Stumps: England trail by 195 runs with seven wickets remaining
I’ll leave you with Ali Martin’s report and Emma John’s feature from Headingley. Thanks for your company and emails; see you tomorrow!
I’m not crying, it’s just been raining on my face
Shaun Marsh and his family celebrating the hundred of Mitchell Marsh in the Ashes.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 6, 2023
What a beautiful video! pic.twitter.com/a2apyJDP96
Read Simon Burnton’s Ashes diary
More from Mark Wood
I was champing at the bit to get a game. I had a little bit of a setback at Lord’s, with my elbow, but when we got here I felt mentally and physically ready to go. Stokesy got me into the game quickly which helped.
When we went too full the ball seemed to slide on nicely for the batters, so we tried to bash the top of the stumps, that nicky length. It’s that balance of knowing when to really attack the stumps and when to hold in.
I’ve got cuts and grazes everywhere [from falling over]. I think it’s just because I haven’t played for a while. It really irritates me. I suppose it shows I’m giving everything I’ve got. But I’d like to stop falling over!
Before the game Stokesy was very clear with me that I was going to bowl short, sharp spells. Just give it everything I’ve got for three or four overs and try to make something happen, and that’s what I tried to do.
[Were you padded up as nightwatchman?] I was bricking it, honestly! Bricking it. It’s alright when you can play a few shots but not when you’ve got to stand there as a target. I’ve come back in and suddenly I’m nightwatchman again! I don’t know what’s happened there. Stokesy’s done me bad there. He was laughing something rotten when I was pacing round.
What an over for Mark Wood 👀👏 pic.twitter.com/aPpj96kpBK
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 6, 2023
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Mark Wood speaks to Sky Sports
[What a day that was!] Amazing, aye. Great feeling to get five wickets – it’s the first time in front of me mam and dad, so that was a lovely moment to see them up in the stand. The team’s in a good position: hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow and we can crack on.
I thought Mitch Marsh played fantastically well, he was difficult to bowl at. The ball had been zipping off the wicket but it looked very different when it was batting. But all of a sudden a new batter comes in and it’s different again. If the lads can get in, we can score quickly – the outfield is rapid.
Delighted [with how quickly he bowled]. I was pretty happy to show that I can bowl in home conditions as well!
If you just bowl fast, these top players are used to that. The thing that helped me today was the movement. [You had an Anderson-esque wrist position at times…] I’m not sure about that! You’re pushing it a bit now like. Let’s not get ahead of meself: I’ve had a good day but I’ve got to back it up, it’s a must-win Test.
Stumps
Another exhilarating day I’m afraid: there were 330 runs and 13 wickets, with two newcomers to the series stealing the show. Mitch Marsh made an awesome, run-a-ball 118 – the innings of his life I’d imagine – and Mark Wood bowled with paint-stripping pace to take five for 34. It was all sorts of fun.
Root and Bairstow both shake hands with Marsh, congratulating him on his hundred, before walking off the field. They negotiated a tricky half hour very well, and their reward should be better batting conditions tomorrow: the forecast is for nothing but sun.
19th over: England 68-3 (Root 19, Bairstow 1) This over from Starc should be the last of the day, though Australia will try to get another one in.
Starc angles the first two deliveries across Bairstow, then tries a couple of inswingers. Bairstow knows what’s coming this time and plays them comfortably. Even by his standards, Bairstow looks intense and laser-focused. And after playing out a maiden from Starc, he’ll return in the morning. Stumps.
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18th over: England 68-3 (Root 19, Bairstow 1) Cummins brings himself back for an over or two before the close. Bairstow inside-edges a drive onto his leg, with the ball resting near his crease. Cummins and Marsh both race in to grab it, with smiles that suggest they’d be receptive to a bit of banter. Bairstow doesn’t oblige.
Bairstow eventually gets off the mark from his 13th delivery, flicking Cummins behind square.
17th over: England 67-3 (Root 19, Bairstow 0) It’s been another thrilling day in a series that has been both one-sided (Australia lead 2-0) and spandex-tight. England are averaging 33.78 runs per wicket, Australia 33.87. Riddle me that.
Starc continues to Root, who plays out a maiden fairly comfortably. He started busily but now just wants to get through to the close: 13 from his first 13 balls, six from the next 30.
16th over: England 67-3 (Root 19, Bairstow 0) Marsh is getting some nice shape away from the right-handers. Root defends and leaves the first five balls, then flicks an attempted leg-stump yorker for a single. Thirteen minutes to the close.
15th over: England 66-3 (Root 18, Bairstow 0) No surprise here: Mitchell Starc, who has dismissed Bairstow more than anyone in Test cricket, is back on for Boland.Root works a menacing outswinger off the pads for a single. Starc won’t mind that because he’ll fancy his chances if he bowls the same delivery to Bairstow. But he can’t get his line right and Bairstow gets through the over unscathed.
The lights are on and the ball is starting to talk. England simply cannot afford to lose another wicket tonight.
“England should have had Aus for under 200, but need to actually knuckle down and put up a big score,” writes Duncan Bonnett. “Anything less than 400 is a disaster from where they were at innings change, 450 should be a par target, but I have a suspicion that there won’t be much of a first innings lead either way. C’mon England! Need to win this to keep things alive!”
14th over: England 65-3 (Root 17, Bairstow 0) One more wicket tonight and it will be emphatically Australia’s day, and even more emphatically Mitchell Marsh’s day.
Bairstow holds his bat in the crease for an age before walking down the pitch to talk to Root. He needs to concentrate here because the ball is doing a bit, and Marsh cuts him in half with a beauty that bounces over off stump.
WICKET! England 65-3 (Crawley c Warner b Marsh 33)
Mitch Marsh’s day gets better and better! Crawley edges a good outswinger to first slip, where Warner just holds on to his right. Crawley again played well, again didn’t go on, and he’s angry with himself as he walks off. He knows he didn’t need to play at that.
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Jonny.
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13th over: England 65-2 (Crawley 33, Root 17) Another thrilling day, possibly the best of the series,” says Will Vignoles. “Astonishing innings from Marsh but so pleased for Mark Wood. Watching him charge in and hurl down thunderbolts is probably my favourite sight in the game, and nobody has a bad word to say about him. Such a shame he’s only played 17 Tests in four years, he’s been lethal since he lengthened his runup. One can only imagine how England’s results would’ve been if he’d got onto the field more.”
I suppose Wood is a perfect embodiment of Brendon McCullum’s philosophy: “Plan as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die tomorrow.” For a while, when he roughed up South Africa just before Covid, I thought he was going to have a spell like Frank Tyson’s in the mid-1950s and lay waste to allcomers.
12th over: England 61-2 (Crawley 30, Root 17) Mitch Marsh replaces Cummins (5-1-27-2), hoping to add a wicket or two to the innings of his life.
He took a five-for against England in his last Test appearance, at the Oval in 2019, but I’m sure he will be targeted at some stage in this innings. It’s a rusty first over, with a couple of no-balls and a few easy singles. Despite the loss of two early wickets, England are going at more than five an over. They’re having a jaunty little dance on the precipice.
11th over: England 54-2 (Crawley 27, Root 15) Root pulls Boland smoothly for a single, the only run from a pretty quiet over. Boland has starting to hit his usual line and length, and so far there has been no attempt to reverse scoop him over the Pennines.
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10th over: England 53-2 (Crawley 27, Root 14) Crawley, turned round by a beauty from Cummins, edges this far short of Khawaja in the gully. What a thrilling day this has been: 70.4 overs, 316 runs, 12 wickets and two immense performances from Mitch Marsh and Mark Wood.
“What are the odds,” says Abhay Shah, “on both Root and Bairstow scoring anger-inspired centuries in the first innings.”
Hmm, not sure. 500-1?
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Read Simon Burnton’s Ashes diary
9th over: England 51-2 (Crawley 26, Root 13) Scott Boland replaces Starc, who bowled a good first spell of 4-0-17-0. His first ball swings down the leg side for four byes, with even Carey unable to reach it. Root back cuts delightfully for four, which brings up the England fifty at a run a ball. He looks on a mission to make up for those dropped catches, which cost England around 120 runs.
Australia think Root has been strangled down the leg side as he flicks across the line. Carey takes a fine catch to his left, but it’s given not out and Cummins chooses not to review. Good decision: it missed the bat. After a slightly scruffy start, Boland ends with a couple of good delivery that nip back from a length.
8th over: England 43-2 (Crawley 26, Root 9) A crap delivery from Cummins – who knew – is lashed square of the wicket for four by Root. He’s made a busy start and is looking to drop and run at every opportunity.
When he does precisely that, Crawley pulls majestically over midwicket for four. This sounds utterly ridiculous given their respective career records, but I think Crawley fancies Cummins. He averages nearly 70 against him in Test cricket, so I suppose that’s fair enough.
Cummins follows up with another short ball – quicker, straight, angrier. Crawley is taken slightly by surprise but still manages to hook safely for a single. Some more skilful nurdling makes it 14 from the over. The camera cuts to Damon Heta in the crowd, chuntering away to his mates.
“You say tomorrow’s headlines will all be about Mark Wood,” wrote Bobby Dunnett about half an hour ago. “That’s an admirable degree of confidence that they won’t be about England’s batting collapse…”
I was thinking of Henry Blofeld in 1983.
7th over: England 30-2 (Crawley 19, Root 3) The last eight wickets on both sides have fallen for less than 50 runs. The pitch is still perfectly good, but sometimes fast bowling overrides all that. Crawley continues to look good, hammering a drive off Starc that doesn’t beat mid-off. He has 19 from 20 balls, Root 3 from 6.
“With the ball doing so much this will be a very tricky half hour before the close,” says Felix Wood. “England to declare and get at the Aussies again?”
If only Twitter had been around in the era of sticky-dog declarations.
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6th over: England 24-2 (Crawley 17, Root 1) Cummins roughed Joe Root up in devastating fashion at Lord’s. If he does it again here, Australia will be well on top.
In other news, Mitch Marsh’s innings is getting better and better. While he scored 118, the rest of the top-order batters on both sides are averaging 16 apiece.
“Flawless keeping from Alex Carey?” says Tom Adam. “I think you meant lawless keeping, arf arf.”
Honk!
WICKET! England 22-2 (Brook c Smith b Cummins 3)
Cummins strikes again! He was just too good for Harry Brook, who pushed forward defensively and edged straight to Smith at second slip. Brook didn’t do much wrong. It was just a fabulous delivery from Cummins: perfect length, near perfect line and enough seam movement to take the edge.
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5th over: England 22-1 (Crawley 16, Brook 3) Brook has batted at No3 for Yorkshire, though only when he was a teenager (I think). He struggled for the most part, as teenagers tend to in such a pivotal position, but did play one extraordinary innings against Essex.
Brook gets off the mark with a confident drive for two. Starc beats him outside off stump, so Brook decides to run down the pitch to the next delivery. It swings harmlessly down the leg side and Starc smiles down the pitch at Brook.
Starc ends another excellent over by moving one the other way to beat Crawley’s defensive push.
4th over: England 19-1 (Crawley 16, Brook 0) Here comes England’s new No3: Harry Cherrington Brook. Godspeed, young man. The first ball – surprise, surprise – is a malevolent bouncer that Brook decides to leave at the last minute.
The third is the kind of ball Cummins has bowled all his life: just full of a good length and roaring off the seam to beat Brook’s defensive push. Broad screws up his face to acknowledge the quality of the nut.
“I’ve felt mildly concussed since day one at Edgbaston, and I’m not even playing,” says Simon McMahon. “Like I’ve had ten pints every session. Oh wait, I have had ten pints every session. Are there protocols for emailing the OBO?”
There are now!
WICKET! England 18-1 (Duckett c Carey b Cummins 2)
Headingley’s most wanted combine for a crucial early breakthough. Duckett tries to cut a short ball taht cramps him for room, and Carey leaps to his left to take an outstanding two-handed catch. His keeping in this series has been almost flawless.
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3rd over: England 18-0 (Crawley 16, Duckett 2) Crawley waves Starc to the point sweeper for a single, the first of two in the over. These two like to rotate the strike, which is especially valuable when you have a right/left-hand and tall/short partnership. The bowler has to change his line and length every time.
They love boundaries too, of course, and Crawley gets his second with a kitchen-sink drive that flies over the slips. Starc’s response is a full inswinger that beats Crawley’s flailing shot.
The person who prepared this Headingley strip (his first Test pitch) is Richie Robinson, who happens to be the all-time leading runscorer in the Bradford League (17,476 at 40.27), arguably the toughest in the country. Looks like he's done a decent job. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/vRxr4ENC4g
— Scott Oliver (@reverse_sweeper) July 6, 2023
2nd over: England 12-0 (Crawley 11, Duckett 1) Pat Cummins shares the new ball. He has three slips for Crawley, who walks confidently down the pitch to flick wristily behind square for four.
Crawley has a pretty decent head-to-head record against Cummins – 130 runs at an average of 65 – and that was a swaggering stroke.
“What a crazy crazy day in a crazy series,” says Guy Hornsby. “I’m not sure my fingernails will make it to Old Trafford intact. And a strange innings when it felt like we could’ve had Australia for 180 then an hour later, 400 was on. Wood - my god, how I love the man - has shown just what real, furious wheels gives you.
“My worry here - my name’s Guy and I’m a worrier - is that on a pitch when we’re in need of staying in and letting the runs come when it zings off the bat, and batting long will help our attack and set the game up, we’ll try and smash them at six an over and clatter out for 150. I guess we’ll find out!”
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1st over: England 3-0 (Crawley 3, Duckett 0) Oof, Crawley is beaten by his first ball, a lovely inswinger that doesn’t miss off stump by that much.
He gets his bearings and flicks a couple of inswingers for two and then one. Even though this pitch has more pace than Edgbaston and Lord’s, Pat Cummins still has his boundary sweepers out.
Duckett also plays and misses at his first ball, a classic outswinger to the left-hander, and is then turned round by some more late swing. This won’t be easy for England against the new ball.
The players are back on. Mitchell Starc v Zak Crawley to start.
“Impressed but gutted that Bas de Leede’s stupendous acceleration meant that Netherlands got the net run rate adjusted target with an over or so to spare, and thereby qualified for the World Cup with Sri Lanka,” writes Brian Withington. “Aided by a trusty NRR spreadsheet (copyright pending), we had established the potential for some delicious fun and games in the 45th over if Netherlands were approaching the Scotland score.
“In essence they could miss out on qualification with 278 runs off 44.1 overs but go through in glory with 283 off 45 overs (with interpolation of runs scored and balls allowed in between). The potential for successive deliberate wides by Scotland to force Netherlands over the line on a repeated ball 45.2 with only a one run winning margin (denying a higher scoring opportunity) could have been a scenario for the ages.
“We shall never know if Scotland would have (a) realised it and (b) exploited it (spirit of cricket, anyone?), but back in the real world a great result for Netherlands and Bas and commiserations to Scotland on a very fine qualifying tournament. Neither side deserved to miss out - ICC organisers please note.”
“There must be some stats around,” begins John Starbuck, “to compare the Marsh innings as a ratio/percentage of the side’s total.”
There are and, spectacular innings though it was, he’s nowhere near old Charlie Bannermann.
“Steve Smith has said that he ‘felt like had 10 pints’ after he was hit by Jofra Archer and allowed to bat on a few years ago at Lord’s,” says Mark Hall. “Makes you wonder what use the concussion protocols are if they missed that. I don’t think they should allow the batters teams physio do it. They might overlook the signs for the good of the team, it should be an independent opinion? Looks like the same thing with Alex Carey at Headingley just now. Gets sconned, and then knocks one up in the air next ball after swinging like a rusty gate.”
Yes, that’s a very good point. I’m loath to be critical because I don’t have any expertise, but from afar it does feel like concussion protocols need to be reviewed fairly urgently.
Australia lost their last six wickets for 23, a collapse which made Mitch Marsh’s devastating run-a-ball 118 look even better. A word too for Chris Woakes, who bowled very well on his return to take three for 73. But tomorrow’s headlines – certainly in England - will be all about Mark Wood, who finished with 11.4-4-34-5.
That included a spell of 2.4-1-5-4 to wrap up the innings. Almost every delivery was over 90mph – not just that in that spell but throughout the day.
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WICKET! Australia 263 all out (Murphy b Wood 13)
Mark Wood, cricket adores you. He’s finished off the innings, bowling Murphy via the second edge to clinch his first ever five-for in a home Test. It’s been a ferocious and glorious performance from a thoroughly likeable chap.
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60th over: Australia 263-9 (Murphy 13, Boland 0) Murphy inside-edges Woakes past the stumps for four. Every little helps. He’s got plenty of ticker, this young lad, and he slashes a back cut for four more.
“This is one of the great English pace spells isn’t it?” says Phil Harrison. “Devon-level heroics. I LOVE Mark Wood.”
59th over: Australia 254-9 (Murphy 4, Boland 0) Boland somehow survives the remainder of the over, smiling wryly at the absurdity of this particular mismatch. A wicket maiden for Wood, whose pace today has been eye-catching even by his stratospheric standards.
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WICKET! Australia 254-9 (Carey c Woakes b Wood 8)
The ball after being hit on the helmet, Alex Carey backs away and slices Wood to Chris Woakes to deep extra cover. Wood has taken three wickets in six balls, and Australia have lost five for 14 either side of tea.
It’s another pulsating spell in a series that has been full of them, and Wood is bowling like Frank Tyson.
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58.1 overs: Australia 254-8 (Carey 8, Murphy 4) Wood’s first ball zings off the pitch and clatters into Carey’s helmet. He seems okay, though there will be a concussion check.
“The clip shared by BBC Sport shows the umpire giving Marsh a soft signal of out before he walked,” says Nick Donovan. “Spirit of cricket intact.”
No green and gold tanks on the moral high ground, yet.
58th over: Australia 254-8 (Carey 8, Murphy 4) Carey wears a short ball from Woakes on the body, a blow that the home crowd enjoyed. With only two wickets left (Murphy isn’t a rabbit but he is a No10), Carey will have to go on the attack. He biffs a straight drive that is well fielded by Woakes in his follow through, then misses a dab outside off stump. A single off the fifth delivery allows him to keep strike.
Meanwhile, Simon Burnton has news of Millwall Football Club.
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57th over: Australia 253-8 (Carey 7, Murphy 4) Todd Murphy edges his first ball, an attempted yorker, for four. A memorable over from Wood, who has figures of 10-3-34-3 on his comeback. And that includes a spell of 3-0-20-0 when Mitch Marsh got after him.
Talking of Marsh, his innings gets better with every passing dismissal.
WICKET! Australia 249-8 (Cummins LBW b Wood 0)
Pat Cummins walks out to join Alex Carey at the crease, and in the lungs of the home crowd. Two balls later, he returns to a weird chorus of boos and delirious cheers. Mark Wood pinned him in front with a brilliant delivery that thudded into the back pad in front of middle stump.
Cummins, expecting the short ball, was miles away from it. I think his bat got stuck. It’s one of the most plumb LBWs ever seen in an Ashes Test; Carey tried to discuss a review with Cummins, who was having none of it.
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WICKET! Australia 249-7 (Starc b Wood 2)
Too fast, too straight, too much. Mark Wood returns and cleans up Mitchell Starc with his third ball, a sizzling inducker that rams into the top of middle stump. That’s unplayable for a lower-order batter, even a very good one like Starc.
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56th over: Australia 248-6 (Carey 6, Starc 2) Carey inside-edges Moeen through the legs of Root at short leg. He didn’t get a hand on it so it probably doesn’t count as a chance.
Moeen has started well after tea, two overs for one run. Stokes needs every quiet over he can get.
55th over: Australia 247-6 (Carey 4, Starc 1) Chris Woakes has taken three wickets and had two players dropped, though he went on to dismiss Mitch Marsh eventually. Even so, England owe him a sizeable thank you. His record in English conditions is so good: 97 wickets at 22.56.
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WICKET! Australia 245-6 (Head c Root b Woakes 39)
Joe Root catches Travis Head and slams the ball to the floor in disgust! To explain: off the previous ball he dropped Carey, a sharp chance above his head. The resulting single brought Head on strike, and he edged a loose stroke straight to first slip. This time Root held on, just about, and celebrated like cricket’s answer to Temuri Ketsbaia.
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Ollie Robinson won't bowl again today
England have confirmed he suffered a back spasm, not an ankle injury, and he will receive treatment for the rest of the day. That’s slightly better news for England. I think.
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54th over: Australia 244-5 (Head 39, Carey 4) I assumed Mark Wood would go all Frank Tyson over tea, but in fact Moeen Ali is going to continue. Two left-handers, so there is a certain logic, but I’d want Wood to break this partnership before it gets started. I’m pretty sure he is still on the field; Ollie Robinson certainly isn’t. Moeen starts with a maiden to Head, who is playing a subdued innings by his standards: 39 from 73 balls. I’m sure he’ll start to rev up now that Marsh has gone.
“Morning (from Colorado) Rob,” says Stuart Middleton. “Re: 15.40 BST, did Mitch Marsh walk as in walk? In view of England’s recent talk of the spirit of cricket, that would make this the ultimate counter-attacking innings.”
That’s such a good line I’m going to nick it and call it my own I wish I’d thought of it myself. I think he walked. Mel Jones, commentating on Sky, certainly said that and she’s usually spot-on.
53rd over: Australia 244-5 (Head 39, Carey 4) There are cheers and jeers for Carey, though nowhere near as vicious as at Lord’s on Sunday.
Woakes has five balls left of the over that began with the wicket of Marsh before tea. Carey gets off the mark with a beautiful extra cover drive for four. “He’ll just keep calm and Carey on,” badoomtishes Mark Butcher on Sky Sports.
“That isn’t a bad score from an England point of view?????” says John Jones. “Are you serious man??? Won the toss on a greenish pitch with cloud cover and the lights on!!!! That’s a 250 all out pitch for me. Hope Cameron Green enjoys the next month off.”
Right, first things first: don’t be impolite, this isn’t football. Second things second: when Stokes decided to bowl I think he was playing the long game, and that the goal was something like 320 and 500 rather than 200 and 300. Not saying that will happen but I don’t think England put Australia in expecting to skittle them. It’s okay to disagree.
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The players are about to return to the field. Travis Head is joined by Alex Carey, and you can probably hear the boos through your computer screen.
Marsh hit 17 fours and four sixes. The rest of them have managed 13 and one. We knew he could play like this, but he transferred the certainty and authority of his T20 batting to a vital Ashes Test. He took every England bowler bar Ollie Robinson to the cleaners.
From an England perspective, 240 for five isn’t a bad score. But the way Australia have got there, with dropped catches and a recovery from 85 for four, will be very demoralising.
This is such a vital session now. We know how ruthless Travis Head can be against tired attacks, and England are a bowler light because of Ollie Robinson’s injury. But if Mark Wood can take a couple straight after tea, they will be in to the lower order.
Teatime reading
Every one-cap wonder has a story to tell, and Mike Smith’s is a goodun.
“How can you drop Marsh after this?” says Phil Crockford. “Just ask Joe Root and England.”
Careful now.
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Tea
The wicket means the players will go off for tea. It was a spectacular session for Australia, who scored 149 in 26.1 overs. I can’t quite believe how well Mitch Marsh batted, and that’s not to denigrate him. Had Ben Stokes or Keith Miller played that innings, it would still have mind-blowing.
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WICKET! Australia 240-5 (Marsh c Crawley b Woakes 118)
Mitch Marsh walks! He inside-edged Woakes onto the thigh, with the ballooning to Crawley in the slips, and was away for tea before the umpire gave him out (I think).
England celebrate angrily, and Marsh walks off after a counter-attack that was classical in its strokeplay and brutal in its intent: 118 from 118 balls with 17 fours and four sixes. Yep, he had England’s number.
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52nd over: Australia 240-4 (Head 39, Marsh 118) Head continues to read the room, pushing a single off Moeen to give Marsh the strike. Moeen moves round the wicket, so Marsh opens his stance to drive yet another boundary through extra cover. He’s scored 92 of his runs in fours and sixes. This is the innings of his life, and England look helpless. Moeen’s figures are 7-0-39-0.
At the toss, Pat Cummins said Cameron Green would be fit for the fourth Test next week. But how can you drop Marsh after this? He’s scored a century in the session!
“Being as entitled as the next person, I wanted the early Headingley joy to expunge the memory of a particularly dull dinner companion last night who I narrowly avoided engaging in an ironic conversation about the Banshees of Inisherin and the reason the main character began removing his fingers,” says Ian Copestake. “Any wicket now would feel like a finger saved.”
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51st over: Australia 232-4 (Head 37, Marsh 112) Mitch Marsh is taking England back to the Waca. He picks Woakes up over midwicket for a huge six, then on-drives the next ball for four. This is unbelievable batting! He’s hit 74 off the last 60 deliveries. When Joe Root dropped Marsh on 12, he could never have imagined he’d pay such a high pride.
“Marsh’s clean-hitting century is a lovely tribute to some of the great Brad Haddin Ashes innings (and those were really worth staying up for),” says Chris Paraskevas. “Even the sound of the willow hitting leather was similar. Also can’t help but feel the bowling has been poor after lunch. Put more than a few in the slot. Bit all over the place line and length wise.”
England have been straining a bit, I agree. That said, I think this is more about the quality of the batting than the poverty of the bowling. He has played phenomenally.
50th over: Australia 220-4 (Head 36, Marsh 101) The speed of this partnership means Australia have another 30 overs against the old ball. Mark Wood’s spell after tea already feels vital for England. If he can break this partnership, ideally with the wicket of Marsh, they’re in; but if Marsh treats him as he did in this session, England will be under all kinds of pressure.
“Given that his Richmond constituency is a matter of just a few miles away, how likely is it that Rishi Sunak will attend?” says John Starbuck. “Answer: not very, as there’s no PM’s Questions on a Thursday.”
49th over: Australia 218-4 (Head 35, Marsh 100) Woakes replaces Broad, who picked up two key wickets but is going at five an over. There’s still plenty of outswing for Woakes, even with the old ball. Marsh knows exactly where his off stump is now, though, and he leaves a series of tempters outside off stump.
“Bas de Leede spent a summer living with me while playing turf cricket for Balcatta in Perth,” writes Jake. “He was suffering with back issues but you could always tell there was something special. Couldn’t be happier for him – or for Mitch Marsh!”
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The Aussie balcony could not have been happier for Mitch Marsh, who has had so many difficult moments in Test cricket. Pat Cummins smiles a lot, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with a smile as broad as that. It’s his first century outside Australia, in his first Test appearance in four years. The Ashes never fails to produce great stories.
Mitch Marsh makes an awesome century!
48th over: Australia 218-4 (Head 35, Marsh 100) What an innings from Mitch Marsh! He pounds Moeen down the ground for four and then six to move to 99, then steals a quick single to reach an extraordinary hundred from only 102 balls!
Marsh was on 12 when Joe Root dropped a sitter at first slip. Since then he has belted England to all parts: 15 fours and three sixes, almost all of them from classical drives and pulls.
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47th over: Australia 207-4 (Head 35, Marsh 89) It’s rare for Head to be the sober partner, but with Marsh on the rampage he looks happy to rotate strike. Two from Broad’s over.
Tea is about 20 minutes away, and boy do England need it.
“Scotland have missed out on World Cup qualification on net run rate, Rob, Netherlands reaching their target of 278 in 44 overs with an incredible onslaught towards the end,” says Simon McMahon. “While congratulations go to them and Sri Lanka, the Scotland team are understandably gutted. I think the ‘spirit of cricket’ will be whisky tonight.”
I see Bas de Leede took five wickets as well! That’s one of the all-time great ODI performances.
46th over: Australia 205-4 (Head 34, Marsh 88) Marsh hits Moeen for two more boundaries, though I missed them because I was typing the below. Honestly, in context – first Test in four years, no cricket for four months, huge game, team in trouble - this is a monstrous innings.
Netherlands reach the men's World Cup
World Cup heartbreak of a different code for Scotland, who won’t be going to India later in the year. An extraordinary innings from Bas de Leede, 123 from 92 balls, was enough for the Netherlands to clinch the last place.
45th over: Australia 197-4 (Head 34, Marsh 80) Marsh is taking England to the cleaners. A full ball from Broad is hammered between mid-on and midwicket for four more, and then he rifles another down the ground. Broad got a touch, so technically it’s a dropped catch, but it was nigh-on impossible.
Marsh has walloped 42 from his last 37 deliveries. No slogging, just emphatic, clean hitting. And since drinks, Australia have scored 50 in seven overs.
There’s no need for England to panic yet – this is a good pitch – but there will be if Head and Marsh are batting in two hours’ time. And those two dropped catches, which were so straightforward, must be running amok in the Bairstow and Root’s subconscious.
44th over: Australia 185-4 (Head 34, Marsh 69) If Robinson is injured, Moeen have to bowl more than Stokes would like on day one. He’s started quite well, that full toss aside, though there is nothing in the pitch for him except a bit of bounce. Marsh forces a single to bring up an exhilarating century stand from 118 balls. He’s come from leftfield to play a key role in a pivotal Ashes Test.
“Is it just me who feels reminded of another Baz with the concept of Bazball?” asks Eva Maaten. “Isn’t it a bit like the movie Strictly Ballroom by Baz Luhrmann where some intrepid young ballroom dancers invent a new style of dancing to the shock and horror of the ballroom dancing community in rural Australia? That experiment had a happy ending with the couple winning a championship; I’m curious whether the English cricketing one will end equally as well.”
Status: Bazball-curious.
42nd over: Australia 184-4 (Head 34, Marsh 68) Marsh hacks a shortish delivery from Robinson behind square for four, then gets four bonus leg-byes when the ball flies away off the pad. England need control, never mind a wicket, and for once not even Robinson is providing that.
Uh-oh, England have a problem here. After those two balls, Ollie Robinson walks straight off the field. He doesn’t look in obvious pain, but the certainty with which he took his cap and jumper suggests it’s serious – possibly a recurrence of the ankle problems he had earlier in the summer. He didn’t hang about to chat with Ben Stokes at all.
That’s a huge blow to England, even with the extra bowler in the team. Stuart Broad finishes Robinson’s over and is blazed up and over point for four more by Marsh. This is an outrageous knock: 68 from 77 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. In the last six overs, Australia have scored 48 runs.
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41st over: Australia 171-4 (Head 34, Marsh 59) Australia are scoring freely, with at least one boundary an over. Head gets his fifth of the innings, driven a low full toss from Moeen between extra cover and mid-off.
40th over: Australia 165-4 (Head 29, Marsh 59) Robinson changes ends to replace Wood, whose three overs were pounded for 20. Head pulls four more, with both deep fielders losing sight of the ball. I think the speed of this partnership – 80 from 100 balls – has caught England off guard.
Robinson collects a Marsh defensive stroke in his follow through and hurls the ball at the stumps. It missed, though Marsh was back in his crease anyway.
40th over: Australia 159-4 (Head 24, Marsh 58) Interesting. Ollie Robinson is replaced by Moeen Ali, who both Head and Marsh will try to hit down the ground. Stokes does put mid-off back, a rare occurrence.
Head, who was out to Moeen in both innings at Edbgaston, has a couple of bits of luck. A flashing drive takes the edge and flies past Root at slip for four, then an inside-edge lands safely on the leg side.
We’re seeing a replay of the two dropped catches, Head on 9 and Marsh on 12; they were sitters.
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39th over: Australia 155-4 (Head 20, Marsh 58) Mitch Marsh is winning his contest with Mark Wood quite emphatically. He drives a wide half-volley handsomely to the cover boundary, then lasers another through mid-off. Thrilling, authoritative batting. Given Marsh’s strengths, it was probably a mistake to bowl Wood at him, though of course England were hoping for Wood to attack Head.
Marsh has a Test average of 52 against England, 21 against anyone else, so maybe this innings isn’t a surprise. But most of those runs were scored in familiar conditions at home; his previous highest score in England was 27 not out at Lord’s in 2015.
Thanks Geoff, hello everyone. Mitch Marsh scored 181 against England at Perth in 2017, yet this might be his best Ashes innings. He had a big moment of fortune, sure, but in context – and given the pace of Mark Wood – he has been seriously good. Most importantly, his rapid fifty has changed the mood of the day.
Half century! Mitchell Marsh 50 from 59 balls
38th over: Australia 147-4 (Head 20, Marsh 50) Deep backward point, long stop behind the keeper, fine leg, deep backward square leg, deep forward square leg. Five out for the top edge. Then a gully, mid off, mid on, square leg closer to the bat. All this so that Head can keep facing Robinson’s bumpers, missing a pull, missing a flash, then slanting a run away past gully.
For Marsh, a normal cordon of three plus one, then point and mid off, mid on and midwicket, long leg. He nudges a single behind square for one, and fifty. Had some good fortune and played some sensational shots along the way, scoring at a rattling rate.
Drinks, and that makes it a good time for me to hand over to Rob Smyth.
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37th over: Australia 145-4 (Head 19, Marsh 49) Wood keeps firing them down, Head scrambles a single from a defensive shot that trickles back down the pitch and past the bowler. A single, a leg bye, Marsh comes back on strike… and smokes a pull shot for six! Flat, hard, and deep into the Western Terrace. Sensational shot, using Wood’s pace, and using his own Western Australian upbringing to handle it.
36th over: Australia 136-4 (Head 18, Marsh 42) England go up for a DRS look when a catch at slip isn’t given. “Two noises?” says Crawley who snared the ball. The bowler isn’t confident. Nope, it’s just off Marsh’s big knee roll and deflecting. Two balls later he shuffles forward at Robinson and is beaten, pushing the bat straight down the line. No such tentativeness from the fifth of the over, as Marsh demolishes another cut shot behind point. That skims to the boundary! Fifty partnership ticks by, 51 to be precise.
35th over: Australia 132-4 (Head 18, Marsh 38) Mark Wood is back into the fray, looking to intimidate with pace, and Marsh pulls him for four! Not just a pull shot, but a pull shot through mid on. That is a remarkable shot. “Fast?” he seems to be asking. “Not that fast.” To be that far ahead of the ball is something. Wood hasn’t fully geared up yet, he’s in the high 80s for mph rather than the 90s. Marsh knocks down a single, the field spreads for Head, and he rides the bounce to play a ball down to backward point.
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34th over: Australia 127-4 (Head 18, Marsh 33) A magical shot, that, the advance and leave by Marsh to Woakes. Gets inside the line of one to glance it, and whenever Head comes on strike England keep bowling short. He pulls another single, not laying into the short ones but rotating strike. Marsh another to midwicket. The partnership is 42.
Netherlands need 118 from 14 overs to qualify for the World Cup. Scotland firming but Bas de Leede and Scott Edwards are well set.
33rd over: Australia 124-4 (Head 17, Marsh 31) Broad continues, Head pulls a single, still taking it on, and Marsh plays a textbook cover drive for four. His attacking shots today have sparkled. Gets bat down on a full straight ball and diverts it off his pads for two.
“It’s gone a bit under the radar that Broad has thrived under Stokes,” writes Tom Bowtell. “58 wickets at 25.65 and 46 at 23 in last ten. I’ll miss him nearly as much as Jimmy when he goes.”
He doesn’t look like he wants to go anywhere.
32nd over: Australia 116-4 (Head 16, Marsh 24) They keep trying out the short ball to Head, and he’s going at a few. Hits one flat that bounces in front of Stokes at long leg. Doesn’t seem a high-percentage approach. Then Bairstow finally takes one cleanly, but it’s off Marsh’s thigh pad. Came slowly enough down the leg side to reach it with a dive. Finally, Woakes has the ball cutting in and striking Marsh, but probably going down leg. Given not out, they don’t review, and if they had it would have been the slimmest of umpire’s calls.
“At what point do England accept that spending a bit of time practicing catching might be better for their well-being than dropping catches in the match?” asks Dominic Papineau. “Maybe next visit to the driving range the slip fielders and Bairstow have to catch a 100 driven golf balls before they’re allowed to pick up a club? I’ve possibly gone too far down the Andy Flower pathway there.”
That said, their bowlers are producing plenty of hazards this morning.
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31st over: Australia 114-4 (Head 15, Marsh 23) Ohhh my. Absolutely crunched by Mitchell Marsh. That’s a Perth 2017 shot: liking the bounce in this pitch, he sees width from Broad and plays a back cut with tremendous power, angled bat chopping down on the ball. Gets forward and leaves the next couple from Broad. So his ball-striking is there, but getting the tempo of a Test innings will be the challenge. Drops a single to cover.
30th over: Australia 108-4 (Head 15, Marsh 18) A forceful square drive from Marsh, only half stopped by Moeen to concede a run. Another of those absurd non-wide calls from the umpire, a ball pole-vaulting over Travis’ head. Marsh leaves, Woakes laments. Maybe laments a bit more after Marsh smacks a dead straight drive for four.
“I remember watching all the Tests for Australia v West Indies in the 80s, the score seems to be pretty familiar,” writes David Kalucy. “Minus the hostile crowd that is. Always just waiting and hoping for someone to dig deep.”
29th over: Australia 102-4 (Head 13, Marsh 13) Flicked behind square leg by Head, then it’s death by a thousand replays as Stokes slides in to flick the ball up to Woakes just before touching the rope. Saves one. Joel Wilson is up in the third umpire’s box, they took pity on him this week and didn’t send him back into the middle for an Ashes Test at Headingley. Saves two for Broad. A couple more singles to follow. Tries the short stuff again but Head defends well.
Two batters with 13 runs apiece. This partnership could be very entertaining and very short. The Headmarshter?
28th over: Australia 98-4 (Head 10, Marsh 12) Woakes bowls a hit-me ball, Marsh agrees. Front-foot pull for six! Just brutes that ball away over wide long on. Then Woakes corrects his length and Marsh is dropped! Edged straight to Root at slip, and for no reason the ball goes in and out, Root rolling over on the ground as he tries to get it back. He can’t.
27th over: Australia 92-4 (Head 10, Marsh 6) Short ball or nothing to Travis Head to resume after lunch, once Marsh has taken a single to fine leg. Broad bowls a couple of good ones, Head hops about a bit and avoids them.
Phil King on those dropped catches: “the standard response from the England team is that he scores more runs and hence he is in the team. Has anyone created an XG type statistic for catches so we can analyse this? Or is it only me that is bothered by this? I’m Team Foakes by the way. Play your best keeper every match.”
“Travis Head shaving off his ‘tache makes him look much less like Travis Head, the perfectly-named rogue CIA agent protagonist of a 1970s conspiracy thriller. Travis, please recultivate the facial furniture and return to uncovering dastardly government plots.” A clear ask from Boris Starling.
“Does Bairstow have to deliver something with the bat in this game to keep his place?” asks Mark Mann. I doubt it, he’s the mascot of Bazball. Things worked much better all round when he didn’t have the gloves though.
“I’ve only started following cricket, particularly test cricket, more closely in the past few years,” writes Graeme Quinnell. “Dipping into the OBO and seeing that Labuschagne took 21 runs off 58 deliveries and 16 of those runs were from four 4s. This would mean he only took 5 runs from the remaining 54 deliveries, or almost 11 deliveries per run. To my uneducated eyes this looks like remarkably low scoring and would point to excellent bowling. I can’t though see a big deal being made about it, so is it actually unusual or the sort of thing that isn’t as remarkable as my inexperienced cricketing mind would think?”
It’s pretty standard, Graeme. When the bowling is tight, good players will just bunker through that and wait for things to ease. Knowing how to shift scoring rates within the innings is one of the skills. Hence people getting so annoyed at England’s first innings slog-a-thon that lost the match at Lord’s.
“I understand from TMS that Travis Head has shaved off his ‘tache. This means England are much the hairiest team against their opponents. Will the Samson case be operating?”
Andrew Samson is here doing stats, John Starbuck, if that’s what you mean?
Lunch - Australia 91 for 4 after being asked to bat
Another fizzing session! This series keeps delivering. England right on top, didn’t blast through all at once, but kept chiselling off piece after piece. Warner early, Khawaja to extreme pace, Labuschagne to a bit of skill, and Smith the vital one not long before the break. Australia in a very difficult position.
Then there’s Bairstow, whose drop of Smith has not been hugely costly and was a difficult chance, but whose drop of Head does not fit the latter description and might yet fit the former.
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26th over: Australia 91-4 (Head 10, Marsh 5) England’s players run into position to get one more over in. Wood! Bowling to Head, who hops and drops a single, then to Marsh, who tries to save Test cricket with a mighty pull across the line that misses everything. Fuller now, swing, away from the bat, beats the edge! Marsh gets across to the next one and defends from behind the line. Wood loses his footing, a classic Wood move, as Marsh leaves width. One ball to come… five slips waiting… crowd goes up… and Marsh takes a run off his hip.
Lunch.
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25th over: Australia 89-4 (Head 9, Marsh 4) Huge moment here. Mitch Marsh’s last Test match was four years ago, at The Oval. Hasn’t played a first-class match since November. Mark Wood hasn’t played one since December. “They’re fresh,” says Gideon Haigh a couple of seats down. Marsh has to deal with Broad first… and smites a cover drive for four.
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WICKET! Smith c Bairstow b Broad 22, Australia 85-4
Broad pulls one back for England! Of course he does. Lovely bowling, cuts in to Smith, takes the inside edge on the way through. Kumar Dharmasena takes a long time, then gives it out. Smith looks at his partner, shrugs to say he’s not sure, then reviews. There’s a little flick of the inside edge though! The crowd, of course, goes wild.
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24th over: Australia 85-3 (Smith 22, Head 9) Here is Mark Wood, they’ve swapped him to the football ground end. Smith clips a couple, drops a single. And for Travis Head on strike, they’ve got five back on the fence. This is just weird. Player fresh to the crease. Short down the leg side, and he’s dropped! Another one goes down with Bairstow behind the stumps. This England team can keep denying that it’s a problem, but it’s a problem. That one was straightforward, to his right. The batters cross, the umpire gives the run as a bye, but replays show it was an edge.
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23rd over: Australia 80-3 (Smith 18, Head 9) Smith quietly adds a single to midwicket. Stuart Broad has the ball back. A touch of Mark Wood before lunch, maybe? New batter in? They’re giving Head the single! Last ball of the over, seven fielders back. Except Broad bumps him and he just drops his gloves. No run.
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Reaching 16 at Headingley today, Steve Smith also goes past Allan Border's 3222 runs in Ashes matches.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) July 6, 2023
Only Jack Hobbs and Don Bradman have more. https://t.co/daUHayFs0h
Reaching 16 at Headingley today, Steve Smith goes past Viv Richards' mark of 2057 runs for a visiting player in England.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) July 6, 2023
Only Allan Border and Don Bradman have more. https://t.co/ivX8BLbrYu
22nd over: Australia 79-3 (Smith 17, Head 9) There’s a bolt from the blue! Steve Smith goes back and clobbers Woakes over deep square leg for six! Woakes comes back well against head, bowling a few better short balls.
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21st over: Australia 72-3 (Smith 10, Head 9) Robinson bowling. Smith takes some singles, Head pulls a boundary.
“In an Ashes series has a team ever one three coin tosses in a row and lost all three matches?” asks Matthew Smith.
Hard to look up sequential streaks on certain databases, but I can tell you that Australia won every five tosses in 1978-79 and lost four of those matches, but those losses were in two lots of two. They won the third Test.
The 2017-18 England team did win the toss in the first three Tests and lose them all. Same deal in the fifth.
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20th over: Australia 65-3 (Smith 8, Head 4) Right then! Travis Head to the middle, this is make or break for both teams. If he stays, he’ll score. Starts quickly, just keeping out a Woakes ball at the stumps and driving it past cover for four! Some shot to start your day.
WICKET! Labuschagne c Root b Woakes, Australia 61-3
Soft hands from Labuschagne ensure a thick edge dies into the ground, and rolls away for four runs past the cordon. No such luck with the next ball though, a good piece of skill from Woakes to use the seam, draw some movement from a hard length, and it takes the edge of the bat high on the blade as Labuschagne tries to defend. Another sharp one taken in the slips.
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Reaching 8 at Headingley today, Steve Smith goes past Garfield Sobers' mark of 3214 runs against England.
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) July 6, 2023
Only Allan Border and Don Bradman have more. https://t.co/6LUC3oJKxv
19th over: Australia 57-2 (Labuschagne 17, Smith 8) Big appeal from Robinson, flicking Smith’s pad way outside the line of off stump. Wasn’t playing a shot, hence the interest. Robinson bowls again, and Smith is dropped. Bairstow can’t hang on, inside edge that goes wide to his left, a very tough one though a keeper with better footwork might not have been wrongfooted there. Weight going the wrong way, can’t compensate with the dive. Smith gets four.
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18th over: Australia 53-2 (Labuschagne 17, Smith 4) Another run to Smith, just blocking it out to leg. Four in the slips, so he has that latitude. There’s a leg slip for Labuschagne as well. Ball angles in from Woakes and takes the pad, Labuschagne has a guilty wander to square leg and avoids eye contact with the umpire, like his ex just walked into a party unexpectedly. The ball would have missed leg stump, looks like. No review.
17th over: Australia 52-2 (Labuschagne 17, Smith 3) Robinson thuds away from the Kirkstall Lane End. Again Smith is nudging a single to leg.
Scotland and Netherlands are playing off for the last spot at the ODI World Cup in October. Scotland made 277, the Dutch need to chase it in 44 overs to beat the Scots on net run rate. They’re 24 without loss in the third over.
16th over: Australia 51-2 (Labuschagne 17, Smith 2) Another sharp single for Smith, this time to midwicket. Labuschagne leaves one very close to the off stump, Woakes is excited.
15th over: Australia 50-2 (Labuschagne 17, Smith 1) Robinson is back from the Kirkstall Lane End, replacing Wood. It was a four-over burst and it dislodged Australia’s most stubborn player of the series. Labuschagne taps a run to midwicket. Smith times a flick nicely but it’s stopped at midwicket. So he darts a single to cover, spots Broad on his heels and makes the most of it as he drops the ball away. There’s another Robinson overstep as well.
With Marnus Labuschagne in bat time I should remind you he's an occasional @GuardianAus reader @GeoffLemonSport https://t.co/fAdryIgkHv
— david munk (@davidmunk) July 6, 2023
14th over: Australia 47-2 (Labuschagne 16, Smith 0) Jeers for Steve Smith as he walks to the middle in his 100th Test. He’s at the non-striker’s end as Labuschagne picks up four from the rare double misfield: Broad at cover fumbles the ball to let it through, then chases it back and slides into the rope while failing to stop it a second time. Takes a single that lets Smith face one ball, which he defends while stepping across.
WICKET! Khawaja b Wood 13, Australia 42-2
13th over: Australia 42-2 (Labuschagne 11)
There he goes! Stumps askew! Pace tells. Bairstow is standing miles back and still taking the ball up around face height. At first, it looks like Khawaja has a different clock to everyone else, gets behind the straighter ball without looking hurried. Goes under a bouncer. Stands up tall and plays a cut shot for two. But why has he played a drive at that final ball of the over? It’s full, it’s straight, it swings in a touch as well. Through the gate and takes middle and leg.
Box office.
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12th over: Australia 40-1 (Khawaja 11, Labuschagne 11) Now then. Khawaja might have to face the music. Gets a single from a glance off Woakes. Three balls left in the over. Labuschagne pretends he wants a leg bye. Leaves a ball that hits his pad but very high, angled back in.
“Wood looks spicy! How has Robinson kept him out of the team?” They were worried about his fitness, Rowan Sweeney. He’s the classic fast-bowling Ferrari, needs good care.
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11th over: Australia 39-1 (Khawaja 10, Labuschagne 11) Four slips and a short leg now for Wood, who keeps bombarding Labuschagne. Past the edge, the over his head! Four byes in a trice, Bairstow no chance. Another one past the edge. This is extraordinary. He gets squared up there, his bat is in position to nick the ball, but by then the ball is metres past him.
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10th over: Australia 35-1 (Khawaja 10, Labuschagne 11) Runs for Khawaja at last, Woakes over pitching and he drives through mid off to the rope. He goes past 800 balls faced for the series, working his way up this list.
The scoreboard has taken a run off Labuschagne – thought so, I reckon it’s that early leg bye. I’ll try to revise our scores retrospectively when there’s time to draw breath.
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9th over: Australia 31-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 12) Thrilling bowling from Wood! The crowds in the terrace are vocalising with delight as each ball zings through. Labuschagne has struggled against him before. Defends well, leaves a wider one. Cranks the dial up to 96 miles an hour, that’s where Jofra Archer was bowling at Lord’s in 2019. Labuschagne feels for the next ball, it’s past before he can finish the thought. Does middle a defensive shot to a fuller ball. And again. I’d be stepping back in the slip cordon. Scoreboard hasn’t moved for three overs.
Wood. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
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8th over: Australia 31-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 12) Khawaja is perfectly content to keep soaking up the bowling, another six ball from Robinson.
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7th over: Australia 31-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 12) Here is Mark Wood. And he’s bowling rockets! Whooshes past the off stump. Whooshes down the leg side, taking pad, then Bairstow’s glove, and it still crashes into the boundary boards in a split second. Another one at Labuschagne’s gloves. He clocks 95 miles an hour one ball, 94 another.
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6th over: Australia 27-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 12) Five slips for Robinson. Backward point, mid on, mid off, long leg set quite square. Gaps everywhere if Khawaja wants to play a shot. He doesn’t.
“Looking forward to what should hopefully be another fantastic game. As a casual follower who’s not been able to pull themself away from the Ashes, I was kind of surprised to see that Marsh is in the squad at all. Now that he’s been picked I’d be keen to hear from people who might know about what kind of form he’s in - is he there because of his skill, his family or both?”
That’s always been the scuttlebutt that he’s had to contend with – it was more when his brother Shaun was around, and there was a selectorial obsession with the idea that they must both be good. Mitch has become a really good player though. Won Australia a T20 World Cup batting first drop. Bowls outswing. Big reach in the gully. Ultimate team player as well, always the most popular in a touring party. So he had strong claims to be the back-up all-rounder, and now he’s required.
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5th over: Australia 27-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 12) Same again from Broad, except that Labuschagne doesn’t time it so well and only gets two. Improves that for his next attempt, and it teases Robinson all the way to the rope for four.
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4th over: Australia 20-1 (Khawaja 5, Labuschagne 6) Patient from Labuschagne, waits for the one ball of Robinson’s over that is too straight, and flicks it up the hill through midwicket for four.
“What is the Threads link for Guardian Cricket?” Can’t tell if you’re joking, Tom Peach, but I don’t know yet. Might be one before long. “And does anyone else remember the eighties dystopian series of the same name set in Yorkshire? A blasted city, violent crowds, a rampaging foreign adversary laying waste to everything, defeat, no hope.”
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3rd over: Australia 16-1 (Khawaja 5, Labuschagne 2) Broad slips up, first down the leg side and away for four byes, then overpitched for Khawaja to drive through mid off with his trademark economy of movement. Four.
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2nd over: Australia 8-1 (Khawaja 1, Labuschagne 2) Robinson bowling with the Howard Stand at his back, a bit too straight early allowing each batter to pick off a single. Bowls England’s first no ball of the innings as well. The last of the over is a beauty though, leaps past the edge off a length and moves.
Pramith Pillai wants to know about the pitch. Green tinge on top, but I suspect that’s largely cosmetic, and it could be a batting pitch after the early stages. Looks like good bounce and carry thus far, so the bowlers will be in the contest.
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1st over: Australia 5-1 (Khawaja 0, Labuschagne 1) So Broad strikes with the new ball. Labuschagne makes him wait a long time. Four slips waiting. Hits the pad, but even Stuart doesn’t charge into the cordon celebrating for that one, angled down leg. An extra. Scoreboard is saying a run?
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WICKET! Warner c Crawley b Broad 4, Australia 4-1
Add another one to the tally! Broad versus Warner. The batter gets the opening advantage with a crisp on drive, first ball of the match, for four. But a few balls later Broad gets one to sing! It lifts off a length, takes the edge, and flies to the left of Crawley at slip. Really travelling, and he has to be very quick to get his hands around it, shoulder high. But he does.
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Here we go…
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Steve Hudson is focusing. “Ignoring the elephant in the room, can I just remind everyone that so far this has been a *brilliant* series? Two close Tests, contrasting styles struggling for ascendancy, great players performing great deeds on either side. Yes, I’d rather it was 2-0 to England, but call me crazy, I think we will win this one, and then all to play for. So there, elephant.”
Heath Mason is one such, writing from Wroclaw, Poland. “Some interesting changes for both teams for this test. Fingers crossed it’s another thriller with just the right amount of controversy to spice things up and send us through the history books to see who sullied the spirit of cricket first. A link in that Marina Hyde article suggests it was a certain W. G. Grace.”
Yes, just ask* Sammy Woods about how the Ashes came to be.
*You may need a ouija board.
If you want the radio in your ears and you’re not in the UK, here is the TMS overseas link.
Get in touch
You can reach us in the usual ways, email or tweets. I’m sure there will be plenty of takes still flying around about the Bairstow situation. For what it’s worth, I think it’s possible for the world to contain a variety, and that everyone’s insistence on being right in this case is what has made it so unpleasant.
So I’d encourage correspondence that isn’t just rehashing arguments of right or wrong. If you have something broader to offer, that’s great. If you have something totally unrelated, all the better.
Teams
Marsh’s inclusion is because of Green’s “low-grade hamstring strain” that was picked up following the second Test. Green will be fit for the fourth Test, they’re confident in saying already. Boland is in so that Josh Hazlewood can be rested on the comeback from injury, after playing back to back in the first two. And of course Murphy is in for Nathan Lyon, whose leg gave way. A very good young spinner with a big challenge ahead.
For England, Josh Tongue is out, that’s more to do with them wanting to be very careful with his fitness. James Anderson out given he did a lot of work in the first two Tests. And Ollie Pope is out with his dislocated shoulder.
So that shuffles Brook up to three and Bairstow to five, making room at seven and eight for Moeen and Woakes, with Wood coming in down the order. Broad has dropped from No8 to No11 in the space of three days.
Teams
England
Zak Crawley
Ben Duckett
Harry Brook
Joe Root
Jonny Bairstow +
Ben Stokes *
Moeen Ali
Chris Woakes
Ollie Robinson
Stuart Broad
Mark Wood
Australia
David Warner
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Mitchell Marsh
Alex Carey +
Mitchell Starc
Pat Cummins *
Todd Murphy
Scott Boland
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England win the toss and will bowl
Back to the cardinal principles of Bazball, then. Chase a target.
Marina Hyde typically has the piece of the week, as every grifter tried to carve off a chunk of the controversy and attention for their own uses.
Our Lord’s expert Emma John gives her perspective on how the MCC members lost their rag, and what that conveys.
On the Bairstow dismissal, there’s a cricketer’s view from our columnist Mark Ramprakash, who sees no problem with it.
Joe Root, meanwhile, said that maybe the hostile dial should be turned down a bit, which reflects his temperament and will probably be respectfully ignored.
quite a nice morning on the stroll up to Headingley. There is some sun breaking through the early clouds, and it’s moderate to warm at the moment. The forecast says all kinds of things for the next few days, but at least we’re starting on a good footing.
Here is Ben Stokes being typically upbeat about the situation.
As for the match, Ali Martin wrote a preview so that I don’t have to.
Preamble
Hello all. Not much of a turnaround from the Lord’s Test, so not much time to catch our breath, but here we are in Leeds. It has been a febrile few days of culture conflict after Australia’s contentious stumping of Jonny Bairstow near the end of that match, but let’s not forget that before all of that guff we had ten days of quality cricket and ended up with two brilliant denouements. This match is well placed to be the third.
Either that or everybody will be overtaxed by recent events and one team will fall over on morning one.
Green grass on the pitch but that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot here, where it can quickly become very good for batting. There’s some rain forecast for days three and five at this stage, but that can soon change.
Play: 11am BST/8pm AEST
