As it happened - Australia vs England, 2nd Test, Adelaide, 1st day

The lights are beginning to take effect around Adelaide Oval, the players' shadows standing out in all four directions. England started well but this is shaping up to be Australia's day, unless the pink ball comes to life for them in this night-time session.

But, as Andrew McGlashan notes, there's another potential problem looming: "England really need to get their overs in tonight so that they get 10 with the second new ball. Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to hit 36 degrees which will likely be around when play starts so that could be some hard toil if inroads aren't made in the next two hours or so."

Australia 1 for 129 (Warner 65*, Labuschagne 53) vs England
An unbroken century stand between David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne gave Australia a solid foundation going into the notorious twilight period on day one of the Adelaide test. Both players enjoyed some fortune in recording hard-fought fifties, as England's attack went unrewarded through the evening session.

Labuschagne, in particular, benefited from a moment of generosity in the field, Jos Buttler putting down a leg-side chance when he was on 21. Ben Stokes was the bowler, and his spell of sustained short stuff looked likeliest to bring about a breakthrough for England, who seemed to be sitting in and hoping for the session under lights to tip the contest back their way.

Having battled through the afternoon session, Warner became increasingly fluent, bringing up fifty from 108 balls (his third-slowest in Tests) - a miscued reverse-sweep off Root that rolled past leg stump the closest he came to giving it away. Labuschagne was nearly caught at leg slip in the same over, but moved to a 156-ball half-century shortly before the break.

Labuschagne continues to churn them out. Shortly after becoming the fifth-fastest man to 2000 Test runs, he recorded his 17th 50-plus score with a punch through mid-off off Robinson. He's had some luck - as well as the drop earlier on, a flick off Root just evaded leg slip, but England have not been able to drag him from the crease.

Andrew McGlashan writes: "This pair have a history when it comes to big partnerships in an Adelaide day-night Test: two years ago they added 361 for the second wicket against Pakistan. On that occasion runs came a lot more freely than they have done today. England have certainly made them work hard, but ultimately still only have one wicket to show for it which will be a concern with the ball going soft even if we are approaching the twilight period where the bowlers will hope for some assistance. Ben Stokes has put in a big shift of short stuff but David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne have largely resisted it although England may rue the missed chance by Jos Buttler. Out of the five quicks, Stokes’ short-pitched approach is about the only point of difference they have after leaving out the pace of Mark Wood. We have certainly seen a different side to Warner’s batting in the last two innings. He also popped what was likely a painkiller a few minutes ago which suggests he’s still battling through the pain of the damaged rib."

While Warner started slowly then moved steadily through the gears, Labuschagne has gone the other way. He had 10 off his first nine balls, but has since added 23 from 119 - including one stretch of 37 balls without scoring, and another of 26. England have been plugging away with the short stuff but, aside from that gloved chance off Stokes, it has largely drawn a dead-batted response from Labuschagne. Between blocking and leaving, the stump mic has picked up some of the usual idiosyncratic self-commentary, too - including an enthusiastic “Yeah, well played, Marn!”

Root has brought himself on to fill in during the evening session, with Warner immediately signalling he won't be allowed to just put it on a spot by advancing to crack his first ball through the covers. England have been plugging away with their seamers, the run rate still below two an over for the innings, but it's a hot day and with the final session shaping as a crucial one as the floodlights take effect, Root's offbreaks have a role to play.

There was plenty of discussion going into this Test about whether England might change the balance of the side and drop Jack Leach, with traditional wisdom dictating against not including a specialist spinner. But as Alex Malcolm explained on Switch Hit this week, "if there's a Test to not play a spinner, this is the one". While Nathan Lyon has a solid record from his five day-night Tests in Adelaide, and R Ashwin had a good outing last summer, visiting spinners have not been much in the game - the likes of Tabraiz Shamsi, Mark Craig, Mitch Santner, Moeen Ali and Yasir Shah having taken just six wickets between them.

Stokes came into the attack with a clear plan to go short, having had some success against Labuschagne before dinner... and he should have removed Australia's No. 3 with his third ball, only for Buttler to put down the chance diving to his left. England had telegraphed their intentions to both batters, with fielders back on the hook. Labuschagne took it on, nevertheless, and got a clear deflection off the glove - it went high down the leg side, Buttler got his top hand to the ball, only for it to wriggle free. Looked more straightforward than the one he took off Harris earlier.

Smith's got the blazer back on (Cummins' blazer, in fact - note the No. 47 beneath the crest). Cummins was ruled out on the morning of the Test after being deemed a close contact of a Covid-19 case.

Anderson and Robinson resume after the interval, with Australia's second-wicket pair remaining watchful. With the ball getting a little older and the sun out, you suspect England will just try to keep it tight and bore a couple out before tea - anticipating the potential for pink-ball pandemonium as the floodlights take effect. England have arguably bowled a little short, but the pay-off has been keeping a lid on the scoring; Anderson's 11th ball after dinner was pitched right up, only for Warner to crunch it through the covers and bring up the Australia 50.

Australia 1 for 45 (Warner 20*, Labuschagne 16*) vs England
Australia battled through a testing first-hour examination against the pink ball to reach the dinner break in Adelaide one down. The second Ashes Test had begun amid frantic rejigging for the home side, after captain Pat Cummins was ruled out by South Australia's Covid regulations, but David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne put them on a more even footing with a gritty 41-run stand.

With James Anderson and Stuart Broad back in harness after being left out at the Gabba, England were miserly from the outset. Broad thought he had struck in his third over, only for Marcus Harris to overturn an lbw decision - ball-tracking showing the delivery to be missing leg stump. But Harris didn't last much longer before deflecting a pull off Broad down the leg side, where Jos Buttler took a magnificent flying catch.

Australia managed just 11 runs from nine Anderson and Broad overs, with Warner taking 20 balls to get going as well as surviving a review off his 2019 nemesis. England went to the DRS again when Chris Woakes hit Warner's pads, but after lengthy deliberations over a possible inside edge the ball was shown to have pitched outside leg.

Warner eventually began to find his range, cutting Woakes for four and clipping and pulling successfully in Broad's second spell. The bowling remained tight, however, with Labuschagne facing 36 consecutive dot balls before attempting a risky late dab at Ben Stokes and seeing the ball fly through the slip cordon for four.

Broad is back into the attack, with Warner looking increasingly settled (he now has more runs from two innings in this series than he managed through the whole of the 2019 summer in England).

Shiva Jayaraman writes: Even before the 2019 Ashes when Stuart Broad dismissed David Warner seven times in the series bowling from around the wicket, the England pacer had largely used the around-the-wicket line of attack to Warner in the previous Ashes during the Australian summer in 2017-18. Broad had bowled 143 out of 175 balls to the Australia opener from around but couldn’t manage to dismiss him even once in that series. On the positive side, however, he had managed to keep Warner quiet: the batter hit only three boundaries from the 143 balls from around the wicket. This was a big win for Broad from the previous Ashes in Australia in 2013-14 when Warner had hit 21 boundaries from just 153 balls from Broad, and struck at 89 runs per 100 balls. Broad, nowhere nearly as skilled then as he is now, attempted only three balls in that entire series from around the wicket to Warner. Bowling from around the wicket seems to be the obvious choice for Broad this time over as well, but in the absence of any seam movement, and with a different ball (Kookaburra compared to Dukes), will he be as successful in removing Warner as he was in the previous Ashes?

According to Gnasher, our man on the ground, the first break of the day will be 40 minutes long (although he doesn't know whether it's called tea, dinner, supper or what...)

England have certainly made a good start with the pink ball, bowling 11 maidens out of the first 17. Warner was allowed a freebie by Woakes, a short, wide ball which he seized on to thrash for four - his first attacking stroke after more than an hour's play. But Robinson has dotted them up against Labuschagne (who is leaving well, as you would expect) and the shackles have remained on. Just one wicket down, though, and Australia will take heart from that.

After ten overs, nine of which were delivered by Anderson and Broad, Australia had crept along to 11 for 1 - their slowest start in a Test in the last 20 years. Warner took 20 balls to get off the mark, which included surviving an England review after Broad beat him on the inside and the ball deflected to slip (without the intervention of an inside edge).

Gaurav Sundararaman has this: "The Ashes 2019 in England saw Broad dominating Warner and Harris, and things have been pretty much the same this afternoon at Adelaide. Warner has scored 35 runs from 111 balls since the last Ashes series and has been dismissed by Broad seven times. Only one ball has been bowled over the wicket. Harris scored 28 runs from 60 balls and has been dismissed four times."

With Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson into the attack, England used the DRS for another crack at Warner - but after much rocking and rolling to try and discern an inside edge (Paul Reiffel decided replays were inconclusive so stayed with Paul Wilson's on-field call) ball-tracking showed Woakes' delivery had pitched outside leg anyway.

So England have burned two of their three reviews by the drinks break. Australia 1 for 15, No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne having made 10 of them.

Broad has his man, gobbling up Harris for the fourth time in Tests - although this wasn't a typical round-the-wicket dismissal of a left-hand batter. The ball was short and down the leg side, Harris cuffed a pull but it needed a flying, one-handed take from Jos Buttler to reel it in. Whether it was slightly misdirected by Broad, England were certainly looking at that mode of dismissal, with Haseeb Hameed stationed at leg gully. He wouldn't have got to it, but Buttler made sure.

Lots of discussion about Broad's record against Warner, but Marcus Harris didn't much enjoy being in the crosshairs in 2019 either - three dismissals in three Tests, and it almost became four in four as Broad found the front pad from round the wicket. The length was full, and Harris didn't look too optimistic but ball-tracking came to his rescue, showing the delivery was sliding down leg and slightly high, too. Broad's celebrations curtailed (for now).

Andrew McGlashan has this update from Adelaide Oval: "Here’s some more detail on what’s been a dramatic morning. Cricket Australia will continue to monitor their protocols around what players are allowed to do during the tour following Pat Cummins' withdrawal due to being a close contract. It needs stressing, though, that no one involved in this situation had done anything wrong. CA’s advice to players is to dine in small groups in case this situation eventuates. They were fortunate, though, that Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were outside the same restaurant. Nick Hockley, the Cricket Australia CEO, said it was 'hypothetical' to consider what might have happened to the Test if they had both been considered closed contacts. The players are likely to be under tighter protocols in Melbourne and Sydney where case numbers are higher, especially with the tour then moving to Tasmania which has only just opened their borders."

Here we go then. We were expecting this duel a week ago, but good things come to those who wait... Big lbw appeal from Broad's first ball, as Warner shoulders arms to one coming back in - but Paul Wilson decides (rightly) that it was going over the top. According to Ricky Ponting on Channel Seven, Broad had wandered up to Warner at the non-striker's during Anderson's opening over and asked him what guard he was planning to take; some early mind games, recalling Warner's struggles in England two years ago.

Anyway, back-to-back maidens from England's old stagers, this Test is up and running.

Here's what Cummins' stand-in said at the toss: "It's a huge honour obviously. Been a pretty interesting morning, bit been going on. Feel for Patty missing this game, but I'll try and lead on the way he started last week, and hopefully we can have a really good week. [Spoken to Cummins?] Just good luck, go for it, it's your team this week, control the boys and keep moving forward.

"They're obviously big losses for us [Cummins and Hazlewood], they're two world-class bowlers. But we've been really excited by what we've seen from Jhye Richardson for a few years now and Michael Neser, I'm really excited for him, he's worked his backside off for a long time, been 12th man numerous times and he gets his opportunity, we're all looking forward to playing with him this week, it's a great moment for him"

Luck is with Smith at his first coin toss since that fateful Test in Cape Town three-and-a-half years ago. Australia will bat first and hope to "control the game", with those twilight sessions shaping up as key passages of play. Richardson and Neser come in, two enforced changes for them with the absences of Cummins and Josh Hazlewood (side strain). England, meanwhile, have left out Jack Leach, so will be reliant on Root's offbreaks to take the load off their seamers - after no Branderson at Brisbane, both are back in the side at the South Australia ground (said in way superstitious actors refer to Shakespeare’s “Scottish play”).

Hello everyone... Smith captaining Australia, is it 2017-18 all over again? The Ashes opened with a familiar script in Brisbane but that's been torn up now! England fans setting the 4am alarm call will have been hoping that someone would stand up and change the course of the series - instead, the Australia captain has been told to sit down and stay where he is due to Covid regs. Michael Neser's been handed his baggy green, as you can see from the footage above; meanwhile, over in the England camp, Stuart Broad has been presented with his 150th cap by his old mucker James Anderson - so it sounds like it could be an all-seam attack for the tourists. Joe Root will be hoping the pink pill can perk up England's chances, but the prognosis is far from rosy on that front: Australia have played eight day-night Tests and won them all.

Andrew McGlashan is at Adelaide Oval for us and has summed up the mood:

Three captains in three Tests for Australia. It has been an extraordinary morning in Adelaide which sees Steven Smith return to the top job for the first since the ball-tampering scandal. It was thought likely that he would step in for Pat Cummins at some stage, but not two matches into his tenure. However, Covid had other ideas. What will the last few hours have been like for Smith after confirmation he would be in charge for the next few days? He was already in an elevated vice-captaincy position alongside Cummins but this has all happened in a rush. And he also has a depleted – if still strong – bowling attack to marshal with Josh Hazlewood already out of this match. It’s a good job Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon were dining outside otherwise they might not have had a bowling attack at all. A penny for Michael Neser’s thoughts, too. A thoroughly deserved Test debut, but certainly not how he would have imagined it.