Tuesday 26 December 2017 23:24, UK
On what was a very flat pitch at the MCG, Tom Curran gave a good account of himself on debut on what was another difficult day for England, says Sky Sports expert Rob Key...
It was a tough start for Tom Curran but he did well on Test debut.
Once Steve Smith won the toss and batted first on an extremely flat deck it was always going to be hard work for England and their bowlers, but Curran held his own very well. He showed the character we see when we see him play in the T20 Blast for Surrey.
He'll be gutted about the no-ball he bowled when getting David Warner caught but it was a good first showing from him. That's as big an occasion as you're going to get in cricket. You are playing in front of a packed MCG in a series that has been a tough one for England and he looked like someone who was relishing the occasion rather than fearing it.
That's all you can ask from him really because you never can tell how someone is going to react to international cricket. You just hope they have the character to show what they do in county cricket and I thought he did that.
Going forward, he's certainly got the game to trouble batsmen when the wicket has a bit more in it, but the problem is there are not going to be many of those in Australia.
Curran got the nod to replace the injured Craig Overton and I wasn't surprised by the selection. England were always looking to bring in a like-for-like replacement for Overton. They like the character that Curran has and bringing in Mason Crane and playing two spinners was never really an option at the MCG, especially with Dawid Malan, who bowled pretty well at times in Perth, able to bowl a few overs.
The problem England had today is that Malan bowled more overs than Moeen Ali. For me, Moeen has struggled with a finger injury all tour and he was undercooked going into the series. That has been apparent throughout the tour so far.
We said this before the start of the tour, if Moeen is injured and you want one spinner, someone who can give you control then England should have probably picked Jack Leach. Then if you want two spinners in the side then you probably want Mason Crane but I just don't see double spin as the way forward in Australia.
On a more positive note, there was a better showing from Stuart Broad today. Jonny Bairstow said it before the game, it takes a brave man to write off Broad. You are talking about one of England's best ever bowlers, who has struggled a bit in conditions that aren't easy to bowl seam in and against a batting line-up that contains the best Test batsman in world cricket. Smith's record is extraordinary and you could almost put a lot of what's happened down to Smith playing so well and at times being the difference between the batting of the two sides.
Broad and the other England bowlers have had it pretty tough against this Australian batting line-up, especially against Smith. For me, Broad will always come good. You don't get as far in international cricket or have a record as good as his is without having the odd tough time of it before coming out the other side. Generally, when people are knocking Broad he comes out and shows us his best.
From Australia's point of view, things keep getting better and better. Their senior players are really stepping up, especially now Warner has come good. The England bowlers have generally kept him quiet in this series with a number of good plans, but he fired today.
The other problem England have - a problem which has plagued every team that has played against Australia at the MCG since 2014 - is how they go about getting Smith out. He just keeps on going and it's proving to be a recurring nightmare for Joe Root and his side.
When you get on a flat pitch like the one at the MCG, unless you've got a Muttiah Muralitharan, a Shane Warne or a Mitchell Johnson in his absolute pomp, there's not a lot you can do but try and control the scoring rate and try to create wicket-taking opportunities that way. That's what England did, and they did it well, but Smith is not bothered by how fast or slow he scores. He just loves batting.
Jimmy Anderson wasn't happy with the nature of the pitch at the MCG. It was a slow pitch with wickets very hard to come by which made for an attritional day of cricket.
To be honest, that's what Test cricket is really. You get some really flat pitches and that's what England have had to contend with at the MCG. It doesn't always make for the most entertaining cricket but unless you've got a real magician up your sleeve in your bowling attack, you can't do any more than England did really.
It was a big toss for Australia to win and after the start they had, the hosts would have expected to have been up near the 300-run mark. That would have been par for the course so England have done well.
Obviously, the Aussies are ahead on what is an extremely flat pitch but England have done all they could do. They've kept the run rate in check which doesn't always make for the most entertaining cricket, but you have to stay in the game somehow because after losing the toss they were always up against it.
