England vs Australia, Ashes first Test day 3 live: Latest updates from Edgbaston

Moeen Ali comes in for a bowl. He had a spinning finger problem yesterday and today and treated it with a magic spray. Here he gets a really big hit! That means the batsman, goalie and slip were all batted alike and ran away as a foursome. Bye.

Moeen has been fined 25% of his gaming fee for “behaving in a manner contrary to the spirit of the game” and this is because he put the spray/ointment on his finger last night, without asking the referee first.

This is, one could say, the result of involving players who are not used to scoring 90 overs in a day with the Dukes ball (unlike the white ball, the seam is more prominent and therefore more aggressive on the finger) .

Here’s more from Will Macpherson on this one.

England spinner Moeen Ali is reprimanded by the ICC referee for applying an illegal skin drying spray to his hand during the first Ashes test.

Moeen was caught by TV cameras brazenly applying the spray to his bowling hand while playing at the edge of the field on day two of the first Ashes Test.

Because he was spotted by match umpire Andy Pycroft, he appears to be fined part of his match fee. An English player’s gaming fee is more than £12,500.

The spray allows bowlers to dry the sweat off their hands, giving them a better grip on the ball.

Moeen, who turns 36 on Sunday, has struggled to grip the red ball over the years and the pronounced stitching caused blisters and tears on his rotating finger at times. It is believed that the spray has no analgesic effect and is only used to dry hands, which is especially important on a wet third day.

This is the all-rounder’s first friendly since September 2021 and he’s put in a mountain of work on day two. He’s had to bowl 29 overs (which makes a number of two for 124), which is more than he bowled in the entire Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings recently.

Given that he hadn’t been in the longest format for so long, Moeen performed well and also saw two missed chances from bowling wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, a stomp from Cameron Green and a catch from overnight unbeaten Alex Carey.

Australia picked up steam on day three, 82 runs off England’s first innings score of 393 for eight declared runs, with Usman Khawaja not out on 126. It’s the lazy left-hander’s first century in England, on his third tour of the country.

The penalty is 25% of the game fee plus one minus point.

A statement said: “Ali admitted the offense and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, meaning no formal hearing was required.

“In deciding to penalize the player, the referee was confident that Ali had only used the spray to dry his hands.”