a standing ovation from her home ground.
As a measure of respect for the ascending Australian star, several of her opponents also ran to congratulate her, despite no doubt being relieved to see the back of her as well.
Former Australian cricketer Molly Strano likened Sutherland to “a young Meg Lanning who has this thirst and desire to make runs.”
Ex-Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin praised the 23-year-old’s “ability to bat for long periods of time.”
“Annabel, just the way she controls the tempo, she doesn’t get flustered and she works into the game. She knows how to attack and work through the gears,” he said.
Lauren Winfield-Hill, a member of England’s 2017 World Cup-winning team, said that Sutherland’s determination to focus on her strengths was impressive.
“She goes to her strengths when she chooses to attack. She plays beautifully down the ground. She has got good foundations based on precise footwork,” she said on Fox Cricket.
“She takes low-risks options. She plays a lot along the floor. She makes good decisions and picks the line and length perfectly.”
In a chat with foxsports.com.au after Sutherland’s innings ended, Australian great Mike Hussey was full of praise for the rising star, who now has three Test centuries from six matches.
He described her innings as a “batting masterclass” for several reasons and said her adaptability was ideal given she was promoted up to No.3 to cover for Ellyse Perry.
“Obviously she would have been preparing to bat down the order (and) in some ways, maybe it’s a good thing, because you don’t have time to think about it and stress about it,” he said.
“It’s just like, ‘Okay, you’re going up to three’ and then suddenly you are strolling out there. So maybe that worked to her advantage, not having too much time to think about it going in.
“She’s obviously got a really sound technique and was desperate to get that opportunity and I guess she’s had a little bit of success whenever she has tried to bat up the order in the past.
“That would have given her confidence and just having that opportunity to say, ‘Well, what a great opportunity this is. Rather than being stuck down the order, I’m going to try and make the most of it’. And she played beautifully.”
Hussey said Sutherland’s ability to bat with composure against the pink ball on Thursday night, and also to show patience when England tied the Australians down, was impressive.
“She got through what could have been a tricky period the night before with the new ball under lights, because it can do a bit,” Hussey said.
“But she looked very composed and in control and she looked like she played really straight and then had to get through the first half an hour. Obviously (she) had a little bit of luck getting dropped on 29 but then never looked back.
“I think her mental skills were really strong because there were times when she was struggling to score, and then other times she scored really quickly. In any long innings, you will always ebb and flow with your scoring, and that didn’t seem to bother her.
“Obviously her technical game and strategic game looks in good working order, but I think also the mental side of (her) game as well, especially for someone who’s still so young, to be in control of the mental side of the game is very impressive.”
THE ACCIDENT-PRONE TOURISTS
With the lights shining brightly at the MCG on Thursday night, Danni Wyatt-Hodge arguably dropped the Ashes Test for England when spilling Sutherland when she was on 29.
Everyone at the MCG on the opening day was mindful that when a player of Sutherland’s quality offers an opportunity, it needs to be taken, and this was a golden one.
Former Australian women’s coach Matthew Mott, who coached England to the 2022 T20 World Cup success at the MCG, was succinct when describing what it meant on the BBC.
“That dropped catch is what you call a captain and coach killer. You look back on those (moments). She’s expected to catch that 99 times out of 100,” Mott said.
It remains to be seen what this disastrous Ashes tour will mean for England coach Jon Lewis and skipper Heather Knight, but Sutherland’s heroics rubbed salt into a raw wound.
While Wyatt-Hodge’s mistake cost England another 134 runs and any hope of reducing Australia to a manageable score, the error was not in isolation. Indeed, it was just one amid an absurd comedy of errors.
To suggest the tourists performance in the field was anything other than farcical is an understatement, for England gifted Australians opportunities at will on Friday as well.
Beth Mooney was among those to benefit, earning two lives before reaching 20, with one a regulation catch spilled at gully by Maia Bouchier.
As Izzy Westbury described the chance in commentary for Fox Cricket; “She did not have to move a muscle. It went in. It went out. I don’t know what is on the ball but it must be butter.”
In commentary, Hussey declared the errors in the field were “unbelievable” and said it felt from the broadcast booth that there was a fear from some of the ball coming towards them.
By tea on Day Two, with Australia three wickets down, the tourists had coughed up at least six chances, an argument could be made about another couple of opportunities as well.
To borrow from the surname of the former top run scorer at the MCG in women’s Test cricket, there was a snowball’s chance in hell of England actually snaring a catch at stages.
Hussey’s Fox Cricket stablemate Michael Vaughan was tuning in from afar and, understandably, was aghast at what he was witnessing.
“I am inviting all the England women’s team to join my fielding academy. It is the only way to solve this dropping problem,” he posted on social media.
Hussey told foxsports.com.au that England would clearly need to review what had been a glaring issue throughout the series and find a solution.
“That has been one of the differences between the two sides throughout the whole Ashes series. Fielding has definitely let England down and it is doing so again in this Test match. It’s been really disappointing,” Hussey said.
“We talk about Sutherland’s mindset (and) she’s obviously in complete control of it. But sometimes when you’re on a tour and you’re a long way from home and the results haven’t gone well, (and) maybe personally you haven’t done very well, it’s very hard to then keep going and be mentally fully switched on for that next ball.
“Your mind starts drifting (and you) start thinking about getting back home and all that sort of stuff, and when you’re not 100 percent concentrating, then that’s when those mistakes are going to happen.
“There’s still pride in your own performance and I’m not saying for one second that they’re not trying (because) I’m sure they are. But it is difficult when this has been such a tough tour for them to still be fully 100 percent motivated for every single ball. And unfortunately, you only have to be one or two percent off and that’s when mistakes like that happen. And if it happens once, it happens twice, and then you go into self preservation mode. That’s not the mental space you want to be in.
“It’s been disappointing and I think they’ll have to do a lot of thinking about this sort of tour, and have a bit of a think about the areas that they need to improve on. Fielding is going to have to be one, without doubt. I think it’s been a bit of a theme throughout the whole series.”
TAKING THE GAME TO THE PEOPLE
Fox Cricket expert analyst Mel Jones almost burst out laughing when she caught the reaction of Hussey and Haddin when the broadcast booth crossed to Georgia Voll on Thursday.
Making her Test debut in an Ashes clash against England, the Queenslander chatted away merrily about what was unfolding in the middle, which added another dimension to the viewing experience for those watching the historic Test from their couches or elsewhere.
“It is a new generation of players, isn’t it? When Georgia Voll gets passed her cap by Belinda Clark, cap number 185, and then she’s mic’d up, and she’s chatting about all her experiences straight away,” Jones said.
“I think we had Hadds and Huss both going, ‘There’s no way known I would have been mic’d up. I would have been so in my zone. I couldn’t have done it.’ Whereas Georgia Volll is just embracing every opportunity she’s getting within this squad and taking it on beautifully.”
After recovering from his shock, Hussey said that while he would not have liked to have his concentration rattled while playing, he loves the insight it provides fans of the game.
“I wouldn’t have liked it because I just wanted to concentrate on playing. I think I also wouldn’t have liked it because of the amount of stick I would have got from a teammates,” he told foxsports.com.au
“But it is a different world now and they seem to like it. And I’ve actually really enjoyed how the players have embraced being able to speak to us up here and take us out into the middle (and let us know) what’s going on out there and what are the conditions like.
“We’re (all about) bringing the viewer into the middle, bringing them so much closer to the game, so it is exciting.
“And it just goes to show the confidence of these new players coming through that they’re willing to be mic’d up in their very first Test match. It’s phenomenal.”
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