Before this series began, when the possibilities were still infinite, the canvas blank and the excitement still set in the unknown, this was the kind of day England dreamed of. The kind they had inflicted on opponents the world over in the last year, but not quite yet on the world’s best team.
Here, though, for four-and-a-half brutal hours either side of tea, England were simply rampant and Australia, huddled in a splatter of fraught, hopeless conversation between almost every ball, could find no answers.
The result is that England, facing the simplicity of a must-win equation to keep the Ashes alive, are in charge of this Fourth Test, well set on 384 for four at the close, ahead by 67.
Zak Crawley was the chief tormentor, scoring a quite sensational 189 from 182 balls and at last delivering the kind of performance that, even when only hypothetical, has been enough to inspire England’s unshakeable faith in his place in the side. Joe Root made his own fine 84, on course for a crack at the fastest yet of his 30 Test hundreds, until falling to a Josh Hazlewood ball that kept freakishly low.
That may be no bad thing for England, who must yet build their lead and then take 10 Australian wickets to set up a chase in time to beat the weekend’s weather. But when Ben Stokes spoke on the eve of this Fourth Test about crafting an accelerated game, he would have taken this by the end of day two.
Crawley, typically chancy early on and needing a good review on 20, was imperious thereafter. With growing confidence, he became the literal driving force behind a remarkable session that brought 178 runs in just 25 overs between lunch and tea, scoring more than 100 of those on his own as he motored from half-century to full in the space of only 23 balls.
Both he and Root were humble enough after the interval to recognise when a breakthrough might lift shattered Australian spirits and, unlike at Edgbaston or Lord’s, where positions of authority were squandered, England refused to let the moment slip away. There was a brief period of reset, then foot back on pedal and throat as Crawley whipped six over long-on to take England, inside just 55 overs, into the lead.
For Pat Cummins, it must be said, this was a horror show. Out to James Anderson’s first ball of the morning when Australia would have hoped to burgle more than the 18 runs added to their overnight score, the captain put one catch down, went chasing butterflies for another and bowled 16 wicketless overs for 93.
All of that, though, was small fry against some frazzled thinking in the field, each new plan implemented with only semi-conviction and then, like a desperate general defending a city under siege, abandoned as swiftly as conjured as England dictated affairs.
Australia went short to Root, but not short enough, freeing him to pull with control and class, then watching in resignation as fuller balls were reverse-scooped, first for six and then four.
To Crawley, the off-side was packed but the ball not hidden wide enough, allowing him still to feast off his pads. At one stage, two fly slips and a deep point were posted in a final bid to stop the opener flaying boundaries over and past the cordon. Meanwhile, Mitchell Marsh, who had dismissed Crawley twice in the last Test, went unused until his foe had already made 112.
It would be disingenuous to bemoan the omission of Todd Murphy, since one can only imagine the punishment England, in this mood, might have dealt the 22-year-old novice, but certainly they relished facing Travis Head instead, the part-time off-spinner’s six overs sent for 48.
From England, a passage of utter and prolonged domination previously unseen in this tit-for-tat series
To add injury to stroke after stroke of disdainful insult, Mitchell Starc, the only frontline bowler to have eye-popping figures soothed by more than one scalp, pulled up lame in the field.
England, by contrast, could do no wrong, Anderson’s first-ball strike, Chris Woakes’s first Ashes five-for and the promoted Moeen Ali’s first Test 50 since January 2019 setting the foundations for a passage of utter and prolonged domination previously unseen in this tit-for-tat series.
Harry Brook and Stokes will - barring a surprise overnight declaration - be back unbeaten in the morning and bidding to hammer the advantage home.
