Welcome to coverage of day three of the first Test from the Gabba. This could all get very grisly today.
It’s been a catalogue of errors so far from England – messing up selection, the decision at the toss, Rory Burns’ footwork to the opening delivery, shot selection, Burns’ catching, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan missing run-out opportunities, the inability of Jack Leach to hold up and end and the injury to Ben Stokes’ knee that meant England’s three right-arm over bowlers, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes, had to bowl about sic more overs each than planned. For all the stretching and ice baths, they are still going to wake up stiff and sore this morning but it is imperative that they hit their strides early. They need three quick wickets and the opportunity to put their feet up, if not for this match, then for the series.
Preparing these introductions, one is inclined to look for crumbs of comfort and there were a few. England were flogged yesterday but I think it would be unfair to say ‘the wheels came off’, they remained chipper throughout, had…
