More reaction and analysis
A friendly pigeon has delivered a report of day three, which means we can all go home. Take the aerial route if you can, it’s more fun. Thanks for your company and emails, see you tomorrow.
What impresses me most is his ability to read a batsman. When he screws his face up after a delivery, as if to say “that nearly got through”, I can see what he’s thinking. He sums up a batsman in about three balls.
While we wait for Ali Martin’s report, why not read our letters page?
Stumps: Australia lead by 221 with eight wickets remaining
It’s been Australia’s day, and then some. They bullied England’s middle and lower order in the morning session, taking the last six wickets for 46 amid some more unfettered batting. There were a couple of brilliant deliveries too, most notably Mitchell Starc’s to dismiss Ben Stokes in the first over of the day.
That gave them a lead of 91, a helluvan achievement given England had by far the best of the conditions on the first two days, and they doggedly extended it in the face of some forensic English bowling. Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue should watch Good Will Hunting tonight.
Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith will resume in the morning on 58 and 6 respectively. If they get through the first hour, the declaration charge will be on.
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Play abandoned for the day
❌ PLAY ABANDONED ❌
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 30, 2023
The umpires have decided that is it for Day 3 at Lord’s! 🌧️
A defining day in the series? 💭 pic.twitter.com/1t2WbScCIK
“I have tickets for days three and four of the fourth Test at Old Trafford,” says Simon McMahon. “I was rather hoping that I might be there for the glorious climax of the series, and the triumph of Bazball, England heading in to the match 2-1 up and then winning before lunch on day four to regain the Ashes. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe I should just stay at home and go see Dundee United play Peterhead in the Scottish League Cup. But then where’s the fun in that..?”
“Think you are wrong about Leach,” writes Duncan Shallard-Brown. “He has improved a lot since he was given the treatment Down Under and would have bowled for longer and with more accuracy than Moeen last game. He gives our aging attack a chance to rest and would have been used a lot by Stokes, even in this game. I think they would have attempted to go after him but with limited success. More than likely he’d have a wicket or two as well, but of course you can never know!”
While I agree he’s more accurate than Moeen, has he really improved since that series in Australia? He was always accurate. Don’t get me wrong, I like him a lot – he seems a lovely bloke who has been through a lot, the kind of person you wish only well, he’s good bowler and certainly our best spinner – but how was he going to control Australia with mid-off and mid-on up? His economy rate under Stokes is 3.33 per over, half a run higher than under Root. There are reasons for that, the pitches in particular, but I don’t think his absence has been a factor in the cricket we’ve seen so far. I may well be wrong – it’s hardly without precedent – but the Leach-Stokes bromance in the past year feels like a very good bit of PR.
“Dearest Rob,” writes Angus Chisholm. “After that third Broad celebrappeal (and notwithstanding the eventual wicket), I would just like to confirm the view of proceedings from here in the Antipodes: this is so funny. Now that your football team is quite good, it is most enjoyable to be given the opportunity to see England wallowing in another classic English Sportscrisis. Incidentally, not long ago the Sky predictor gave England a 25% chance of winning this test. What are they smoking over there in NW8?”
I told you earlier: high-quality crack cocaine. Wait, hang on.
This rain gives England a theoretical chance of a draw, though the forecast for the next two days looks fine. The likelihood is that Australia will set England a target of, what, 450 in 120 overs? If they do somehow get out of this alive, it’ll feel like Old Trafford 1998 all over again.
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“A lot of talk around about where it’s gone wrong, mainly focussed on the batting, but are we partly seeing the impact of Jack Leach’s injury here?” says Will Vignoles. “He’s not a world beater but Stokes trusted him to the hilt. Without him England have really struggled to build pressure, which was a major and undervalued part of their success over the last year. Tongue seems to have the goods and Broad is a law unto himself, but Robinson and Anderson have looked much less dangerous in Jack’s absence.”
Personally I think there was 0.00 per cent chance Australia would have allowed Leach to hold up an end or build pressure. He would have got a few wickets at Edgbaston, as Moeen and Root did, but there would have been plenty of sixes as well. I’m not sure he’s been missed here – conditions have been good for the seamers all the time England have been in the field. Root only bowled on Wednesday because England were in a mess and the second new ball wasn’t far away.
“Smith’s shadow hand movements after facing a delivery remind one of Rodman demonstration of rebound trajectories in The Last Dance!” writes Adeel.
I haven’t watched it yet so thanks a lot for the spoiler.
“We blew it in Birmingham,” says Greg Fearn. “It’s sadly that simple. One apiece going to Headingley? We’d all take that. It’s over. Way too quickly.”
I can live with England not winning the Ashes (it’s happened once or twice in our lifetime) but I was desperate for this to be a classic series. That’s the most frustrating thing.
Something to read during the rain break
It’s still raining. If they can’t get back on the field by 6pm, play will be abandoned for the day.
“As a neutral,” says Digvijay Yadav. “I’ve got a controversial opinion. For all the merits or otherwise of Bazball, I think this generation of Australian players are probably better than their English counterparts. Broad and Anderson are a different generation. But I remember thinking at the end of the 2019 Ashes, Australia would be kicking themselves. This time they’ve come quite eager to make amends.”
I’m not sure that’s a controversial opinion; overall Australia are significantly better. But in English conditions I thought it would be 50/50. This Aussie team have failed to beat inferior England teams in the past, though they really should have won the series in 2019.
The other thing is that when we compare the teams we need to consider where certain players are in their careers, whether that’s for richer (Khawaja, Head) or poorer (Stokes, Hazlewood).
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Australia lead by 221
This afternoon’s cricket has been of a very high quality, with England bowling skilfully in helpful conditions and Australia steadily increasing their lead and Jimmy Anderson’s blood pressure.
Josh Tongue was eye-catchingly sharp once again, while Usman Khawaja meticulously compiled his third 50+ score of the series. Before the Ashes he had one made one fifty in 14 Test innings in this country.
Rain stops play
45.4 overs: Australia 130-2 (lead by 221; Khawaja 58, Smith 6) It’s getting even darker at Lord’s, and the umpires are discussing whether it’s playable even with the lights on. A bit of light rain seals the deal: they’re off.
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45th over: Australia 130-2 (Khawaja 58, Smith 6) In helpful conditions, Ben Stokes hasn’t felt the need to do anything funky. For the third time in the innings he makes a double bowling change, with Tongue replacing Anderson. Khawaja is rapped on the glove by a good short ball that follows him, and it’s a maiden.
44th over: Australia 130-2 (Khawaja 58, Smith 6) Robinson replaces Broad, who bowled a threatening spell that could have included the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne. Smith misses a pull at a short ball on leg stump and starts to partake in a bit of verbal self-flagellation. Hang on, is that an oxymoron? Either way, Smith give fresh air an uppercut to demonstrate where the ball should have gone.
“I can’t help feeling a sense of perspective is needed from those slating England’s demise to a lowly 325 all out,” says James Dark. “Frankly, kids, you should have been around in the 80s. I seem to remember one Test when we only had to survive a session before torrential rain washed out the match but subsided to less than 100 all out. This is riches indeed.”
Was that Old Trafford 1988? That was my first summer following cricket: England lost 4-0 to West Indies and picked four captains. The next year they diversified by losing 4-0 to Australia and picking 29 players.
Simon Burnton’s Ashes diary is here
43rd over: Australia 130-2 (Khawaja 58, Smith 6) “There seems to be a simplistic polarisation between the Bazball true believers and the fusty ‘proper cricket’ traditionalists,” says Will Ellen. “Does it have to be one or the other? Surely the whole point of not just cricket, but sport, is that strategy and tactics adapt to the match situation. It doesn’t always have to be a 100mph cavalry charge because ‘expressing ourselves’. There are two teams in the Ashes, not one. And in the context of the match and the series, and as England’s best batter, Joe Root’s double dismissal yesterday was amongst the craziest in Test history.
“And blaming it all on the Bazball, rather than the moonlight or the boogie, assumes that Brendon’s there with a blunderbuss cocked to the head, whispering, ‘Slog that short ball for 6, even though there’s four fielders waiting for that exact shot’. Is there not any room for personal decision making? Or is it all just one big cult, as Barney Ronay so eloquently expressed?”
Oh it’s definitely a cult and probably has been since the New Zealand tour. It has also developed into a fascinating culture war, but I suspect you’re right and that most people are on similar middle ground: love Bazball, hate Übazball.
When it does go up in flames – and I’ll level with you, I think I can smell burning - I hope we don’t forget the sheer wonder of last year. But we might. After all, nobody ever remembers Trent Bridge 1993!
42nd over: Australia 128-2 (Khawaja 57, Smith 5) Smith nods approvingly after playing and missing at a lovely delivery from Broad. The next ball curves in to hit the pad as Smith plays across the line. Broad goes up again – this time he does appeal – but Gaffaney and Stokes think it’s missing leg. And they’re right.
I think Stokes communicated his thoughts from mid-off rather than running over to join Broad and Bairstow. I’m probably overstating it but he has seemed a bit detached in this game.
41st over: Australia 128-2 (Khawaja 57, Smith 5) Steve Smith is again booed onto the field, which is absurd. England have two men round the corner on the leg side, so Smith is happy to wear his one in the ribs. Stokes, one of those two men, fields the next ball and hobbles around for a bit. Given how tough he is, it’s probably fair to assume his knee is in a rare old state.
The leg trap almost works when Smith flicks wide of the diving leg slip, Duckett I think, for four. Actually, on replay it wasn’t that close. Smith probably did it deliberately.
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WICKET! Australia 123-2 (Labuschagne c Brook b Anderson 30)
An Andrex-soft dismissal. Labuschagne cuts a long hop from Anderson straight to backward point, where Brook takes an easy catch. No celebration from Anderson, who scowls at Labuschagne and tries to determine once and for all whether looks can kill. They can’t: Labuschagne walks off chewing his gum after another missed opportunity.
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40th over: Australia 123-1 (Khawaja 57, Labuschagne 30) A big inswinger from Broad is flicked sweetly through backward square for four by Labuschagne, who despite some nervous moments has moved quickly to 30 from 50 balls.
“Just want to say that despite the naysayers, Bazball really is the most entertaining to happen to cricket in years,” writes John Kelly. “Over the past couple of weeks it has certainly given a great deal of joy and entertainment to everyone I know who follows the game. But then again I’m writing to you from Australia.”
Honk!
39th over: Australia 118-1 (Khawaja 57, Labuschagne 23) Labuschagne inside-edges a good ball from Anderson to fine leg for four, then flicks more confidently through midwicket for three. It’s worth stressing how good a score this is for Australia on a day when the ball has done something throughout. And at the start of their innings it did everything.
Thanks for all your emails, by the way, which I’m trying to read amid the tears action.
A hat-trick of celebrappeals for Stuart Broad!
38th over: Australia 108-1 (Khawaja 56, Labuschagne 16) This is getting silly. Labuschagne pushes across the line and is hit on the pad and is hit in front of middle. Broad runs straight down the field, big grin on his face, then realises Chris Gaffaney hasn’t given it out. Ben Stokes also thinks it’s high.
But this time Stokes is wrong. It would have been out had England reviewed! The ball would have hit leg stump, and now Broad is fuming. It’s partly his own fault for twice crying wolf before tea. I suspect those celebrappeals in the afternoon session influenced both Gaffaney and Stokes there.
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37th over: Australia 107-1 (Khawaja 55, Labuschagne 16) It feels like conditions are getting easier. The odd ball is doing a lot, but before tea the surprise delivery was the one that didn’t do anything.
Anderson kicks the footmakers in disgust. Broad wasn’t happy in the previous over. A key consequence of England’s batting approach is their new-ball bowlers, combined age 77, don’t get much rest between innings.
Labuschagne makes Anderson even angrier by slapping a short, wide delivery for four. Australia lead by 198.
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36th over: Australia 101-1 (Khawaja 53, Labuschagne 12) Khawaja drives a low full toss whence it came to bring up another fine half-century, both determined and elegant: 105 balls, 10 fours. He’s already pushing 300 runs in the series. Finally he has an England tour he can call his own.
“While I accept that KamikazeBall is the talking point, it is obscuring an elephant in the room,” says Gary Naylor. “England have bowled 130+ overs, mostly in favourable conditions, and Broad and Anderson have two wickets between them, neither a top six batter. They haven’t bowled badly, but is this enough? A two-Test tyro has rather shown them up.”
Mmmyeah, but that has happened in the past too, and Broad was superb at Edgbaston. I suspect Anderson will announce his retirement the moment the series is lost (or win in a blaze of glory at the Oval), but he and Broad wouldn’t be the first in my stocks.
35th over: Australia 97-1 (Khawaja 49, Labuschagne 12) Anderson looks throughly hacked off, and four byes down the leg side aren’t exactly conducive to the production of dopamine either. I think he’s bowled quite well in this game, but when you’re 40 years old, alas, you lose the right to be unlucky. There will inevitably be loads of talk about his future after this game.
34th over: Australia 90-1 (Khawaja 46, Labuschagne 12) The daft thing is that, despite everything, England can still win this game. In theory they could take six or seven wickets tonight – the ball really has done that much – and then knock the runs off on a sunny day tomorrow. You are, however, forcibly advised not to bet the farm on such an outcome.
Broad strays onto Khawaja’s pads and the ball runs away for four leg-byes. An inside-edge to fine leg extends the lead to 181. What a time to be alive for someone like Khawaja, who before this summer knew only misery in England. Dropped in 2013, dropped in 2019, part of a history-making team in 2023.
I know there’s a long way to go but there is about as much chance of Australia failing to win this series as there was after two and a half Tests in 1981.
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33rd over: Australia 85-1 (Khawaja 45, Labuschagne 12) The first ball of the evening session, bowled by Anderson, is pulled contemptuously for four by Labuschagne. An affronted Anderson – his internal monologue must be a riot the noo – responds with a furious lifter that forces Labuschagne to snap his head back at the last second. He widens his eyes and looks at the pitch, wondering where the hell that came from.
“The ‘you do you’ approach to Bazball is all well and good,” says Felix Wood, “but two of the big moments in these two tests have been Joe Root not being Joe Root. He’s never been stumped before for a reason, and since when has he felt the need to hook/pull in the air without control? In this team and as good as he is he can score at five an over without ever really taking a risk, as can others. This seems to be taking on risk for the sake of it. Merv Hubris.”
Ha. Well I think Root was one of the happy hookers in 2014, as mentioned below, but I totally agree that his two dismissals have been absolutely pivotal. All three if you count Stokes’s declaration at Edgbaston. It’s difficult – the greatest the risk, the greater the chance of a farce for the ages, and we shouldn’t forget the joy they have given us. But Root’s last two shots, as you say, were unbecoming.
“Have umpires decided that running down the wicket and looking back them is ok nowadays?” says Dechlan Brennan. “Broad and Philander the worst two culprits but I was under the impression this wasn’t allowed. We can all laugh but it’s not exactly within the spirit.”
You’re right, it’s not good enough really. Once or twice is fine – we all go a little mad sometimes – but it happens too often.
Plus ça change department
“Hello Rob,” says Tim Sanders. “Just for perspective, here’s Mike Selvey reporting on an England collapse at Lords, on 21st July 2014:
Sharma deserves all credit for what happened after the interval, for it was a wonderful effort, but this was cricket’s equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. The more he thrashed the ball into the pitch, the more England responded and the more he did it.
Yes, we were discussing this last night – England have had a few shockers on the pull at Lord’s. They did it against South Africa (specifically Makhaya Ntini) in 2003 as well. No idea why. This was by far the most egregious, though. In context, I can’t think of a worse England batting performance in my lifetime.
I wondered if I was getting carried away, and I possibly am, but even the great Scyld Berry said it was the biggest example of headless chickens since they lost the head (and the Ashes) against Richie Benaud in 1961.
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Teatime reading
I can strongly recommend the Shane Warne book. And, indeed, a more equitable, diverse and inclusive game/society.
Tea: Australia lead by 172
That’s the end of another splendid session for Australia, who resisted some menacing bowling to extend their lead to 172. David Warner eventually fell for 25 to a beauty from Josh Tongue, though he did the Australian middle order another solid by hanging around for 76 balls.
England did a different kind of solid with the bat, because they can, but the bowlers’ performance this afternoon was largely beyond reproach. They could easily have had three or four wickets. But they didn’t, and Australia are closing in on a 2-0 lead. Already.
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32nd over: Australia 81-1 (lead by 172; Khawaja 45, Labuschagne 3) Labuschagne survives two huge appeals off the last two balls before tea!
The first was for caught behind when he chased the all-new Broad outswinger. Broad celebrappealed, Chris Gaffaney said not out and Ben Stokes decided not to review. It was the right decision – the noise that got England excited was bat on ground, not ball.
The second was a very full delivery that thudded into the pad as Labuschagne fell over towards the off side. It looked a great shout – but Gaffaney again said not out and Stokes wasn’t interested in a review.
Replays show it would have gone past leg stump on the angle. My word, that is sensational umpiring – and equally good captaincy, because England are so desperate for wickets that it would have been natural to review, especially on the stroke of tea.
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31st over: Australia 79-1 (Khawaja 44, Labuschagne 7) “I find it strange that people seem bent on declaring Bazball dead based on what’s happening in this Test,” says Steve Holt. “I would argue this is the first time it’s genuinely failed - the first Ashes Test and the defeat in NZ were both games we should have won but for late heroics by the opposition, and not an indictment on Bazball itself.
“So after a string of successes we have one setback where the Bazball approach seems to be to blame, and suddenly everyone wants to go back to ‘traditional’ cricket? Seems a big overreaction to me.”
I don’t think it’s dead at all – it’s a grand idea, exhilarating, life-affirming and actually quite logical. But I really don’t think this is Bazball; it’s the No Way Sis version of Bazball.
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30th over: Australia 79-1 (Khawaja 44, Labuschagne 7) Broad replaces Robinson (8-4-18-0, very few nude nuts) and is nailed for successive boundaries for Khawaja: a back-foot force past gully and an easy cover drive. It feels like Australia’s batters have done most of the hard yakka.
“All this Bazball whataboutism has masked the fact that Australia have been outstanding despite having the worst of the conditions by far,” says John Jones. “The template for the rest of the series has been set and I would suggest they might not select a front-line spinner to replace Lyon.”
They have been terrific, especially in this game because everything has gone England’s way. They’ve also played England like Livia Soprano played Junior. As for the team, I’m sure they’ll pick Todd Murphy – partly for balance, partly because he’s very good. They already have four quicks so there’s no need for a fifth.
29th over: Australia 71-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 7) Anderson replaces Tongue, who bowled a sizzling spell of 8-1-21-1. Bairstow goes up to the stumps to stop Labuschagne leaving his crease. Instead Labuschagne slugs a pull for four, though it only just cleared the man at midwicket.
“I don’t think the puzzling contrast between Stokes’s batting approach and that of the team has been getting enough attention,” says David Murray. “What’s going on here? It’s extremely odd to see Root and Pope getting out playing silly shots and then Stokes come in and defends.
If Stokes doesn’t think it’s the best approach for himself, how can he think it’s the best approach for Root etc. Is there possibly a divergence between Stokes and McCullum? Stokes is fiercely competitive (as he showed when saying that losing sucks) and won’t be content just trying to enjoy smacking it around.”
Stokes just played the situation, as he has for most of his career. I’d be extremely surprised if there’s a divergence between him and McCullum. I suspect the basic attitude is, You Do You, and there hasn’t much talk of late about a collective policy. That’s generally a very good thing. But the players have to merit are worthy of such trust, and for most of the past years, one of the most glorious years in English cricket history, they have done.
Alas, in the series that always defines English cricket teams, everyone went rogue and decided to trial Bazball 2.0: The Crack Cocaine Years.
(NB: Guardian News & Media’s legal department would like to stress that this is a metaphor, and we are not suggesting they are actually high on the stuff.
28th over: Australia 67-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 3) This is the kind of spell England wanted from Robinson – eight overs now, with no real drop in pace (insert your own joke here) or threat. It’s another maiden to Khawaja, Robinson’s fourth, and that might be it for now.
“I’ve been perusing the scorecards of the NZ and India Test last summer (beats the here and now),” says Max Williams. “All three NZ run chases were brisk but hardly breakneck – bar the Bairstow assault in the 3rd Test (71 off 44 balls), arguably the innings which made Bazball a Thing. By the one-off India Test, the run rate has skyrocketed – e.g. Root scores 115 off 170 chasing in the first Test vs NZ compared to 142 off 173 vs India. I suppose the recent batting displays are the natural progression.
“After the NZ series, McCullum said of England’s positive approach: ‘I hope we take it too far because then we’ll know exactly where that line is. Until you do that, you’re not really sure.’ They appear to have found out at the worst possible time.”
Heh, indeed. On reflection they’ve been goading Mother Cricket ever since the New Zealand series, and that can only end one way. Frankly, I’d feel safer getting on the wrong side of Keyser Soze.
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27th over: Australia 67-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 3) “The Barmy Army really needs to sort out a song for Josh Tongue,” says Henry Scowcroft. “Might I suggest they base it on this?”
You may, but I’m not sure I’m the best messenger given I’m about 100 miles away.
Labuschagne is not out! Yep, outside the line so Labuschagne survives. The interesting thing is that he almost accepted the decision; there were only a few seconds remaining when he signalled for the review.
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It was another jaffa from Tongue, which roared back off the seam to hit the flat of the back pad. It might be high and I still think it was outside the line.
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Australia review! Labuschagne LBW b Tongue 3
I reckon this outside the line, and I’m surprised it took Labuschagne so long to review.
26th over: Australia 67-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 3) Khawaja is beaten by another vicious seaming lifter from Robinson, then edges just short of slip, then plays and misses.
Robinson has bowled beautifully in this spell, and his figures (7-3-18-0) are as unflattering as they were flattering in the first innings (24.4-3-100-3).
“Sure I am not alone in feeling thoroughly deflated,” says Andrew Moore. “A series that promised so much looks done after six and a bit days. Used to think it was the hope that kills you, but really it is the crushing dejection. Sorry I am out of whimsy.”
I felt that way a couple of hours ago, but I’ve since sped through deflation, past anger and towards amusement. When the dust settles and we’ve all calmed down, in about 40 years’ time, we’ll apperciate that this has been an England farce for the ages, and that’s the kind of comedy we live for. Right? RIGHT?!
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25th over: Australia 67-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 3) It’s gloomy at Lord’s, and it feels like the players will be going off any minute now. England would love to take another one with them.
Labuschagne defends his first two deliveries with authority, then clips off the pads for three.
Here’s more on the extremely sad news that Allan Border is suffering with Parkinson’s disease.
WICKET! Australia 63-1 (Warner LBW b Tongue 25)
Out. Well bowled Josh Tongue. He’s had a terrific game, dismissing Warner twice, Khawaja and Smith with excellent deliveries. Warner fought admirably for 76 balls, buying a bit of time for the middle order.
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It was a cracking delivery from Tongue, fullish and snapping back off the seam. I thought it might have done too much. The first replay suggests no inside edge, and I think Warner’s in trouble here.
Australia review! Warner LBW b Tongue 25
It was an instant review, so maybe he knows he got an inside edge.
24th over: Australia 63-0 (Khawaja 35, Warner 25) Warner has played positively all summer, even in tough conditions, but today he’s batting like it’s 2019. He’s just doing it a lot better. A thick edge off Robinson rolls away for four, and the two players share what seems a good-natured exchange.
Warner shouts “ooh!” after playing and missing at a grotesque seaming lifter. These are seriously tough batting conditions.
“This series has a nineties feel to it,” says Bobby Dunnett. “Australia will have the series wrapped up after the first three Tests and then we can finish with a morale-boosting win in a dead rubber.”
That’s a disgraceful slur on the Boys of 93. They may have lost the series 4-1, but the series was still alive after three games. But yes, this will be the first time since 2001 that England have been 2-0 down in an Ashes series in this country.
23rd over: Australia 58-0 (Khawaja 35, Warner 20) That’s the risk when you pitch it up: Tongue tries, there’s no lateral movement and Khawaja times a lovely shot through mid-on for four. Australia’s lead is now 149.
22nd over: Australia 54-0 (Khawaja 31, Warner 20) This is Robinson’s best spell of the game, though that isn’t saying too much. Warner is hit a couple of times by nipbackers, with one of them running away for two leg-byes.
“Every now and again the reserved English flirt with revolution and it just doesn’t quite fit,” says Chris Mills. “I’m calling this so called Bazball the New Model Barmy…”
Arf, very good. I’d argue this isn’t Bazball; it’s Bazball on crack. And extremely good crack at that. This isn’t the same team we watched last year.
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21st over: Australia 50-0 (Khawaja 31, Warner 18) It feels like England are bowling fractionally too short to find the edge, the old Andy Caddick length, but there be be a reason for that. Apparently, in the first innings, Stuart Broad felt the ball moved a lot less when England pitched it up, hence all those drives for four.
The impressive Josh Tongue continues to Warner, who top-edges a hook high in the air on the leg side. It teases the substitute Matthew Potts, running in from deep square, but drops well short. The resulting single brings up another outstanding fifty partnership between Khawaja and Warner in extremely difficult circumstances. When the story of this victory is told, it should never ignore their performance.
This is such sad news about an absolute giant of the game. When I was growing up and gawping at old scorecards, I could not comprehend his performance at Trinidad in 1984.
Cricket legend and former Australian captain Allan Border has Parkinson’s and says it will be a miracle if he lives to 80. https://t.co/oxTT6QhuGo
— The Age (@theage) June 30, 2023
Thanks Geoff, afternoon everyone. Well, I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got time for on the day Australia retained the Ashes. Thanks for your company and emails, goodnight!
20th over: Australia 47-0 (Khawaja 31, Warner 15) Robinson in that channel outside off, and Khawaja is leaving with great judgement. Got bowled leaving one in the first innings. Maiden over, and drinks.
I’m out of here, thanks for passing your time with us on the OBO. Rob Smyth will bring it home.
19th over: Australia 47-0 (Khawaja 31, Warner 15) Carved away by Warner, width from Tongue. The ball slows up the hill and he’s kept to two runs. Smacks an off drive but straight at Stokes on the ground.
The lead is back to 138, where it started the day.
18th over: Australia 44-0 (Khawaja 30, Warner 13) He goes tearing up and down the pitch, Warner, after a straight drive just to the on side. Knows it might not reach the rope. Ollie Pope chases well and taps it back before running out of play and almost vaulting the advertising boards behind the rope. A tag-team effort gets the ball back, as Warner runs three to the danger end. Khawaja flicks off his pads, and Pope has hurt his shoulder again. Slides in feet first at mid on, like he’s trying to get a red card, because he’s clearly not confident to go arms first as a player normally would. And then while sliding, and missing the ball, his trailing arm catches the ground and extends that shoulder joint, and even that minor movement has him yelping and rolling over on the ground, before dragging himself up and walking off.
How is he out there fielding if his shoulder is that cooked?
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17th over: Australia 38-0 (Khawaja 27, Warner 10) Now it’s Tongue’s turn to get one past the Khawaja edge. The slips bubble, but Tongue just wheels away and turns his back to them, knowing there was no contact.
16th over: Australia 37-0 (Khawaja 27, Warner 9) Robinson gets through a maiden over, Khawaja content to wait but beaten from the sixth ball.
15th over: Australia 37-0 (Khawaja 27, Warner 9) A couple more runs for Warner from Tongue, driven. So far this is the seventh-slowest innings of his career, discounting ducks that obviously have a strike rate of zero.
Here’s Gareth Wilson. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been more frustrated watching England v Australia. Back in the 90s, we knew we’d lose, so the losing was bearable. No matter how well we’d play, the Aussies always had someone (often 11 someones) better than us. Then, from 2005, barring the odd whitewash, we competed. The cricket was tough, but it was close. Whoever won played damn well to win. This time though, we’re not even asking the Aussies to play particularly well. They’re not doing anything that special (Green’s worldie aside) to be commanding this match.”
14th over: Australia 35-0 (Khawaja 27, Warner 7) Double change, Robinson on from the Pavilion End, and he gives Khawaja a friendly full ball on the pads to clip up the hill for four.
13th over: Australia 30-0 (Khawaja 23, Warner 6) Josh Tongue to bowl, Khawaja pulls and… he’s dropped! Catch goes down. The first pull shot of the innings, if memory serves, and it provides a chance: hit hard and flat, Anderson at midwicket is in the way, but it bursts through his hands for four. I think he lost that in the background, on this dark day. His head turns and he leans away, like someone who knows a ball is coming but isn’t sure from what direction. Gets half a hand to it by chance. Can’t catch it if you can’t see it, but still, that’s a chance gone.
12th over: Australia 26-0 (Khawaja 19, Warner 6) Broad around the wicket, the old contest to Warner, and beats the edge again. Warner comes right across for the next couple of balls, that exaggerated movement to cover the line. Another maiden, Warner has faced six overs’ worth of deliveries now for six runs.
11th over: Australia 26-0 (Khawaja 19, Warner 6) Anderson is still bowling well. Movement in, jagging off the seam. Warner’s balance is good though, he keeps managing to cover that movement.
“Thanks for the link to the Warne piece. This from Ashley Mallet has got to be one of the great sentences ‘Until he came along, many feared wrist-spin was a lost art, gone the way of the dinosaurs, who vanished years ago when Planet Earth failed to duck a cosmic bumper.’ Proper prose game there - plus the delightfully Australian touch of mildly sledging the actual planet.”
The planet didn’t want it enough, Robert Wilson.
10th over: Australia 25-0 (Khawaja 19, Warner 5) Khawaja drives four down the ground. Off drive, handsome shot. Defends the rest of Broad’s over. He’s outpacing Warner.
Cass writes in. “Is Bazball really about playing fearless cricket or is it a calculated attempt to try and mask our batting inadequacies by branding it so we think it’s something it isn’t? As someone who works in advertising myself, it’s textbook. If the product truth is lacking, distract people with something new and shiny. And as a Pom living in Sydney listening to the Aussies laugh at us while they take the urn home, it’s not a whole lot of fun either.”
I don’t think you can discount an approach that peeled off several 300+ chases in the space of a few Tests. Or the way it wrung results out of the dead tracks in Pakistan last year. Their problem in this match was being indiscriminate.
9th over: Australia 21-0 (Khawaja 15, Warner 5) Defending down, Warner has the ball bounce up high from the pitch and has to come forward to smother it in case it has some spin on it and rolls back towards the stumps. Then he misses a full toss! Outside the off stump, it actually swings in through the air, and maybe that helps it evade Warner’s drive. No run from the over.
8th over: Australia 21-0 (Khawaja 15, Warner 5) Lucky four for Khawaja! Wouldn’t have carried to a fourth slip, it’s on the bounce and wide of third slip. Goes to the boundary. Broad with the headband goes full at the stumps but that’s comfortably driven away. Warner at the far end practices his forward defence. Khawaja glances four more! That ball was way down the leg side. There’s a delay as Broad has some problem with the extra lines that Cameron Green had painted on the grass before the cut strip starts, to help his run up. One of the ground staff comes out and paints green over the white paint, I think.
7th over: Australia 13-0 (Khawaja 7, Warner 5) Some decent movement in from Anderson, around the wicket, but less good on the reviewing skills: big inside edge from Warner before it strikes pad. One review down for England. Another big in-dipper cuts Warner in half and goes over the stumps.
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Lunch is over. Time rolls remorselessly on. A wheel crushing us as grain.
“I’ve enjoyed Bazball but always wondered if it would work against Australia, who appear to have worked England out so far,” writes Michael Wells. “Is not worrying about the opposition a principle of Bazball?”
It’s one of those lines they keep saying. I would have thought that thinking about your opponent would be a handy part of high performance. Muhammad Ali did a little bit of planning for George Foreman.
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“Two and a half matches into wrecked sleep here in Melbourne, the mind has wandered to nights banished to the sofa listening to White Line Wireless a while back, in particular one session in which Mitchell Johnson’s splendid hair proved a fine muse for you and your co-commentators. I appreciate you’ve moved on to bigger things, but what are the odds for a ‘getting the band back together’ reunion tour (match) at some point?”
Hello, James Smith. In fact they’re back broadcasting for this series. Some of the original crew and some new callers. You’d find it poking around online. Perhaps one day I’ll get back there.
For those wondering, WLW was a… shall we say unofficial audio commentary service that a few of us started in 2013.
“Feels like another advert in The Times might be forthcoming, 141 years on?” writes Brian Withington.
There’s a brass band on the field, for some reason. And the hovercraft is lurking near the pitch, maybe in case the spray from the trumpets is too much.
Here’s a good lunchtime read if you want one.
The marvellously named Ettiene Terblanche is giving lunch vibes.
“Can’t really be bothered to debate/lament the success/failure of Bazball. All I know is I’m watching the Greatest Game In The World on a glorious Johannesburg winter afternoon, with a delightful German hefeweizen beer to the left of my laptop and a hearty bacon and potato soup to my right. Henry Blofeld would be delighted/appalled.”
“You can tell Broad’s gonna have a trademark purple patch here,” writes Richard McKeary. “It’s growing on his right cheek.”
Yep, took a bad blow while batting and was out a few balls later.
Lunch - Australia 12 for 0, leading by 103 in the third innings
Promising start for Broad and Anderson, but they couldn’t nip one out. Looks likely that we’ll get some rain this afternoon. Can they use an interrupted day and cloud cover to start working through this Australian batting?
A peculiar first session. England losing 6 for 47, as we’ve said. Advantage Australia (Fair), but they’ll still want to make 200 in this innings which might not be straightforward.
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England scored 47 in the session. Australia only 12. Clearly England's morning. Clearly. Basic maths.
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) June 30, 2023
6th over: Australia 12-0 (Khawaja 6, Warner 5) Soft hands from Khawaja, knows he’s being squared up by Broad but still plays the ball down. Leaves where he can. Then gets a run defending a ball into the leg side. Warner crabwalks across, gets down low, and punch-drives through cover for four! All along the carpet, last ball before lunch.
5th over: Australia 7-0 (Khawaja 5, Warner 1) Lovely, Khawaja unfurling into a cover drive in that languid way. Gets four up the hill. Then gets off strike. Anderson around the wicket to Warner, leaving. Time for one more over.
4th over: Australia 2-0 (Khawaja 0, Warner 1) That’s quite the over from Broad to Warner. Nipping the ball around, has him playing and missing. Leaving where he can, drawn into shots at other times. Warner makes it through, no runs/
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3rd over: Australia 2-0 (Khawaja 0, Warner 1) Now Khawaja is game for a leg bye. Can’t play a pull shot with the pad, can you? Nonsense cricket. Warner gets the first run off the bat. Anderson gets one to rear off a length at Khawaja’s gloves, nice stuff. Then a beauty! Bit of wobble on the seam, it comes back slightly, beats the inside edge but goes just past off stump on the angle across the left-hander.
2nd over: Australia 0-0 (Khawaja 0, Warner 0) No pull shots at all in that first over. Not one. Disappointing. Kids out there turning off televisions in their droves. Broad bowls a pretty length, gets one past Warner’s edge. Cloudy day, quite dim. Floodlights on. Three slips, backward point. Warner plays at width, chops it into the ground to slip. Then walks across and prods at another one, misses. He’s coming so far across, leg stump could be in peril.
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Khawaja 0, Warner 0) Anderson to Khawaja, from the Nursery End. Australia’s reborn opener leans forward in that casual style of his to defuse the first couple of balls, then sends back a Warner eager for a leg bye.
A quick changeover, and here we are again for Australia’s reply.
Tim Gilkison, musing.
As Lyon limped off at Lords
To the sound of respectful applause
Was that the moment the doors
Opened for England?Well, as he leans on his crutches he sees
He’d bat better himself than all these
The door may be open
But England have spoken
They’d rather play golf on day three.
Richard Pearce is trying to be reasonable.
“Can’t we just talk sensibly about this? Bazball is great, nobody is bagging it out per se, England look like a new team, refreshed, exciting. But can we just temper it with a bit of game sense please, pretty please. They lost the first Test not because of the declaration, but because of stupid batting at critical junctures in the second innings. They are doing exactly the same here, time and again concocting their own downfall just as they look to be getting one over the Aussies. The reason it is so very frustrating is that with just a modicum of sense, they would have won the first Test easily and would be putting up a bloody good fight here. They are actually now a good side, they just need to stop concocting ridiculous ways to heroically lose. Learn when you’ve done enough of the fireworks and it’s time to put on the slow simmer for a while, please?”
I’d say they lost the first Test because of not taking the last two wickets with 54 runs to protect. Had they scored more slowly in their third innings they wouldn’t have had time, with the morning rain, to get Australia out.
England all out for 325, Australia lead on the first innings by 91 runs
It has been a submissive start to the day for England. Came out with high hopes, given Stokes was there for ballast with Brook and Bairstow for ballistics. But Stokes fell second ball of the day and the other two misfired. The tail dropped off, lizard style. Six for 47 was the result, and Australia will bat again with all the time in the world to build a lead.
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WICKET! Tongue c sub (Renshaw) b Cummins 1, England 325-10
Perfect bouncer from Cummins. Sharp rise. It zeroes in at the grille, Tongue can only get his hands up and glove it away to short leg. Three wickets in seven balls.
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76th over: England 325-9 (Tongue 1, Anderson 0) Two in the over for Head, who has that knack. James Anderson comes out and doesn’t play a reverse sweep first ball, to the surprise of all present. Instead he advances and drives along the ground to mid on for none.
WICKET! Broad lbw Head 12, England 325-9
Another one bites the dust. Massive sweep shot from Broad, right over the top of the ball. Left-hander facing an off-spinner around the wicket. The ball pitches middle and leg, straightens a touch, and is hitting leg stump flush when Broad reviews, purely because they still have some reviews left.
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WICKET! Robinson c Carey b Head 9, England 324-8
Broad decides to carry on. He’s at the non-striker’s end with a spinner bowling. But Robinson goes first ball of the over. Another big charge and swing at cover. Misses most of it, gets an edge. Terrific catch from Carey as the ball deviates up at him from the angled bat. He doesn’t bother to take off the bails with Robinson out of his ground, the catch is all Carey needs.
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75th over: England 324-7 (Broad 12, Robinson 9) Very handy boundary, Robinson plays a proper midwicket flick off the front foot. Good shot, good result. So what is his follow-up? To charge Cameron Green and try a pull shot from two metres down the pitch. Missing, nearly edging behind. Then clears out the front leg, baseballs across the line, and gets the ball bouncing meekly to deep midwicket for one run.
One ball to come, and Broad is hit. Fast and short, round the wicket, Broad turns away at the last second and is struck in the side of the helmet, flush. Looks like the grille at the side of the jaw. He’s upright but looks shaken. The physio is checking his jaw, looks like the helmet didn’t wear all the impact.
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74th over: England 319-7 (Broad 12, Robinson 4) Travis Head on for some off-spin, and these two can’t resist having a crack. Robinson gallops down and manages to plonk two just over the head of mid off. Broad slogs at deep midwicket and gets two more.
73rd over: England 313-7 (Broad 9, Robinson 1) England in proper trouble. Still 105 behind. Need these last few bats to chisel off some of those runs. Broad and Robinson start with one apiece.
“It might be the case that every England batter hooking over and over is a loop of rank stupidity, but have you considered it may just be a code glitch in the simulation?” asks Paul Griffin.
Good call. Like Mark Latham popping up at Lord’s yesterday wearing a dirty polo and oversized shorts, with the same floppy hat he was wearing at the PM’s XI in Canberra seven years ago. Code error. Recurring frame.
WICKET! Bairstow c Cummins b Hazlewood 16, England 311-7
At least it wasn’t to a hook shot?
Bairstow plonks on the front foot and plays a low lofted drive straight at mid on. Simple.
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72nd over: England 311-6 (Bairstow 16, Broad 8) There’s a shot. Green comes on to bowl, back of a length outside off, and Broad smokes a back-foot cover drive on the up! Four runs, and another edged just past Khawaja in the gully. Green the bowler will never get to bowl with Green the gully waiting, a shame for him. Drinks.
71st over: England 305-6 (Bairstow 15, Broad 3) Josh Hazlewood to replace Cummins from the Pavilion End. You’re not going to believe this one: it’s a short ball, and Broad plays a swishing hook shot at it, and gets a top edge that doesn’t carry to deep third. One run. Bairstow gets on strike and glides a ball past the cordon for four.
“I have some sympathy for Brook,” writes Robert Speed. “He was clearly spooked by the blow he took from Cummins. It was fight or flight, and flight, the instinct for self-preservation, took over. Unfortunately for him, Brook can now look forward to a summer of short pitched bowling from the Aussies.”
I don’t know about that. He was playing the same shot all day yesterday, and barely got onto one. It looked like a plan, and a bad one that he didn’t revise when it failed.
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70th over: England 299-6 (Bairstow 10, Broad 2) Unpleasant over for Broad to face from Starc. Broad is doing his old wander across the stumps and jumping vaguely near the line of the ball. Could get bowled behind his legs again. There’s a silly point under the nose. Broad plays a few down with soft hands, does it well.
“Why don’t the English just hit their own wickets in the name of entertainment?” asks Patrick O’Brien. A scorecard of 10 hit wickets, that will get kids into the game.
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69th over: England 297-6 (Bairstow 10, Broad 2) A relatively calm over against Cummins, Bairstow and Broad knocking around three runs. Imagine that.
68th over: England 294-6 (Bairstow 9, Broad 1) Stuart Broad walking out at No8 doesn’t inspire confidence in a lower order. Never know, might be one of those rare days when he lumps a fifty. He plays sensibly first ball to knock a single to leg.
WICKET! Brook c Cummins b Starc 50, England 293-6
Alright. Give me a minute.
That is some of the stupidest cricket I’ve ever seen.
Back to the wild stuff. Facing Starc, Brook plays the shot he kept missing yesterday, backing away a metre to the leg side and hacking at a short ball that might have gone over cover if he connected. He gets a bottom edge that dribbles three metres to short leg.
Does that tell him it’s a bad idea? No. He goes again. Trying to flat-bat a 90-mile-an-hour bowler over cover, remember. Gets about a quarter of it this time. Enough for the ball to limp to Cummins at extra. Who throws it high in the air.
Australia keep offering the invitations. England keep sending a grateful RSVP.
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Half century! Harry Brook 50 from 63 balls
67th over: England 292-5 (Brook 50, Bairstow 8) A couple of singles, Brook brings up his Ashes fifty. Gets back on strike, hurls the bat in a wild hook shot and so nearly nicks it. I swear that I heard a noise there on the stump mic, but nothing on the sound graph. The Australians don’t review it.
“Am I right to begin to worry about Stokes the player?” writes Myles Nester Harwood. “I don’t even know why he’s batting above Bairstow anymore. He continues having these slow and low scoring innings. As a bowler he uses himself sparingly which was felt particularly in failing to win the New Zealand series. I know his knee injury has contributed to this but it feels like England are carrying a man.”
Reminds me of an email yesterday from David Brown. “Is Ben Stokes in danger of becoming a Mike Brearley figure? He seems a part-time bowler these days and averages 35. But boy, what a captain!”
Reckon the leadership intangibles are worth a spot. Last made a hundred last August, nine Tests ago, so it’s a while but not terrible. Had those moments on the last day at Edgbaston: the Khawaja wicket, the Root bowling call that gets Carey, and if he’d taken the Lyon catch we would have been writing all week about how his inspiration had led England’s incredible win.
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66th over: England 289-5 (Brook 49, Bairstow 6) Nasty! Starc from over the wicket gets one to rear at Brook, who jumps and fends it away. Four in a row up at the sternum, and Brook eventually gets a run. Bairstow? Short ball, hook shot, top edge. Drops safely between the two outriders behind square. Yeesh.
65th over: England 287-5 (Brook 48, Bairstow 5) No run from the Cummins over aside from the umpires calling a high bouncer a wide. Miraculously. They should do more of that, Test bowlers get away with a lot of it.
Word from Cricket Australia at last: Nathan Lyon has “a significant calf strain” that will “require a period of rehabilitation”. They’re not ruling him out of the series but will make that call after the Test. Could he get back in three weeks? Steve Waugh managed it in 2001 but he wasn’t bowling 50 overs a match.
64th over: England 286-5 (Brook 48, Bairstow 5) “England fans amaze me,” writes Andrew Tomlinson. “England had lost the Ashes on day one. Almost won them back yesterday, only to throw them away again at the end. Maybe just enjoy playing the best Test cricket since... I dunno, 1924?”
You’re right, the Warwick Armstrong era was incredible. The Big Ship! Arthur Mailey giving them a twirl. Jack Gregory scaring people. Jack Hobbs would have been doing his thing then too, the man whose Ashes records Steve Smith is stalking.
Brook gets a single to cover, Bairstow one to fine leg.
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63rd over: England 284-5 (Brook 47, Bairstow 4) Cummins from the Pavilion End, hoping to get some movement down the slope. Tries a short ball and Brook immediately hooks it, for one.
“There’s a bit if a false argument going in re Bazball and bouncers,” writes Mark Hooper. “The new England approach (which I love), isn’t just about mindless crash-bang-wallop - it’s just about taking a positive approach and taking the game to the opposition. By falling for their own tactics, they just messed up, plain and simple. The smart thing - and the positive, game-changing thing - would have been to work the field for ones and twos and wear the fast bowlers out, knowing that Lyon was out of the game. I think it’s reductive to call Bazball brainless, Stokes has shown very smart captaincy - and was the one to show how they ought to play after their brainless half hour.”
He was, and a big blow for England that he’s out in conventional fashion this morning.
62nd over: England 283-5 (Brook 46, Bairstow 4) There’s something about Mitchell Starc and Ben Stokes and Lord’s. That ball, during the 2019 World Cup group stage. I wrote a whole piece about that delivery, back in the day. And there was the obstructing the field dismissal in an ODI in 2015.
Bairstow drives four through cover from this third ball. England trail by 133.
WICKET! Stokes c Green b Starc 17
In the first over! England’s captain falls. Not trying anything silly. He comes on strike thanks to a leg bye. Starc fires it in fast at the pads. Stokes tries to turn the ball to midwicket for a run or two. The ball gets big on him, takes an edge off the back corner of the blade really. So a leading edge that goes behind him, if that makes any sense? Flies into the gully, and Green adds to his collection of incredible snares. Reflex, to his right, shoulder height, he actually gets both hands up to it without even having time to fully look at the ball. It sticks.
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Here we go…
Test Match Special overseas link? Go on then.
“I’ve mellowed overnight on this, but I’m still a bit irked by that hour,” writes Guy Hornsby. “I think I can be on board with this brand of cricket, but not to the exclusion of all else surely? How many hooks are ok to a field feeding that plan, before it gets brainless? Surely you have to read the game too, as Stokes did when he came in? If we’ve learnt from it today and can bat positively and get past Australia then it could turn the series. Surely egos aren’t so fragile as to have to assert themselves in all scenarios? This team has been outstanding and breathless and inventive, and they are still learning. We’re all here for the ride, but if they take anything into today it’s that pressure can be applied in many different ways, and plans aren’t binary.”
If there’s one thing standing out for me this series, it’s that Stokes is pinned as the one leading this all-out approach, but he’s also the only one who hasn’t batted that way. Played pretty sensibly second time round at Edgbaston and again yesterday, perhaps because the rhythms of Test cricket are baked in for him and he knows that sometimes you have to survive. See Headingley, 2019, third session, day three. The bit before day four.
Get in touch
Some people are already emailing, so they don’t need this reminder, but you can send me a message on this or the bird machine. Details in the sidebar. I’ll even publish a few if England’s batting leaves us time to breathe.
Lastly, Barney Ronay on whether Test cricket will ever see the likes of Smith again.
Jonathan Liew looked at the place of Ben Duckett, a man too cubic for the English public.
I spent my time on Lyon’s misfortune, and a bit of Smith, and the fact that jinxes make a very boring strand of humour.
And we did The Final Word, if you like your day’s wrap in podcast form.
… and the Ashes diary from yesterday.
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Here’s Simon Burnton with the quotes on Nathan Lyon’s injury…
On yesterday’s round-up, here’s the match report from Ali Martin.
Preamble
It seems that we’ve only just left the cricket ground, and then, what do you know? We’re back at the cricket ground. Mornings roll round easily at this time of year. Day three of the Lord’s Test, after we escaped the dire forecasts for Day two without losing a minute to rain. Today’s prognostication suggests that aside from a modest chance of a brief late afternoon thunderstorm, we should be fine.
So, what’s your camp? Some people are looking at the second day and saying that England stuffed it up, others think that it’s a decent position really and would have been a lot worse had the team from a couple of years ago been playing. Both positions have some merit. England will resume 138 runs behind, with captain Ben Stokes and new gem Harry Brook at the crease, and Jonny Bairstow yet to come. Those three could storm into a lead by lunch.
Or they could be all out.
