Skip to content

Fifth Ashes Test: We take a look at the verdict from the press following day three

Image: Kevin Pietersen: Scored the second-slowest half-century of his England career

Many purists cringe whenever Test cricket is labelled 'boring' by the casual observer, but even the press pack's finest struggled to find any excitement on day three at the Kia Oval.

Latest Cricket Stories

Wayne Smith - The Australian Even English journalists pressed young batsman Joe Root hard at the end of the day about whether his side had had any respect for the thousands of spectators who paid quite exorbitant sums to witness one of the most boring days of Ashes cricket since Trevor Bailey retired his dead bat. Certainly England made no attempt at all to entertain them. Malcolm Knox - Sydney Morning Herald Nathan Lyon was the standout among a group of Australian bowlers who tried everything they could. With some more luck, some more skill, or even some fielders who could throw straighter or take the blinding catch, they might have had the wickets to reward their endeavour. But in the end, England repelled and perhaps also disillusioned them. By the end of play, the full house at the Oval could be divided into those dismayed by the lack of action and those delighted by the length of their beer snakes. Presumably there were also some who remembered that a lot of Test cricket used to be like this. This is a game, after all, that in 1939 did what mathematics cannot, and defined eternity itself: a timeless Test abandoned after ten days. The run rates in that match, by the way, were faster than England's on Friday. Richard Hinds - Herald Sun The fault lies squarely with England, which spent much of the second day bowling at what might be described as ''snail's pace''. Although only if the snail concerned had just suffered a massive coronary. Then, on the third day, England batted with all the urgency of a death row prisoner studying the menu before his final meal. The home team eked out a meagre 215 runs in 98 overs to limp to 4-247 at stumps. To suggest the pace was funereal does no justice to the horse power of the modern hearse. Clearly, Australia's big first innings total of 9-492 declared, and the likelihood of heavy rain on the fourth day, left the home team content to plod to a draw rather than boldly pursue an unprecedented 4-0 home Ashes victory.

Around Sky