7.34pm EST
19:34
7.31pm EST
19:31
7.26pm EST
19:26
7.22pm EST
19:22
7.19pm EST
19:19
7.16pm EST
19:16
7.12pm EST
19:12
7.11pm EST
19:11
WICKET! Perry c Jones b Sciver 18, Australia 42-3
7.02pm EST
19:02
6.59pm EST
18:59
6.55pm EST
18:55
6.51pm EST
18:51
6.46pm EST
18:46
6.42pm EST
18:42
6.39pm EST
18:39
6.34pm EST
18:34
Updated
at 7.01pm EST
6.29pm EST
18:29
Updated
at 6.29pm EST
6.27pm EST
18:27
Updated
at 6.29pm EST
6.20pm EST
18:20
6.18pm EST
18:18
WICKET! Mooney c Jones b Shrubsole 3, Australia 4-2
Updated
at 7.00pm EST
6.16pm EST
18:16
6.14pm EST
18:14
WICKET! Healy c Jones b Brunt 0, Australia 1-1
6.09pm EST
18:09
6.07pm EST
18:07
Updated
at 6.08pm EST
5.41pm EST
17:41
Teams
Updated
at 5.55pm EST
5.39pm EST
17:39
England win the toss and will bowl
Updated
at 6.10pm EST
5.30pm EST
17:30
5.28pm EST
17:28
5.14pm EST
17:14
5.10pm EST
17:10
Preamble
Hello from Canberra – the nation’s capital, and a monument to compromise. Let us hope there will be no compromising from the two teams set to take the field today, Australia and England in their centrepiece Ashes Test match. If previous matches in Canberra are any guide, it should be a good batting deck, which means plenty of work for the bowlers if they are to produce incisive spells. But predictions are a fool’s errand, so let’s wait and see.
Neither XI has been named before the match, with both captains reserving the right to surprise their opponents. A win here is worth four points in the multiformat series, which Australia leads 4-2 following one T20 win and a couple of washouts. So we’ll have to hope that both teams want to take the game on rather than play it safe with three 50-over matches to follow.
These matches are such big occasions. The players in women’s cricket have had to push to have Tests scheduled at all, and even so get the opportunity rarely to don the whites, take up the red or pink ball, and play for four days. The need for a fifth day has been well displayed by every recent match in this format, but for now we’ll have to make do.
The teams have had limited preparation, but there are exciting players on both sides and they have plenty to play for. Let’s go.