Ashes: Australia take perfect day-night record to Adelaide

BRISBANE, Australia (AP):

WHILE THERE were initial question marks over opener David Warner’s fitness for the second match of the Ashes series, there are no doubts about Australia’s superiority in day-night Tests.

They are a perfect eight from eight as they go into the pink-ball Test against England, beginning today (last night Jamaica time) at the Adelaide Oval.

Warner had a few reprieves on his way to scoring 94 runs in the series-opener at the Gabba in Brisbane, where Australia beat England by nine wickets.

But after taking two hits in the ribs while batting, Warner did not field for Australia in England’s second innings. He still appeared to be in discomfort while batting in practice at Adelaide, but yesterday captain Pat Cummins said Warner “will be right”.

“If he thought he couldn’t be as good as he normally is, he wouldn’t be playing,” added Cummins.

Teammate Travis Head, who cemented his spot as Australia’s No. 5 by scoring 152 in Brisbane, earlier predicted Warner would not miss it.

“I flew home with him a couple of days ago. His family came into Adelaide, which was nice,” Head told Australian Associated Press. “And he felt like he was in a good space. I think he’s ready to go.”

Cummins also confirmed that right-arm paceman Jhye Richardson will return to the Test line-up for the first time since February 2019 to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the only change for Australia.

“He swings the ball both ways, he’s a bit faster than you think ... and he’s really consistent,” Cummins said. “He’s more than ready to go.”

While Australia’s record in day-night Tests is perfect, England have just one win in four attempts. The win came in their first day-nighter at home against West Indies in 2017.

England will get two chances with the pink ball in this series – the fifth Test in Hobart, which was moved from Perth because of COVID-19 restrictions in Western Australia, will also be a day-nighter.

Going into Adelaide, all-rounder Ben Stokes allayed concerns about the knee injury that hampered his bowling at Brisbane last week, after coming through a nets session.

The 30-year-old Stokes bowled just 12 overs at the Gabba, his first Test match since March, and was in obvious discomfort during his latter spells after appearing to jar his left knee while chasing a ball to the boundary.

But he was back to full pace on Tuesday, where he bowled for an hour.

“We will find out over the next couple of days,” England captain Root said. “He obviously had a bit of a jar in his knee in the last game. Hopefully it’s something he’s shaken off now and he can get back to full intensity and all options are on the table. We will have to manage that and see where we are at.”

Root, meanwhile, said being docked five Test championship points because of slow over rates during the Brisbane Test hurts more than all the England players losing their entire match fee.

Under the International Cricket Council’s format, 12 points are awarded for a Test win, four for a draw and six for a tie.

It hurts more when it comes to the difficulty of earning points away from home. England have lost 10 of their last 11 Tests in Australia, and have not won a match Down Under since a victorious tour of 2010-11.

And to make matters more difficult, no England team has recovered to win an Ashes series in Australia after losing the first Test since captain Len Hutton’s squad in 1954-55.

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