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38th over: Australia 96-1 (Litchfield 44, Sutherland 40) Bell and Litchfield renew their battle with the young opener starting to look more comfortable the third time around. Litchfield finishes the over by clubbing a wider delivery with a shot that deserved more than a single to cover.
37th over: Australia 95-1 (Litchfield 43, Sutherland 40) Ecclestone straightens up her line a touch to ensure the Australian pair have to play but is unable to find a way through. Sutherland sneaks a single after a thick edge that bounces through point, then Litchfield adds another when whipping away off her pads.
36th over: Australia 93-1 (Litchfield 42, Sutherland 39) Bell to Litchfield again as the England quick turns the pressure up on the Australian opener. Litchfield makes better decisions this time over when to play or leave deliveries angling across her but it’s another maiden.
35th over: Australia 93-1 (Litchfield 42, Sutherland 39) The Australian duo are starting to look more comfortable against Ecclestone as the off-spinner sends down her seventh consecutive over of the day. Heather Knight might have to turn to other spin options soon, if only to give her main strike bowler a breather. Four runs from the over including a classy backfoot drive from Litchfield for a couple.
34th over: Australia 89-1 (Litchfield 39, Sutherland 38) A superb over from Bell to Litchfield as the England quick has the ball angling across the left-hander in a tempting channel just outside off-stump. Litchfield plays and misses at four of the six deliveries as an enthralling duel gets brewing. Maiden over.
33rd over: Australia 89-1 (Litchfield 39, Sutherland 38) Ecclestone continues with Litchfield more watchful until dancing down the pitch to create a half-volley for a single to long-on. Litchfield’s backfoot drive to end the over with another single adds a touch of class as the 21-year-old, dare I say it, moves closer to a first Test fifty.
32nd over: Australia 86-1 (Litchfield 37, Sutherland 37) Lauren Bell comes into the attack as England hope a bit more movement that Filer tends to offer might shift this Australia partnership. The pacer very nearly breaks through with her first ball as Litchfield plays and misses with a cover drive. A misfield at cover allows Litchfield to pick up a gift of two runs, then the opener finds a single through midwicket.
31st over: Australia 83-1 (Litchfield 34, Sutherland 37) SHOT! Litchfield steps back to pull Ecclestone away to the square leg boundary and pile more misery on the off-spinner. She responds immediately with a jaffa that beats the outside edge. Ecclestone has started about as well as Heather Knight would have hoped today but without quite getting her just reward.
30th over: Australia 78-1 (Litchfield 29, Sutherland 37) Filer to Litchfield as the England quick continues to pitch up to the young opener without threatening. Litchfield picks up the first shorter ball of the over to comfortably pull for a single.
29th over: Australia 77-1 (Litchfield 28, Sutherland 37) Oh dear, another chance goes begging for England. This one was tougher as Sutherland is deceived by Ecclestone’s flight and drift to nick off. Amy Jones has no idea as the ball crashes into the tips of her gloves and falls to the floor. That’s three opportunities for England wasted already on day two and Sutherland rubs salt into the wound with a monstrous SIX over long-off.
28th over: Australia 71-1 (Litchfield 28, Sutherland 31) After two catches are grassed the runs start to flow as Litchfield and Sutherland turn over the strike with easy singles. The opener makes the most of a looser delivery from Filer as she clips off her hip for four to bring up the 50-run partnership.
27th over: Australia 63-1 (Litchfield 22, Sutherland 29) DROPPED! It was a relatively straightforward chance for Danni Wyatt-Hodge as Sutherland reaches away from her body and drives hard through covers. Wyatt-Hodge dives hard and low to her right and gets two hands the ball but is unable to hold on. That really should have been gobbled up by one of England’s better fielders but now she is left counting the number of runs that Sutherland makes with her second life.
26th over: Australia 62-1 (Litchfield 21, Sutherland 29) Filer doubles down on her plan to bowl short to Sutherland and begins with a bouncer that sails over the all-rounder’s head. Sutherland waits until the final delivery of the over to get on the back foot and drive through covers for a couple.
Cricket Australia have ominously confirmed that Ellyse Perry is available to bat in this innings “if required”, though there is no further suggestion whether she might come in sooner rather than later… or at all.
25th over: Australia 60-1 (Litchfield 21, Sutherland 27) A life for Litchfield as the young opener steps down the pitch and targets the long-on boundary but gets under the stroke. Sophia Dunkley scampers backwards with the sun staring straight at her and with her back turned throws an arm in the air searching for a miracle. The ball drops safely inside the rope as the Australian pair only manage a single.
24th over: Australia 57-1 (Litchfield 20, Sutherland 25) Lauren Filer takes the ball in hand as England go for a spin-pace combination early on day two. The England quick starts with a pair of short balls before Sutherland clips a single off her pads. Filer is much fuller to Litchfield with two slips in place.
23rd over: Australia 56-1 (Litchfield 20, Sutherland 24) Ecclestone starts with a slip and a short leg in catching positions as England look to grab a much-needed early wicket. The off-spinner tries to tempt Litchfield but the Australia opener is content leaving the ball or defending when required to play. Maiden over to start day two at the MCG.
England will turn to spin to start day two of the Women’s Ashes Test with Sophie Ecclestone marking out her run up and Phoebe Litchfield taking strike.
Australia have no doubt benefited from their enviable depth across a series that will have as many as 10 match days squeezed into little more than two weeks, as they have brushed aside England to now be within sight of the first Women’s Ashes clean sweep since the multi-format series was introduced.
Geoff Lemon suggests Australia’s dominance allowed them the luxury of playing funny buggers at the selection table, while also looking at the other important women’s cricket match that took part in Melbourne yesterday.
Right now Australia could pick eight players and three lucky-dip winners from the crowd and still come out on top.
Now for the weather. After sunny but relatively cool conditions yesterday there is a touch of cloud around ahead of the start of day two in Melbourne. England have stacked their attack with pacers, which could work in their favour even with a ball that is already 22 overs old.
🌤️Mild, dry and partly cloudy in the south.
☀️Warm, dry and sunny in the north.
🌡️Temperatures close to average.
Areas of smoke over western districts.
🌬️Moderate south to southeasterly winds.
Heat returns to much of the state from Saturday. pic.twitter.com/FDEzL6nF0N
An Ashes campaign that began with high hopes for a close contest especially after the tied series 18 months ago has drifted towards a focus on whether a dominant Australia side can complete a clean sweep over their rivals England. Even with renewed incentive to avoid such a humiliation, England were unable to get a foothold in the Test on day one as Maia Bouchier was dismissed in the opening over and Australia had too much firepower in their attack.
Raf Nicholson was at the MCG as England failed to live up to the occasion of the first Women’s Test at the venue in 76 years, while Alana King turned back the clock even further with yet another masterful display of leg-spin.
As Alana King spun her web around England – taking four for 45 as the visitors fell to 170 all out in 71.4 overs – the spirit of another leg-spinner echoed around the ground. No, not Shane Warne but Peggy Antonio, the Melburnian factory-worker who took six for 49 the first time a women’s Test was played at this ground, in January 1935.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of day two of the Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG. Australia will resume on 56 for 1 after dismissing England for 170 in front of more than 11,000 fans yesterday, with Phoebe Litchfield (20) and Annabel Sutherland (24) back at the crease in about 45 minutes.
The hosts are in a commanding position after Kim Garth and Darcie Brown set the tone with the new ball, then leg-spinner Alana King ripped through the England middle-order to continue her superb series. Nat Sciver-Brunt was the only batter to go on with a start as she passed fifty for the seventh time in Tests but lacked enough partners to build a decent first-innings total for the tourists. King showed that there is enough life in the pitch to whet the appetite of the likes of Sophie Ecclestone, though Australia have selected an especially deep batting line-up stacked with supposed all-rounders.
Australia will be sweating on the fitness of Ellyse Perry who injured a hip while fielding yesterday. The all-rounder was bumped down the order, with Sutherland stepping in at No 3 after Georgia Voll’s dismissal in her debut Test, but it remains to be seen whether Perry will be able to return to play at all.
First ball will be at 2.30pm local time / AEDT or 3.30am GMT. In the meantime, let us know your predictions or just expectations for the day ahead – shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
