Bad Call On Anderson Costs England On Day One of First Ashes Test.

It was a calculated gamble when England selectors looked at the recently injured Jofra Archer and Jimmy Anderson and decided that the latter was probably fit enough to play.
As the England opening bowlers plundered the Aussie batting and had them reeling at 122 for 8 - it seemed that England might have got away with it when Jimmy had only managed 4 overs before having to leave the field.
Step forward former Aussie skipper, Steve Smith, who hit a crafted 144 and dashed England's hopes as he carried Siddle and Lyon. The tail wagged in scoring an additional 162 runs.

Broad and Woakes had bowled magnificently - with Broad, unusually, bowling a decent full length - but Ben Stokes, as backup seamer was unable to produce of his best.
After losing the toss - you might say that England did well to dismiss the Aussies for less than three hundred - but it was an opportunity lost.

With heavy cloud cover in the coming days - posting a lead will be difficult for England on Day 2. Well done to Roy and Burns for keeping wickets intact at the end of the day.

Had the match fit Stone been chosen instead of Anderson or Archer, England would surely have managed to squeeze out that pesky, final brace of wickets several hours earlier.

(Incidentally, was that the worst day's umpiring in test history since the days of a certain Pakistani who was not friends with a certain England captain?)