It's been a long while since I commented on cricket, except for the recent one where I commented on the end of the first Ashes test (England lost) before the beginning of the second.
Well, the second one got started a day late, and got interrupted by rain while underway. So it was a four-day Test that was less than four days. But it did not lack for drama.
England's main problem with Australia was a guy named Steve Smith, who is basically now the best cricket batsman on the planet. He was the main reason the Aussies won the first Test. Well, in this Test, he was cruising toward his third century (100 runs), when the new kid, Jofra Archer, launched a bouncer at him. This is totally legal. The wooden ball hit Smith in the next going about 90 miles an hour. Right after it hit him, it looked like this:
Instant concussion. So Smith was out, Australia substituted for him, and in the shortened Test, England took a lead and then dared Australia to catch them in less than a day (unlikely) while they tried to take 10 wickets in less than a day (not really likely, but more likely than Australia getting enough runs).
They didn't quite make it. They still had a small chance (though the draw probability was over 98%) when the refs ended the Test on account of low light. So it indeed was a draw.
Australia leads 1-0. Australia doesn't have Smith. England does have Archer. Three matches left -- the next one starts Thursday the 22nd, at Leeds.
This is fun.
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