The Ashes LIVE: England vs Australia fourth test, day two score – latest cricket

No surprises at the other end: Chris Woakes looking for a five-wicket first haul at Ashes.

Josh Hazlewood might have hoped to have a little more time to let his gruel settle before having to get out, but Australia’s last man – and the only genuine butt on the side – is forced down the steps and out. to the center. He takes the 300 off him with a slant across the ravine for a single.

Chipped to cover the first ball! James Anderson has a wicket!

Ben Stokes can hardly believe his luck. All that tough grafting yesterday from Anderson and eventually he’s gifted one, a gracious player fueled with enthusiasm by Pat Cummins from the outside half of the bat. Stokes swallows it and England can set his sights on ending this immediately.

The players exit as some late-arriving spectators make the rather scary journey to the top of the temporary stand. It will be James Anderson to start, Ben Stokes will shine the ball on his jumper before passing it to the local hero. It’s bright, blue and breezy – a beautiful summer morning in England.

Pat Cummins to tackle first.

You suspect Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins will be looking to stick around – if they can scratch and survive for another hour and get a total above 350, they’ll be very pleased.

We assume it will be Chris Woakes at one end this morning, but it will be interesting who Ben Stokes starts with at the other. Last night it was James Anderson for a single game of six balls to wrap up a wicketless day for England’s senior closer, and there is every chance it will continue today, with Stokes knowing Anderson is unlikely to give Starc and Cummins anything to free their arms and, perhaps, hoping he can get him into the game after a difficult series so far. However, the temptation for the England captain could be to throw the ball in Mark Wood’s direction to try and end things quickly.

Assuming England wrap things up quickly enough this morning, we’ll see what this renewed Aussie attack looks like. While the home attack is better balanced with the added pace of Mark Wood on the side, the only thing perhaps they lack without Ollie Robinson is a really high launch point and someone capable of getting an extra rebound. There was a bit of a bumpy spring yesterday, and Australia have in Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green, three individuals capable of getting a bit of extra momentum that could prove valuable.

The way Cummins juggles his strong five-seamer selection will be intriguing – the captain might be feeling a bit of the strain given he’s played all five of the Australian Tests on this tour – but having Green and Mitch Marsh in the side reduces the need for him to bowl longer spells. Having left out Todd Murphy, Cummins may not have liked seeing Moeen Ali figure out how to shut down the top on day one, but he’s not short of options.

“I was part of the team at the beginning of the series and I was patiently waiting, desperate to try,” says Woakes. “It has gone reasonably well!

“I think naturally you’re always happy with wickets when it comes to a top-tier player, so I’m happy with the scalps I’ve collected. The wicket feels quite good, you go through periods where nothing seems to be happening, so we’re very pleased with yesterday.

“It’s just about being patient. He was trying to make the most of those opportunities or windows where the ball was just doing a little more.

“The message that Stokesy gives is always to think about the way you’re going to take a wicket. He certainly helped me, always trying to think on the positive side of things to try and get wickets. I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been good.

“It is always easy to get too far ahead in Test cricket. If you don’t play with the situation in front of you, you can suddenly find yourself out of the test match. Obviously we will be positive, as this team does, but we will take each session as it comes.”

It feels very Chris Woakes for a day when he bowled so well to be completely overshadowed by Stuart Broad’s 600 Test wicket, but I thought the Warwickshire all-rounder was simply superb yesterday. His batting and bowling averages in England are now better than Ian Botham’s two marks, and for a man who might have started the summer wondering if his Tests career would fade away, these last two Tests have been a reminder of just how good which is Woakes on the home slopes.

Marnus Labuschagne was happy enough with Australia’s total last night, considering that this Old Trafford ground isn’t playing as well as it looks and pleased that the visitors managed something competitive.

“Anything with a three in front of it is fine,” Labuschagne said. “Given the number of guys that jumped in, we’re a little disappointed as no one got a great score.

“I think the ball will be more in his court. I feel like with that in mind and needing to win this test match to stay alive, they will definitely show more intent at times.

“They don’t need to do it every ball, but I think with the amount of rain forecast for later that might be the way they do it.”