Ashes in the balance after 2 remarkable days at Headingley
Ashes Day 12: Headingley, Yorkshire.
Ashes Day 12: Headingley, Yorkshire.
Friday 7th July 2023
Australia 263 all out and 116–4 (lead by 142 runs)
England 237 all out
Act One: Cummins the Destroyer as Aussies take morning session
Rising with the lark and with nervous, excited anticipation for the day of Ashes cricket ahead, a full English breakfast was the order of the day as sunshine had once again returned to our fair isle. A hundred or so miles from where I’m penning these very words, the sun was also shining on Headingley, scene of so many dramatic and history making, record breaking games of Test Match cricket, and with England starting the day on 68–3 and 195 runs behind Australia on 1st innings, a sold out capacity crowd hoped, as I did, that two of Yorkshire’s favourite sons would crash and caress their way to individual centuries.
Sadly, aside for the small pockets of Australia fans, all of whom seemingly bedecked in yellow or the green and gold colours intrinsically linked to their home country, both of Yorkshire’s favourite sons came and went in the opening 25 minutes of a morning session thoroughly dominated by the visiting Aussies and in particular, their incredible fast bowling captain Pat Cummins.
Root caught Warner bowled Cummins (19)
The ex England captain lasted just 2 balls this morning before edging the second delivery he faced into the gleeful, grasping hands of David Warner at 1st Slip. 2 balls into the day and without any addition to the overnight score, England were now 68–4 and still 195 runs adrift of their visitors.
Bairstow caught Smith bowled Starc (12)
Starting this morning on 1 not out, Bairstow was circumspect and happy to take singles and any runs coming his way before he rather “flashed” at a deliberately wider delivery from Mitchell Starc that Steve Smith grabbed, leaping in mid-air at 2nd Slip, for his second catch of the innings so far.
At the mid-morning drinks break, new batsmen Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali had inched their team score to 102–5 with captain Stokes on 12 and Ali on 6, but the damning statistics on the morning session was the fall of 2 England wickets for only the addition of 34 runs to the team total. England were under the pump and under pressure, leading their former opening batsman Mark Butcher to state on TV commentary, ironically and sardonically, that “normal Test Match cricket has broken out here on the second morning in Leeds”. By which he meant that we had the spectacle of one team desperately clinging to the ropes to stay in the game whilst the other pummelled, pushed, pressed and probed them into giving away their precious wickets. With roughly half an hour of the session remaining, and with Stokes and Ali firmly entrenched with an on-going partnership of 44, Pat Cummins changed tack and tactics, reverting to intimidating, short pitched bowling.
Their rewards duly came to comprehensively “win” the session.
Ali caught Smith bowled Cummins (21)
Smith’s third catch of the innings and Cummins’ fourth wicket was a gift from the England batsman who skied an attempted hook shot high and ultimately easily into the safe hands of Smith now fielding at the “Short Fine Leg” position. Both captain and vice-captain had combined but far more importantly, the short pitched “bouncer” policy had borne fruit and England were still a long way adrift on 1st innings, trailing by 132 runs.
Woakes caught Carey bowled Starc (11)
Whilst his captain Ben Stokes hobbled and limped around at the other end, scoring a valuable 27 runs from 67 balls received, Woakes clubbed a fantastic boundary 6 before presenting Aussie wicket-keeper Alex Carey with the simplest of catches.
With lunch immediately taken, England were tottering on 142–7 having scored just 74 runs in the session for the loss of 4 wickets.
The overnight advantage, ever so slightly in favour of England, had swung viciously in favour of Australia who now held a commanding lead on 1st innings of 121 runs.
Act Two: Stokes the limping hero once more
With 13 wickets falling on day 1 yesterday and 4 more in the morning session, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that this Test Match is racing at a breakneck speed and after just 4 full sessions of play, the destiny of the Ashes was coming sharply into focus. England simply have to win and trailing by 121 runs entering this fifth session they needed a remarkable innings to reach anywhere near parity after one batting “dig” from each team. Where they needed a heroic innings, arguably they received two.
Wood caught Marsh bowled Cummins (24)
With Mitchell Starc claiming the wicket of Chris Woakes on the cusp of the Lunch Break, the session ended five balls early. The second started in an adrenaline rush by the name of Mark Wood. Following his 5 wickets with the ball yesterday, Wood clubbed the first ball after lunch for an enormous boundary clearing 6, then a boundary 4 before he heaved the giant Australian fast bowler over the boundary once again for another 6 before ending the over with a quickly chased 2. 18 from just 5 balls received! Another 6 soon followed, this time from Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, before one huge swipe too many saw the Englishman sky a simple catch to Mitchell Marsh for a brisk 24 runs from just 8 balls received. Whilst Wood became Cummins’ fifth scalp of the innings, his cameo had dented the deficit between the teams to 96 runs and signalled the crucial last stand fightback to come from his captain.
Broad caught Smith bowled Cummins (7)
Before the cavalry charge from Stokes came yet another catch for Steve Smith (his fourth of the innings and a brilliant running catch on the edge of the boundary) as well as his captain’s sixth wicket of the innings as the incredibly impressive Aussie fast bowler eventually finished with figures of 6 wickets for 91 runs from 18 exhausting overs. Yet again the skipper and team talisman had put himself front and centre to bowl over after over in pursuit of victory and at the fall of England’s ninth wicket here, his team still held a vital lead of 64 runs.
Stokes caught Smith bowled Murphy (80)
I’ve no idea how the England captain continues to produce batting displays such as this, but I do know it pleases the inner cricket child in me! Hopping around, limping, buckling before folding like a human accordion at the crease at one stage, Stokes was clearly in pain, on one leg, and still able to crush boundary 4’s and 6’s as he reached his half century from 86 balls received before finally falling for 80 from 108 balls. In the process, and with 5 not out runs from an Ollie Robinson equally in pain with a back spasm that will surely end his participation in the series as a whole, Stokes and his team had clawed back a deficit at the end of the morning’s play of 120 runs to finish just 26 runs behind on 1st innings. Remarkably, this was Smith’s fifth catch of the innings and Todd Murphy’s first ever Ashes wicket.
With 50 minutes to play after the change in innings and before the Tea Break, early wickets were the order of the day if you were an England fan and safe, unhurried, dogged determination if you were cheering for Australia. We had a little of each.
Warner caught Crawley bowled Broad (1)
At 11–0 and just minutes away from the Tea Break, veterans Warner and Broad jousted once more and for the 17th time in Test Match cricket, Broad prevailed again, giving TV commentator Ian Ward the opportunity to exclaim excitedly “Edged! Gone! Broad has got him again!”.
Marnus Labuschagne joined Usman Khawaja at the crease and they reached the end of the session unbeaten, their team on a 2nd innings total of 29–1 and an overall lead of 55 runs.
Act Three: “What have you done Steve Smith?”
From 29–1 at the commencement of the third and final session of the day, Usman Khawaja (28 not out) and Marnus Labuschagne (31 not out) reached their 50 run partnership early in the session with relative ease and without any scares whatsoever as the team total reached 68–1. With England effectively two bowlers down with both Ben Stokes and Ollie Robinson unable or fit enough to bowl, Stokes resorted to the tried and tested method of a spin bowler from one end and the flogging of a dead horse (sorry, tiring fast bowler) at the other, bowling short pitched bouncers in an attempt to ruffle some Australian feathers.
Whether the tactic worked or not is for others to decide.
But Australia gifted England a route back into the Test Match to leave it on a knife-edge entering day 3 tomorrow.
Labuschagne caught Brook bowled Ali (33)
In league with Usman Khawaja, the South African born Labuschagne had increased their team’s overall lead to 94 before being gifted a cricketing “life” by yet another dropped catch from Jonny Bairstow before 2 deliveries later inexplicably, in the vernacular of the great game, “holing out” to the only fielder on the boundary for the tamest of dismissals. Moeen Ali’s delivery was a full one and a poor one, but the Aussie batsman “slogged” a sweep directly to a diving Harry Brook on the boundary, and England were grateful for this incredible lack of judgement and appreciation of the match position.
14 balls later, England would be given another wholly unexpected gift.
Smith caught Duckett bowled Ali (2)
9,000+ Test Match runs and the number one rated batsman in Test Match cricket chose the occasion of his 100th Test Match to chip a frankly awful, over pitched half-volley straight into the gleeful grasp of Ben Duckett at a short “Mid-On” position. Ian Ward was once again on TV commentary, this time exclaiming “Catch is the cry! What have you done Steve Smith?” before the stump microphones picked up Jonny Bairstow giving Smith what is termed within the game as a send-off, shouting “See ya Smudge!” as Smith turned angrily around before trudging disconsolately back to the Pavilion.
Khawaja caught Bairstow bowled Woakes (43)
Khawaja seemed unmovable as yet again he simply batted and batted and stayed within his own bubble before he played a rather loose shot to a wide delivery from Chris Woakes, and Jonny Bairstow did the rest behind the stumps.
Afterword
From the fall of Khawaja’s wicket at 90–4 and an overall lead of 116, Travis Head (18 not out) and 1st innings centurion Mitchell Marsh (17 not out) reached the end of day “Stumps” unbeaten, their team total on 116–4, and an overall lead going into day 3 of 142 runs. With 13 wickets falling on day 1 and 11 today, to say the match is racing along is a grand understatement and barring any weather interruptions I can’t see this match going past day 4, let alone entering a fifth and final day. Without the gifts in the final session of play I’d have ventured that Australia were in the box seat and ahead of the game, but with only 6 wickets remaining and a lead of just 142 runs, I now make England slight, slight favourites once more and similar to how I viewed their prospects at the beginning of play today.
But here we are again! If Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh replicate their batting partnership of the 1st innings tomorrow morning, they may well, with runs chipped in from Alex Carey and Pat Cummins, bat England into a very difficult run chase. But if the hosts can snag one or both of these batsmen in the early going tomorrow, then they may well be chasing a very gettable total for victory in a must win game to keep their Ashes hopes alive.
As ever, there is an incredibly crucial first session of cricket in the morning to look forward to, and at a full to the seams Headingley for a Saturday Ashes Test Match.
And some might say that Test Match cricket is boring.
See you in the morning!
Thanks for reading. For more cricketing fair from this 3rd Ashes Test Match, please see the link below to the first day’s play from yesterday:
Marsh the centurion as butter-fingers England rue missed chances
Ashes Day 11: Headingley, Yorkshire.medium.com