Rain threatened to ruin day two of the fifth and final Ashes Test of the summer, but by the end nothing could dampen Steve Smith's delight at the Kia Oval.
Ducking and weaving
"The key with this is trying to get out the way of the ball," said Nasser Hussain in the Ashes Zone,
right before Andrew Strauss produced a huge first serve that hit Nasser in the helmet. Such was the speed off leftie Strauss' racquet (suggesting he could have had a career on the ATP Tour had cricket not worked out for him), the tennis ball actually became lodged in between the peak and grill. It at least meant the demonstration ended in tears of laughter, rather than tears of pain. Former England captains Michael Atherton, Hussain and Strauss all talked about their experiences of dealing with the short ball, including the latter's recollection of being hit by a Brett Lee bumper back in that sensational Ashes series of 2005. Should you duck or weave? The trio gave their opinions in a masterclass on playing the short ball.
Hosts still hoping
England may have endured a tough time of it in the field, but bowling coach
David Saker remained confident at the end of play that they could still fight their way back into the contest. "We're a bit behind at the minute but there's still a long way to go, (it is) a very good batting wicket so we hope we can push forward from here," he told Sky Sports. Saker also insisted it was too early to judge England's two debutants, Chris Woakes and Simon Kerrigan. The former did take a wicket, finishing with 1-96, while spinner Kerrigan went unused during Thursday, meaning he sent down just eight overs in the Australian innings.
You can relive all the best action from Thursday's play by reading our
interactive commentary from The Oval. Alternatively you can view a gallery of the day's
best images here.
