- England’s Ashes hopes in jeopardy as Australia establishes commanding lead
- Khawaja shines as Australia maintains grip on the match
- England’s batting collapse raises concerns about their approach
Already, eight days into a 25-day Ashes series, England is gazing down the barrel. Ben Stokes’s team has developed a reputation for escapology; the issue now is whether they can escape Australia’s increasingly vice-like grip.
At stumps on the third day at Lord’s, called at 5:45 p.m. after rain and poor lighting halted play, the local fans’ mood was as dismal as the scene in the middle. Australia reached 130 for two after 45.4 overs, stunned by the hosts’ 325 all-out in the opening over. Already, an alarming lead of 221 runs had been established.
Along the way, the visitors had repelled England’s four-pronged seam attack resolutely, with Usman Khawaja reaching 58 not out and Steve Smith, a century-maker in the first innings, remaining unbeaten on six after surviving a probing late spell from Jimmy Anderson. Australia could rest comfortably with a 1-0 lead and the knowledge that, in 140 years of rivalry, 2-0 has only failed to determine the urn’s fate once.
It was a notable accomplishment by Khawaja as well. Anderson and Stuart Broad investigated despite the morning collapse of six for 46, which prevented them from resting.
There was life on 19 – a pull shot off Josh Tongue exploding through the hands of Anderson and racing away for four – but as half of a 63-run opening stand with David Warner and unbeaten at the end of the innings, Khawaja’s excellence shone in the dusk.
The achievements for England? Warner’s latest wobbly effort was ruled leg before wicket for 25 by Tongue. Marnus Labuschagne was still attempting to find his rhythm, and after surviving a string of manic celebrappeals from Broad on either side of tea (one of which turned out to be accurate), he ultimately swung at a wide long-hop from Anderson on 30 and sent it to point.
However, Khawaja showed that a player who averaged 19.6 in England before this tour has changed.
This was not the road to Edgbaston. If Australia prevails in this match, the left-handed batsman’s efforts to blunt the new ball the second time around, endure some venomous deliveries from Tongue, and score all available runs will have been crucial.
And the conditions have been the worst for the visitors thus far. They batted under cloud cover and floodlights after bowling in the sun on a green track. They also lost Nathan Lyon for the remainder of the match (and most likely the series) after only 13 overs. With the off-spinner staggering into the pavilion on crutches on Friday morning as if he were Long Room Silver.
The moment Lyon’s calf muscle was painfully pinched on the second day is crucial to the contest and England’s actions. After tea on the second day, they were 182 for one, 234 behind but eating safely. Only to lose nine wickets in two sessions. Not simply lose them like home keys on the toilet seat, but blend them and press “frappé”
Australia’s bowlers have superior speed and are conditioned to deliver short-ball strategies as soon as the ball leaves the pouch. Their execution is flawless (ask Harry Brook and Broad, who were both clobbered on the Swede the third morning).
But even these exceptional athletes cannot continue indefinitely. A mere hour of relative resistance after resuming on 278 for four – such as the one that followed the swashbuckling of Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root – could have set the stage for a surge when the stars were grazing.
Mitchell Starc snorted Stokes and sent the ball to the gully off his shoulder, leaving England at 279 for five. However, Brook? It’s not often that Geoffrey Boycott speaks for everyone, mercifully, but the head in palms up in one of the hospitality boxes when his fellow Yorkshireman died attempting a wild swat off Starc was a widely shared sentiment.
Jonny Bairstow could not resist becoming the final d’ohican when he rocketed Pat Cummins to mid-on for 16. Afterward, the tail collapsed like an inflatable castle whose power was turned off at the mains. With Travis Head stepping into the shoes of Lyon to eliminate Ollie Robinson and Broad and Cummins ensuring that Tongue did not flap.
But here’s the thing: England did not arrive at this position through an inevitable approach to cricket.
Last summer, Stokes turned the tide against South Africa with a century of dogged determination. In Mount Maunganui earlier this year, they strategically engaged the brakes on the third day to force New Zealand to begin the race under the lights. On the first day of this series, they eagerly purchased the available singles. There are additional instances of nuance within their overall runtime that defies convention.
This summer, Ben Foakes, the architect of rearguards, was fired, signalling a more aggressive strategy. A team based on the superhero theory must now wear capes for the remainder of the second Test.
