The last time England played a Test match during daytime hours at Adelaide Oval was in 2013. The ground was a building site and Mitchell Johnson was the wrecking ball, 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.
