The Ashes, 4th Test: As it happened, England vs Australia - England end Day 1 at 238/9, Nathan Lyon takes 4 wickets

An improving Australia is threatening to make life trickier for the hosts in the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street. Catch all the highlights of the match here: (Scorecard | Commentary)

 

23:02 (IST): England end Day 1 at 238/9 in 90 overs against Australia in Durham. Nathan Lyon takes 4 for 42. Australia shall look to wrap it up quickly on Day 2.

 

22:56 (IST): Anderson and Bresnan get some valuable runs at the end. England 233/9 in 89 overs.

 

22:45 (IST): Swann falls to Harris, a result of a bad shot and England are on the ropes. England 214/9 in 86.4 overs.

 

22:22 (IST): Stuart Broad (3) perishes to Ryan Harris playing an aerial shot to David Warner and Australia start to polish off the tail. England 197/8 in 80.4 overs.

 

22:14 (IST): Australia assert their dominance over England in a bid to bowl them out on the first day. England 194/7 in 79 overs.

 

22:07 (IST): Jonny Bairstow (14) is lbw to Lyon as he tries to sweep across the line. He appeals the decision but the on-filed call stands as hawk-eye shows the ball hitting the stumps. England 193/7 in 77.3 overs.

 

21:54 (IST): Siddle strikes after Clarke reviews an lbw appeal turned down against Prior and Australia have their wicket. England 189/6 in 75 overs.

 

21:50 (IST): Peter Siddle has dismissed Matt Prior 8 times in the last 14 Tests. England 189/5 in 74.4 overs.

 

21:42 (IST): Nathan Lyon back into the attack to see if he can reproduce some magic. England 188/5 in 73 overs.

 

21:32 (IST): Bairstow and Prior settle down as they aim at occupying the crease fort as long as possible. England 188/5 in 71 overs.

 

21:23 (IST): Australia still looking for wickets as we enter the latter stages of the day. England 187/5 in 69 overs.

 

21:08 (IST): Bairstow and Prior trying to negotiate the overs as England play for stumps. England 184/5 in 65 overs.

 

20:55 (IST): The sun is out and is shining brightly across the turf as Australia look to contimue the good work. England 173/5 in 62 overs.

 

20:48 (IST): England have already retained the Ashes as Australia cannot win the series now. England 171/5 in 60 overs.

 

20:39 (IST): Matt Prior and Jonny Bairstow face the task of seeing out the final session. England 163/5 in 57 overs.

 

20:33 (IST): Ian Bell (6) falls to Nathan Lyon thanks to a great catch by Ryan Harris at mid-off. England 155/5 in 55.4 overs.

 

20:11 (IST): TEA! Second session belongs to Australia as Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird take wickets just at the right time to give visitors the edge. Ian Bell and Jonathan Bairstow are at the crease and in good form as well. England 155 for 4 after 55 overs.

20:02 (IST): WICKET! Alastair Cook departs after scoring 51. Cook's gritty knock comes to an end as he is trapped lbw by Jackson Bird, who gets his first Ashes wicket. It pitched on the off and nipped back in sharply. England 153 for 4.

19:45 (IST): WICKET! Kevin Pietersen makes a long way back. Michael Clarke gambles to bring in Nathan Lyon. He keeps it outside off, tempted KP plays it late only to find an outside edge to keeper Brad Haddin. England 149 for 3 after 50 overs.

19:45 (IST): FIFTY! Alastair Cooks reaches his 32nd Test fifty with a boundary towards third man. England 149 for 2 after 49 overs.

19:28 (IST): Kevin Pietersen goes past Michael Atherton's total of 7728 runs to go 5th in top England's run getters list. England 138 for 2 after 47 overs.

Don't get scared of the ghost at Lumley castle Watto... #Ashes pic.twitter.com/FgvNdHCp9S

- Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 9, 2013

19:13 (IST): Kevin Pietersen, the new man in, has started his innings solidly as he takes the attack back to bowlers. England 120 for 2 after 42 overs.

19:00 (IST): WICKET! Nathan Lyon removes Jonathan Trott. Lyon bowls it straight as Trott, looking for his 18th Test fifty, goes on the backfoot to play it on the on side. But gets a faint inside edge onto pads which carries to short leg area, where Usman Khawaja dives to his right to complete the catch. England 107 for 2.

18:45 (IST): Australia introduce spin in the 36th over as Nathan Lyon starts his spell with a maiden over. England 88 for 1 after 36 overs.

18:41 (IST): Alastair Cook (34*) and Jonathan Trott (31*) have added 54 runs for the second wicket. England 88 for 1 after 35 overs.

18:29 (IST): England's run rate is slightly better now as Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott add 40 runs for the second wicket. England 74 for 1 after 32 overs.

18:18 (IST): Jackson Bird starts after lunch. Still no sign of spinner Nathan Lyon as Ryan Harris joins him. England 68 for 1 after 28 overs.

17:30 (IST): LUNCH! That's the end of the first session's play on Day 1 with England losing just one wicket. Australia used four bowlers - all pacers - with Nathan Lyon yet to bowl his first over in this 4th Test. England 57 for 1 after 27 overs with Alastair Cook 21* and Jonathan Trott 13* at the crease.

17:21 (IST): Alastair Cook is averaging 27.66 in this series. He has just two fifties to his credit. Jonathan Trott's average is even worse - 21.5. England 51/1 after 25 overs.

16:59 (IST): England have an extremely slow run rate. Shane Watson bowling beautifully (5-3-3-1). He is joined by Peter Siddle. England 35/1 after 20 overs.

16:38 (IST): WICKET! Shane Watson removes Joe Root. It was a pitched up delivery and Root just got a faint edge to keeper Brad Haddin. Umpire gave him not out, but Michael Clarke reviewed and it went in their favour. England 34 for 1.

16:30 (IST): It's been an hour into the first session and drinks break has been taken. Australian pacers are still in search of their first wicket. England 31/0 after 14 overs.

16:22 (IST): Joe Root drives Jackson Bird through covers for the first boundary on England innings. England 24/0 after 12 overs.

16:04 (IST): It's been 8 overs and England are yet to score a boundary. England 15 for no loss. (In pic: Alastair Cook and Jackson Bird)

15:38 (IST): Ashes debutant Jackson Bird shares the new ball with Ryan Harris, who started with a maiden. England 3 for no loss after 2 overs.

15:15 (IST): Teams -
England (Playing XI): Alastair Cook(c), Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonathan Bairstow, Matt Prior(w), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

Australia (Playing XI): Chris Rogers, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke(c), Steven Smith, Brad Haddin(w), Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird

15:00 (IST): TOSS! England have decided to bat against Australia. Australia have made one change in their squad - Jackson Bird replaces Mitchell Starc. Big news is that Pacer Ryan Harris is playing. England go in with an unchaged squad, meaning no place for local lad Graham Onions. (Read toss report)

 

Cook & @MattPrior13 taking a look at the pitch #Ashes pic.twitter.com/pdgEdKoWE5

- England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) August 9, 2013

13:46 (IST): England coach Andy Flower joined the captains of both sides in calling for improved use of the Decision Review System in the remaining two Ashes Tests against Australia. Once again the use of DRS by the officials this Ashes was a major talking point after yet more contentious rulings in Manchester. "Firstly umpiring is a very tricky business but I would say that there are very clear protocols to use and to stick to and I think some calm decision-making needs to be made over the next two Tests," Flower said a day after the England retained the Ashes.

 

Wishing all my friends across the world Eid Mubarak..

- Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) August 9, 2013

12:50 (IST): England have given Durham paceman Graham Onions the chance of playing the fourth Ashes Test on his Chester-le-Street home ground after including him in a 13-man squad. (Read full story)

12:30 (IST): Australia captain Michael Clarke said drawing the Test series with England would still be a notable achievement after dreams of regaining the Ashes were washed away in Manchester. "If we can level the series we will take a lot of confidence back to Australia," said Clarke, man-of-the-match at Old Trafford for his brilliant first innings 187. (Read more)

12:15 (IST): After the lows of Lord's, when the Australians capitulated to a 347-run loss in the second test, came the optimism of Old Trafford. Their misfiring batsmen finally got in the runs, with Clarke hitting a brilliant 187 and both Steve Smith and Chris Rogers falling just short of centuries. And their bowlers continued to look dangerous, particularly pacemen Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle and recalled offspinner Nathan Lyon. The match was washed out as a draw, ensuring England retained the urn in the most anticlimactic of ways.