Thanks Marty, and good morning from Perth, as it is here. Lovely day, stripes of high white cloud, no precipitation in them, and strands of blue in between that mean we’re getting periods of sunshine. And it’s mild! Temperate! Not the anvil-busting Perth temperatures of legend. At least not until later in the week. Australia won’t mind bowling in the cool conditions.

The countdown is well and truly on to the first ball in this blockbuster five-Test series. Thanks for following along to this point – Geoff Lemon will now steer you through the rest of the build up and across the first half of the day’s play.

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