Local hero Greg Blewett rates Adelaide Oval as England’s best hope for revival
The last time England played a Test match during daylight hours at Adelaide Oval was in 2013.The ground was a building site and Mitchell Johnson was the wrecking ball, with a seven-wicket spree confirming the panic he induced during the first Test in Brisbane was no one-off.Not only were England’s Ashes hopes lamented by the visiting media that year but also the ground of old.Gone were the terracotta roofs that invoked the sepia world of Don Bradman and in their place there were the early signs of what was to become a 53,000-capacity multi-purpose venue with a drop-in pitch.But heritage listing for the scoreboard that dates back to 1911 meant part of the grass hill remained untouched.
The famous Moreton Bay fig trees still stand there, while original ivy-covered arches were also incorporated into the new pavilion.Though unquestionably modern, gaps between the stands and the stylings meant it still retained the feel of a cricket ground.“The old ground was iconic,” says Greg Blewett, a hometown hero here 30 years ago thanks to a century on Test debut against England.“And like yourself, a lot of people feared what it might become.There was a big pushback at the time.
But, you know, you have to keep moving forward,“I actually appeared in a couple of adverts that made the case for progress to the members and we managed to get the vote through,And having lived here all my life, 54 years, I can honestly say I can’t remember something that has transformed our city more than the new Adelaide Oval,”After a couple of one-sided Ashes day-nighters here in 2017 and 2021 – and the latest pink-ball defeat for England in Brisbane last week – the return to traditional timings for this week’s third Test is welcome,Salmon skies at dusk do make for a stunning backdrop, but the ground risked becoming typecast.
“It’s mixed,” says Blewett of local opinions on the topic,“People do genuinely love the day-nighters here, but I know a lot of older members who are happy we have another day game,You would hate for it to be locked in,”England’s last daytime victory here came in 2010, when Andrew Strauss and his side claimed the first of three thumping innings victories in that series,Before then was the fourth Test in 1995, when a patched up side down to just five fit batters and already 2-0 down upset the odds to win by 106 runs.
“I actually caught some highlights the other day,” says Blewett,“I’d missed my century – and yeah, that was very cool – but I watched the chase,Devon Malcolm bowled some serious pace,He got Mark Taylor with a good short one and cleaned up Steve Waugh for a duck with an absolute jaffa,It does go to show that an under-siege England team doesn’t necessarily have to fold.
”Blewett’s unbeaten 102 made him the first South Australian to score a century at Adelaide Oval since Greg Chappell in 1982.Travis Head is the local favourite these days, with three Test centuries at the ground and his moustachioed face seen on a fair few T-shirts in the city this past week.“He is a ripping South Aussie,” says Blewett.“Almost part of a tradition of aggressive left-hander’s here, like Darren Lehmann or David Hookes.And his success has almost come from accepting his imperfections.
He stopped worrying what others were thinking and, at 31, he is now in that sweet spot.”A feature of England’s slump to 2-0 down on this tour has been ignoring the widely known dangers of driving on the up at Perth and Brisbane.Before we wrap up our brief chat, the question of potential Adelaide pitfalls is asked.“The past 10 years of having drop-in pitches has seen less carry,” replies Blewett.“That will be a big change from the first two Tests.
But there is nibble at times, possibly a touch like in England, so playing late will be the key,“As time goes on, the tactics may become more stump-to-stump before spin really comes into the game,But if there’s a ground in Australia where England’s style could hold up, it will be Adelaide,”
Damn dalmatian! Fury erupts after David Jones cancels Christmas window display to promote joy of … its loyalty program
Two weeks out from Christmas, the footpath outside Sydney’s flagship David Jones store would usually be packed with eager-eyed families lining up to view the retailer’s traditional festive window display.But on Friday morning, Elizabeth Street was mostly empty. An upset-looking child in a pram stared forlornly at a Valentino advertisement.Sydneysiders have come out swinging after the department store replaced its famous Christmas window display with a celebration of its new loyalty program and associated mascot, Domino the dalmatian.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailA David Jones spokesperson said the company understood “how deeply sentimental the Christmas windows are for many families”, adding it “truly appreciated the feedback”
EU’s 2035 petrol and diesel car ban will be watered down, says senior MEP
The EU’s outright ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 is poised to be watered down, a senior European parliament politician has said.The decision, expected to be announced by the European Commission on Tuesday in Strasbourg, would be a divisive move, angering environmental campaigners who argue it would amount to the “gutting” of the EU’s flagship green deal.The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Friday he “supported” such a climbdown, having advocated strongly for changes to the rules on the end of the combustion engine for months.“The reality is that there will still be millions of combustion engine-based cars around the world in 2035, 2040 and 2050,” he said.Under the existing laws, approved two years ago, all cars coming on the market from 2035 have to be zero CO2 emissions, meaning the end of the road for hybrid vehicles as well as those running solely on fossil fuels
Card Factory issues shock profit warning during peak Christmas period
Card Factory has delivered an unwelcome early Christmas surprise for investors by issuing a shock profit warning during the greetings card retailer’s peak trading period, which sent shares plunging by more than a fifth.The retailer, which also owns the online card and gift brand Funky Pigeon, said economic pressure on shoppers has hit confidence in its most important trading period of the year.“Over recent months, the pressures facing the UK consumer have been well publicised,” the company said in a trading update. “It is an inescapable fact that these pressures have impacted consumer confidence and shopping behaviour, contributing to soft high street footfall.“Those conditions have persisted as we moved into our most important trading period, leading to a UK store sales performance which is lower than our previous expectations
Nationwide fined £44m by watchdog for financial crime control failings
Nationwide has been fined £44m by the City watchdog over “weak” financial crime controls that culminated in a serious case of Covid fraud that cost UK taxpayers £800,000.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the building society for failures stretching over nearly five years. It said the lender had been aware that some customers were using personal accounts for business activity, in a breach of its own terms.Nationwide did not offer business accounts at that point and so did not have the right processes in place to monitor potential financial crime risks, the FCA said.This resulted in a case where Nationwide failed to catch a customer using personal current accounts to receive 24 fraudulent Covid furlough payments, totalling £27
UK economy shrank unexpectedly before budget, data shows
Britain’s economy shrank unexpectedly in October as consumers held back on spending before Rachel Reeves’s budget, and car manufacturing struggled to recover from the cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed gross domestic product fell by 0.1%, after a 0.1% drop in output in September. City economists had predicted a 0
New laws may be considered after ‘harrowing stories’ from ex-Vodafone franchisees
The government may consider new laws to correct the power imbalance in franchise agreements in response to the “harrowing stories” of small business people running Vodafone stores.The move follows allegations of suicide and attempted suicide among shopkeepers who had agreed to deals to run retail outlets for the £18bn telecoms company, which were revealed by the Guardian on Monday.During Thursday’s business questions in the Commons, Justin Madders, a former minister, said: “I’m sure the department will have been aware of the coverage this week of some of the harrowing stories of the treatment of Vodafone franchisees … [The department] will no doubt recognise the power imbalance in that relationship and will they consider looking at some measures to redress that imbalance perhaps by a statutory code of practice or a national arbitration system?”Chris Bryant, a minister of state at the Department for Business and Trade, said: “I am happy to sit down with him and discuss whether there are specific proposals that we could bring forward which would address that issue of imbalance.”Outside the chamber another former business minister, Labour’s Gareth Thomas, added: “This case continues to raise disturbing echoes of the Post Office scandal and raises the question as to whether the law around franchising needs to be toughened up to ensure small-business owners are better protected.”On Monday, the Guardian revealed allegations that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to become a franchisee in 2018, had taken his own life after becoming convinced his deal with the multinational company would prove financially disastrous
ICE is using smartwatches to track pregnant women, even during labor: ‘She was so afraid they would take her baby’
From ‘glacier aesthetic’ to ‘poetcore’: Pinterest predicts the visual trends of 2026 based on its search data
UK police forces lobbied to use biased facial recognition technology
Trump clears way for Nvidia to sell powerful AI chips to China
AI researchers are to blame for serving up slop | Letter
EU opens investigation into Google’s use of online content for AI models