A Test match that was thought to be all over before it started with the impending torrential rain that threatened Brisbane, has turned into one of the most enthralling on these shores in a while.
A seesawing contest that has seen both Australia and the West Indies hold the ascendancy for large parts is now delicately poised going into the third day.
DAY 3 LIVE
with Tim Michell
3.57PM: GREEN BREAKS BRATHWAITE RESISTANCE
Michael Vaughan says Kraigg Brathwaite has fallen into a trap set by the Australians after hitting a tame drive to Marnus Labuschagne at cover.
The West Indies had worked so hard to get through almost the first hour of play and extend their lead to 85 runs.
But after that strike from Cameron Green, Australia will sense an opening as it tries to land a few blows in succession and get back into the Test match.
3.45PM: WINDIES ON THE CHARGE
Kirk McKenzie has raced to 30 at quicker than a run a ball and Kraigg Brathwaite is offering solid support as West Indies set about building a dangerous lead on a scorching day in Brisbane.
McKenzie has played some beautiful drives in the first hour and been the main reason the lead has already stretched beyond 80 runs.
How many will be too many for Australia to run down?
3.30PM: ‘I WAS GOING TO REVIEW’ — CAREY REFLECTS ON BAIL DRAMA
Alex Carey says he was confident he didn’t hit the ball which nicked his stumps when he survived being bowled on day two.
Shamar Joseph hit the top of the Aussie wicketkeeper’s stump and the bail rolled in its groove without being dislodged.
It ended up being a crucial moment as Carey went from eight runs to 65 from 49 balls and bludgeoned Australia back into the match.
“I obviously had the ball go past the bat and I heard a good noise as well,” he told Channel 7. “As we see there, if the umpire gave it out I was probably going to review it. I didn’t feel the nick — but it was a good sound.
“Then obviously in reflection you need a bit of luck in cricket every now and then. I guess when the ball hits the stumps, if I was the fielding side, I’d probably like it to be out.”
West Indian quick Kemar Roach said after day two: “There was a noise, but everyone thought it was the pad or something. It was actually the stump and the bail was spinning. It’s cricket. Sometimes you need some luck…it would have been a different game I think at 6-70.”
3.02PM: LANGER’S WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WINDIES
We wonder what former coach Justin Langer was saying to Tagenarine Chanderpaul here…
Chanderpaul won’t feature again with the bat in this Test match, but his teammates certainly have a huge job to try and set Australia a tough fourth-innings chase.
His fellow Channel 7 commentator, Ricky Ponting, said the first hour of today’s play would be pivotal to this Test.
“This ball is still relatively new, it’s halfway through the eighth over,” Ponting said before day three.
“We talk about it all the time how this pink ball tends to go a little softer a bit earlier than the red one. Australia will be looking to make is many inroads as early as possible today.
“Being as hot as it is, you would think the fast bowlers will probably bowl short sharp spells. Nathan Lyon I think is going to play a big role early today.
“He will pretty much lock himself in from one end I reckon, Nathan Lyon and they might think about rotating the quicks through the other end.
“This is also a big hour for the captain of the West Indies. Put down late last night by Steve Smith at second slip, he really does need to lead the fight-back for his team.”
WHY DID A STUMP COST SPENCER JOHNSON $2500?
Pulling a stump out of the ground in the euphoria of victory to claim as a souvenir, has been a cricket tradition for more than 50 years.
But now players will need to pay up if they want to take a memento home.
Brisbane Heat hero Spencer Johnson went to seize a stump from the middle of the SCG to remember his man-of-the-match performance by in Wednesday’s final, only to be stopped by an official in Sixers’ hat.
Johnson was told the new Zings light-up stumps cost $2500 a stump and had been hired out to Cricket NSW, with the expectation they’re returned as a full set.
The big quick graciously accepted the decree in the midst of his emotional celebrations on the field, but was so keen on acquiring the keepsake to send straight to the pool room, he asked if he could instead buy one.
Sources say cricket authorities and Johnson are now trying to work out how to do the invoicing to make sure the Heat star can – eventually and with some paperwork – get his hands on that stump.
Women’s star Megan Schutt had the exact same issue after the WBBL final, when organisers had to go and find her to ask for the stump back after she had instinctively claimed it out of the turf in the moments following the Adelaide Strikers’ triumphant victory.
Certainly Johnson is looking at a future where he may need plenty more room on the mantelpiece, with Ricky Ponting declaring Cricket Australia should be lining him up to be Mitchell Starc’s left-arm pace successor in the Test side.
Stump innovators hope that there will be scope for players to still keep stumps as mementos in the future and called for patience as the technology continues to evolve.
It’s a similar message when it comes to asking for understanding when it comes to the bizarre – and potentially game-changing – moment of the second Test in Brisbane, when Alex Carey’s right zing bail spun around and did not dislodge when clipped by delivery from West Indies quick Shamar Joseph.
Had Carey been out at that point, Australia would have been 6-72 and in crisis. Instead, with his lucky break, Carey pumped out a quick-fire 65 and got the home side back in the Test.
Neil Maxwell from Electra Stumps said the upsides from using stumps as an epicentre for technological advancements in the game were endless, but admits that the ICC needs to work with innovators to set parameters for stump manufacturing to ensure the fabric of the game is not impacted.
The stumps used in Brisbane for the Test – and the Big Bash final – are Zings and a rival company to Electra, but Maxwell said patience needed to be shown, with an understanding that technological evolution is going to benefit the game in the long-run.
For example, stumps in the future will have different cameras, radars and sensors which will boost tools for broadcasters, viewers, spectators at the ground and potentially umpires with decision-making.
“They’re part of an evolution of product, otherwise we’d still be playing with curved bats and no middle stump,” Maxwell said.
“In order for these innovations to take place, we’ve got to use the new technologies and materials that are available to the game and the sport. The key thing is that in any match, any given match, that the situation is the same for both teams.
“New materials are being used to provide a more innovative and developed game.
“We’ve got to find a healthy balance … there should be standardised parameters on which stumps should perform.
“The stumps are going to become the control centre of what happens on the ground very soon. We have pieces of technology that are going to take it to another level … so there will be an evolution.
“The ICC in its wisdom has to establish parameters for that.”
WINDIES EXPOSE SMITH’S FLAWS AGAINST THE NEW BALL
– Daniel Cherny
Steve Smith’s Gabba conqueror has laid bare the former Australian captain’s vulnerability against the new ball, confirming that the opener’s dismissal on day two in Brisbane had fallen into a trap.
West Indies veteran Kemar Roach continued Smith’s poor start to his life at the top of the order in Test cricket, trapping the all-time great for six in the first over of Australia’s first innings after Smith missed a straightening delivery having moved across to the off-side.
It followed Smith’s scores of 12 and 11 not out in the first Test against the Windies. Smith’s dismissal in Adelaide had also come as a result of his stride outside off as he edged debutant Shamar Joseph.
Asked after day two at the Gabba whether Smith’s dismissal had been a preconceived plan, Roach said it had been.
“It was a thought, it was a thought. Obviously a quality batsman that he is,” Roach said.
“But obviously you see how he bats, he gets far across and with the new ball, you give yourself a better chance. So I backed myself to get him out today and it happened so lucky for me.”
Smith volunteered to move from No. 4 to replace the retiring David Warner at the top of the order, allowing Cameron Green a path back into the XI. Green hasn’t set the world on fire since coming back at second drop.
Aussie wicketkeeper Alex Carey backed Smith to find form.
“Yeah, he’s fine … he loves thinking, talking about batting loves the opportunity to go out there early and has been dismissed twice as an opener now and he’s gonna get dismissed a lot more as an opener,” Carey said.
“You know, he’s one of the best batters in the world and he’ll find way a way to score big hundreds for his country. He’s done it in really difficult situations before. So from our point of view, I guess the group’s not concerned at all. I think he’s played really well in the nets. He got a ball today that seamed a long way.”
Originally published as Australia vs. West Indies: Gabba Test day 3 live scores and latest news updates