England opener Mark Stoneman admitted the tourists were “a fraction disappointed” with their performance on the first day of the second warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI at Adelaide Oval. England finished on 278 for 8 but could have been in a far stronger position had they not lost three wickets in the last five overs of play.
It was that sort of day for England. Every time they seemed to be getting on top, they lost a wicket. Three of England’s top five made half-centuries and the other two batsmen, Alastair Cook and James Vince, made starts but no one was able to go on to make a match-defining score. Dawid Malan, who was dismissed with the last delivery of the day, top-scored with 63.
Despite some determined bowling from the CA XI, there were also a number of poor shots which contributed to England’s struggles. “Some of the dismissals we had today were on the sloppy side so it’s frustrating that we didn’t kick on and have a couple of hundreds scored,” said Stoneman who made 61. “Credit to the opposition who have got themselves back in the game. It was a decent day’s cricket.
“We spoke about how important it’s going to be out here to get yourself into an innings. From that point of view, it was encouraging that everyone got a bit of time in the middle but we also need to be scoring hundreds and big hundreds so there’s lessons to be learned.”
Stoneman himself was guilty of a soft dismissal off 21 year-old leg-spinner Daniel Fallins. The New South Welshman, who took 4-71 on the occasion of his first-class debut, had the opener caught at midwicket off a full-toss. “The thinking behind it was when he did bowl slower there was an opportunity to get it on the full,” said Stoneman. “The bat twisted a little in my hand and I clothed it to midwicket so it was disappointing. It was a chance to make a really big score and get myself into the tour.”
Despite his frustration, Stoneman, who also made a half-century in the first warm-up match of the tour against Western Australia in Perth, admitted he was happy with how he is feeling in the middle. “The rhythm’s there,” he said. “The timing has been pretty good so I’m happy with how things are progressing but it would have been nice to get a hundred.”
Only Vince and England captain Joe Root played with much fluency against a gentle CA XI attack. Unusually for an Australian surface, the pitch was sluggish and the outfield, left long for an AFL match at the weekend, didn’t help the tourists either. Stoneman reckoned England’s performance was worth 320 in normal conditions.
“That was very much on the slow side,” he said. “Speaking to the groundsman, it’s a drop-in and the length of the outfield is because of the international rules game that comes on the weekend. All in all, it wasn’t great for free-scoring and putting the bowlers under much pressure which I think reflected in the way they were able to draw the game back. We were never able to get away from them.”
Despite the lack of pace and aggression that the CA XI possessed in their seam attack, Stoneman is not concerned that England’s preparations are being hampered ahead of the Test series. When the first Test at the Gabba comes round, Australia will have Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and Pat Cummins roaring in and England won’t have faced much like it in the build-up.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern,” Stoneman said. “It’s just something to be aware of in terms of your mindset. It’s [the CA XI attack] been a progression from the opposition we faced in Perth but the work we do in practice is all geared towards that first Test.”
