Ben Stokes took commentators, and some of the Australian players, by surprise when he made the decision to declare late on the first day with England 393 for eight.
Under Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s leadership, England are no strangers to pushing the boat out when it comes to trying to change the course of a match.
While the gamble ultimately did not pay off, and Australia saw out the final four overs, putting on 14 runs without loss, there were some half-chances at a run out and neither batter looked entirely comfortable.
When Stokes called Joe Root, who was on an unbeaten 118, and Ollie Robinson (17*) in, wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was not prepared.
“(I found out at) three minutes past six?” Bairstow said, the exact time as the batters left the field. “We didn’t know anything about it.
“I’m sure he had a couple of conversations with Brendon and the relevant bowlers that were going to take it, but one of them was out in the middle so there can’t have been too many people that knew about it, but I definitely wasn’t!
“It was a bit of a scramble to get the old tape on and pads on and the rest, but to be fair when you’re not expecting something it’s sometimes the best form of attack.”
However, Bairstow admitted alternative decisions have come to embody the approach of Stokes and McCullum’s England.
“I’m sure there’s many decisions that Ben has made that has taken commentators and some people by surprise, so it was no surprise to us,” he said.
“Having played the game for as long as we have, you’ll all be aware that a 20-minute slot for an opening pair is something that’s not very nice and can be a bit niggly. So, look it was a decision that Ben and Brendon had made obviously in conjunction with the bowlers but it’s a shock to nothing.
“You can walk off and there might be an unbelievable ball in there, there might be a loose shot or whatever. But we come back tomorrow with a ball that’s four overs old, a fresh bowling attack and a team that are really looking forward to the challenge.”
