England forced to work hard for their considerable first-day gains at Ashes | Adam Collins

Only once since speed-gun records began has a group of quick bowlers averaged a faster speed than Australia’s did on the first day of the Waca TestIf the plan was to manage expectations ahead of the Waca’s final Ashes fling, it was expertly done. Not hot enough to bake the pitch, we were told by groundstaff. A bit soft, Steve Smith warned. Stories from recent years illustrated that the famous track was like Seattle’s grunge scene: once awesome, long finished.Australia’s p