Australia v Pakistan, third Test, day four live from the SCG
Email: russell.jackson@theguardian.com | Tweet: @rustyjacko
4.25am GMT
14th over: Australia 86-1 ( Khawaja 21, Smith 4)
Yasir’s been beaten up horrendously in this series but keeps plugging away to the Aussie skipper, one of the few Aussies who has shown any kind of deference to the spinner and also fallen to him a couple of times. Meanwhile, and not for the first time this summer, Sarfraz makes a real hash of a clear stumping chance against Khawaja so Yasir is thwarted again. That’s just dire. It’s late in the game, he’s probably tired, but sheesh. He’s had an absolute ‘mare behind the stumps in this game.
Sarfraz misses another stumping. 2 in the match, dropped chance in Brisbane, all off spin. He's been poor to spin for a long time now.
4.22am GMT
13th over: Australia 81-1 ( Khawaja 20, Smith 3)
More tidy stuff from Wahab, who strikes a most painful blow on Steve Smith when the Aussie captain shuffles across his crease in signature style but fails to make contact with an attempted flick, so the balls crashes right into his bread basket. Ouch. It’s knocked the wind out of him and Khawaja has a big laugh, as do the bowler and batsman eventually. In the end Wahab gives Smith a collegial push in the back to get him going again. Hopefully not too much, for Pakistan’s sake.
4.17am GMT
12th over: Australia 79-1 ( Khawaja 19, Smith 2)
Well I guess we’re going through until 3:40pm in this session then, after which you’ll be joined by Adam Collins. For now we can delight in the footwork of Usman Khawaja, who skips at Yasir like Michael Flatley and chips a couple of runs down to long-off. With two more he pushes Australia’s lead beyond 300, and hopes remain high the tourists will be inserted again late in the day for some potential twilight carnage. We shall see.
4.14am GMT
11th over: Australia 75-1 ( Khawaja 15, Smith 2)
You can’t fault Wahab for the shambles that has been this Pakistan performance and again he’s pushing through the crease with that finely-tuned, willowy frame of his. He tries a bouncer to Khawaja but it goes sea freight instead of airmail, so the batsman has time to correct a misjudged evasive maneuver and guide it around the corner for one.
4.10am GMT
10th over: Australia 73-1 ( Khawaja 14, Smith 1)
Thomas Meehan has a gripe now via email and I’m picking up what he’s putting down. “The way they have the ropes in at the SCG is just ridiculous,” he writes. “Get them back!” It’s a very good point. Why are they in so far? Is Shane Warne down there sunbaking? Anyway, Yasir is still plugging away and his wares are given a little more respect now with the departure of Warner.
4.07am GMT
9th over: Australia 71-1 ( Khawaja 13, Smith 0)
Wahab is making things happen here, and gives Steve Smith a fright first up with one that shoots through low as it cuts away from the right-hander. Very handy over from Wahab. We’ll probably have one more over before tea I think, unless I’m totally wrong and the session is going until 3:40pm.
4.05am GMT
Warner departs in a blaze of glory! And how else would he have done it? He steps towards square leg against the returning Wahab and takes another athletic swipe at the ball but misses by miles to be castled. Was that really necessary? I guess we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth but a second ton of the game just went begging for the super-slogger. He goes for 55 and Pakistan breathe a huge sigh of relief. Or just silently sob, I’m not sure.
4.01am GMT
8th over: Australia 66-0 (Warner 55, Khawaja 8)
Deary me. Yasir Shah comes back into the attack once more and Warner resumes his onslaught, immediately clubbing the beleaguered spinner for another colossal six to bring up his half-century from 23 balls. At least Misbah’s Test record is safe, but Warner is on a heater here. He finishes the over by cracking another cross-batted blow through cover to pick up four. It’s hard to keep up with it all at the moment. It’s like the home run derby.
3.56am GMT
7th over: Australia 53-0 (Warner 44, Khawaja 6)
New over, same result. Imran bounds in to Warner and gives every impression he’s still in possession of self-confidence, but that is immediately tested when the impetuous batting star uses the angle and pace of the ball to crunch a pair of boundaries through cover. Imran stops and regroups, changing to an around-the-wicket approach, but he’s recklessly flayed again and a thick edge flies well over the top of gully for four more. How do you stop this? Not by giving David Warner width, as is the case here. He only dabs it past the man at point but again it races away; four consecutive boundaries. David Warner is demolishing Pakistan at the SCG.
3.50am GMT
6th over: Australia 37-0 (Warner 28, Khawaja 6)
Misbah relieves Yasir of his duties now and brings Wahab Riaz on for his first blast, and Warner duly attempts to belt him into another planetary realm first up. The batsman entirely misses contact with that heave, but the resultant wind surely blows a breeze through the member’s stand. Back on strike, Khawaja succeeds with a more subtle approach, using the pace and angling the ball through gully for his first boundary.
3.46am GMT
5th over: Australia 31-0 (Warner 27, Khawaja 2)
Usman Khawaja is the forgotten man here but he’s happy to move at his own pace, which is to not the ritalin-infused rate David Warner manages. Reader Andrew James thinks Khawaja currently has “the demeanour of a man who has to put down his dog,” but I’m of another view; he’s just a supremely chilled out entertainer. That said, I’m sure Warner would prefer it was he on strike and not his partner in this Imran Khan maiden.
3.41am GMT
4th over: Australia 31-0 (Warner 27, Khawaja 2)
Downtown Davey tucks into Yasir now, dropping to one knee and thwacking the spinner over long-on to get six, briefly losing the ball as it becomes lodged in the fence. Like the sword in the stone it’s eventually removed, though Yasir might wish it’d stayed there once he cops a repeat dose from the next ball and then gets clattered through cover from a short one to make it a 6, 6, 4 start to the over. Oh dear.
3.35am GMT
3rd over: Australia 9-0 (Warner 6, Khawaja 1)
Imran recovers from his unsuccessful review, though doesn’t set the world on fire in the rest of his over to Khawaja, bowling far too wide outside off stump to tempt anything rash out of the left-hander.
3.31am GMT
Pfft, pitching miles down leg. A silly review really. Misbah was entirely swayed by the bowler, who perhaps needs the LBW rule explained to him.
3.30am GMT
3rd over: Australia 8-0 (Warner 6, Khawaja 1)
Pitching down leg surely? We’ll soon see.
3.29am GMT
2nd over: Australia 8-0 (Warner 6, Khawaja 1)
Some funky captaincy for Misbah now as Yasir is called upon to open the bowling, though you’d figure the decision to take pace off the ball is probably wise with David Warner setting himself for another ram-raid job. Yasir is a little too straight to start with but his penultimate delivery takes on some savage turn out of the rough to rap Khawaja on the pads and prompt an appeal. Not out, says umpire Illingworth, but it’ll give both batsmen something to think about. It really spat out of the rough.
3.25am GMT
1st over: Australia 5-0 (Warner 4, Khawaja 0)
Biff! David Warner picks up where he left off in the first innings, flaying Imran Khan’s first delivery of the innings over cow corner to pick up an immediate boundary. He’s less convincing to the next few balls – both edged onto his pads – but in the latter instance it’s owing to an insect in the eye. He’s off the mark soon after with a leg bye and Imran probably breathes a sigh of relief. He could be in for some rough treatment in this 45-minute spell before tea.
3.11am GMT
WICKET! Imran b Hazlewood 0 (Pakistan all out for 315, Younus Khan 175*)
Well that was quite predictable. Imran Khan keeps Hazlewood’s first delivery out but the next bowls him neck and crop, so Pakistan are doneski. They’ve finished 24 short of the follow-on target but Australia will bat again, though with an improvised opening pair – probably Warner and Khawaja – following Matt Renshaw’s concussion.
Seed #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/S8Yv08nFpb
3.09am GMT
Hazlewood does the trick! Finally Australia break this handy little partnership when Yasir pushes forward and throws his hands at a nagging length ball from Hazlewood. The resultant edge is a thick one and flies through to Steve Smith at the ideal heigh for a second slipper. Yasir’s determined stay is thus done, and Pakistan need 24 more runs to avoid the follow-on.
3.07am GMT
110th over: Pakistan 315-8 (Younus 175, Yasir 10)
Younus has had a decent look at Steve O’Keefe in this innings and likes what he sees, so skips down the track and deposits him over cow corner for a boundary – one bounce over the rope. He does even better late in the over, advancing at the bowler once more and thrashing a big six through deep extra cover. O’Keefe is copping a hiding now.
3.04am GMT
109th over: Pakistan 302-8 (Younus 163, Yasir 9)
Hazlewood sets off again with that Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! run-up of his, and Younus gets a single towards point, setting the scene for some ruffling of Yasir’s feathers. First there’s a bouncer, which actually succeeds by not getting up so high, forcing the tailender to duck low and no doubt test his tender hamstring. But he’s made of stern stuff, Yasir, and sees off another barrage to end the over 9 from 39 deliveries in this unbroken 39-run stand.
2.59am GMT
108th over: Pakistan 302-8 (Younus 163, Yasir 9)
More spin but different spin here as Steve O’Keefe comes on to replace Nathan Lyon. Younus sweeps him and as that happens, short leg Peter Handscomb ducks his head in the exact same manner that injured Matt Renshaw yesterday. Hmm. That doesn’t seem smart to me.
2.57am GMT
107th over: Pakistan 301-8 (Younus 162, Yasir 9)
Josh Hazlewood does indeed come into the attack and as this summer nears an end, it occurs to me I need to be working on synonyms for the following; miserly, nagging, metronomic, stingy, parsimonious. He’s all of those things and more (or less?). Anyway, just the one off his first over – a single to Younus. Just very loose bowling by the big New South Welshman.
2.51am GMT
106th over: Pakistan 300-8 (Younus 161, Yasir 9)
Seemingly convinced by what he’s seen in the Starc over, Younus actually hands the strike to his partner early in this Lyon one, and Yasir repays his faith by slapping the off-spinner through cover for two and then moving back in his crease to punch one off the back foot a ball later. Younus has one ball to get a single and retain the strike, and does so clipping Lyon to leg. This is all a bit frustrating for Australia. Time for some Josh Hazlewood, I reckon.
2.47am GMT
105th over: Pakistan 295-8 (Younus 159, Yasir 6)
Wowsers. Starc is giving the speedometer a decent nudge now and whizzes an off-cutter past Yasir’s outside edge at the not-too-shabby pace of 150kmph. The tailender knows he’s no match for this bowling but continues on with his attempts to deflect the ball from outside off stump and grins cheekily at each failed attempt. The last, which is basically past him before he’s played the shot, ends with a wonderful bit of technically-correct shadow batting that bears no resemblance with what came before. Starc, meanwhile, might want to just bowl one at the stumps. A crazy idea, I know.
2.43am GMT
104th over: Pakistan 295-8 (Younus 159, Yasir 6)
A bit of cat and mouse now as Lyon encircles Younus with a tight ring field on the leg side towards the end of the over, firing darts at the batsman’s pads to make sure he can’t get a single. And he doesn’t, so Yasir will face Starc’s pace in the next over. A wee bit negative from the Australians?
2.40am GMT
103rd over: Pakistan 294-8 (Younus 159, Yasir 5)
We’ve all played in a game of park cricket when a ring-in crocks himself but keeps ploughing through, and that is precisely what Yasir looks like here as Younus cruelly calls him back for a second run. Damned Arjuna Ranatunga. If people hadn’t been rorting the system Yasir would have a runner right now. Starc, meanwhile, is short on luck again as Younus edges a streaky boundary through gully.
2.35am GMT
102nd over: Pakistan 288-8 (Younus 153, Yasir 5)
Lyon’s wheeling away to Yasir now and if the tailender is worried about what he’s seeing it doesn’t show outwardly. He’s even doing some pitch gardening, wandering about like proper batsman and patting down imperfections in the surface when he’s not defending soberly. Maiden for Lyon, but not much doing.
2.32am GMT
101st over: Pakistan 288-8 (Younus 153, Yasir 5)
As Starc continues, Michael Clarke is waxing lyrical about Yasir’s improved running between the wickets but I think I’d prefer to put it down to adrenalin, or a touching desire to do the right thing by his team. He must be hurting out there but a quick look at the stats alerts me to why he’s still preferred at No10 ahead of Imran; the paceman has a highest Test score of six, and ducks in his other three completed innings. In short, Australia just need to remove Yasir and Pakistan’s first dig as good as done.
2.27am GMT
100th over: Pakistan 288-8 (Younus 153, Yasir 5)
Clang! Younus gets down the track to Lyon and goes all Chris Lynn, monstering the spinner over long-on with a big six to bring up another milestone in the form of his 150. What a blow that was. Cannily, he works a single off Lyon’s final delivery to retain the strike. He hasn’t made almost 10,000 Test runs being stupid, you know.
2.24am GMT
99th over: Pakistan 279-8 (Younus 144, Yasir 5)
If you missed the news over the last couple of days, Yasir is the lame member of this partnership, at least in a physical sense. He strained his hamstring diving in the field on day two and has struggled mightily since. Younus gets a single here and for his partner it’s a decent old task getting down the other end, though he peels off a crisp on-drive for no run soon after. He’s a fighter, Yasir.
2.19am GMT
98th over: Pakistan 278-8 (Younus 143, Yasir 5)
Just a single to Younus in this over from Nathan Lyon, who ends it hunched low and shaking his head as though he’s cursed. Buckle in, Gary. You’ll get a chance soon enough.
2.16am GMT
97th over: Pakistan 277-8 (Younus 142, Yasir 5)
Mitchell Starc is the first of the pacemen to have a dip and Younus and would have had him if not for a sloppy bit of keeping from Matthew Wade, who drops to one knee rather than diving fully to his right and grasses a clear chance. A few deliveries earlier Younus was after Starc immediately, seizing upon a tempting gap in the field and caressing a careful cover drive to the fence, and the chance he gave here came trying a similar stroke. That was a bad miss by Wade. He was laid low by a stomach bug yesterday and now he’s feeling crook for different reasons.
Edged and DROPPED! Wade can't hold on to the diving chance... #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/HwMjtbegYe
2.11am GMT
96th over: Pakistan 272-8 (Younus 137, Yasir 5)
As the sun beats down on the SCG, Nathan Lyon gets us under way on day four and Younus is forward and defence to the off-side. A much-maligned figure at the best of times, Lyon has really copped it this summer but has a chance to snare a five-wicket haul here with the final two wickets of Pakistan’s innings.
2.06am GMT
A Matt Renshaw update before play gets under way
The young opener copped a nasty blow to the head while he was fielding at short leg yesterday. Here’s the latest on that, but in short he’s been withdrawn from the game with concussion:
Related: Concussed Matt Renshaw withdrawn from third Test against Pakistan
1.59am GMT
Related to that last post
I’m reminded again what a strange, embarrassing place my Twitter archive is.
Come back to the dark side Warnie, we miss you. pic.twitter.com/2E3c8lwWrI
The essence of Warnie and the essence of cricket punditry in two handy quotes. pic.twitter.com/cGrEp95e1i
1.57am GMT
More on the subject of spinners in Australia
This email from Daniel Ross, who has a decent nomination. “In your listing of modern spin bowlers would it not have been a little interesting to include the exploits of MR CV Grimmett?” he asks. “Amongst other feats he was the first spinner to make 200 wickets in Test cricket (and indeed the first bowler), he still holds the record of the least number of matches to make 200 wickets (36) and his average of 24.21 is far superior to any of these Johnny-Come-Lately fellows.”
Young Warnie pretends to read Ashley Mallett's book on Clarrie Grimmett: pic.twitter.com/ErG1FVZMSk
1.52am GMT
Cricket, glorious cricket!
Hello all. Russell Jackson here and we will indeed have some cricket in just under 20 minutes time, though not before Shane Keith Warne has bowled an over to former NRL star Andrew Johns, who is padded up in the SCG nets. Warne is asked which other celebrities he’s bowled to and it’s a who’s who; Mumford and Sons, Hugh Jackman...err...Andy Lee.
1.38am GMT
Alright, my last vote for Australiana music of an alternative bent isn’t exactly a song, but it’s... a whole thing. Kind of a historical tale from the old bluestone alleyways of Sydney a century or so ago, all flat caps and rusty scythes, crooked cops and church intrigues, with some outstanding lyricism. There’s no direct video link to embed, but scroll down for the Benezra track called Born Under a Big Brass Bell. Might give you shivers.
You can listen to that while we have lunch. The weather is clearing at the SCG, so the umpires have said lunch will happen now, and play will start at the normal start of the second session, at 1:10pm. Which means that my time with you is done - Geoff Lemon out, thanks for all of the emails and tweets this morning that made my life more interesting. And hopefully even yours. Russell Jackson will handle the cricket from here, give him a hand.
1.33am GMT
“Love Camp Cope and the Smith Street Band, but nothing is as Aussie and brutal as the Peep Tempel’s ‘Carol’,” writes Matt Starr, who may or may not be a member of Peep Tempel. “No video to speak of but it is gold.”
1.27am GMT
Time for a change of tack. If you haven’t kept up with the Big Bash, Chris Lynn has been going off. He’s formed a lovely happy partnership at Brisbane with Brendon McCullum, and they’ve already been christened The Bash Brothers. There’s a lot of adorable man-love about. Lynn has 309 runs in five knocks this season, and he’s only been out twice, so he averages 154.5. Top of the runs list obviously, while McCullum is fourth, 198 at 49.5. Both of them have strike rates above 176, and they’ve hit 37 sixes between them.
Lynn went for an absolute spree last night. He made 98 not out against Perth, with 11 of those sixes. And even though he was 92 not out with six required, he just hit it over the rope, rather than trying to get a two and then a six to make a century.
1.08am GMT
“I’d like to throw my 2 cents into the Nathan Lyon debate,” emails our reader Chris Morris. “There’s a lot of focus on the number of wickets he’s taken but he averages just under 34. To put that into perspective Shane Watson has a better bowling average than Lyon. I could count the number of games he’s won from his bowling on one hand (possibly one finger).”
“At the moment he is a quality hold down an end spinner who is on song in patches. The ball that he got Riaz with yesterday was an absolute jaffa. That’s what we need from him. We need him to be a match winning spinner with a bowling average under 30, that can take bags of wickets in spinning conditions and win the occasional game for us. Until that occurs, calls for a replacement are going to continue and quite rightfully so.”
12.57am GMT
Good omens from the city side of Sydney, thanks Luke.
@GeoffLemonSport the sky in the city doesn't look too bad reckon we should start the right side of lunch pic.twitter.com/IOmdS0YpdU
12.48am GMT
A missive from our man in Paris, Robert Wilson. “Geoff!” I lie, he didn’t use an exclamation mark. He wouldn’t be so gauche. “This rain business isn’t funny any more. Is Australia turning into the Northern Ireland of my youth? Trust me, that’s not something you want to turn into.”
“You’re right about Lyon. He’s proved himself plenty. And if he is not given his head in the traditional SCG late-match spinfest (which made even Allan Border look like Abdul Qadir) then it’s definitely a stitch-up. Having a bowler that batsmen consistently underestimate is not the worst thing that can happen to a team.”
12.41am GMT
Emails! Excellent. This rather good one from Gary Naylor. “I’ve never seen a more ‘clicky’ batsman than Younus Khan. All through the series last summer in England, he jumped about, a jack-in-the-box collection of tics more in need of Oliver Sacks’ advice than Mickey Arthur’s. Then, at The Oval in the Fourth Test, the movements became less exaggerated, the technique more orthodox and the ball started hitting the middle of the bat - and it stayed hitting the middle of the bat until 218 runs had been scored. Younus had clicked and when he clicks, boy, what a player.”
Could not agree more, especially in recent times. The first evening that he batted in Brisbane, I was watching from the boundary, and I honestly thought that Josh Hazelwood would get Younus every. Single. Ball. The batsman was jumping about, crouching, leaping up, and the bowler was hammering a difficult length outside off with some bounce in the pitch. But Younus survived and ground his way towards 70 the next day.
12.29am GMT
In the context of both that style of music and the macho culture surrounding organised sport, another entirely apt entry is the Smith Street Band, with Death to the Lads. The greatest part being that the band members got their mums to play them in the video, including a crowd-surf. If you’re sensitive to such things, this song contains some brisk language.
12.23am GMT
In the meantime, trawling Twitter for cricket updates, I’ve also fallen into a YouTube spiral of strongly accented Australian indie music, starting with this post from a now culpable Alex Paull. Absolute ripper song from Camp Cope if you like Antipodean vowels and topical political references.
Overdue, but here's my fave song of 2016. Cannot go past this. Lyrics reflect the times & a brilliant tune https://t.co/gbki2ighYd #CampCope
12.21am GMT
Pitch inspection will take place at 11:45am. Which is in 24 minutes. I know you were wondering.
12.15am GMT
Optimistic update from Australian cricket’s own ray of sunshine, Malcolm Conn.
And the good news is the covers are coming off the @scg . A while before play starts on day 4 of #pinktest #AUSvPAK
11.59pm GMT
The rain at the SCG has slowed to a bit of occasional drizzle. But the clouds overhead don’t look good, and there’s still some surface water on the ground itself. Given that it’s been raining for so long, the saturation of the surface will be more the problem than the overhead conditions. That might take a fair while to drain and dry enough for play. Shouldn’t lose any play by tomorrow but the chance of a result could be gone by then. Although I guess... Australia could swing the bat for 15 overs, then put Pakistan in with two and a bit sessions, and hope for an MCG reprise.
Anyway, it’s only 11am on the east coast of Australia. Hopefully we can at least get an afternoon start, a la yesterday. I’m going to make some toast, do you want anything?
11.42pm GMT
Fair question in on Twitter.
@GeoffLemonSport so Geoff do you think it will be about lunchtime before we start hearing new calls to dump Nathan Lyon? It's about due...
11.27pm GMT
David Barham, who runs the Big Bash telecast for Ten, is now on ABC radio talking to Whateley. There’s a new round of bidding for telecast rights imminent, and the BBL will be worth far, far more than it was the first time around, but at the same time it’s partly valuable because Ten has done a good job in promoting and broadcasting it.
“1.7million people tuned in last night to see Chris Lynn,” is one of Barham’s notes. “Would we have been talking about Chris Lynn if the Big Bash hadn’t happened? Probably not. He’d have been playing some Shield cricket. Now he’s a word: Lynnsanity.”
11.19pm GMT
Gerard Whateley calling on all of his considerable subtlety and nuance as an interviewer to enquire about the state of Hilton Cartwright’s testicular health. The debutant wore a full-power Younus drive square in the box while fielding at silly mid-off.
Gerard: what’s the right way to ask if you are okay?
Cartwright: They're all good. #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/qirb3lbVzg
11.14pm GMT
If you’re bored and you want to look at something pretty, spend quarter of an hour gazing lovingly at this masterpiece from one of cricket’s best photographers, Ryan Pierse. Contains bonus Younus.
Younus Khan scatters birds on his way to another test century #ausvpak #gettysport #cricket #Australia #Younuskhan pic.twitter.com/qVHOSaR0xq
11.05pm GMT
Let’s talk about Younus Khan. Because that’s one of my favourite pastimes. After Australia made a million runs through the first five sessions of the match, there seemed every chance that Pakistan would fall over in reply. Most of the batsmen did - they lost two quick wickets before tea on Day 2, then six more on Day 3, six of those for single figures and two of them for 18. But through all that, Younus Khan batted. Azhar Ali went with him through the long last session on Day 2 and into the next day, until Younus eventually ran him out for 71. Whoops. But the veteran batsman managed to put that out of his mind and carry on, batting through the entire allotment of overs managed on Day 3.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this may not make a difference to the eventual result. Pakistan are still 68 runs from avoiding the follow-on and 267 behind Australia’s 538, with Yasir Shah and Imran Khan the only other batsmen available. But for Younus to keep it together in the circumstances, it was an incredible knock.
The top 10 Test batsmen in terms of matches played to centuries scored. Three are playing in this #AusvPak match. pic.twitter.com/SnYNHWOPJ1
The batsmen (with 10 centuries) who have more hundreds than fifties. That's the lot. Younis at the top. Bradman... is Bradman.#AusvPak pic.twitter.com/u0nd43OsO7
10.53pm GMT
Updates on illness and injury: Matthew Wade has apparently clamped up the gastro that was making him miserable yesterday, so he will keep wicket today if the teams get on the field. Matthew Renshaw though has not come up well after a couple of head knocks, one while batting and one while fielding in close, so under the team’s concussion policy he’s spending the day at the team hotel recovering and will be re-assessed as time goes by. He might well play no further part in the match.
10.47pm GMT
One note on yesterday - the third day of the Test, which in Sydney is always Jane McGrath day, when a hefty fundraising effort gets underway for the McGrath Foundation’s efforts against breast cancer. Good cause and all that, but what really stood out yesterday was the spirit of it. When it’s supposed to be the big gala day, dress-ups and celebrations, the whole bit, and then the rain comes belting down, you would expect that to dampen spirits and enthusiasm. Especially attendance. But what was really notable was how little that occurred. Yesterday was definitely the biggest, loudest, and most stubborn crowd I’ve ever seen wait through half a day of rain. They were committed to being there, they danced and sang and chatted through the waiting hours, they cheered every false alarm as the groundsmen rolled the covers back, then didn’t even boo as the covers went back on. They showed such impressive patience and goodwill, and when the first run-up began at 2:35pm with Mitchell Starc coming from the Randwick End, the stands were suddenly full again, and the cheer was exceptional. It was a lovely little moment for humanity. Excuse me while I wipe my eyes.
10.40pm GMT
If you’re not up to date with the match, rain also played a big part yesterday. We didn’t get onto the field of play until after 2pm, and then we managed 54 overs by playing until the latest possible close. That meant we were scheduled to start half an hour early this morning to make up a few more overs, but instead the elements mean that more time is being sucked from the game, boosting Pakistan’s hopes of a draw and hurting Australia’s hopes of a clean sweep. Though as we saw in Melbourne, nothing in Test cricket is ever guaranteed.
Still, I’ll be here waiting as the rain falls, so you may as well send me an email or write me a twoot on the idiot-machine. Any subject you choose. Trivial Pursuit? (The answer is always Sammy Davis Jr.)
10.35pm GMT
Good morning chums, chumps, champs, and charlatans. Charwomen, chairwomen, and karma chameleons. Charioteers, chest-thumpers, chain-gangs, chandlers, and Chandler Bing. Cheer as one, for it is day four of the final Test match of Australia’s home summer. Geoff Lemon here in the driver’s seat for the first session, and the only problem is that rain is once again pouring down in Sydney.
“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the SCG,” is Ian Chappell’s remix of the hit original.
3.13am GMT
Geoff will be with you shortly. In the meantime, take a stroll through yesterday’s match report.
Related: Nathan Lyon spins Australia into strong position despite Younis Khan century
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