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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Daniel Gallan (earlier) and Taha Hashim (later)

The Ashes: Australia beat England by two wickets in thrilling first Test – as it happened

England Bairstow Ben Stokes BazBall Australia Test (Event) Brook Barney Ronay Crawley (Person) Moeen Ali
Australia's Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon celebrate after winning.
Australia's Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon celebrate after winning. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

More reaction and analysis

Updated

Right, I’d say that’s enough from me. You can spring up your T20 leagues, franchises and all that – but you’ll never beat this. One Test down and four more thrillers on the way, with Lord’s the next stop. Can’t wait for it.

Just rewinding back a bit: it’s worth remembering just how good Cummins was with the ball yesterday, taking 4-63 from his 18.2 overs. Gave it everything and produced one of the great deliveries, bowling Pope with a ridiculous inswinger.

Well worth a rewatch.

Updated

Still plenty to come from our writers on the ground, but just wanted to say a quick thanks to all the people who have messaged in today to talk about the game and everything surrounding it. It’s been a privilege to be on board for it. And sorry to those whose messages I didn’t get around to sharing.

More words from Khawaja, who now averages 66.87 as a Test opener after 37 innings.

“Fair play, right result,” says Stephen Cottrell. “I didn’t agree with the declaration but it made the game on a road and gave England every chance of a win. Only gripe with stokes was keeping Root on after he’d done the trick. From vaulting genius to self indulgence in the time it takes to say ‘Be Here Now’.”

Usman Khawaja is Player of the Match after a brilliant performance across both innings, showing everyone that he can do it in England, too. “I’m not going to lie, I was absolutely shitting myself for the last five minutes,” he says at the post-match presentation. “This is probably my favourite Test match I’ve played in so far.”

Oooph.

Cummins, class:

I get that people are going to take issue with the declaration. But, c’mon, wasn’t all of this just loads of fun? Isn’t that all that really matters for Test cricket right now?

Late on this, from an hour ago, but just want to share this from Adrian Paterson:

“Am following OBO from a lakeside Oslo train, while Dad has blood transfusion back in London. Both lasting 4 hours so far and due to finish in around 40 minutes. A tense simultaneity: Dad’s not such a cricket fan but remembers wartime matches, so we are updating each other by text. I didn’t much like the declaration (or the diagnosis) but if England pull this off (and Dad gets well) might have to tip what remains of my rational mind out of the window and agree that Stokes has power over all things.”

Hope all goes well with your dad, Adrian. Not the result you wanted, but what a game!

“What a game,” writes Huw Swanborough. “Striking to me though, and the joy of test cricket, that it feels like England had the better of the vast majority of the sessions, yet lost the game from pure doggedness from Australia.”

Right then, let me just catch my breath again. Australia were 227-8, 54 runs away and looking out of it. But Cummins, Australia’s captain, thumped Joe Root’s off spin and stayed resolute in the face of short-pitched bowling from the English. Nathan Lyon, a champion cricketer himself, held on from the other end and produced a couple of stunning shots down the ground. The Test champions of the world will go to Lord’s 1-0 up. Just a stunning five days, and a staggering final hour, too.

“Sole Aussie in a pub in London,” writes Mark Doepel. “Fearing for my life. But loving it.”

Cummins’ teammates are all over him. And Nathan Lyon is deservedly getting lots of love too. What a stand they put together, 55 off 12 overs.

Pat Cummins is jubilant, a truly champion cricketer taking it all in. We have seen a stunning Test match here at Edgbaston.

AUSTRALIA WIN BY TWO WICKETS!

Short from Robinson to Cummins, and Pope dives brilliantly at short leg to his right to stop the Australians from stealing another run.

But Cummins does the job, squirting a short ball down to third man for four! They’ve done it! Incredible!

Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon of Australia celebrates after Cummins hit the winning runs.
Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon of Australia celebrates after Cummins hit the winning runs. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images
England's Ben Stokes looks dejected after defeat.
England's Ben Stokes looks dejected after defeat. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Updated

“What a time to answer the call of nature at 3:45am in Australia. Cricket eh? Flipping heck.. " Rowan Sweeney with great timing.

Cummins lets Broad hit him with the short ball. Twice. He won’t budge. Cummins dabs the ball down straight and Broad gets low to halt the prospect of a single. Cummins then pushes to midwicket to steal a single.

Australia need three to win.

Lyon pats away a short ball from Broad, and it drops short of the man at short leg, Ollie Pope. Then Lyon pulls, and it goes past Pope. One more run. Australia need four to win.

91st over: Australia 276-8 (Lyon 15, Cummins 39) Robinson delivers a short ball to Cummins that flies down the leg side. Another short one sneaks past the bat and gloves, Cummins doing well to evade it. And then another bumper follows that Cummins gets under. And then a yorker! Cummins keeps it out, though, backing away as he tried to slap it through the off side. Robinson sends the next one down the leg side. And a dot seals it. The agony for all continues.

Australia need 5 to win.

Australia, I repeat, need five to win. England need two wickets.

“On a plane from Heathrow to Helsinki, plane Wi-Fi patchy at best, and I’m putting it under more stress than it’s used to pulling down for page refreshes more frequently than overs being bowled! Keep the updates coming!” I’m here for you, Harry Sivarajah.

90th over: Australia 276-8 (Cummins 39, Lyon 15) A conversation ensues between Broad, Robinson and Stokes before the final ball of the 90th over. It’s definitely not about tee times tomorrow.

Broad runs in and Cummins clips away for one. Australia need five runs to win and go 1-0 up in the Ashes.

Lyon then clips away for one more. Australia need six to win.

Six.

Broad runs in to Cummins and sneaks one past the outside edge! A gorgeous delivery that nibbled away off the scrambled seam – but no bat on it. Broad gets the crowd going, whipping them up, but Cummins clips away for one. Broad is still smiling, somehow, perhaps screaming internally.

WHAT A SHOT FROM NATHAN LYON! He flicks Stuart Broad over mid-on for four and Australia need seven runs to win.

Nathan Lyon of Australia hits a boundary off the bowling of Stuart Broad of England.
Nathan Lyon of Australia hits a boundary off the bowling of Stuart Broad of England. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Updated

89th over: Australia 269-8 (Cummins 37, Lyon 10)

Lyon pulls for a single. 13 required. Robinson thunders in and Cummins’ forward defence is HUGE. Dot. Robinson slaps Cummins’ pad but the appeal isn’t convincing – that was going down the leg side. 12 required. Lyon clips to the leg side, but there’s no run. A bumper follows, and nothing comes of it.

Australia need 12 to win.

Sums things up.

88th over: Australia 267-8 (Lyon 9, Cummins 37) Cummins pushes into the off side for one. Lyon resists, pokes at one he shouldn’t but there’s no edge. Broad wonders just what he must do to finish this. He’s been immense all game. Edgbaston roars once more, but Lyon clips away for a single. He keeps the strike.

“As a 60 year old this is the first test match I’ve watched in its entirety,” says Neil Clough. “Have this awful feeling I’ve really been missing out. Brilliant entertainment.” Welcome to the party, Neil, it really is something.

Australia need 14 to win.

87th over: Australia 265-8 (Cummins 36, Lyon 8) Robinson takes the new ball from the other end, not Anderson, and Cummins pushes into the off side for one. Does Robinson stick to the basics against Lyon or does he continue to go short? He strays onto the pads and Lyon clips nicely for a single.

Cummins drives aerially through the covers and Crawley fumbles in trying to stop the boundary – IT’S FOUR! Cummins gets one off the last ball of the over to keep the strike.

Australia need 16 to win.

Michael Fryer writes in: “Over here in San Diego I’m about to put my 2 year old down for a nap. In Lindfield, my friend Tony Cunningham is about to start the bedtime routine for his daughter. We’re cursing the timing!!” Let them watch!

How are your nerves?

86th over: Australia 258-8 (Cummins 30, Lyon 7) Broad is the man to bowl, and Lyon hits an off-drive for four! A staggering stroke, pumped down the ground and a diving Broad couldn’t save it.

Paul Mincher is in trouble: “8% left on my mobile from a campsite in the Dordogne. Go on, England!”

Australia need 23 to win.

England take the second new ball. Finally.

85th over: Australia 254-8 (Lyon 3, Cummins 30) Still no new ball. But Ollie Robinson is into the attack, ready to bang them into Lyon. A bumper clips Lyon’s helmet, beating Bairstow, but there’s a man behind the keeper who picks up to clean the mess. Robinson drops to his haunches. The emotions are showing, even if Bazball is all about playing it kinda cool.

Cummins is greeted with a yorker which he digs out, and then he dabs one into the off side for a couple. This is brilliant from the Australian captain.

Australia need 27 to win.

84th over: Australia 251-8 (Cummins 28, Lyon 3) Broad has the ball, not a new one, though, and goes short to Lyon – and STOKES NEARLY PULLS OFF A STUNNER! The England captain leaps at square leg, going back with one hand, just like he did in 2019 against South Africa, but he can’t hold on. What an effort. Broad thought he’d pulled it off.

This game, man.

Then a leading edge from Cummins into the off side, and he picks up two. Cummins then swats to the boundary for four!

Australia need 30 to win. Forget the draw, people, it ain’t happening.

Ben Stokes drops a catching chance off the batting of Nathan Lyon.
Ben Stokes drops a catching chance off the batting of Nathan Lyon. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Updated

83rd over: Australia 244-8 (Lyon 2, Cummins 22) Stokes still saying no the second new nut. Root tosses it up and Cummins smashes a straight six! And then ANOTHER over mid-off! Erhmahgawd. Stokes surely has to go to Anderson and Broad now. Big over for Australia, huge over!

Australia need 37 (!) to win, minimum 14 overs left.

82nd over: Australia 230-8 (Cummins 8, Lyon 2) Stokes continues, then, avoiding the second new ball. Lyon gets one away first up to bring Cummins on strike, and a quick single closes the over.

Australia need 51 to win, minimum 15 overs left.

81st over: Australia 228-8 (Lyon 1, Cummins 7) What a shift this has been from Root, by the way, helping out with more than what was expected from him due to Moeen’s finger problem.

Australia need 53 to win, minimum 16 overs left.

WICKET! Carey c&b Root 20 (Australia 227-8)

THIRD TIME LUCKY! England don’t take the new ball, Root continues, and Carey thumps the ball straight back to the bowler who just about holds on. Edgbaston roars once again!

Joe Root of England catches Alex Carey of Australia off his own bowling.
Joe Root of England catches Alex Carey of Australia off his own bowling. Photograph: Ashley Western/Colorsport/Shutterstock

Updated

80th over: Australia 227-7 (Carey 20, Cummins 7) Stokes in for what could be his last over of the match, with the second new ball available after this. It’s a maiden.

Colum Fordham writes: “What a fitting finale to a glorious test match, the tension palpable amongst the players, the crowd and those humble mortals following on the radio, TV and the wonderful OBO.

“The captain makes the critical breakthrough of Khawaja, the former captain puts down an astonishingly difficult chance, and the prospect of Broad and Anderson with the new ball. Doesn’t get much better!”

Australia need 54 to win, minimum 17 overs remaining.

79th over: Australia 227-7 (Cummins 7, Carey 20) Carey goes for the paddle and gets a boundary off Root. Cummins then drives the last ball of the over straight and Root drops one again! It was low, and a tough one, but we’re at the finish now and every little thing matters.

Australia need 54 to win, minimum 18 overs remaining.

78th over: Australia 219-7 (Carey 14, Cummins 5) Stokes, irrepressible, concedes a single off Carey and then roars in for five at Cummins. We move. Australia need 62 to win, minimum 19 overs remaining.

“I’ve got 300 TV channels here in Kentucky and not one of them has the cricket,” writes Andrew Clifton. “I’m following as I usually do on OBO. The grass needs cutting and I was pretending to do the ironing in the basement but I’ve even given that up now. You have my undivided attention until the end.” Here with you for the rest of the way, Andrew.

77th over: Australia 218-7 (Carey 13, Cummins 5) Cummins pumps Root down the ground for four – he smacked it in the first innings and he’ll try do the same in the second.

Australia need 63, minimum 20 overs remaining.

76th over: Australia 214-7 (Cummins 1, Carey 13) Stokes goes short to Cummins, who pulls but produces an edge… it goes high into the air but lands safely in the square-leg region. Carey, trying to up the ante, toes Stokes over mid-off for a couple. Australia trying to switch things up here.

Australia need 67, minimum 21 overs remaining.

Updated

75th over: Australia 210-7 (Carey 11, Cummins 0) England go up for a leg-before review, with Bairstow adamant after Root fires one into Carey, who tries to cut from back in his crease. It does hit the pad first, but the ball is shown to be going on with the arm, missing leg stump. Carey then advances down the ground for a big shot but can’t beat Stokes at mid-off. AND THEN A DROP! Carey smashes it back to Root who can’t hold on – he absolutely smoked it, but still a chance.

Australia need 71, minimum 22 overs remaining.

74th over: Australia 209-7 (Carey 10, Cummins 0) Stokes, clearly not at full fitness, rumbles in again, going up against his opposing number. Cummins plays out a maiden.

“Hi Taha, Emiel here. From Holland, but residing in Doha. Big England cricket fan. Couple of nights before the start of this match, Cummins came to me in a dream. I imagined I was interviewing him for some big tv channel and asked him how he was going to deal with this Bazzball razzmatazz. “Yeah, we’ll see, mate. We’ll be playing some hard, old-fashioned test cricket, and then it’s up to the Gods.” Hope this was just a nightmare, but I’m getting really quite anxious now!”

Emiel, presume you’re a bit calmer now Khawaja’s gone.

Australia need 72, minimum 23 overs remaining.

73rd over: Australia 209-7 (Cummins 0, Carey 10) Root tosses one up, Carey throws out a drive, doesn’t get a bat – then a reverse-sweep attempted, and no bat again. Suddenly, England have the control, the edge, the sense that they really are just a second away from closing this out.

WICKET! Khawaja b Stokes 65 (Australia 209-7)

STOKES! He gets Khawaja, the big one. From around the wicket it’s a leg-cutter, Khawaja pokes at it and drags onto his stumps. This might well be the game (famous last words). A colossal effort from Khawaja, but it’ll have to be someone else who finishes the job for Australia.

72nd over: Australia 209-7 (Cummins 0, Carey 10)

Australia need 72 to win. A minimum of 25 overs to go.

Australia's Usman Khawaja is bowled out by England's Ben Stokes.
Australia's Usman Khawaja is bowled out by England's Ben Stokes. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters
England players celebrate with Ben Stokes after he dismisses Usman Khawaja of Australia.
England players celebrate with Ben Stokes after he dismisses Usman Khawaja of Australia. Photograph: Paul Greenwood/Shutterstock

Updated

71st over: Australia 207-6 (Carey 8, Khawaja 65)

Khawaja bunts away Root for a single, and that’s the only damage from the over.

“Loving this!” says Stephen Brown.

“I assume they are saving Broad for the new ball. If he and Anderson don’t bowl in the next 10 overs and Aus need less than 50 at that point, the game should be England’s.”

Australia need 74. A minimum of 26 overs to go.

70th over: Australia 206-6 (Khawaja 64, Carey 8) Right then, who’s here? Benjamin Stokes is here. The England captain will bowl, he was always going to bowl, he has to bowl. The crowd love him for it, of course they do. He thunders in, smacks Carey’s pads and they steal another run. Khawaja clips away and they take three off it. Australia need 75. A minimum of 27 overs to go.

69th over: Australia 203-6 (Khawaja 62, Carey 8) Root continues, having looked somewhat threatening so far. Khawaja picks up one.

Australia need 78 runs to win. A minimum of 28 overs to go.

68th over: Australia 202-6 (Khawaja 61, Carey 8) Moeen returns, defying that cut-up finger. He drops short with his third ball and Carey smacks away for four. Australia have brought up 200. “Weird that Broad hasn’t come back?” asks Finley Wilks. I’m sure he’ll be on soon.

Australia need 79 runs to win. A minimum of 29 overs to go.

67th over: Australia 195-6 (Khawaja 60, Carey 2) Carey swats away Root for a couple, and then watches on as the offie gets some big turn away from the bat. Australia need 86 to win. A minimum of 30 overs to go.

66th over: Australia 193-6 (Carey 0, Khawaja 60) The Robinson v Khawaja duel continues. The quick thunders in, the left-hander resists. A maiden.

Australia need 88 runs to win. A minimum of 31 overs to go.

65th over: Australia 193-6 (Khawaja 60, Carey 0) Root keeps on twirling, conceding one.

Meanwhile Jordan White has just written in, beautifully: “As an Aussie reading the emails the British OBO fans are sending in, I am absolutely laughing at how pessimistic they all seem to be, when Broad is obviously about to blast through the Aussie batting line-up...this level of pessimism seems to be seen as something quintessentially British, although I learned it from my Australian grandfather, who passed away today. His love for watching his team get beaten, or watching his team winning but all the while assuming that they’d lose, was a defining feature of his, somehow, and it’s poetic for me that this absolute nail-biter of a Test is coming to an end today.

“Not sure if this is interesting for anyone else! But reading Jonathan Liew’s beautiful piece on Sunday reminded me of the value in the personal....

“Cheers! PS: Robinson got Green the second I finished writing this!”

Thoughts are with you, Jordan. Hope you get to enjoy a great finish, regardless of the result.

64th over: Australia 192-6 (Khawaja 59, Carey 0) Robinson, with his tail up, finishes his over with a fine yorker that Carey digs out. Game on.

WICKET! Green b Robinson 28 (Australia 192-6)

GOT HIM! Robinson nips the ball in and Green drags onto his stumps. This magnificent Test match takes another turn.

England's Ollie Robinson celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia's Cameron Green.
England's Ollie Robinson celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia's Cameron Green. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Updated

63rd over: Australia 192-5 (Green 28, Khawaja 59) Root delivers an absolute beaut, ripping one past Khawaja’s outside edge into the hands of Bairstow. The crowd is getting going against after a period of uneasy silence. Green, who really does give the ball a serious whack, gives it everything with a drive through the off side for one.

Australia need 89 to win.

62nd over: Australia 189-5 (Green 26, Khawaja 58) Bouncer from Robinson to Khawaja, followed by a full delivery that goes down the leg side. A maiden.

“Hi Taha,” writes David J. Govantes-Edwards, “thank you for keeping me informed as I attend my son’s end of year school play (here in Spain they finish school so much earlier than in the UK).

“My question is, as I begin to proper panic now ... Thinking about those dropped catches behind the wicket, what is the point of leaving out a world-class keeper for JB’s runs if we’re going to declare when there are still (presumably) plenty of runs in the bag?”

You’re panicking too early, David. Just sit back and enjoy for now – we’ll get into the nitty-gritty later. But, also, Australia need 92 to win.

61st over: Australia 189-5 (Green 26, Khawaja 58) Joe Root picks things up from the other end, and Green punches off the back foot for a couple. Khawaja hangs back to Root to dig the ball into the leg side for a single. Australia need 92 to win.

60th over: Australia 185-5 (Green 23, Khawaja 57) Robinson to Khawaja, who shows off his excellent pull shot to pick up one. Green edges, with a degree of control, to third man for another single. Australia need 96.

Last session, Australia need 98, England need five wickets, I need to type even quicker. Let’s. Go.

Oooooh yeah, it’s getting tasty:

This game, man:

Right, lots of people getting back to me regarding Philip Gillibrand’s query (46th over).

Here’s a good one, pointed out by Geoff Wignall: opener Desmond Haynes was the last man out in both West Indies innings against New Zealand at Dunedin in February 1980. Ended up a one-wicket win for the Black Caps after Haynes made 55 and 105 in a low-scorer.

One game finishes, another begins. The women’s Ashes gets underway on Thursday with a five-day Test at Trent Bridge. Buzzing for it.

Here’s Megan Maurice on Australia, who will be without the great Meg Lanning.

Tea: Australia 183-5 - 98 more runs required

59th over: Australia 183-5 (Khawaja 56, Green 22) Tidy from Root, who usually likes bowling from around the wicket but is going from over, trying to spin one through Green’s gate. A maiden, and that’s tea. England won the first half of the session, Australia claimed the second.

Australia need 98 to win.

Joe Root bowls the final over before Tea.
Joe Root bowls the final over before Tea. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

58th over: Australia 183-5 (Green 22, Khawaja 56) Robinson, wide of the crease, angles the ball in, scream scrambled, and beats the forward prod of Green. A beauty, but no joy. An attempted yorker from Robinson turns into a low full toss, but Green can only steal one off it.

Fran Collins has seen enough: “Can only envisage one result now, sadly. Australian victory. England need a couple of wickets quickly.”

It’s into double-figures. Australia need 98 to win.

57th over: Australia 181-5 (Khawaja 55, Green 21) Joe Root’s in and gets some pretty sharp turn into Green. Just one off it.

Good point from Leandro: “The question is, when do we start panicking that Australia may win it? Is 210-5 too late to start? Should I begin straightaway?”

It’s been a good 20 minutes or so for Australia so, yeah, I reckon you can go ahead and start sweating.

Australia need 100 runs to win.

56th over: Australia 180-5 (Khawaja 54, Green 21) Anderson flies in and delivers a back-of-the-hand slower ball that Khawaja helps on its way for a single. Green then finishes the over with a thumping drive to the long-off boundary for four.

Will Dean sounds a bit worried: “One can’t help but wonder if Uzzy will manage a very similar feat to that of Ben Stokes at Headingly 2019…. Perish the thought!”

Right then, I’m going to start the countdown.

Australia need 101 runs to win.

55th over: Australia 173-5 (Khawaja 52, Green 17) Moeen floats one up to Green who drives hard and picks up three after Anderson fails to stop the ball at cover. Khawaja receives a long-hop but can only sweep it to the man in the deep for one.

54th over: Australia 167-5 (Green 13, Khawaja 50) Green, starting to look a little more comfortable, punches Anderson nicely off the back-foot to pick up two. He grabs a single off the last ball of the over, too.

53rd over: Australia 164-5 (Green 10, Khawaja 50) Moeen is being allowed here to do what he said he couldn’t: hold up an end. Just one run off it.

Fifty for Usman Khawaja

52nd over: Australia 163-5 (Green 9, Khawaja 50) Khawaja picks up a couple to bring up a half-century, following up on his first-innings ton. What a Test match he’s had after two difficult tours of England in 2013 and 2019.

Here’s a suggestion from Robin Hazlehurst: “So if Uzzy Khawaja is playing the diametric opposite of Bazball with his defensive slow scoring, shouldn’t it also have a fun name? How about Uzball?”

I think he’s just playing, like, normal Test cricket, right?

Usman Khawaja reaches his fifty.
Usman Khawaja reaches his fifty. Eventually. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Updated

51st over: Australia 161-5 (Khawaja 48, Green 9) Two off Moeen’s over.

Stat bomb: My OBO colleague Tim de Lisle points out that Stuart Broad has the best strike rate in the match, beating Nathan Lyon. It’s been a terrific effort from the quick who I, prior to the game, didn’t have in my England XI (I went for Wood). He’s still proving people wrong.

50th over: Australia 159-5 (Green 7, Khawaja 48) Green drives well through the covers to pick up two from Anderson. Brendon McCullum has his feet up by the dressing room and, as ever, looks very relaxed.

49th over: Australia 156-5 (Green 4, Khawaja 48) Full toss from Moeen and Khawaja can breathe easy – he sweeps away for four. The left-hander picks up two more off the next ball. Nearly a howler from the batter, trying to flick Moeen away only to pop up a leading edge – but the ball doesn’t carry to mid-on. Then he tries to rock back and cut but misses completely.

48th over: Australia 150-5 (Khawaja 42, Green 4) Khawaja clips Anderson away for one after seeing off two dots. Green continues to resist.

Usman Khawaja ekes out two more runs.
Usman Khawaja ekes out two more runs. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Updated

47th over: Australia 149-5 (Khawaja 41, Green 4) Moeen continues, and Green shows off his forward defence. You still feel that Australia still need to go after Moeen despite that wicket – they haven’t had any success against the quicks today, and they really need a bit of a push now, just a few boundaries to get this chase properly going. Just one off the over.

“Taha it’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen,” says Kim Thonger. “Australia collapse to 199 for 9 after tea, and then Lyon and Hazlewood successfully block everything for two hours until the close. Result, a draw. I’ll stake your reputation on it.”

46th over: Australia 144-5 (Khawaja 40, Green 4) The lean, mean (he actually seems to be a lovely young man) Cameron Green is out there with Khawaja now. Anderson returns to test out the big all-rounder’s defence, and gets a couple to sneak past the bat. And then an outside-edge! But it stays low and runs away for four.

Philip Gillibrand asks: “The tweet from Alison Mitchell [see below] about how long Khawaja has been out on the field begs the question whether any cricketer has been out on the field for the whole of a test match i.e. has any opening batsman ever carried his bat in both innings and fielded for two complete opposition innings?”

“If so, he would have earned his match fee!”

Anyone got an answer? I’m rather occupied.

45th over: Australia 143-5 (Khawaja 39, Green 0) Moeen Ali is just a box-office cricketer, isn’t he? Those first three balls were no good, really, and then he just gets it right outta nowhere.

WICKET! Head c Root b Moeen 16 (Australia 143-5)

Right then, this is very interesting. Moeen has the ball, and he’s going to test out that finger. A poor first ball from the offie, short and smacked away by Head for four. Head then cuts away for a couple. The batter then gets a thickish edge that runs away for another four, despite Broad’s best efforts to stop it at third man. Moeen finally gets one right, tossed up outside off that Head edges away. AND THEN THE WICKET! Moeen tosses it up, gets sharp turn and Head hangs back, and gets an edge that goes to Root at slip. Oh Moeen, that is magical, that’s why you’re here – what a story!

Moeen Ali gets Travis Head for 16!
Moeen Ali gets Travis Head for 16! Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Updated

44th over: Australia 133-4 (Head 6, Khawaja 39) Broad continues after the break and goes short (shock) to Head, who swings hard and gets something on it to pick up four. Another bumper follows and Head ducks. The batter then cuts hard, but straight to Robinson at cover. A yorker follows – Broad showing off all the tricks, trying everything, and Head is still struggling to find the meat of the bat. A pull shot then goes straight to the fielder, but he does clip one off the hips for one to finish the over.

“Welcome to the fun Taha,” writes John Sims. “I’ve been following England tests this way since before my twins (now 19) were born here in New Jersey, and their early nurdling sounds were reminiscent of the great I Ron Bell’s batting. England’s approach has been a revelation - my first test was at Edgbaston in the early 70’s when I walked there with my father and great uncle. The early declaration makes it great entertainment and a real thinker’s conundrum: would I do that? So much better than the terror of failing we’ve had for decades.

“Ben - I have a meeting with the COO in 45 minutes. Please whittle them out by then.” Might have to keep the notifications on.

43rd over: Australia 128-4 (Head 1, Khawaja 39) Robinson isn’t giving anything away. Maiden. Drinks, and England will be pleased with what they’ve pulled off so far. A wicket and no real aggression from Australia. Or is that more frustrating? Surely they want them to play a few shots to invite something silly. Maybe that’ll come soon. Surely we’re not on for a draw, right? Ah man, my mind’s scrambled.

42nd over: Australia 128-4 (Khawaja 39, Head 1) Head finally gets off strike, pulling away to fine leg for one. Khawaja drives nicely but hits it straight to one of the fielders at cover. Broad oversteps, but Australia don’t seem to be going anywhere at the moment. The bowler, 163 Tests in, remains relentless – heart to go with skill – and he finishes with a yorker that Khawaja toe-edges for one. Oooph, he’s got away with that one. This is thrilling.

Travis Head has a wry smile for Ollie Robinson.
Travis Head has a wry smile for Ollie Robinson. Photograph: Ashley Western/Colorsport/Shutterstock

Updated

41st over: Australia 125-4 (Head 0, Khawaja 38) Khawaja is playing a game of patience, waiting on the bad balls. Unfortunately for him, the bad balls don’t seem to be coming. He’s added four so far to his overnight total.

Afternoon to Simon McMahon: “I think the only thing worse than following the nail biting climax of an Ashes Test at work is not following the nail biting climax of an Ashes Test at work. Been torture waiting on play to start. Now that it has, let’s hope we get a result. Though who will be celebrating is anybody’s guess I reckon. A tied Test, maybe..?”

Interested to know how many people have opted to WFH today…

40th over: Australia 123-4 (Khawaja 38, Head 0) Broad is bowling a lovely spell, pushing the ball away from Khawaja from over the wicket. The left-hander isn’t falling for it, refusing to poke and prod for the outside edge. A leg-bye for one gets Khawaja off strike, and Broad thunders in a short ball to Head. He’s still on 0 after 11 balls.

39th over: Australia 122-4 (Khawaja 38, Head 0) Robinson is in for his first bowl of the day, and Khawaja clips him away for one. The right-armer gets a bit of shape away from Head, who is still searching for one off the middle of the bat.

38th over: Australia 121-4 (Khawaja 37, Head 0) Travis Head, the aggressor, is in. He will surely play his shots and with the nightwatcher gone, we’re into a proper battle now. Edgbaston is beginning to roar a bit louder, and Broad has the momentum. Back of a length first up, and Head gets behind it. Broad continues to bang ‘em in, and the left-hander resists until he tries to pull the last ball of the over. Nothing comes of it.

“To satisfy narrative tension, England should wait until the new ball is due to wipe off the final three wickets,” says John Starbuck. How’s your ticker?

WICKET ! Boland c Bairstow b Broad 20 (Australia 121-4)

Broad into Boland, and that means more bumper action. Boland gets out of the way of the first one pretty easily. But then the fuller one and HE’S GONE! Swings in, full, and Boland nicks off to give Bairstow the catch. Six more to go for England.

Stuart Broad celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Australia's Scott Boland.
Out! Stuart Broad gets the nightwatchman for 20. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images/Reuters

Updated

37th over: Australia 121-3 (Boland 20, Khawaja 37) More runs for Australia as Boland picks up four leg-byes off Anderson. A shout for catch as Bairstow holds on down the leg side, but the ball came off Boland’s pad, not bat. Wide from Anderson and Boland cuts hard for one.

Also, this is magnificent:

36th over: Australia 116-3 (Boland 19, Khawaja 37) Sharp bumper from Broad to Boland, who does well to duck out of the way. Another short ball follows – but Boland does well to ride and guide it behind square on the leg side for one. Khawaja’s on strike but Broad sticks to the same plan – he sends another bouncer in, whistling past the opener’s helmet. A clip to fine leg for one follows.

Fuller from Broad to Boland, who has a little poke outside off, but gets nothing on it. The right-hander is resolute, though, and picks a ball off his pads for one.

Scott Boland ducks a short ball rom Stuart Broad.
Scott Boland ducks a short ball rom Stuart Broad. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

35th over: Australia 113-3 (Boland 17, Khawaja 36) Anderson to Khawaja again, and it’s quiet. Six dots, and that makes it just one run from the last three overs. Pressure building.

34th over: Australia 113-3 (Khawaja 36, Boland 17) One keeping a bit low from Broad, but Boland gets behind it. One then tails back into the right-hander, who brings out a leave (remember those?). Boland then cuts hard, but Ollie Pope stops it at gully.

33rd over: Australia 113-3 (Boland 17, Khawaja 36) Oops. Misfield from Ollie Robinson at midwicket helps Boland get off strike. Anderson gets some pretty-lookin’ outswing going against Khawaja. And then a play and miss outside off from the batter, which fires up Edgbaston.

“G’day Taha.” G’day Jack Faine.

“This test and its fifth day provides such fertile terrain for the unfolding of so many different narratives - it’s hard to know where to look! For me, I’ll be looking to Usman Khawaja and Moeen Ali, both with such great stories of careers resurrected, who both hold an opportunity today to win the match for their respective countries. Here’s hoping for an even contest to keep us all entranced to the end.”

Beautifully put. I’ve absolutely loved the Khawaja story over the last 18 months and, well, Mo, how can you not love Mo. Hope that finger’s OK.

32nd over: Australia 112-3 (Boland 16, Khawaja 36) Broad to the nightwatcher Boland, who manages to pick up three with an edge down to third man. Bit of swing away from Khawaja for the quick. The opener – whose bat looks well massive at the moment – sees off the rest.

Stuart Broad is getting some movement off the pitch.
Stuart Broad is getting some movement off the pitch. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Updated

31st over: Australia 109-3 (Boland 13, Khawaja 36) Anderson v Khawaja to kick things off. The left-hander blocks one, leaves another, blocks again and then inside-edges for a couple. Two more dots to finish. It’s already very tense.

Australia need 174 more runs. England need seven wickets. Let’s gooooooooo

Chris Drew writes in: “Before we get too far into ‘drop Brook/bring in Foakes/YJB to open’, there is another aspect that has to be considered And it has a direct implication. Bowling.

“We don’t know fully yet how Ben’s knee holds up. How much will he be able to bowl? That impacts on who you bring in as a bowler (Mark Wood?). Do we need another bowler, and Stokes only plays as a batter?

“These Ashes are as much about ‘the Battle of Ben’s Knee’ as anything, as it affects the whole balance of the team.”

Dropping Brook? Who suggested that – what is happening to the discourse?!?! Anyway, let’s not get too far ahead – as Bazball tells us, just look at what’s in front of you. And we’ve got a thriller on here – let’s get going!

Kim Thonger is looking on the bright side:

“This seems an opportune moment to point out that I don’t think anyone has thrown into the OBE this test, the Boycottian cliché, ‘add two wickets to the score’ to get a truer understanding of the direction the game might take.

“I’m therefore throwing it in now.”

Jimmy A has his say:

Thanks Dan! Oh boy, this is exciting/nervy/joyous/brilliant/very exciting/too exciting/ermahgawd.

How do we see this going? You can’t help but think about Edgbaston ’05. That was the thing that got me into this silly sport, and I really hope today does the same for some other eight-year-old watching. I’ll be here all the way till the close - keep me company and let me know how you’re watching/listening/reading/feeling.

Alrighty folks. Not long to go but my day is done. Sincerely, that was one of my best shifts at the OBO wheel. You’ve all been brilliant!

Loved the chat about mental health and how Bazball has served as a balm. The Foakes/Bairstow debate will continue to twist and turn and of course the nickname banter had me giggling.

I hope you enjoy the cricket and keep the chat alive as the excellent Taha takes over. You’re in safe hands.

Til next time…

InzaDan-ul-Haq.

You know, this is a really good idea…

“Hi Dan, Thanks for the fantastic coverage. It’s been a wonderful Test and what odds on an England victory by two runs?”

It’s been fun, Tom Keil. Hope you enjoy the actual cricket in a bit.

“It’s also been a Test that’s largely proved Bazball will hold up against the Aussies. The one area of the team that needs to be scrutinised, is Bairstow keeping wicket. Bazball is fundamentally about creating heavy momentum from the outset. The batsman all bat like they are on 150, but from ball one. And England set fields like they are 500 ahead, regardless of the actual score. It’s partly worked so well because it rips up the traditional cricket notion that pressure has to be built over long periods of time. Bazball yanks the momentum to England from the opening ball of each day, and it’s hard for opposition teams to cope with it.

“But nothing kills momentum faster than dropped catches and missed stumpings. Foakes barely ever makes a mistake and so the pressure is never released by him. Bairstow has missed too many opportunities in this Test, and every time he does the Aussies grow a little bit taller. For me, if Bairstow plays it has to be as a pure batsman, and the choice is between him and Brook at 5.”

England favourites?

Wet outfield. This is a good spot from one of the keener observers in the game. How will a wet outfield impact the bowlers? Will it make batting easier? I guess the scorecard will tell us all.

Revised conditions

They’ll try to get 67 overs in – 52 plus the last hour to squeeze in 15 if needed.

Tea is now at 4:30pm BST/ 1:30am AEST and they can go until 7pm BST/4am AEST.

Updated

“Great point on how the dressing room reacts to the first person getting dropped,” says Philip Ward.

“Feels a bit like that movie The Beach. Right now, we’re in the bit before Leo gets kicked out. Sounds like utopia until it isn’t.

Derek Sutherland writes in from a gorgeous part of the world:

“Hi Dan, loving the OBO (as ever), and enjoying tracking the test match vicariously. Really frustrating to see you’ve lost a session today (it’s sweltering here in the Peloponnese, you could have had some of our sunshine if you had asked nicely).

“My question - it’s a beautifully balanced test (or at least it was with a full day’s play available), but any guess how this might have played out if the Aussies had won the coin toss?

“Winning the toss can be close to decisive at times in England - would Australia have batted for two full days and racked up 600 before declaring at tea on day 2?”

Cummins said he would have batted first and we know that they wouldn’t have been as aggressive, nor would they have declared with a set batter not-out overnight and on a ton.

Peter Hicks calls me out!

“Hi Daniel. With great respect this is a stupid thing to say: We’re getting some cricket! Plenty of time to get a result. Go make yourself some food. Get comfy. Tell your family to leave you alone. Not long now.

Instead, tell your family to gather round the tellybox and watch something that could very well be spectacular and memorable. Involve them, encourage them to enjoy cricket. Welcome new members to the cricketing family.”

Right you are Peter! Let me unequivocally retract my previous comment (will even amend as it’s a key event). Thanks for keeping me honest.

Every now and then I get a letter that needs no editing and should be posted in full. First it was Simon in Cornwall who opened up about his own struggles with mental health and how Bazball has helped him through a tough time.

Now it’s Barry Eyre who has sent in this lovely ode to the game, to fathers and to rain:

“As I sit in our holiday cottage in Northumberland with my six month old rwin grandkids, waiting for the rain to subside and surreptitiously checking news from Edgbaston, I read Jonny Liews piece as recommended by your good self.

I must admit to quickly wiping away a tear, thinking of my own dad and my introduction to the beautiful game. (Or both beautiful games).

They say it takes a village, and for me it was a village cricket team. In the 60’s and 70’s my dad and his friends were the heart and soul of our village cricket team.

Saturdays and Sundays, from the age of I cant remember when, me, and a bunch of other offspring, would go with our dads to cricket played in glamorous arenas like Sileby, Mountsorrel, Heather, Ibstock, Cropston.

We learnt by watching. Wandering around the boundary. Picking up an old ball and having a knockabout on the outfield. Looking for the match ball in the hedge when someone despatched the opponents fast bowler to cow corner. Did the sun always shine? My memory tells me it did…

School holidays were spent glued to the BBC and Jim Laker’s sparse commentary , or the lyrical John Arlott on Test Match Special. Or better still, TV pictures with radio commentary. In the red hot summer of 76 I spent most days watering the square to my dads instructions as he worked in one of the local factories.

So Jonny is right; it’s not just about Bazball. It’s about all those subtleties, those shared experiences, those little moments from my past that keep me checking the score when no-one else is looking. Cricketing dads.

About 10 years before he died, I took my dad to an Ashes test at Trent Bridge. We watched David Gower complete an elegant century and, in an unspoken way, I felt I’d payed back all that cricket education and special moments we shared on the cricket fields of North Leicestershire. Althougjh I don’t know what he would have made of Bazball,..

And it’s still raining here.”

Hat tip to you Baz.

To Starc or not to Starc?

“Hi Daniel “Eight-Pints-to-the” Gallan (sic),”

“Any thoughts on the Aussie’s decision to leave out Starc for this one? None of the Aussie seamers have bowled badly. Yet, Starc is a particularly good white ball bowler - so may be well positioned to deal with the whole Bazball approach. He also, unequivocally, shortens the tail.”

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, Gavin Byrne, and yes, it seems like the Aussies could have used a bowler like Starc. Someone who doesn’t rely on the pitch as much and can bowl at pace.

However, I initially thought that they’d made the right call. I thought that Starc’s natural length would be more hittable than Boland’s. I didn’t factor in the reverse scoop from Root though.

Confrimed start time: 2:15pm BST/ 11:15pm AEST

We’re getting some cricket! Plenty of time to get a result. Go make yourself some food. Get comfy. Gather your loves ones. Not long now.

Updated

“Hi Fourth Dan,” Ah yes, I forgot about this one, Kevin Foster.

“I see the current Cricinfo headline for their commentary is “Live - Rain de-instensifies but no play before lunch”. Is “de-intensify” a specific cricketing term? I’m new to the game.”

No, I don’t think that’s a cricket term. Then again Bazball wasn’t a thing not long ago.

I’ve got over 100 emails to get through. You’ve all been brilliant. Thank you for making this a lot easier. I obviously can’t get to them all but will reply individually if they’re not posted here.

Here’s a Dan Gallan XI by Mac Millings:

  • Danil Gallanskar

  • Ranjan Madangallan

  • Gallan Border

  • Jason “Dan” Gallian

  • MS Dhani

  • Chris Jor-dan Gallan

  • Javagallan Srinath

  • Gubby Gallen

  • Jimmy Danderson

  • Curtly Danbrose

  • Muttiah Muralithagallan

Head Coach: Brendon McGallan

“Hi DannyGally, Many thanks for keeping us entertained on OBO!” It’s been a pleasure, Mike Friend. Just hoping I get to see some actual cricket before my shift ends at 2.

“Quick question regarding start time. We have light meters to determine quality of light. But is anything other than the palm of a hand used to determine the wetness / dryness of the outfield? I ask because if it’s too damp in even one small area of the playing surface, the risk to England is that the ball will soak up the damp and stop swinging. On the other hand, the longer the start time is pushed back, the advantage swings to Australia since a dry pitch and overhead conditions will lessen how much the ball swings.”

What a great question. I honestly don’t know. Maybe the umpires have a sponge they use? Massive first hour after the restart once we do get going.

Inspection in 15 minutes. Lunch is officially over in less than that. Going to grab a bite now (trying the intermittent fasting thing so, as you can imagine, I’m pretty hungry!)

Alex Greggery in Melbourne has a very challenging question that speaks to Simon’s earlier entry on mental health. What do you all reckon?

“Dear Daniel Anvil-Smiting Gallan [nice], At the risk of injuring my brain, I have a few thoughts...

“I love Recent English Test Cricket, for reasons beautifully articulated earlier by Simon in Cornwall. I’m most curious about what happens when an underperforming player has to be dropped. Can the long-leash, results-don’t-matter attitude be maintained in the dressing room?

“I wonder how Foakes feels about his situation - can he buy into Bazball at this stage? I’ve been fascinated by the injustice of his England career for years now. The discussion feels a bit moot though, as there’s no way Bairstow will lose the gloves so quickly.”

Yes. Eventually a player will need to be dropped. I suppose Foakes already has been dropped. Not exactly “vibes and man-feelings”, as Barney would say. Really intersting point on how this chimes with the new energy. Easier to promote solid mental health in sport when you’re winning I suppose.

Thank you also to Mesnil Man, Robin Armstrong and Kit Lewis who also shared the TMS link. You OBOers are just the best :)

Thank you, Shreedutta Chidananda. Here’s the TMS link for those in need:

Mark Gillespie makes a couple of really solid points, presented here in full:

“To question the level of the opposition in those games kind of misses the main benefit, I think. While there are tactical innovations that have directly helped win some games, especially in Pakistan, the main benefit seems to be that England now have a clear purpose and a lack of fear that allows them to play at or near their full potential far more of the time. What mustn’t be lost is that at the point McCullum and Stokes took over, England had 1 win in 17 tests. So it’s not that another team playing conventional cricket wouldn’t have won some/most of those subsequent tests, it’s that this England team wouldn’t.”

“On the keeper situation, to me Foakes was the man in possession and had done well, and the facts that his keeping is better than Bairstow’s, plus Bairstow’s batting goes down a level, means that dropping him for Bairstow was never the right choice. The options were to drop Pope, who has been OK without being amazing under Stokes, or Crawley if they felt Pope was capable of opening.”

On your second point, I think Pope being vice-captain plays a role. And they don’t want him opening. No. 3 was a difficult position for a long time and Root doesn’t want to bat there. As one reader said earlier, it perhaps should have been Bairstow or Brook if Foakes is to play. Or they stick with this team and hope YJB can come good with the gloves.

Inspection at 1:20pm BST/10:20pm AEST

So a slightly longer wait than was first hoped.

Help OBOers! Does anyone have a link to the overseas TMS link? You’d be doing me (and many others) a solid.

Don’t go away folks. We’re almost there:

Updated

“Dear Daniel, Loving the OBO - as always. Can I use this rain delay to ask for OBO insights on another matter. We’ve had the all-rounder and the wicketkeeper in todays thread, so let’s focus on bowler(s).”

Sure thing, Jaap van Netten, let’s stir another pot while we’re at it.

“Stuart Broad was widely hailed yesterday as THE Ashes bowler. But - me being relatively new to cricket and not scarred by past Ashes - I checked his numbers yesterday. His bowling in Australia is uninfluential, and probably best labeled as average.

“Why does an Aussie batsmen who only performs down under gets to deal with all the criticism, while an English bowler who only performs in England is the best Ashes bowler ever?

“There must be bowlers who’ve performed in both countries. Are there? So I suggest that any notion of “the great Broad” is always followed by “OBO”: On British soil Only.”

Ah, now Broad and his old mate, Jimmy Anderson, are regularly criticised for their (apparent) lack of bite overseas. It’s definitely not an Aussie only issue.

“Hi Dan, This could be a nail biting last day.” I’m buzzing, Joe Varley.

”In three weeks, 22 non-cricketers will be participating in a 20-20 match at the famous Ilkley CC ground in Yorkshire. 2pm start. What’s the best time to start drinking? Noon too early? Just prior to the umpires taking the field? Advice, please?”

Now we’re venturing into my area of expertise. It sounds counter productive but I find an early pint helps in the long run. As long as you maintain discipline and drink a lot of water before your second. Is that a bunch of nonsense I’ve told myself so I can drink beer at 11am? Possibly. But I’ve always kept my stamina over a full day’s cricket.

Good luck out there!

Get well soon Ed King!

“Hi Daniel! hope you’re enjoying rain-o-vision. Thanks for keeping OBO engaging enough to ruin my productivity for the day.

Wondered if I could request a shout out to teammate Ed King of the Brixton Barbarians, who like Edgbaston yesterday is spending a fair amount of time worrying about ball condition - after a saturday fielding mishap which has unfortunately left him needing surgery (not sure if lefty or righty, but middle stump also suffering from what I’ve heard).

Sure a mention from the esteemed Graun will do wonders for his spirits.”

I’ve been there. Drifted too close standing at short extra cover a few years back and broke the ring finger on my right hand. Dropped the catch as well and missed seven weeks. Grim.

Because I’m self indulgent, and because you’ve all sent so many, here are a few nicknames that have tickled me:

  • Sarah O’Regan – Dazzlebazzle

  • John Starbuck – Dannikins

  • Colum Fordham – Dan de Lyon

  • Sandy Radford – Danchester United/City (delete as appropriate)

  • Ed Smyth – Hold Me Closer Tiny Danzo

  • Tom Morgan – OBO Dan Kenobi

  • John McCaughey – Dannington

  • Damian Johnson – Danislav

You’re an odd bunch.

The covers are coming off!

Let’s not get too excited just yet. Still a way to go but some positive signs.

Reminder that play won’t start any earlier than 1.10pm BST / 10.10pm AEST.

Phil Crockford has called me out:

“Hang on, This idea that ‘bazball’ hasn’t been tested yet is a little bit revisionist.

“New Zealand were the defending World Test Champions. India were the beaten finalists. I think that South Africa started that series as the number 1 ranked team in the world. How many England teams have won a test series 3-0 in Pakistan?

“I really don’t think anyone was expecting before the start of the McCullum/Stokes revolution that England would win 11 tests out of the next 13 tests. Especially considering their previous form - 2 test wins out of 14, or something like that, and coming from a series which they lost in the West Indies.

“England may win or lose this game - and win or lose the series. But they have played outstanding cricket against some very good teams for over a year now.”

The Pakistan series was as good as anything I’ve seen and cemented the ideology. South Africa were terrible with the bat (not one batter came into the series with an average in the 40s) and the Kiwis were a shadow of the side that won the Mace.

Taking nothing away from Baz and Ben but this is the real test of their new approach. So far, it’s working. I have them winning this Test on points.

“Hi Dan, Loving the OBO as usual” Cheers, David Nicholls, it’s been an intersting day despite the lack of cricket.

“On the subject of nicknames, I’ve recently joined the village cricket team. My third appearance, about to start a spell of filthy off breaks, the call all village cricketers will know came from the sideline: “bowlers name..?”

“Nichols” reply my team

“Knickers???” replies the scorer.

Me, turning to the umpire, resigned to my fate: “that’s going to bleeping stick...”

Separately, do you have any indication that the Bairstow/Foukes keeper/Stokes/Root opening debate is happening within the actual team? I get the feeling it’s a bit like when commentators start debating when a declaration will come, about 3 sessions before a team has even considered the possibility (BazBall notwithstanding)?

Are we confecting it or is it an actual possibility?

It’s a great question Knickers. I think this team is settled internally. If Bairstow drops a couple of clangers today and England lose then perhaps we might see a shift next game. But barring that I can see Bairstow keeping the gloves until it really costs his team a win. Root won’t open. He’s the world’s best batter and settled at four. And I also can’t see Stokes opening. But hey, who knows?

Whisper it quietly…

Schrödinger’s Test? Just don’t look inside the box, Kelvin MacDonald Fraser.

“Hi Dan, The Family Solicitor here. I’m lucky enough to work from home, but I’m having severe trouble concentrating on my briefs today, as the anticipation continues to build through this morning’s rain delay. It’s just so difficult to decide who’s in the driving seat – and, in fact, I’ve now come to the rather baffling conclusion that both sides are slight favourites, and marginal underdogs, at the same time!

“It’s as if the combination of convention busting Bazball, top class opposition and the glorious collective consciousness of The Ashes, has produced the ultimate cricketing paradox – a match so finely poised that it currently exists in a ‘superposition’ of all possible states. This, my friend, is ‘Schrödinger’s Test’!”

Bazball continues to convert:

“Hi Dod, despite being Kieran I was ‘christened’ Trev sometime ago. Watching my first long-form cricket this Ashes and have been gripped, it may take a ridiculous amount of time but it’s hardly the slow sport I thought I knew it to be. I’ll be following the whole test series.”

Love this, thank you Kieran ‘Trev’ Robinson. Like Andy Bull said at the start of the series, this Ashes could save the format:

Cricket versus logic? Only one winner. I’d love to say that they’d play on but knowing the laws of cricket (and I don’t) my guess is that once the final cut-off point is reached it’s game over. No more timeless Tests. Anyone with a better understanding care to help?

“Afternoon sir,” Now that is an odd nickname, Nat Guillou.

“I suspect the attached link of Lord Botham’s deranged cbbc appearance from 1986 may well be familiar to the obo fraternity, but I saw it for the first time yesterday and thought it worth a share as we await the rain’s passing. A truly, er, remarkable performance. The past is another country...”

More than happy to share this remarkable clip. For those who haven’t already seen it (of for those who have):

Did you all catch Jonny Liew’s moving piece about rain and cricket and dads? No? Please stop scrolling through the blog and read this. It’s incredible, as you’d expect. I wonder how many sons and fathers are now huddled at Edgbaston wondering what to say to each other.

“Hi Danosauresrex - greetings from an Aussie in Nairobi.” G’day to you, the aptly named Andy Raine.

“In Kenya, Kilumi dance rituals are used to “pray for rain”. The sacred dance can mean life or death, depending on the outcome of the performance. I think I saw some British expats doing it this morning in the forest. It looked weird and inappropriate.”

Quite. As I said before, it’s a very silly game.

Family feud on the OBO?

“Dear Dan The Lion” Not the best, Stephen Lock, but I’ll take it.

“My little brother Andrew got a mention in OBO in around 2005. It’s one of the proudest moments of his life. And he’s got four kids. We remark on it from time to time and I think that he thinks that makes him a better person than me. Does it?”

It certainly does, Steve, but no longer! Now you too can have bragging rights. Be sure to bring this up at the next family event.

Speaking of, well, piss. I once interviewed the South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini about his superstitions. He’s from the rural Eastern Cape and grew up as a barefooted cattle herder. He’d keep dried cow dung in his kit bag throughout his professional career. He’d even kiss it for luck!

But the kicker was this: “Not many people know this, but if I struggled during a session, I would sometimes go and pee on my hands and splash it on my face. It would revitalise me and get me going for the next spell”

Rowan Sweeney from Australia is wondering if Bazball has truly been tested yet?

“I’m wanting to pick up the thread about Bazball, specifically something I feel the media hasn’t really prosecuted too vigorously. Bazball is exciting, yes, and England are winning tests and series, but the strength of opposition in the last 12 months hasn’t been amazing. I guess I’m asking, inspiring method aside, have they beaten anyone with Bazball they’d realistically not have been able to beat playing conventional cricket? Let’s go Australia!”

Let’s unpack them in reverse order:

  • Ireland were poor so that doesn’t count.

  • So too a New Zealand side though they did draw their series away.

  • The 3-0 win in Pakistan was perhaps the most impressive and wouldn’t have happened without the uber aggressive batting on dead tracks.

  • South Africa couldn’t bat to save themselves but England still lost one match by an innings. If the Proteas bowlers had Smith or Khawaja or Head or Marnus I think they would have won (but perhaps I’m biased.)

  • The one-off Indian Test win to square the covid-delayed series doesn’t count as an example of Bazball coming good.

  • New Zealand in England at the start of Bazball were like deers in the headlights. It was as if they couldn’t believe their old skipper was leading a revolution somewhere else.

So, yes? Bazball hasn’t quite been tested? But look, their batting in this game has been extraordinary and Stokes deserves immense praise for the way he’s captained.

Root’s scoops or Cummins’ corker? Why not both, says Lee Henderson from a chilly NSO in NSW Far North Coast, who’s also leaning into the nickname debate.

“If you were on a building site, the likes of which I work on daily I reckon you’d end up being called Dangle; Oi Dangle more mud(brickies mortar) you(English person or words to that effect...). Dangle! Hurry it up. Hey Dangle get us a pie coke willya.”

But enough about me. What’s the weirdest nickname you’ve got? Bonus points if it’s cricket related.

Ashes newbie Alexander Radford writes in:

“Wotcher Dandemonium, thanks for your sterling work” Now that is a nickname!

“This is my first time engaging with The Ashes (and cricket in any form to be honest), following a spur of the moment decision to listen on my drive home on Friday, and it turns out I’m really enjoying it. I am consistently baffled by… well, everything, but have some patient and knowledgeable friends who like explaining things to set me right. They inform me that it’s not usually this exciting! Should I quit while I’m ahead, or is it still worth watching the next Test?”

No, definitely don’t quit. I genuinely believe that this series will be as good as any we’ve had. And if the doomsayers are true, we might never get an epic contest like this again (don’t worry, we will, but some jeopardy helps with the narrative).

Welcome to this strange game, Alex. You don’t have to be nuts to enjoy it, but it helps.

More than just an urn at stake? That’s what Jonny Liew reckons. And, as always, he’s spot on.

2005 anyone? As Dan Green points out, things are getting a little eerie:

“As a fellow Dan G I quite like Dang! as an American exclamatory nickname. Other than that, noting the Edgbaston 2005 fall of wickets vs today’s nail biter:

2005: 47, 48, 82, 107, 134, 136, 137, 175, 220, 279

2023: 61, 78, 89

Here’s the scorecard from that epic.

Stop the count. We have a nickname winner:

“Hello Danza-da-manza, Riley here in British Columbia, Canada. I work as a bartender so I usually finish work late enough to justify staying up until 3am so I can watch the first hour or so of the test before going to sleep. Then I tend to wake up around noon and watch an extended highlights video before heading off to work. But tonight my late night (early morning?) plans have been rained out so to speak. I can’t imagine I’ll be up for first ball. But I wanted to offer you the nifty nickname of Danza-da-manza in honour of the glorious Bazball.”

Love that. Thanks Riley. Hope you manage to catch some of the action live.

On the count of three…

What happened to all the yorkers?

“For me, the ball of the match so far was the absolute jaffa sent down by Pat Cummins to dismiss Ollie Pope yesterday and it got me thinking.” It was a cracker, that’s for sure Benjamin Hendy. What’s on your mind…

“Clearly pulling off a ball like that is a bloody difficult thing to do, but the yorker seems to be attempted much more rarely than it used to be. Obviously it was never happening every other ball or anything, and also I should acknowledge that I rarely get to watch teams outside of England and their opponents (world cups and some domestic cricket aside), but that ball from Cummins was unplayable and it seems like they’re almost never attempted anymore. Is there anything to this? Or am I just not paying enough attention?”

It’s such a difficult ball to bowl as the margin for error is so small. Too full and it’s a full-toss. Too short and it’s a half volley. That’s OK in white ball cricket as you’ve got boundary riders but with traditional Test fields you’re going to go for some tap.

However, with the way the English are batting don’t be surprised if we see more yorkers, knuckle balls and slower ball bouncers tossed down by the Aussies as the series goes on.

In case you missed this peach from Pat, here it is:

Are tickets to the cricket too expensive? It’s a question worth asking, especially as the sport is so often accused of being elitist.

The excellent Phil Walker dives into this important debate:

Don’t worry mate. I think both teams will want to win this when they get out there

‘Bazball’? Shazbat!

“Good evening Daniel.” Hi Neil Cowan from Down Under. All good your side I hope.

“Mr Grumpy from Wallan (that’s in Victoria, don’t yer know) would like to advise that if he never ever encounters the term ‘Bazball’ again, it will be much, much too soon. Do we really need to dumb this game down to that level? He asks.”

Think of it as marketing guff. As Matthew McConaughey’s character in Wolf of Wall Street said, “It’s Fugayzi, fugazi. It’s a whazy. It’s a woozie. It’s fairy dust. It doesn’t exist. It’s never landed. It is no matter. It’s not on the elemental chart. It’s not f****** real.”

What’s in a name, really?

“My Dad was wont to call me “Dan Dan the lavatory man.” I don’t know why. My name is Andy.”

My uni mates still call me ‘Stan’. So there’s that, Andy Brittain.

I’ve done the maths and, at four an over, Australia will need 43.5 overs to reach their target. One or two more wickets in hand and they’d be in pole position. Still in the balance I reckon.

Here’s Josh Robinson with some perspective:

“Morning Dan, morning everybody. In a situation such as this I’d generally say that down to a certain point, the more overs are taken out of the game, the more the scales are tipped towards the chasing side. Were the full quota of 98 overs to be bowled, it’s a straight shoot-out between 174 runs and 7 wickets. As the time decreases down to somewhere around 25 overs (perhaps even a little lower than that), the batting side can afford to take more risks in the knowledge that there’s just not that much time for the bowlers to take the wickets. Much less than 20 and it’s a question of how seriously the batting side will have a go (and how hard, and for how long, if wickets start to fall). I’d say the state of the match doesn’t meaningfully change until 30 overs have been lost, at which point each over taken out of the game gives a slight advantage to the batting side.”

Travis Head of Australia arrives on the team bus.
Travis Head of Australia arrives on the team bus. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Updated

Is Bazball better than Glastonbury?

Here’s the excellent Archie Rhind-Tutt – a name familiar to all Football Weekly fans:

“Over with a friend, German Tom, for Glastonbury from Cologne. We were due to stay in London today, make final preparations BUT THEN… Took him to the pub last night to watch the final session / make a stab at explaining cricket to him. Sufficient attention was obtained. Broad’s late spell had me checking Day 5 tickets and here we are, sat on a National Express coach just outside Birmingham, hoping the rain shifts shortly after the traffic does. German Tom could be about to experience one of the best days of sport he’ll ever see (he supports Hamburg)…or I’ve lugged him up here for a day of rain in Birmingham. Either way, an unforgettable experience.”

And there, folks, is why Bazball works. Sure it’s a silly marketing term that is merely a shorthand for a slightly more aggressive brand of cricket. But it’s a hook. And it forces other teams to respond and talk about it and do something different (or stick to what they believe in and defend their position). It’s why this team, love them or hate them, is so good for the game.

I hope you have a brilliant day Archie and German Tom.

Australia still in with a shout?

“Cameron Green seems to have a cushy little number as an ,almost , non bowling all rounder. Can’t understand the hype around him. Mitchell Marsh looks a better option to me but what do I know?”

Don’t talk yourself down, John Jones. I’ve seen so-called experts make ridiculous calls in this game. Your view is as valid as anyone else’s.

I like Green. His height is a factor. Glib, perhaps, but his ability to hit an awkward length hard is what makes him a slippery customer. And I back his batting. I know a few in my local cricket club (hi Millsy, if you’re reading this) don’t rate him, but I’d have him in my team. =

Root the spinner?

“Hi Dan-the-dude” excellent, btw, Robin Hazlehurst. “Not enough thinking outside the box in the YJB/Foakes debate, not enough true bazballing. If Moeen and Leach are knacked and England don’t have any other spinners, then the issue is resolved - play both Bairstow and Foakes and let Root be the spinner. He’s done ok at it recently, hasn’t he? Or if that might overload him, then maybe Brooke can share the load. He looked pretty spicy when he bowled in the first innings. Or if Bairstow goes into a steaming funk when he has the gloves removed, then toss him the ball and ask him to charge in and vent his rage that way. Would certainly not be what the oppo expect and would probably be entertaining one way or another.”

I’m not sure Root would fancy that. And I also don’t think he’s good enough to be a frontline spinner. And I also don’t think you’d want to burden him with that extra job. But it’s funky and I like where your head is at.

Even the Aussie are on board with Baz:

“Oh how we pine for the days when Australia batted first, crawled to 450 or so by after lunch on day two … Not. It’s been a few years since I’ve sat up late (ish) in Perth watching cricket. Last night was captivating. A contest between batsmen who wouldn’t allow bowlers to just bowl line and length and bowlers who were nearly up to task. Long may it last”

Thanks Ross McGillivray. I lived in Perth for a couple of years when I was younger. Would love to go back.

Jonathan May is asking some difficult questions:

“May I ask how many overs are left when they get back on the pitch? I’m reading that they will try and get the full quota (98 overs) in from the moment play commences. Are overs not deducted on a proportionate basis (as I believe has always been the case?) Some people were saying England upped the tempo yesterday to put overs back into the game, but if no overs are lost, that would render the tactic unnecessary.”

The good thing about playing cricket in England is that the sun sets late. So I see no reason why we won’t get a decent amount. Now how many exactly remains a mystery. I’d be astounded if we get 98 in. And yes, I think England’s breezy batting (and even their first innings declaration) had something to do with the weather. Unless I’m mistaken this rain is a little late.

Thanks everyone for the messages. If you’re bored of my natter can I recommend this outstanding piece from my mate, James Wallace: Cricket balls and Holocaust survivors. I promise you’ve never read anything like it before:

“Daz, Dazza, Dazzy McDazface” Those are more appropriate for a Darren, than a Daniel, but I’m loving your energy Hugh Maguire.

“I’m not going to offer anything other than frothing excitement for todays play. There’s going to be plenty more whatiffery as the day pans out for both sides whatever the outcome. I’m back with the OBO mistress Hope. Though I’ve swiped right on Expectation. I think Hope knows and today may end up with both or neither.”

Little expectation here. Let me ask the group a question… How many overs do Australia need to knock these runs off?

Good to get some Aussie correspondence. Here’s Gervase Greene from Sydney’s eastern ‘burbs:

“As to the ‘whole Bazball thing’, sorry to be so prosaic: surely they are playing that way because the previous approach didn’t work? Which is why it’s a brilliantly sensible strategy. Please leave out all the blather evoking slow-motion running across a windswept beach to a Vangelis soundtrack (anyone for unbranded merch?). England are all about winning, and this is a way of - just maybe - of getting close to that again. Which is fair enough.”

Right you are Gervase. They hit rock bottom playing a placid brand of cricket and they reverted to what served them so well in the white ball game. What’s more, they have the batters to score at 4.5 an over. It’s exciting and bold, but it also makes cricket sense.

Should Australia be chasing a smaller target? If they do fall short (either with a loss or a draw) will they rue the firm wagging of England’s tail?

Geoff Lemon says so which means it must be true:

I’ve just been alphad by Ronald Glover:

“Hi Dan, how about “Fourth Dan” for you? After (Google tells me) the other Dans who write for the Guardian (Sabbagh, Boffey, and Harris). Powerful but sadly also unintentionally dismissive.”

“Hi Daniel. Really looking forward to this afternoon - surely no chance of an Aussie win now given the time and conditions?”

It’s looking that way, Andrew Bennett.

“Watching the highlights of the back end of yesterday’s action led to a very important question re the travelling Australian fans and their colour coordinated outfits.

“(a) There appears to be both a yellow and dark green option - what does each mean? Are they different fan clubs or supporter organisations? And (b) how do they organise themselves into very neat blocks of each colour in the stands? Doesn’t seem to be any mixing of greens and yellows, but with random amounts of English/neutral/other fans in between each row?”

“All very important stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree.”

Absolutely! These are deeply important questions and I have no answers. Chalk them down to life’s mysteries.

Start delayed due to rain

No play before 1.10pm BST / 10.10pm AEST. Sad news folks but we’re going to have to keep the chat going for some time. Lunch will be taken at 12.30pm BST with no play til then. Forecast is better this afternoon but a draw now looming large.

A fair bit of water has fallen in Birmingham.
A fair bit of water has fallen in Birmingham. Photograph: Steve Bond/PPAUK/Shutterstock

Updated

What does Nathan Lyon do in his hotel room? I’m going to regret typing these next words, but now I really wish I knew.

Always good to get a line from inside the room. Here’s my colleague, Luke McLaughlin:

“I’ve heard more than one pundit opine that if England win, all of Stokes’s decisions during the match will be vindicated, and if Australia win, then the same becomes true of Cummings. Surely this is a vast oversimplification?

“Anyway, England’s main lessons from this remarkable Test match must be: 1) Bazball shouldn’t mean it’s OK to toss wickets away cheaply. 2) Foakes must play, Bairstow stays as a batsman. I do worry that the fact Bairstow is a lovely lad, and very popular within the team, means he gets too much leeway with his keeping.”

That’s the nature of elite sport, innit? Pep Guardiola pointed out that he won the treble because a striker missed a header from three yards out. If that went in, would Pep be a fraud? No. But we deal in binary results. Makes for good chat though, doesn’t it?

I agree with your second point. If England lose I bet they’ll be kicking themselves for a few soft dismissals.

‘Dan-ster’. I like it.

Loads of chat about YJB and Foakes:

Timothy Sanders from Leeds: “I think Barney is right, that ‘it would be progressive, not regressive, to bring Foakes into this team’, in line with England’s philosophy of how to play Test cricket. If it’s about having fun, taking twenty wickets, and showing the paying public your very best skills, then surely the practical application of Bazball means picking your very best wicketkeeper? I say go with Foakes as the way for this team to live its values. Then they just have to decide on the best 5 from the 6 batters!”

Stephen Brown who has offered ‘Big Dan’ as a nickname: “For me, Foakes should be in the team. Having a very good wicket keeper vs a good wicket keeper can be worth having another batter who averages 40-50 in the team. And who wouldn’t want to add that? So the question becomes, who do you leave out? Weirdly, I’d say the person underperforming their playing role in the team the most over the last year might actually be Stokes. But we can’t exactly drop him and let him captain from the touchlines. Which means the solution is probably to let Bairstow open. Ducket has more runs as an opener under Stokes than Crawly despite playing half the games, so he should probably be given the first shot of opening alongside Bairstow.”

Joe Roberts: “If it is true that Bairstow must be in the side due to last year’s heroics, it is also true that Crawley has done very little to justify his place in this side, having contributed very little to the success over the last 12 months. Not to mention that Foakes has been a vital part of that success, not just with the gloves, but with the bat as well, and surely warrants the same treatment as Bairstow.”

Tom Nolan: “Crawley out for Foakes with YJB opening? Won‘t happen after Crawley‘s first innings knock here but seems a logical way to get Foakes and Bairstow into the same side.”

Geoff Wignall with a another whacky idea: “My new solution would be someone with sound defensive technique yet capable of serious aggression who isn’t scoring many in his current slot: one Ben Stokes.”

Foakes for Brook? To be honest, I hadn’t considered that. But Richard O’Hagan makes an intersting point that has got me thinking:

“I know that this will be controversial, but I think you have to choose between Bairstow and Brook. Brook came into the side as the replacement for the injured Bairstow and from a batting perspective they are probably on a par with one another, save that YJB is vastly more experienced. But at the same time the runs that England have conceded as a result of Bairstow’s rustiness with the gloves could well be the difference between winning and losing this Test, as they pretty much negate his contribution with the bat. For my money Foakes has to play and one of those two has to stand down if England are to have any chance of winning this series.”

Let’s not forget that Foakes is still a brilliant batter. Sure he doesn’t have the firepower of Brook or Bairstow, but it’s not like he’s a mug with the willow. And if Ali plays (finger blister permitting) they still have the punch in the lower order.

Email gremlins fixed: I wasn’t aware that the link to my email was broken. Should be sorted now. If you’ve been trying to get in touch but haven’t done so, please try again.

This is a really, really long email from Simon in Cornwall. But with nothing going on, I’ll share it in it’s entirety with my two cents between each paragraph (yes, paragraph, strap in):

“I have a question about the reverse ramp. How does the batter decide that that is the shot they are going to play? It seems that they get into position for the shot so early that it can’t be based on the trajectory of the ball - does the batter decide before the ball is bowled that they are going to play that shot, and just commit? I get that you wouldn’t play it against an unpredictable spinner, and that you need some kind of predictability in the bowlers style - is there maybe some subtle thing in finger position or wrist action that makes the batter know it is a good shot selection? Or is it just hit and hope?”

It has to be premeditated. Bowlers like Boland who put it on the same spot over and over again are particularly susceptible to being ramped. A lot of hit and hope for sure.

“I’d also like to say something about Bazball. I think something that hasn’t been mentioned much is Ben Stokes’ struggles with mental health, and the fact that it seems to me that Bazball is an attempt by Stokes to take the parts of the game that may cause a player to struggle, and just…..remove them. Many elite sportspeople have suffered badly in this arena, and not just cricketers - see ‘The Edge’, about the 09-13 England team, but also Nick Kyrgios, Mark Selby, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, and god knows how many others from years gone by.”

Oh, Bazball is therapy. Or so said Barney Ronay in this wonderful piece.

“The reason I have so much respect for this style of play is that it seems to me that after taking brave decisions to protect his own wellbeing over the years, Stokes has developed a style that extends this protection to his whole team. Stokes has a greater understanding of his teammates, and of the nature of leadership and sporting ambition than any leader I can think of, and this goes far beyond ‘finding a way to win’. Stokes has taken bold, innovative steps to protect, nurture and develop the whole person, not just their skills and sporting qualities, knowing full well that, coincidentally, this is how you get the best out of them.”

Bold, innovative, daring, carefree. That’s why it' has captured so many people, win or lose.

“Its interesting that the list of athletes I mention who have publicly struggled with their mental health are all proponents of individual sports (tennis, snooker, gymnastics, swimming), and this is the first example I know of where the thinking has been extended to a team sport. I see Gareth Southgate doing something similar, but in a gentler and less bold way, and the results there are fairly clear too. As someone who has had some pretty loopy mental health over the years, I can not tell you how much I respect what Stokes (and BmcC) is doing.”

Mate, thank you for opening up. I reckon a lot of people reading this right now will relate.

“The way England are playing will ripple outwards and change the way test cricket is played, and more importantly how it is perceived that it SHOULD be played, maybe even save the format from a spiral of stagnation and diminishing gate receipts as everyone rushes to whizzier formats, leaving a trail of broken and forgotten players who gave their all but failed in some way that comes to define them forever. I adore the man, and in true Bazball style, wish with all my heart that he stays true to his new methods through the whole series, even if it means we lose every test. It feels more important than that, to me.”

Even football is hooked!

“I understand that this isn’t how a lot of fans feel - the ‘win at all costs’ mentality is irresistible to a sports fan, even if that cost is the health and wellbeing of the very players they revere. Bazball reminds us all that athletes are people, and that people do their best work when they love what they are doing, are given freedom to express themselves and are respected for doing so. Bazball, to me, isn’t just a cricketing ideology, it’s not a cricketing tactic, and its certainly not the new-age, man-feeling, bro-vibes rubbish it can so easily be dismissed as. Its an affirmation of the humanity at the heart of cricket, of sport, and of competition, and I hope it lasts forever. Or at least til the end of the fifth test.”

And let’s not forget that England were rubbish before Bazball. This is not simply the unshackling of players but also a cohesive strategy to get the best out of a talented group. It’s daring and brave, but also calculated (even if it doesn’t always seem that way).

Thank you for a brilliant mail. I really enjoyed that.

“Hi Dan. Looking forward to a cracking day’s play!”

Me too, Damian Johnson, let’s hope we get enough of it.

“Regards Bairstow/Foakes, YJB is allowed one bad game I would say, and horses for courses, Foakes stays in contention for tours in Asia or the driest of dry wickets.

“If he were to come in, any of the top 3 should be under pressure and this includes Pope who never seems to be mentioned despite a highly mediocre record, especially against the big boys. Don’t get me wrong, cracking looking batter but he never seems to be under any pressure - is this a Surrey thing!?”

Hmmm. I’m not sure it’s a Surrey thing. If that was the case then Foakes would be playing. Pope is class. No doubt about that. I saw him score a coming of age ton against South Africa in Gqeberha. He’ll be alright in the long run. But you’re right. A few more failures and some serious questions will need to be asked.

Updated

YummyBear has become our official weather correspondent. And yup, all fingers, toes and limbs crossed.

Updated

Oh man. I’m watching the Sky feed and it looks really grim. I take back what I said earlier and I’m now with Will Southworth. Will be incredible if they get out there in time to finish the game. How frustrating!

But, if they do, one team in particular will fancy it.

Oh dear… So advantage England. Especially as Warner is in the shed. But hey, Head can give it a whack too. How many overs do you reckon Australia will need to fancy having a go?

Updated

I loved this piece by Barney from last night. And would love to know what you think about the Bairstow-Foakes debate. For my money, Young JB has to play. He’s just so destructive with the bat. But there’s no question Foakes is the outstanding keeper in the country. Does that mean Duckett drops out? But then who opens? Should Pope make way? Ludicrous! There are no easy answers in the epoch of Baz.

Updated

Granted this was 20 minutes ago, but it’s not looking great. Don’t worry, we’ll get plenty of cricket. We just won’t start at 11.

Preamble

Has it only been four days? At the risk of heaping more hyperbole on top of a narrative oozing with the stuff, this has already been an almighty contest that has packed more action than most series.

It began on a road and saw Joe Root unfurl a sumptuous century before the bucket-hatted Ben Stokes declared on the first day.

Then Usman Khawaja batted and batted and batted until he was given a sweary send-off by Ollie Robinson. Did it cross the line? Have these lines ever existed? Are the Aussies now the meek ones in this ancient relationship?

Root attempted a reverse scoop from the first ball of day three. Pat Cummins was outstanding. Nathan Lyon picked up a four-for. Moeen Ali’s finger fell apart. Stuart Broad did Stuart Broad things and now, as we begin this final day of an epic battle, Australia need 174 runs and England need seven wickets.

There are echoes of 2005 and the narrow two run win for England that helped ignite the greatest Ashes in living memory. If the past four days are anything to go by, we might have a contender to that particular title.

My name is Daniel, but in this Bazball age you can call me Dan, Danny Boy or frankly any other whacky nickname you like (please don’t make me regret that).

There’s rain about in Birmingham but all the journos on the ground reckon we’ll have play after a slight delay. Don’t worry. We’re getting a result. Of that I’m certain.

If you fancy dropping a line please do. Email or Twitter. You know the drill.

Strap in folks. This is going to be a good ’un.

Updated

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