England’s Mason Crane passes the Shane Warne test on Ashes debut | Ali Martin


The 20-year-old generated oohs and aahs from deliveries that troubled Australia’s batsmen and had Warne praising his line and ability to spin the ball hard

The second day of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney was one of crisp blue skies and beautiful batting conditions, bringing with it a nagging sense of what might have been for England’s specialists after the previous evening’s two-wicket, nightwatchman-less cluster against the second new ball.

Nevertheless, the tail wagged for the second Test in a row and 346 all out gave England a total from which they have never lost before at the SCG, even if we have learned over the last two winters that the current generation possess an ability to torch such statistical comforts in rather inglorious fashion.

Related: Australia in charge of fifth Ashes Test after Usman Khawaja’s unbeaten 91

Related: Mason Crane must be given the chance to get it wrong on Ashes debut | Jason Gillespie

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