Pace like fire from Mark Wood put England on the express train to an Ashes comeback at Leeds, even if his team-mates kept trying to jump off.
Dropped catches and three tame wickets in reply means that the direction of travel in this must-win match is far from certain. But with their Yorkshire duo, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow at the crease, the quartet of missed opportunities from them in the field can be consigned to history if their batting matches the quality of Wood’s bowling.
The ledger reads 68-3 - a deficit of 195 on Australia’s 263 all out - so there is still a way to go, but Wood’s fast show, topping 96.5mph gave him 5-34, his first five-wicket haul at home in 26 attempts. Wood’s return to Test match action lifted the heart rate of everyone at Headingley as he sent down thunderbolt after thunderbolt to rock the foundations of Australia’s line-up.
He knocked over Usman Khawaja with a beauty that slipped between bat and pad, while the rest of the top order were decidedly uncomfortable until the ball got older. And when he returned to take on the lower order, he simply blew them away as they flapped at balls they didn’t want to and brought their bat down about half an hour too late on others.
It was exhilarating stuff, but in between his first and fourth pulsating spells, it was another returnee, Mitch Marsh, who lit up Headingley with a daredevil innings straight out of the Bazball playbook. Marsh’s 118 from just 118 balls was a thing of powerful beauty that should have been nipped in the bud when he had made 12, but was able to benefit from one of four dropped catches from England.
A minor hamstring injury to Cameron Green gave Marsh his unexpected call up almost four years since his last Test, and it proved to be the perfect entry back into the longest format for the Ashes specialist. All rounder Marsh now has three Test hundreds to his name, all scored against England.
When he strolled to the middle Australia were in a spot of bother at 85-4 with Steve Smith walking the other way in disbelief that he had actually inside edged the ball and that Jonny Bairstow had caught it. From his fourth delivery Marsh drilled the ball to the cover boundary and he just didn’t stop, especially after being dropped by Root at slip off Woakes.
A succession of drives, cuts and pulls steadily turned the day on its head while the other Head also tried to make the most of his second life provided by Bairstow clanging one down the leg side. But with a wicketless, punishing session on the cards, thanks to the disappearance of Ollie Robinson with a back spasm, Woakes found the breakthrough on the stroke of tea.
It gave England an opening, allowed the now lubricated and shoeless (“shoes off if you hate Carey!”) crowd in the Western Terrace to find their voice and brought Wood right back into the action. Amid a barrage of booing and chanting Carey was thumped in the helmet from one short ball, and despite being public enemy No.1 the way England kept their distance was curious.
It is surely unthinkable that they wouldn’t have enquired how he was after such a blow, but such is the level of relations, it was muted. Next ball Carey was gone and Todd Murphy folded soon after to complete a 6-23 collapse.
England were in danger of suffering a similar fate as Ben Duckett fell cutting, while Harry Brook and Zak Crawley both prodded outside off stump rather than hit the ball. Attack remains the best form of defence for this team.
