ASHES DIGEST on a bad day in third Test at Perth’s WACA

  • Australian skipper Steve Smith says even Dawid Malan is better than Moeen Ali
  • Smith is such cricketing royalty he even gets a chair to sit on during overs 
  • England quicks at the WACA in slow lane as they claim a single wicket for 346 
  • When Mitchell moved to 139 he bettered dad’s Test best score of 138 in 1989 

Read Sportsmail’s Ashes Digest from the third Test at the WACA in Perth on a dismal day for England as Australian skipper Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh crushed England with an unbeaten partnership of more than 300.

It was also a day on which saw Smith make his second Test double-century with Marsh grabbing his maiden Test hundred.

England for their part claimed a single wicket and Australia added 346 runs.

Australian captain Steve Smith claimed another Test double-century as he moved to 229*

Smith is cricketing royalty after another majestic display of batting by the Aussie captain 

Smith is cricketing royalty after another majestic display of batting by the Aussie captain 

Smith and Mitchell Marsh staged an unbeaten partnership of more than 300 at the WACA 

Smith and Mitchell Marsh staged an unbeaten partnership of more than 300 at the WACA 

Australian skipper Steve Smith says even Dawid Malan is better than Moeen Ali

Steve Smith tormented England all day and then mocked Moeen Ali by talking up part-time bowler Dawid Malan. In a thinly-veiled barb at Moeen, who broke a personal barren spell of 45 overs stretching back to Brisbane with the only wicket of a chastening third day, Smith said: ‘I think David Malan was the pick of their spinners, to be honest. He bowled well at the end there and was the most difficult to get away.’

Statistics backed up Smith’s claim, Malan’s six overs of leg spin costing just 13 runs.

Cricketing royalty 

Cricketing royalty deserves a sit-down from time to time so little wonder that Steve Smith was brought a chair (right) to rest on during a drinks break. Even more dispiriting for England was the sight of Smith receiving treatment on his hand during the break. Just imagine what a fully-fit Smith could do!

Smith mocked Moeen Ali by saying part-time slow bowler Dawid Malan was more of a threat

Smith mocked Moeen Ali by saying part-time slow bowler Dawid Malan was more of a threat

The sons better the father

The recalled Mitchell Marsh (centre, right) made it a proud day for father Geoff, the former Aussie opener — though Marsh Snr has lost family bragging rights. When MItchell, 26, moved to 139 it meant both he and older brother Shaun have bettered dad’s Test best score of 138 at Trent Bridge in 1989.

England quicks in slow lane

PACE, or the lack of it, was reckoned before the series to be one of England’s biggest handicaps — and that appears to have been the case. Using 87mph as a benchmark, 67 per cent of deliveries from the Aussies have been at speeds greater than that compared to just 16 per cent of balls bowled by the England seamers.     



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