Three Tests, three humdingers. The 2023 chapter of the Ashes is turning into one of the all-time classics.
After losing the first two Tests, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum tweaked the English line-up for the Headingley game, bringing in fast bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes and giving off-spinner Moeen Ali another opportunity. The changes worked like a dream as the home side won a thriller to keep the series alive.
Narrow margins
The first two games escaped England’s grasp by narrow margins and what the home team lacked was the impetus to latch on to crucial moments to drive the side to victory and the introduction of Wood and Woakes gave just that.
What Wood brings to the table is raw pace and plenty of enthusiasm, the kind that lifts a side. That’s precisely what he did at Leeds.
‘Go back a yard, Jonny’, said former England captain and commentator Nasser Hussain to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow as the Western Terrace crowd cheered Wood at the end of his run-up, ready to bowl what would be yet another thunderous spell of proper fast bowling.
The pressure was building as Wood bowled dot ball after dot ball and the first run he conceded only came in the penultimate ball of his fourth over. The tension eventually gave in, just like Usman Khawaja’s leg-stump after Wood bowled a 152 kmph delivery.
The player-of-the-match’s effort of five for 34 was the reason why Australia crumbled from 240 for four to 263 all out in the first innings. The fast bowler also made his mark in contributing to his team’s famed ‘Bazball’ tactic with a quickfire 24 off eight balls in the first innings alongside captain Stokes, who himself scored a valuable 80.
England’s next ‘W’ factor fast-bowling allrounder Chris Woakes also had a key part in the home side capitalising on the decisive moments in the game.
Stage was set
While it was Wood who stole the limelight in the first innings, the stage was set up by Woakes after sending back Mitchell Marsh and breaking the 155-run partnership between him and Travis Head. Woakes followed it up by claiming the prized wicket of Head as well.
“Woakes being out of the team for such a long period of time to come back in and perform the way he did with both bat and ball... seeing Woody running in like he does, big smile on his face and enjoying every moment out there was great”Ben StokesEngland captain
He also broke the back of Australia’s second-innings by sending back Khawaja, Marsh and Alex Carey, which meant the visitors again lost the upper hand in the bout, sliding from 90 for three to 139 for six.
The duo’s most important task was, however, in the fourth innings. The job on hand was to bat in tandem and guide England to victory.
Harry Brook had just gotten out after a gutsy 75 and the game could have gone anywhere with 24 runs still needed to keep the series alive. The duo attacked the Aussie bowlers with a flurry of boundaries and England raced past the target nonchalantly.
McCullum’s men hadn’t seized their opportunities in the series thus far and now it was Australia’s time to look back and contemplate.
“There were a few moments that went back and forth. We lost six for 20-odd on day one, and on Friday the sun was out when we were batting and we missed an opportunity. Few key moments and this seems like a series where each session swings in one team’s favour and then the other”Pat CumminsAustralia captain
The English captain was stoked that the changes he made materialised into a win. “We brought Woody and Woakes back in and it’s great when decisions like that impact the game. That’s what we look at, what impact can players have and how can we use them. Those guys [including Moeen] did that this week,” he said after the match.
Looking ahead, the fourth Test at Old Trafford is around the corner and both sides have some serious decisions to make.
From the visitor’s camp, the key dilemma revolves around opener David Warner’s place in the team with talisman all-rounder Cameron Green coming back after an injury and fellow all-rounder Marsh proving himself tough to drop.
Options open
Cummins did not reveal much as he said that the team was keeping all options open for the next match.
“It’s important for Green to be in our side. We’ve seen how important he is for us over the last couple of years and we’ll just have to wait and see”Mitchell MarshAustralia all-rounder
Australia will be hoping that its run machines Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, both with middling returns in the series, will come good sooner rather than later. It is rare that these two, if not at least one, don’t feature in the top-five run scorers list of a series.
‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, a phrase cricket pundits have used generously while discussing a winning team’s playing XI for the next match. But, for England, things are a little more complicated as the home team’s bench in the third Test was warmed by a man with 688 Test wickets.
Leaving James Anderson out from his home ground where one of the bowling ends itself is named ‘James Anderson End’ will be a bold call. However, this seems unlikely as fast bowler Ollie Robinson is carrying a niggle and the wiser choice would be to go with the experience of Anderson.
The next Test is not until July 19, giving a much-needed break for the players before they go all guns blazing.
Old Trafford presents an opportunity for the Aussies to clinch the Ashes but for England, it’s a desperate attempt to keep the record intact of not losing an Ashes series at home since the turn of the millennium.
