Ben Stokes put a stop to the madness of his happy hookers to place himself and his team on the rails, ready to ease by Australia on day three.
A trio of adventurous hoicks cost England dearly, as Australia invoked the spirit of Douglas Jardine and ‘bodyline’ with a bevy of short-pitched bowling and fielders on the fence to try and break Bazball with bouncers. But with his team in danger of losing the plot completely, Stokes steadied the ship with an innings of patient concentration alongside the impetuous Harry Brook to close day two at 278-4, 138 runs behind the Aussie first innings tally of 416.
With 17 not out from 57 balls, Stokes showed exactly how defending and leaving the ball can be the positive option. He even wore a bouncer on his upper arm rather than risk another catch. Just like he did at Headingley in 2019 before his magnum opus, he made sure he would be around the following day to have the chance of doing something special.
If England fail to triumph at Lord’s this week though, their crazy hour of swishing and swatting against the short ball late on Thursday afternoon will have plenty to answer for. Their top three of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope had largely played a blinder. Duckett in particular batted with real skill and confidence.
They had taken the score to 181-1 with a mixture of powerful shots and touches of finesse that the Aussies had little answer to. And the only wicket they had got was thanks to a momentary rush of blood to Crawley’s head as he charged down the pitch to Lyon but missed and allowed Alex Carey to complete an easy stumping.
That aside, England were in total control. So when Lyon felt a twang in his right calf when fielding the ball and had to be helped to hobble off the field, the day and the Test could not be going much worse for the visitors.
And the way that Lyon was pinching his nose in devastation as he walked behind the pavilion, there is every chance that he has already bowled his last ball in this series. The Aussies were there for the taking.
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There would be little to no respite for their seam bowlers now as long as England batted big, batted long and used their intelligence to make their advantage count. And the fact that they were now employing the short ball tactic to its fullest, they were also using far more energy.
All it needed was for England’s batters to not fall into the trap.
First to fall into the trap was Pope. The vice-captain. The man who had a sore shoulder himself and might have a slightly reduced range of motion. He tried to smash Green for six, hitting low to high, but couldn’t clear Smith on the boundary.
Four overs later it was Duckett’s turn, just two runs short of a second successive Test hundred at Lord’s as he top edged his pull off Josh Hazlewood down to David Warner. And then, having already survived a gloved hook to the keeper off a no ball, Joe Root, the No.1 batter in the world, of all people, gifted Smith another catch from a short ball to complete the mayhem.
Australia couldn’t believe their luck as the ‘red for ruth’ wearing crowd added angry crimson cheeks to match their outfits. And for a time, the way that Brook began his innings, the fourth such dismissal seemed imminent. He should have been caught by Marnus Labuschagne at square leg, but the ball burst through his hands.
Brook and Stokes must now make their luck and hard work count on day three.
