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Now who would of thought  at the start of this match.....that Green was to going to offer his stumps first ball to be knocked over and Head would hit  a test 100 in less then 90 deliveries....pretty sure it would of been the other way round......not sure what Green was thinking there....... if he was even thinking!...as for Head....FINALLY he plays like he does every now and then in the shield. for SA.....pretty sure he smashed WA all around the park in a similar vein a few weeks back.......200+ lead should help Aust enormously here.....

Well done to Travis Head (and Freez) on his century - is that his maiden test ton?

Well done to Head on making a century and at better than a run a ball too, plus scoring a 100 in the last session which is I believe the first time it has happened at the Gabba in an Ashes Test.
Getting solid contributions from the likes of Head more regularly will take some of the heat off our 3 best bats in Smith, Warner & Labuschagne having to do the bulk of the scoring all of the time......and lets face it we cant rely on Harris to contribute much.
Thought Robinson, Wood & Woakes bowled well but without luck and could have been a similar score to England's first dig if they had an ounce.
Good to see all of the batsmen attack Leach whenever he came on and not treat his left arm orthodox like he is Derek Underwood or Phil Tufnell!

No rain for England today.And the tropical storm will start this evening,and be gone by tomorrow.
4-150 in the last session.The Poms look beaten and broken after 2 days..Not sure Joe Root is a great thinking captain.His body language is terrible.

Who the hell is coaching Cameron Green? How many times has this kid got out in his short test career shouldering arms either bowled or out lbw? I reckon it's about the third time already.

Just about a perfect first 2 days for Cummins debut as Captain. I have been a bit perplexed by England's selections and decision making which I think has played into Australia's hands. Firstly Warner must have been so relieved when he found out that Broad wasn't playing. I really thought that I was hearing things when it was announced that he hadn't been selected. This had a flow on effect when Root won the toss. With the spinner in the team he almost felt obliged to bat first whereas with the 4 seamers he would have put Australia in IMO, given the conditions. From there on in it was all downhill as Burns was on another planet facing the first ball and a combination of poor batting, excellent bowling and brilliant fielding saw a score which was around 100 below par.

Then this morning the English pace bowlers were right on the spot and made life very tough for the Aussie top order. Harris looked totally out of his depth as a test player and Warner had to battle for every run. The bowlers were let down by abysmal fielding and poor placement of slips cordons when edges were dropping short. 

All in all Warner was given 4 innings via being bowled off a no ball, a dropped catch and a straightforward run out opportunity. 

They were unlucky that Stokes injured himself but Leach was smashed everywhere and may not be seen much more in this series. Labuschagne would be kicking himself for his concentration lapse when another 100 was there for the taking.
Smith looked unusually shaky and Green has to sort out his leaving method or he may be sorted out. Great to see Head finally come of age as a test batsman and he played in exactly the right manner against a tiring attack.

Not all gloom and doom for England. Robinson is a good find and will cause problems. Wood has genuine pace. Ollie Pope showed some intent and Hameed demonstrated good temperament and technique when wickets were falling early. I still think they have the capacity to be competitive in this series although they will probably need significant weather intervention in the next 3 days to avoid going down 1-0 at the Gabba

When the 233 players that have opened at least 20 times in Test matches are ordered by average, Harris comes in at 233rd place with an average of 21.5.

I think that says enough hey. Problem is who around Australia could replace him, its very worrying especially if we lose Warner for the second test or her retires in the next 12 months

Anyone of Matt Renshaw, Cam Bancroft, Henry Hunt, Josh Phillipe or Bryce Street would be a better option to open than Marcus Harris imho PH!

Harris will be given the first two tests. BH....if he scores 30 + in any one of those innings, JL will be vindicated in his show of loyalty towards Harris......and Harris will get a 3rd test match...though Street and Hunt look like  solid occupiers of the crease......good to see Neser taking some wickets in the Aus A game.... pity Jhye Richardson is sitting on his arse for this game, would of been good to of seen him cash in v EL like Neser has, in preparation for the day/nighter next test.......can't see how Starc is going to get dropped before the 3rd test......the day night games are his most productive apparently.....as for Lyon, geez that 400th test wicket has been a while coming.....if it even comes......

Be interesting  to see how much of a target Eng can set Aust.....any target over 150 is a testing one, especially batting last, and involving an Aust batting line up. Well done  to Root and Malan on their fight back.....day 4 will see how deep Eng can take this match......only Aust could lose a game with a 270 +  run lead.....

Once again the Poms have fought back when a few E/S based muppets in the media were slagging them off.
As I posted above I thought Robinson, Wood & Woakes bowled well yesterday but didnt have much luck.
Root and Malan making batting look very easy this afternoon.
Why Hazlewood hardly bowled was staggering unless he has an injury?
Once again Gary the Goat looks very pedestrian against half decent batsmen!
Why is he never in the selectors gun as he has barely taken a wicket in Test or SS cricket for a while now?

Is it me or does this have a touch of Headingly 40 years ago about this Test????