England vs Australia, 1st Test, Day 2 preview: Early wickets the key for Australia after Smith heroics

The opening day of the 2019 Ashes was sound-tracked by the booing of Steve Smith – when he walked out to bat, when scored and boundary, and really, when he did just about anything. He had watched his Australian team-mates crumble to the magnificence of Stuart Broad, who was in his element, moving it around all zip and verve. However, on his first Test in 16 months, putting to one side all that had happened in that time, Smith scored perhaps one of the all-time great Test knocks.

His 144 off 219 balls helped Australia recover from 122/8 and post 284. Significant credit must go first and foremost to Peter Siddle, who scored an 85-ball 44 from No.10, and Nathan Lyon, who hung around for a 26-ball 12*, and helped Smith reach that coveted century.

There were boos once again after he reached the mark, but this time, they just sounded foolish – Smith made them sound foolish. His emotions came pouring out as he reached the mark, and he needed a few deep breaths to compose himself. Eventually, Broad castled him for his fifth wicket in a return of 5 for 86, but psychologically at least, Australia are ahead now. Smith had seen to that.

There was a stage in the match when that seemed almost impossible. Broad was on one of his streaky spells, in helpful conditions, and the Australians didn’t really make it hard for Broad. The umpires, meanwhile, had a horrendous day, continuously making wrong decisions, with the teams then guilty of not adequately using DRS.

David Warner (8), Cameron Bancroft (2) and Usman Khawaja (13) all fell in quick succession before Smith was joined by Travis Head in a much-needed 64-run stand. But once that was broken, the implosion began again, with all of Matthew Wade (1), Tim Paine (5), James Pattinson (0) and Pat Cummins (5) failing to do much with the bat. Edbaston was booming at the time, and everything was going to plan for England.

However, Siddle finally showed the gumption most of the rest of his team-mates failed to. He put on 88 with Smith for the ninth wicket, and then Lyon hung around to add a further 74 for the final wicket. They were helped by the fact that the England bowlers were tiring, with Jimmy Anderson managing just four overs before going off with a calf injury in the morning.

There was even time at the end of the day to subject Jason Roy and Rory Burns to two overs from Pattinson and Cummins, but they survive that, and brought 10 down off the target.

The second day will now depend on the Australian pacers. If they can bowl with similar verve as Broad and Chris Woakes did, they can put England in trouble. Conditions early in the day will be helpful as always. England have a largely untested top order – Roy, Burns and Joe Denly had between them just 11 Test caps heading into this match. If the pacers can nip them out early, Australia will well and truly be in front in what promises to be a thrilling day.

Brief scores

Australia 284in 80.4 overs (Steve Smith 144, Peter Siddle 44; Stuart Broad 5/86, Chris Woakes 3/58) vs England 10/0 in 2 overs(Rory Burns 4*, Jason Roy 6*).