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A file photo of Joe Root. (AFP)
"Our responsibility as players is to make sure that for the rest of the series, that is the stuff that is spoken about, what we do on the field." Root also wanted to "move on" from the Stokes saga, as much as he was excited by the prospect of the suspended all-rounder getting back out on a cricket pitch in New Zealand. Much as he wanted to move on, though, the questions kept returning to the sledging of players on the field, which Root said he was all in favour of, as long as limits were respected. "There are certain things that people know they shouldn't say on the field," he said. "I think it's important that both sides, not just one side, get that right and don't overstep." Smith was quite happy to confirm that his laughter at the Gabba had not been mockery at England's predicament, merely at Cameron Bancroft's laconic explanation of how Bairstow had greeted him with a "headbutt" in a Perth bar. Smith also fired back at James Anderson's assertion that the Australians were like "bullies" with their "sledging", suggesting the England quick was in a league of his own when it came to the art. The Australians have been quite clear that they will continue with their "chirping" at the English and while Smith agreed there was a "line" that should not be crossed, he was not about to define where it lay. "I think the umpires and the match referees are there to determine that," he said. "From my point of view it's about playing good, hard cricket and I think we did that at the Gabba and I think we'll continue to do that throughout the series." Smith was equally ebullient when asked about English attempts to frustrate him at the crease by limiting his scoring as they seek to level up the series at 1-1. "That's cool. I'm happy with that," he smiled. "I love batting, I'm happy to stay out there batting as long as I can to be perfectly honest. If it has to take me 300 balls to get a hundred then it will take me 300 balls." Adelaide, with the prospect of pink ball movement under the lights, has long been touted as England's best chance of a test win in the series but Root knows that, as his team's best batsman, he will need to fire along with his bowlers. "I've just got to do whatever I can to win games of cricket in the next four games because personally this would be the biggest achievement of my career so far," he said. "The best way of me achieving that is to go out and score heavily, big runs. It's as simple as that."
Catch all the updates from the second Ashes Test between Australia and England from Adelaide.
Commentary (Australia innings)
10.3 J Anderson to Warner, No run. 23/0
10.2 J Anderson to Warner, Bit short outside off, left alone. 23/0
10.1 J Anderson to Warner, Back of a length delivery outside off, Warner punches it through the gap in the covers and takes two as Woakes runs after it and throws it back in. 23/0
9.6 C Woakes to Bancroft, Jaffa! Excellent delivery to end the over. Good length delivery rising off the surface, Bancroft is almost undone as the ball whiskers past the outside edge. 21/0
9.5 C Woakes to Bancroft, Outside off again, Bancroft once again taps it down, this time square on the off side. Cameron has this habit of opening his body up on most occasion, thereby allowing the opportunity of a edge being drawn. He realizes that, maybe telling himself not to repeat it. 21/0
9.4 C Woakes to Bancroft, Nicely played. Length delivery around the off stump, played in front of covers by moving across a step. 21/0
9.3 C Woakes to Bancroft, Short from Woakes, easy enough for the batsman to let it sail over his head. 21/0
9.2 C Woakes to Bancroft, Wider outside off, Bancroft has nothing to do with it. 21/0
9.1 C Woakes to Bancroft, Good length delivery outside off, Bancroft this time lets it be. Good line to bowl to the right-handed opener, he has a tendency to play on the up. Keeping the pressure on him is key. 21/0
8.6 J Anderson to Warner, Good ball. This one holds its line, maybe moves just away enough across the batsman. David Warner hangs a straight bat in defense and gets it off the outer half towards gully. 21/0
8.5 J Anderson to Warner, Angling across just outside off, this time Warner has no trouble leaving it alone. 21/0
8.4 J Anderson to Warner, That's the perfect length draws David Warner forward and almost takes the edge. The line might not look too threatening, but since it's cutting across the left-hander it's difficult not to be tempted to play at it. Fuller and outside off, Warner is forward to push it towards mid off but is beaten. 21/0
8.3 J Anderson to Warner, Good line, good length, good leave. In the channel outside off, arms are shouldered for the keeper to collect. 21/0
8.2 J Anderson to Warner, Back of a length outside off, solid punch offered from the crease a bit square on the off side. 21/0
8.1 J Anderson to Bancroft, Fuller delivery which is swinging away from Cameron Bancroft, it goes off the outer half towards covers and a run is taken. 21/0
7.6 C Woakes to Warner, Similar delivery, helped in the same region by David Warner for two more. Good over for Australia, 6 runs off it. 20/0
7.5 C Woakes to Warner, Into the body from Woakes, David Warner nudges it down towards fine leg and takes two. 18/0
7.4 C Woakes to Warner, Closer to off stump, on a short of a length, Warner leaves it alone seeing the ball moving away late. 16/0
7.3 C Woakes to Warner, The batsman chooses to leave the ball outside his off stump. 16/0
7.2 C Woakes to Warner, Well played. Sees the ball pitched a little straight and he flicks it through mid-wicket. Two runs come for him. 16/0
7.1 C Woakes to Warner, Full inswinger from Chris Woakes, Warner defends it off the front foot with the full face of the bat. 14/0
Chris Woakes is the first bowling change for England. Three slips and a gully set for him as well.
6.6 J Anderson to D Warner, Full ball swinging in from around off, Warner has a loose drive thrown at it and he's lucky he gets an inside edge on the leg side. Could have just as easily been bowled. A single results and that'll be the end of the over. 14/0
6.5 J Anderson to Bancroft, Much better. Fast and swinging in, takes the inside edge of Bancroft's bat and goes behind square leg. Single taken. 13/0
6.4 J Anderson to Bancroft, Length delivery on the stumps, guarded well from within the crease. 12/0
6.3 J Anderson to Bancroft, The change-up from Anderson. Bangs it in short outside off, easy enough for Bancroft to sway away from the line and evade. 12/0
The Adelaide Oval is packed. Barely any seats empty, which sure enough will be filled at the minutes tick by. That's what you like to see in Test cricket, makes it all the more awesome.
6.2 J Anderson to Bancroft, Marginally fuller in length this time, defended well down on the track. 12/0
6.1 J Anderson to Bancroft, Good length delivery around the off stump line, Cameron Bancroft produces a tight defensive shot in response. 12/0
5.6 S Broad to Warner, Outside off, sixth stump line, left alone by David Warner comfortably. 12/0
5.5 S Broad to Warner, That's the downside to this field and coming from around the wicket. Fraction straight in line and you're going to go for runs. It's happened here, Warner clips it through square leg and runs hard to come back for the second. 12/0
5.4 S Broad to Warner, Around the wicket to Warner, comes wide of the crease and angles it in on off, Warner punches it firmly straight to mid off. 10/0
5.3 S Broad to Bancroft, Nicely done. Negotiates the swing well by taking a step out of his crease, pushes it into the gap in the covers and scurries across. 10/0
5.2 S Broad to Bancroft, Nice. Full once more, good seam position and outside off, forces Cameron to let it be. 9/0
5.1 S Broad to Bancroft, Well done, Stuart Broad. That would have been a boundary had he not stopped it. Full outside off, Bancroft drives it straight back, the bowler dives to his left quickly in his followthrough and gets a hand on it. 9/0
4.6 J Anderson to Bancroft, Full and attacking the stumps, driven just wide of mid on for a run. 9/0
4.5 J Anderson to Bancroft, And boom! He's right on the money. Full and swinging away on middle and off, Bancroft brings a straight blade down in defense. He shouldn't mind even if he gets hit for a boundary. That's what he should be doing more often. 8/0
4.4 J Anderson to Bancroft, Stays back to this length ball and keeps it out. Still bowling a touch short here, Anderson. Should rectify that. 8/0
4.3 J Anderson to Bancroft, Beautiful! What a ball. Length ball around off, moves away late as Bancroft has a push inside the line. Is beaten past the outside edge as it thuds into the keeper's gloves. 8/0
4.2 J Anderson to Bancroft, Outside off on a good length, left alone for the keeper to collect. 8/0
4.1 J Anderson to Bancroft, Inward movement for Anderson as he bowls it on off, Bancroft is once again hit high on the thigh pads as he looks to play at it. 8/0
The silent observer My gosh, it is so windy out there that the boundary ropes have actually been held back! There was a moment before when Aleem Dar's hat flew off.
3.6 S Broad to Warner, Oh dear, oh dear! What a jaffa from the big man Stuart Broad. David Warner is a lucky man to have survived that. The pacer runs in hard and lands it around off, it cuts back in sharply as Warner leaves. Dangerous thing to do, he didn't expect it to come back in that much. The ball barely misses the off stump as it goes past him. Wow! Terrific delivery to end a good over. 8/0
3.5 S Broad to Warner, Switches the angle to around the wicket and it's the perfect delivery with three slips and a gully in place. It's full and swinging away late around off, Warner covers the line and makes a leave. 8/0
3.4 S Broad to Bancroft, Plays this on the up. Bancroft punches it to the left of short extra cover and calls Warner for a quick single. 8/0
3.3 S Broad to Bancroft, Movement into the batsman this time, the batsman leans across a touch and works it through mid-wicket for a couple of runs. 7/0
3.2 S Broad to Bancroft, Shaping away from around off, Bancroft has no trouble leaving it alone. 5/0
Anderson and Broad are just a tad short with their lengths here. Need to go fuller, use the seam well. It will trouble the batsmen and eventually, with some luck, reap the rewards.
3.1 S Broad to Bancroft, Nice length delivery on the fifth stump line, Cameron makes a decent leave. 5/0
2.6 J Anderson to Warner, Back of a length again, kept out off the back foot to end the over. 5/0
2.5 J Anderson to Warner, FOUR! First boundary of the innings and that's come off David Warner's bat. Anderson is short with his length so the left-hander puts it away. Crashes it through the left of point and sends it across the boundary line. 5/0
2.4 J Anderson to Warner, Good leave. An impressive leave by David Warner. Fuller in length and around off, moves away as the southpaw makes a late leave. Judged it well on that occasion. 1/0
2.3 J Anderson to Warner, Full in length, just a shade straighter in line, Warner brings bat in front of his pads and blocks it out. 1/0
2.2 J Anderson to Warner, Fires it full but well outside off, Warner has nothing to do with it. 1/0
2.1 J Anderson to Warner, Just down the leg side from Jimmy Anderson, Warner looks to get something on it but doesn't. 1/0
1.6 S Broad to Bancroft, Fullish in length outside the line of off stump, blocked with the full face of the bat. 1/0
1.5 S Broad to Bancroft, Cutting back in on middle and off, Bancroft is hit in the mid-section as he looks to work it on the leg side. Not sure if cutting his fingers across the seam this early is a good idea. Broad is a seam bowler, must play to his strengths. Bringing Cameron Bancroft forward and making him drive should be his objective, bowling just a tad short. 1/0
1.4 S Broad to Bancroft, Slightly ahead of a length around off, pushes straight to short extra cover. 1/0
1.3 S Broad to Bancroft, Length ball aiming the top of the off stick, Bancroft from within his crease offers a firm punch down towards mid on. 1/0
Quite windy out there. So much that umpire Aleem Dar's hat and glasses at square leg just blew right off. A sight which will encourage the visitors.
1.2 S Broad to Bancroft, On the fourth stump line, good length delivery from Broad as Cameron Bancroft leaves it. 1/0
1.1 S Broad to Bancroft, Broad comes steaming in and immediately goes full. Just outside off as Bancroft leans ahead and meets it with a straight bat. 1/0
Stuart Broad will bowl from the other end. He too will have three slips and a gully in place.
0.6 J Anderson to Warner, Rising at a nice height from a good length, in that off stump channel, David Warner lets it be. Tidy first over from Anderson, just 1 off it. 1/0
0.5 J Anderson to Warner, There it is... The sucker ball! Full and hurled outside off, Warner has a tame poke at it without much foot movement. Almost edges it behind, he'll feel lucky he didn't. More of that, Jimmy. That's what you want to do. 1/0
0.4 J Anderson to Warner, Goes fuller this time and it's swung a long way down leg, Jonny Bairstow moves swiftly to his right and takes it well. Anderson just needs to get his length right here, should go full and exploit the conditions here. 1/0
0.3 J Anderson to Warner, Short of a good length close to off, Warner hangs back and taps it down right under his nose. 1/0
0.2 J Anderson to Warner, Good carry. That's a superb delivery, good sign for the bowler. Lands it on a good length around off, great seam position and it nips back in just a touch. Warner shoulders his arms as the ball whizzes past him. 1/0
0.1 J Anderson to Bancroft, Bancroft is away wasting no time at all. A back of a length delivery outside off, he pushes it into the covers and hares across to the other end. Always good to get off the mark on the first delivery, he'll be feeling good about that. 1/0