If you are Marnus Labuschagne or Ben Strokes, what type of tea are you drinking as you wake up today? What will best serve the temperament for the morning after the night before? Does Marnus pour some calming chamomile for his day (morning, at least?) watching the remainder of Australia’s innings at the SCG? Is Ben more of a bold Irish breakfast type? Two teabags for a bit of extra bite?
OK, I’ll shut the f— up and stop burying the lead. Travis Head is a hero. A nonchalant, knees-up man of the people. He is unbeaten on 91 and on the path to (even more) greatness. If we are going for England then of course we would be talking about Joe Root, who made his second century in Australia and is within 2000 runs of Sachin Tendulkar’s record. But we are Straya mate, which means Head is our majestic lionheart.
If you asked Head about who the real hero is, though, he might say Michael Neser. Four wickets, including a diving caught-and-bowled to finally dismiss Root for 160 and restrict England to a total of 384. I say “restrict” because it feels like it might not be enough to get it done. But we will see.
Australia resume at 2-166 from 34.1 overs, trailing by 218 runs. First ball at 10am.
Tempers flared late on day two of the SCG Test as Ben Stokes appeared to tell Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne to “shut the f—” up in fading light.Credit: Getty Images
