Tea and Biscuits at The Ashes
SCG, Sydney, Day 4: Usman Khawaja brilliantly bats England into a corner. Can the walking wounded save the Test Match tomorrow?
SCG, Sydney, Day 4: Usman Khawaja brilliantly bats England into a corner. Can the walking wounded save the Test Match tomorrow?
Before we delve into the nitty gritty of the day’s play, can I direct you to (1) the reason why I’m sitting up through the night watching Test Match cricket and (2) my blogs from the first 3 days of this, the 4th Ashes Test. Please also visit my archives for blogs from every day of every Test Match so far:
A cricketing journey
Why I’m going to Australia at 2am this winter for lunch and why cricket memories never fail to make me smile.medium.com
Tea and Biscuits at The Ashes
SCG, Sydney, Day 1: Australia make progress in the Sydney rain whilst in the New Zealand sunshine, Bangladesh beat the…medium.com
Tea and Biscuits at The Ashes
SCG, Sydney, Day 2: Deja Vu as Australia bat all day and England are snookered and behind the 8 Ball. Again.medium.com
Tea and Biscuits at The Ashes
SCG, Sydney, Day 3: Stokes and Bairstow arrest the English slide but the Aussies remain fully in control of the 4th…medium.com
“Horseman” is a name familiar to many here at my column for Sports Unillustrated and he took time out from his busy editing schedule to send me some welcome news recently. As the owl landed on my doorstep and dropped off the scroll parchment that was Horseman’s urgent communique before disappearing in a puff of a magician’s dust the message was clear: “Player Watch” has been a roaring recent success with the 18.7 million subscribers to my daily sporting column. Postbags of fan mail have swamped the offices of Sports Unillustrated and quite frankly the only person who seemingly does not enjoy reading my oft pedantic ramblings on specific players is the Postman. He moaned and groaned apparently, saying it was “like Valentines Day, Easter and Christmas rolled into one” and his “back couldn’t cope with the weight of the fan letters” he has to deliver but my number 1 priority is always to you dear reader, and so here’s my intended “Player Watch” for this, Day 4 of the Sydney Test Match and my reasons why:
JACK LEACH (AKA The Mad Professor).
The Hero of Headingley 2019 and bespectacled batsman and off spin bowler, Jack has attained that rarefied air of being a cult hero on both sides of The Ashes divide. Cult hero status was guaranteed as he accompanied Ben Stokes in the miracle of Headingley 3 years ago as he batted for what seemed like 3 months for his 1 solitary run but that’s what makes his hero status ever more unique. So too his wiping down of his glasses during every over he’s at the wicket batting and quite frankly, in a world of such blob conformism it’s rather lovely to see Jack remove his batting helmet and demist his glasses before facing a hard cricket ball hurtling toward him at 90mph.
He’s also nearing cult hero status in Australia too and for both heart warming reasons as well as typically through the prism of Aussie sarcastic sporting ridicule. They love Jack for his responses as he patrols the boundary, his energy, enthusiasm, will to win and sheer competitive spirit. Cruelly, and akin to England spinner of the 1980’s and 1990’s Phil Tufnell, the Aussies seemingly love him because they simply don’t rate his bowling (or his batting for that matter, Headingley aside) and that he’s ripe for ridicule and some serious Australian crowd sledging and barracking. Like with Tufnell, it’s done with both good cheer, without malice and just for sporting giggles.
The rub of course is that when Jack performs his primary function in the team as an off spin bowler he is often snookered and strangled with defensive fields and is ripe to be attacked and perfect fodder for both an attacking Australian team and their tenacious fans in the stand. I like Jack and I love his attitude to the game. If the weather holds, he could play a key role with both bat and ball today.
STUART BROAD (England fast bowling Legend).
Broad will never reach the heights of cult hero status with the Aussies because of a minor cricketing indiscretion some years ago after he didn’t “walk” when he was clearly out and Aussies, like elephants, never forget. Broad’s 5 wickets in the first Australian innings here gained him a place on the “Honours Board” and 34 years after his Father, Chris Broad, did similar in 1988. Broad is the cliché of a player that oppositions (especially Australia) “Love to Hate” and like with Leach above, may have a huge role to play with both bat and ball today. Not as accomplished a batsman as his Father, he’ll need to support Leach or Bairstow this morning if England are to score runs to further reduce the Australian lead.
DAVID WARNER (Left Handed Australian Opening Batsman)
Another player in the “Love to Hate” category, I’ve warmed to Warner over the years as when he roars through the batting gears runs tend to pile up on the scoreboard and the ball dispatched to all parts of the ground. 7,551 Test Match runs is testament to a stellar career that was severely blighted in 2018 when he was named and involved in the sandpaper/cheating scandal that ended the Reign of Captain Steve Smith. Barely drops a catch at slip, ultra competitive, loud, brash and chirps like a lovebird whenever an English batting victim is nearing capture. If Australia need quick runs this morning, Warner is usually your man.
MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE (Right Handed Number 3 Batsman)
Labuschagne has burst onto the Test Match scene in recent years and has scored runs aplenty on his way to usurping England Captain Joe Root as the Number 1 Batsman in the world. He is the archetypal Number 3 batsman: Solid. Unrushed. Leaves many balls unplayed. Then punishes the older, softer ball from tiring bowlers. Often caught on the “Stump Mike” when both batting, fielding and indeed when he bowls his occasional leg spinners, Labuschagne is an entertaining pest, buzzing around with commentary, chirp, sledging and all manner of cricketing throwaway phrases loudly proclaimed for everyone to hear. May bowl a lot on the last day. May bat a long time here on day 4.
Writing these previews as I am oft to do way before the start of play (it’s currently 6.37pm in the UK and over 4 hours away from the scheduled start time of 11pm) there’s a high probability that I’ll need to add a further character to today’s sporting drama, that of “Weather Watch”. The prospects do not look good sadly, and from Noon local time onward there is a constant threat of rain and thunderbolts and lightning. Here’s hoping Galileo is a cricket fan and reserves his “very, very frightening” weather for another day, another time and for another Queen.
Time, as ever, will tell.
MORNING SESSION: Player Watch
Weather watch: 11pm UK and 10am Sydney time and the sun is out, high cloud and no sign of the predictions of adverse weather. Yet! Nor have we had the spectre of Paddy and Max, two Australian groundsmen, sprinting to the middle to cover up the wicket from the falling rain as they try to outdo each other, impede each other and generally have a wonderful time doing so as well as enjoying their time in the Fox Television sun! It’s amusing to see as is their growing cult status with the Australian television audience. I just hope they get to put their feet up today and enjoy the cricket with the rest of us.
So instead, a quick recap of the end of the England innings as they added 36 runs for the final 3 wickets this morning and all within the first 45 minutes of play before finally being bowled all out for 294. Overnight hero Jonny Bairstow added just 10 runs to his total but rightly received the acclaim of a sparse but growing SCG crowd again for his century yesterday. Jimmy Anderson added 4 runs but yet another not out statistic to add to his storied Test cricket career and England, who at one stage were 350 adrift with only 6 wickets remaining ended their innings just 122 behind. Still a massive first innings deficit, but far more preferable than 200/250.
Jack Leach watch: The Mad Professor was his bespectacled self with the bat this morning as he scored 10 quick runs from a couple of lusty blows. One lusty blow too many led to his downfall as he scooped a sky high catch to Captain Cummins and he departed for 10. With the ball in hand and bowling his left arm spinners he bowled 6 overs for a costly 28 runs prior to lunch but crucially he snagged the wicket of Aussie opening batsman Marcus Harris for a well played 27. Leach deserved his wicket and is well and truly in the game and as was so aptly demonstrated whenever he ventured anywhere near the boundary fence when he wasn’t bowling to be serenaded with a chorus of “Leachy!” from the growing Sydney crowd. Their cult hero had arrived! As the crowd builds I foresee both Leach and the crowd having a fun afternoon!
Stuart Broad watch: Broad was intent on attacking as soon as he came to the wicket this morning and wielded the willow for a quickfire 15 runs from 19 balls. The eagerly awaited tussle with David Warner was short lived as Broad only bowled 4 overs prior to lunch and only had 1 real over in which to try to dislodge his old nemesis. As with Jack Leach above, I foresee Broad having a busy and fun afternoon ahead as 2/3 quick Australian wickets after lunch and the game may not be in the balance but at least it’ll be competitive. And Stuart Broad is one keen competitor.
David Warner watch:
DAVID WARNER caught Pope bowled Wood (3).
Warner was his usual ants in the pants/jack in the box self but never then settled into any kind of rhythm and scratched around for 18 frenetic balls before edging a superb delivery from the ever impressive Mark Wood through to substitute wicket keeper Ollie Pope for just 3 runs. England had started brightly with the new cherry before lunch and with Warner’s wicket they had their hosts at 12–1 in the 6th over of the day.
Marnus Labuschagne watch: Labuschagne departed for the lunch break on 28 runs from 40 balls and the ominous sign for England is that he cruised to those 28 runs in a carefree manner and without, in the main, any forceful or rash strokes and rather just pure cricketing shots for 1’s and 2’s. His tussle with Mark Wood was fascinating as they exchanged dominance in their 10 or so minutes facing each other before lunch. First Labuschagne exclaimed “Well Bowled!” loudly into the stump mike as Wood passed his bat with a “snorter” of an early delivery with Labuschagne yet to score and Wood continued to pressure the number one batsman in the world relentlessly. Labuschagne had the last laugh before the lunch break as he cracked a couple of 4’s off Wood’s bowling and essentially saw off the Englishman’s early efforts which then spring boarded his activity and he upped the tempo from thereon in.
Australia went into the lunch break with a lead of 188 runs and with 8 wickets remaining, two of which being the prized scalps of Labuschagne and Steve Smith. The chuckle and chirp brothers walked off for lunch with their team in a hugely dominant position and with a loudly turned up “Stump Mike” this afternoon this could bode well for the entertainment value for the impending session of play. England need to add to their “chirp” and preferably remove one of them immediately after lunch as the Aussies have a huge lead and in cricketing parlance, and as I have stated so often in these blogs that I have so enjoyed writing (thank you for reading), the next session is crucial. Absolutely crucial. The next session sets up what may happen in today’s final session and the ramifications for each side before the final day tomorrow.
AFTERNOON SESSION: Player Watch
Marnus Labuschagne watch:
MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE caught Pope bowled Wood (29).
The battle with Mark Wood resumed in the first over after the lunch break and the Englishman got his man almost immediately with a lifting delivery that Labuschagne chased and edged through to substitute wicket keeper Ollie Pope. Remarkably he’s caught every wicket to have fallen so far and Australia are 68–3 immediately after the lunch break and have added just 2 to their overall lead which now stands at 190 runs.
Jack Leach watch:
STEVE SMITH bowled Leach (23).
Go on Leachy! Another deserved wicket for the Mad Professor (I think I’ve heard him called “Nutter” on the Stump Mike and I rather enjoy that nickname!) and he genuinely beat and indeed bowled Smith, comprehensively, as Smith was beaten as he played back to Leach and was bowled middle stump. So pleased for Jack and for England as Smith was looking in ominously good form and now Australia are 86–4 and with two fresh batsmen at the wicket.
Well bowled Jack.
Stuart Broad watch: After only bowling 4 overs this morning Broad barely bowled a ball in anger for the rest of the day and I can only assume he too now carries a “niggle” or an injury as England were down to the barest of bowling bones this afternoon and they are beginning to take on the look again of the walking wounded in the middle. Leach bowled a lot of overs, and brilliantly so at times (see below) but with Ben Stokes unable to bowl it was left to a tiring Jimmy Anderson and more specifically Mark Wood to bowl a whole heap of overs and as is custom with Wood, with pace, intent and full of heart. He finished with 2 wickets for 65 runs but he really tested every Australian batsman and especially so Usman Khawaja early in the afternoon session. Their tussle followed in a similar vein to that of the battle between Wood and Labuschagne this morning with the English bowler really testing both Aussie batters, and being incredibly unlucky in the process before as he tired slightly both Labuschagne and Khawaja began to assert their dominance with the bat.
Ably assisted by Cameron Green (74 runs and finally a big Test score from the big unit), Usman Khawaja dominated yet another Sydney afternoon session in some pleasing sunshine rather than the thunder showers predicted. Khawaja settled after being severely tested by Mark Wood early on in his innings and went onto to score 101 not out as well as joining all sorts of historical clubs and with all sorts of historic characters too in the process. Centuries in both innings of a Test Match is a rare feat indeed. Coming back into the team at 35 years of age when being so near and yet so far in recent years is another. Make no mistake too: Many batsmen (Bairstow aside) have struggled with this Sydney wicket and it’s erratic and uncertain bounce. Khawaja has been magnificent and a thorough pleasure to watch bat. Twice. He ended 101 not out as Australian Skipper Pat Cummins declared the innings so he could put the England opening batsmen through the wringer for 50 minutes of no lose cricket for the hosts, but your friend and mine, Jack Leach, had a bittersweet tale to tell before the innings closed.
Jack Leach watch:
CAMERON GREEN caught Root bowled Leach (74).
And boy did Leachy deserve this wicket. He toiled all afternoon in the main and bowled really well AND (crucially) was given a field by his Skipper with which to bowl to. Attacking (kind of) but crucially again his Skipper trusted him for once, and Leach delivered. Yes this wicket was at the end of the innings and yes Green was (cricket vernacular) “slogging” him but he deserved the wicket, caught by his skipper and off his brilliant bowling. But even better was to follow just one ball later.
ALEX CAREY caught Pope bowled Leach (0).
Carey tried to sweep Leach with the first ball received and gloved/edged to substitute wicket keeper Ollie Pope who took a difficult leg side catch. Incredibly this was the substitute’s 4th catch of the innings and with two wickets in two balls our cult hero and cricketing nicknamed “Nutter” was on a hat-trick. Alas, Leach was left high and dry by Aussie Skipper Pat Cummins as he called in his team and declared the innings, leaving Leach unable to even try for a rare Ashes hat-trick. But he finished with 4 wickets for 84 runs and thoroughly deserved each and every one of those wickets as well as a chance for a piece of Ashes history. But it was not to be. Alas.
Stumps on Day 4: Reflections
As the English opening batsmen of Haseeb Hameed and Zak Crawley navigated their way through a tricky 50 minute period at the end of another pulsating day of Test Match cricket and yet another period whereby the Aussies couldn’t lose and the English had everything to lose, with Aussie fast bowlers steaming in against a darkening sky and English batsmen just pleased to hang in there, compete, not giveaway their prized wicket and sticking their thumb back in the eye of their cricketing tormentors, I didn’t give all of this too much thought. I was too tired for such things at 6.35am this morning and after another hard day’s night watching Test Match cricket. Paddy and Max, our groundsmen friends and the laughing, sprinting cult hero duo readied themselves to protect the wicket as the thundery showers approached under darkening skies and two other unlikely heroes in the form of Hameed and Crawley stuck it out, scored 30 runs and crucially didn’t lose their wickets and even though the Aussie bowlers were thwarted, for once, and a baying crowd didn’t receive the gladiatorial victims they so desired, the players departed at 7am UK time and just before the heavens would open over the beautiful Sydney Cricket Ground.
But I was far too tired for thoughts such as these as I departed for an early morning sleep and dreams of Michael Atherton or Chris Tavare batting all day in an England shirt. I was rather emotional too and it wasn’t the crazy time of day (night?) as I’m a grizzled veteran of Ashes contests in the dead of night (morning?) and I thought then as I do now as I write these words of my Mum, friends of the past, cricketing memories, my son or the beautiful lady that bore him so many cricketing seasons ago. My dear old Mum would’ve tutted down a long distance phone line at me for yet again sitting up through the night watching cricket and I can hear her now saying “Well it’s your own fault!” as I explained away my tiredness as well as my late night madness. There would be real laughter in her voice too as she was a fan of Test Match cricket, just not a fan of watching it at 3.46am on a UK morning! My son’s Mother too has that smile of “You know you’re crazy, right? Sitting up all night watching cricket?” and it’s a knowing smile to a knowing man, and a knowledge that I’m always going to do it anyway, regardless of the bizarre nature and the obsession that drives me to do it. So I was a little emotional as I drifted off to sleep this morning and I do thank you, whomever you are and wherever you are, for reading my barely awake ramblings, the ramblings of which have pleased me so greatly to have composed over these past weeks. I’m writing these words as though there are an epitaph to an entire Series, but we haven’t reached the denouement of this particular Test Match yet.
Today’s heroes and villains section is a brief and simple affair as Jack Leach deserved his wickets today, Mark Wood bowled like a lion, Ollie Pope made a little history with his substitute appearance with the wicket keeping gloves and Usman Khawaja made some wonderful and long standing Ashes history inside his batting gloves. Statistics are flying in every direction for Khawaja and the two I grabbed from the ether were his centuries in both innings being the 9th time in Ashes history it’s been achieved and only the 3rd time ever at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The villains are David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Stuart Broad for not giving me anything to write about! Damn you!
The tale of the tape is a brief and simple affair too: England are 358 runs behind going into the final day and can only bat all of tomorrow for a draw. Australia need 10 wickets. On the balance of this Ashes series hence far it’s an easy prediction to make that Australia will win by the Tea Break tomorrow and with 30+ overs to spare. The wicket too will not help England’s cause as the erratic bounce is difficult to play. Nor is their cause aided by the fact that both Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow are injured and will bat, but in what capacity and to what effect? Time will tell.
It always does.
England resume in the morning on 30–0 and I was so pleased for Zak Crawley who scored 22 of the 30 runs and looks a player, a real player. So too Hameed and although I doubt he has as long a Test career ahead of him as Crawley, he has a Chris Tavare spirit about him, dogged, determined, happy not to score and just bat time in the middle. Time will tell tomorrow. As it will do again for the weather, for Max and Paddy too and if they’re not employed to pleasingly and laughingly sprint to the wicket to protect it from the expected rain showers tomorrow, perhaps time will tell for my overnight prediction as well.
You see, despite the catastrophic batting collapses and tales of cricketing woe that follow the England team like a wraith in a black cloak, tomorrow will be different. A new dawn will break over the Sydney Cricket Ground and despite the falling of a couple of early English wickets in will stride Captain Joe Root. There will be a sparse collection of fans in the ground and the “Barmy Army” will release their customary “Roooooooooooooot” chant as their Skipper approaches the batting crease and their Captain will not disappoint them today. Not today. In drawing the game, Root will bat for the vast majority of the day and as the day begins to draw to it’s climactic close, Root will hoist his bat aloft in triumph as he becomes the third player to score a century in this match. It would be fitting and I feel the ghosts of the cricketing past have one more century up their sleeve for this match at the beautiful Sydney Cricket Ground.
Be rather lovely if Jack Leach is there too, leaning on his bat, cleaning his glasses and smiling away at the other end of the wicket as his Skipper completes his century. Time will tell.
It always does.