There is a sense of relief emanating from the England media at stumps on the first day of the fourth Ashes Test, after the tourists enjoyed a rare passage of promising play in Sydney.
Two late blows dealt by England’s bowling attack – the first through James Anderson and the second from Mark Wood – saw the visitors trouble the hosts on a rain-affected day.
After opener Marcus Harris (38) and first drop Marnus Labuschagne (28) were dismissed late in the third session, another spurt of rain saw the umpires call stumps with Australia 3-126 after just 46.5 overs were possible.
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“England began to exert some kind of control – a novel experience in which the cricket studs have generally been on the other foot,” wrote Lawrence Booth of The Daily Mail.
The journalist followed that line with a dig at Harris.
“England may wonder how they have allowed the weakest member of Australia’s top order to score 152 runs at 30 in this series, a better record than any of their own line-up except for (Joe) Root and Dawid Malan.”
Former England captain Michael Atherton applauded the opening-day performance of Wood, who finished the day with figures of 1-31 from 10 overs and consistently tested the home side with his searing pace.
“James Anderson’s two spells, of six overs in the morning, and seven in the evening were the pick, and the other opener, Marcus Harris, fell to him, while Mark Wood’s electric pace did for Marnus Labuschagne for the second time in consecutive Tests,” Atherton wrote in The Times.
“Wood has only netted six wickets in this series, but three of them have been big fish — Labuschagne twice, and Steve Smith once.”
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Wood had another admirer in former England skipper Michael Vaughan.
“Whatever happens this next two weeks, Mark Wood has been fantastic for England over here,” Vaughan wrote on Twitter.
“Pace and energy every he bowls but more so his enthusiasm for the game. The Aussies love him.”
https://twitter.com/MichaelVaughan/status/1478650511381381125
Former England quick Steven Finn also pointed to the impact of Wood.
“As soon as Marcus Harris was out you saw Joe Root going to Mark Wood and saying, ‘I need a quick burst from you’, and it worked,” Finn told the BBC.
“It was a rare day in this series where what England did worked.”
Australia will resume their innings in the morning, weather permitting, with second drop Smith on six and No.5 Usman Khawaja on four.
England are hunting their first win of the series, having lost the opening three Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne as they failed to regain the urn.
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