Nothing kneejerk from England ...
Geoff Lemon on Lyon v Moeen ...
Further reading
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Well, that’s it for today’s blog. Thanks for your company and emails. Congratulations to Australia, who did an emphatic number on England - and at Edgbaston as well. See you at Lord’s!
“Isn’t that going a bit far?” says Stuart MacKenzie. “I could be a lot more chuffed for him if he hadn‘t been banned for cheating, and I would be a lot more chuffed if all the critical runs had been scored by someone like Tim Paine who wasn’t banned for cheating but had to deal with the fallout from those who were.”
That’s why I’m so chuffed for him, because he suffered the kind of public shaming that would destroy most of us.
“Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Well, yeah, well done Australia and Smith and that, but it wasn’t exactly a World Cup semi-final, was it?”
Nathan Lyon and Matthew Wade are paying tribute to Steve Smith on Sky Sports
Lyon “He’s unique, isn’t he? He’s the best batter in the game. He trains the house down, so we’re not surprised at how good he is because we see the work he does away from the cameras.”
Wade “He puts a brave face on. I don’t think anyone knows the emotions he goes through at times – I had no idea he was thinking about giving the game away. He just gets in game mode; he hit a lot of balls in the nets before this game. He got in his own little world and away he went.”
“Steve Smith’s father,” says Don E, “must be so proud.”
Indeed. I hope his eyes and throat are moist right now.
“I don’t know which commentator noted that Steve Smith should not be excused for ‘such errant’ misfielding ...” says Maurie Cropper. “Sounds like a looser sucking sour grapes.”
Steve Smith is the Player of the Match, and of his generation
Even an England fan, I couldn’t be more chuffed for him. He’s an extremely good human being, and a genius of a cricketer.
“Yeah, pretty special. I love playing cricket here in England – the atmosphere is always amazing – and the boys turned up and played a really good game of cricket. Gazza [Nathan Lyon] did his thing beautifully today and it’s a big boost to go 1-0 up in the series.
“I’m just really grateful to be back playing for Australia, doing what I love and contributing to great wins like this. It’s been a pretty special comeback. The first hundred was pretty emotional. I had to take a few deep breaths, take it in and realised what I’d just done. It was almost as special as my first hundred for Australia.
“I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet. It’s been a helluva week – a helluva six weeks, really – and playing in the Ashes is the ultimate challenge for an Australian or English cricketer. Hopefully I can keep contributing.
“It’s been a long 18 months, and my friends and family helped me get through some pretty difficult tuimes. I’m really thankful for that.”
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And here’s Tim Paine
“We were certainly up against it on day one, but when you’ve got the best player in the world, anything’s possible. After the first few hours I thought we were excellent. We’re running out of things to say about Smithy: he’s probably the best Test batsman I’ve ever seen. Wadey has been in red-hot form in the last 18 months and I think he’s been picked at the right time.
“Nathan rarely lets us down. It’s always hard coming to the ground on day five when there’s pressure on you to win the game. Nathan bowled superbly today but I thought our quicks were outstanding and took a lot of pressure off him. They were sensational this morning.
“I said before the game that it didn’t matter where the first Test was played – we know the crowd will be against us wherever we play in England, and it’ll be bloody hard work to win. I thought the guys handled themselves really well. We stuck to our guns and we’ve come out on top. There’s a long series ahead.”
Here’s Joe Root
“It’s bitterly disappointing. I thought we played some really good cricket for the majority of the Test match, but credit to Australia; they fought hard to get back in it and bowled extremely well today. Two brilliant innings from Steve, we’ll have to keep working hard at trying him out. It was hard losing Jimmy early on but these things happen and you have to take it on the chin. It was a group decision to select Jimmy – he passed all the fitness tests and it’s just one of those freak things that can happen. We’re not sure about Jimmy and Jofra for Lord’s – we’ll have to see how they shape up. We’ve got plenty of time before the Lord’s Test and I think it’s important we’re clear on how we want to go.
“I think we were bowled out today, if I’m being brutally honest. There was some high-class bowling, and I think we have to look further back in the Test to see where we could have done better. [Any World Cup fatigue?] Nah, I think that’s a bit of an excuse. We played some good stuff throughout the game; we just didn’t do it for long enough periods. We need to make sure there isn’t a hangover going into Lord’s.”
“Appreciate that Moeen has taken more Test wickets than anyone in the last 12 months, but most of those have been abroad,” says Max Cornell. “To be fair to him, he’s not the only player clearly underperforming but the difference between Lyon and Ali is astounding.”
He bowled brilliantly against India last year on a similar pitch to this. My opinion is that he deserved to play in this game, because of his superb bowling form in the past year, but it was obvious by Saturday evening that his confidence was gone. With Moeen, you need to act quickly, which England didn’t do in the last Ashes.
This match was pretty similar to Old Trafford 1997. Australia chose to bat first in seam-friendly conditions; they fought back from an early collapse; there were two centuries from Steve and nine wickets for the spinner. And England were thrashed.
“Cummins’ four wickets are somehow even more impressive than Lyon’s six on this surface,” says Andrew Hurley. “Broad bowled extremely well in this match but Cummins is something else, on another level.”
He is an absolute champion, the best all-weather bowler in the world along with Bumrah. I love the man.
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“Changing four players after one defeat that was at least in part down to going down to ten men early on smells a bit desperate,” says Jon McKinley. “Bringing in a fit quick bowler and a different spinner who can bat a bit might just do the trick. Even though the Aussie top three averaged 13 - mainly due to Khawaja’s second innings 40 - I suspect they’ll keep faith with them for Lord’s.”
Yes, the balance between staying calm and making necessary changes is always tricky. What it comes down to is whether we really think Denly, Moeen and Bairstow are going to get runs or wickets in this series. I don’t think Denly or Moeen will. Bairstow might, but he’s averaging five in his last 10 Test innings at home and he looks like his head is still at Lord’s on 14 July.
Read all about it!
That’s Australia’s first win at Edgbaston since 2001. They were 122 for eight on the first day and they won by 251 runs; that, folks, is a towelling. They were too resilient, too secure and just too good for a bits-and-pieces England side who are carrying far too many passengers to beat a side of this quality. Australia were quite brilliant.
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AUSTRALIA WIN BY 251 RUNS!
WICKET! England 146 all out (Woakes c Smith b Cummins 37) That’s it! Woakes loops a bouncer to second slip, where Smith takes the catch to complete a glorious comeback - both for him and Australia.
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52nd over: England 146-9 (Woakes 37, Anderson 4) “Rob, I agree with your Lord’s line-up, assuming you haven’t already changed your mind, but I’d have Stokes ahead of Buttler,” says Romeo. “They won’t make so many changes though.”
I was torn on that. Stokes is a much more natural Test No5, but he asked to go down to No6 in the winter because of the hangover from his bowling. The ideal solution is Bairstow (when in form) at No5, Stokes at No6 and Buttler the keeper at No7, but I don’t want to waste serotonin having that conversation again. I agree that they won’t make so many changes. I think Moeen will go, and that will be it apart from the injury-enforced replacement of Anderson.
51st over: England 141-9 (Woakes 36, Anderson 0) Siddle, as Adam says, deserves a wicket in this innings after a forensic spell this morning. He should have had one there - but Woakes was dropped by Smith at second slip. It was a fairly sharp chance to his left, and Smith couldn’t get down quickly enough. Frankly I’m not sure his batting, excellent though it is, is adequate compensation for such errant fielding.
“Let’s go full Pakistan!” says Gary Naylor. “Burns, Sibley, Bell-Drummond, Root, Stokes, Foakes, Woakes, Curran S, Archer, Leach, Broad. You’re telling me they’d score fewer runs than the current XI? I think not.”
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50th over: England 136-9 (Woakes 31, Anderson 0) Nathan Lyon has a dream. In it, every batsman in the world is a left-hander. He is toying with Anderson, who does well to play out a maiden. I’m still not sure why he’s out there as his facial expression suggests he is exacerbating his calf injury.
“Can anyone explain to me why Ali is still in the squad?” says Max Cornell. “Anyone?”
He’s taken more Test wickets than anyone in the world in the last 12 months. Happy to help. (He’ll probably be dropped for Lord’s, though, because his confidence has evaporated again.)
49th over: England 136-9 (Woakes 31, Anderson 0) Chris Woakes has quietly had an excellent game with the bat - 68 runs without being dismissed. He should bat No8 at Lord’s, whether Moeen plays or not. In other news, I have no idea why Jimmy Anderson is batting at all as he’s clearly struggling.
This is the 111th Test Match I’ve been to. Never seen a hat-trick, never will. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/O2bhSVbB8F
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 5, 2019
48th over: England 136-9 (Woakes 31, Anderson 0) Anderson survives the hat-trick ball, and spares England one last ignominy. Lyon has been so good: 18-4-44-6.
“Can we start talking about the second Test please?” says David Horn. “A nine-day break gives plenty of time for selection conversation. Here’s an opening gambit: Leach for Ali, Archer for Anderson (if fit / unfit), and a discussion about Foakes vs. Bairstow - while acknowledging that they’ll never make three changes after just one Test.”
I’ll probably have changed my mind by 4pm, but at the moment my team would be: Burns, Sibley, Root, Roy, Buttler, Stokes, Foakes, Woakes, Archer or Stone, Broad, Leach.
WICKET! England 136-9 (Broad c Smith b Lyon 0)
That wicket gives Lyon another five-for. He has bowled quite masterfully in helpful conditions - and now he has his sixth wicket! Broad goes first ball, beautifully caught by Smith at slip, and Australia are one wicket away from a brutal victory. Oh, and Nathan Lyon is on a hat-trick, all of them left-handers.
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WICKET! England 136-8 (Moeen Ali c Warner b Lyon 4)
Lyon dismisses Moeen for the ninth time in the last 11 innings. Moeen pushed forward at a lovely offspinner that flew off the edge and was taken by Warner in the gully.
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47th over: England 135-7 (Moeen 4, Woakes 30) Moeen has a couple of close shaves off the bowling of Siddle. A check-drive flies just out of Siddle’s reach in his follow through, and then he leaves a ball that misses off stump by this much.
@collinsadam my old man & I are loving your OBO coverage with limited internet here in Hunza. Rolling the poms in the ‘Bear Pit’ (inshallah) would somehow augment the sublimity of the Himalayas - though it seems quite far removed. Once again, cricket extends its bizarre tendrils. pic.twitter.com/4B1ecnA7xK
— el loco’s acolyte (@majeedavelli) August 5, 2019
Thanks Adam, hello everyone. Let’s get this over with, shall we.
46th over: England 133-7 (Moeen 2, Woakes 30) Time for Steve Smith, on for an over before drinks. “You’re a genuine all-rounder, Smudge,” Paine roars through the stump mic. He is landing his stock delivery a lot more since the ban compared to when he was captain and seldom bowled in the nets. As soon as I typed that he bowled a full toss at Woakes but he doesn’t put it away. Maiden, and drinks!
With that, I’ll pass the baton to Rob Smyth to see you through to the end of this Test Match. Speak to you all again at Lord’s. Bye!
45th over: England 133-7 (Moeen 2, Woakes 30) Siddle is back on for Pattinson after his poor over. He absolutely deserves to get into the book after his excellent spell this morning. After the lbw shout there is another next ball, which is almost identical. They don’t use the DRS this time around though, keeping their final review in hand.
NOT OUT! Yep, going over the top. Lovely bit of bowling, beating the inside edge, but the right decision was made on the field.
HAS SIDDLE PICKED UP MOEEN? To DRS we go for lbw. Joel Wilson turned it down but Paine liked it. Looked high to me. We’ll see.
44th over: England 132-7 (Moeen 2, Woakes 29) Lyon to Moeen, who defends and leaves nicely to the applause of local crowd. “Easy, easy, easy!” they chant at the end of the maiden. Now into “it’s all gone quiet over there,” at the Australian tour group, which is quite good.
43rd over: England 132-7 (Moeen 2, Woakes 29) Back to back boundaries for Woakes off Pattinson! Two lovely shots too, nailing a pull out to the Hollies then whipping attractively to the same part of the ground for the same result. He then makes is three in the over, slapping a ball from well outside the off-stump to the point rope. The runs don’t matter but he’s batting with proper confidence here. If Moeen does keep his spot for Lord’s, there’s a very reasonable argument that he should drop behing Woakes in the batting list.
42nd over: England 120-7 (Moeen 2, Woakes 17) Moeen is off the mark from Lyon. That shouldn’t be a big deal but, well, we all know how well this has worked out in recent years. The crowd recognise the moment too, clapping Moeen’s sweep for two. And he’s through the rest of it without too many concerns, either. With Moeen under the pump big time in terms of keeping his spot, a handy half-century, or something like that, could be very important for him.
41st over: England 118-7 (Moeen 0, Woakes 17) It is Pattinson (thanks for listening, Tim) but it doesn’t quite work to plan. Not yet, at least. It won’t take him long to find his range, I am fairly surely.
“If England get Steve Smith’s personal total from here, we can still win this,” laughs Richard Harman. And Adam Giles: “Woakes to score 200 off 150 and Ali to score the rest, including hitting Lyon for 36 in an over. You heard it here first.” We have another wish from Konstanze Kwiet “I would like Steve Smith to bowl. Feels like Christmas.” Not the craziest idea. He’s... bowling better now?
“Collo, not only could you be “back in time for dinner” tonight, but this match is taking on the same concept of the highly-underated BBC2 show of the same name, with a very 90s Ashes theme,” says Nick Toovey. “Jason Roy, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow are peeling off calendar years to relive England Ashes disasters of yesteryear. At this rate, Karl Power could walk out again dressed as an England batsmen and it won’t make much difference to this limp effort.”
40th over: England 114-7 (Moeen 0, Woakes 13) Woakes deals with the majority of the Lyon over confidently enough, taking one behind square. Moeen once again leaves two deliveries from around the wicket. It can’t be long before the spinner busts out that straight one again, the ball that did Moeen a beauty on morning three.
39th over: England 113-7 (Moeen 0, Woakes 12) Woakes gets them singing in the Hollies, carving Cummins for one four then deflecting another boundary off his front pad for four leg byes. He gets in a tangle to finish in response to that annoying Cummins short ball that isn’t quite a bouncer - he bowls that length better than anyone. I think it might be time for Pattinson to send down some rockets.
“Assuming England get hammered here,” says Kevin Wilson, “I’m hoping this goes the way of 1989 where Root is the only constant in the England squad and they panic each Test, selecting new guys who either score two low scores or take 2-100 and are promptly dropped for other guys who perform just as poorly. I doubt they’ll go down the four captains route though.”
In case you were wondering, they have eight days to bounce back.
38th over: England 102-7 (Moeen 0, Woakes 5) England have lost 3/12 since the break. The local lad Woakes reaches out and lashes a wide Lyon delivery to get off the mark first ball. A single to midwicket means Moeen has to face his nemesis for three balls... and he gets through it. Crucially, he picks the correct two deliveries to leave.
3️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ Test match wickets for Nathan Lyon! 👏🏻
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 5, 2019
Seven down, three to go for Australia as Stokes nicks behind to Paine!
Follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips from the first #Ashes Test at Edgbaston live on Sky Sports The #Ashes: https://t.co/244fxDvaYd pic.twitter.com/Hyuqq20fLb
WICKET! Stokes c Paine b Lyon 6 (England 97-7)
Two in two balls! Lyon from around the wicket gets so much spin and bounce. Stokes had to play, the edge deflecting to Paine who takes the sharp chance. Lyon now has 350 Test wickets and is about to bowl Australia to a famous come-from-behind victory.
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WICKET! Bairstow c Bancroft b Cummins 6 (England 97-6)
Wilson gets one right! The Cummins delivery jagged back sharply at the right hander then sailing out to gully where it was easily taken by Bancroft. As it hit his arm, Bairstow sent it upstairs right away but the technology showed that the ball glanced his glove en route.
37th over: England 97-6 (Stokes 6)
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36th over: England 93-5 (Stokes 6, Bairstow 2) Bairstow gets one behind square from Lyon’s first ball, settling well. It’s an important innings for the wicketkeeper - he needs to get into this series. Stokes is smothering the spin for the rest, only once deflecting to the cordon, the rest ending up with the fielders in front of square. Better.
35th over: England 92-5 (Stokes 6, Bairstow 1) Edge, four. Cummins is working at Stokes outside the off stump and the all-rounder waves the bat, lucky not to give one of the three slips a chance. Perhaps as a result of this experience, from an identical delivery later in the over, he can’t quite work out if he’s playing or not, just getting the bat out of the way. Cummins has been outstanding in both his spells today.
“This is all very reminiscent of 2005,” suggests Richard O’Hagan. “England get off to a great start in the first innings of the first test, then blow it completely to lose the game. Still come back to take the urn at The Oval in September.”
And an exchange, as told by Richard Harman.
Graham Thorpe - “I said, ‘don’t go dancing down the pitch to Nathan Lyon, Roy’. What did I say Roy?”
Jason Roy - “You said ‘Just play your natural game, Jason’”
34th over: England 88-5 (Stokes 2, Bairstow 1) There’s a lot going on in every Lyon over here now, turning the ball hard at Stokes with those three catchers still in around the bat. He’s good enough to get off strike around the corner when the spinner is a touch straight, Bairstow doing likewise from the next delivery. Paine is chatting away at both batsmen. That’ll be worth keeping an ear on.
“I had forgotten how good it is to see English wickets tumbling into the abyss of defeat,” says Chris Hanson following on from Australia. “A glorious sight.”
“I was at Lord’s in 1993 (Atherton run out on ‘99 and all that) and on the last day Chris Lewis, a handful of minutes before lunch, charged Tim May, declined to play a shot and was stumped by what felt at the time like 40 yards,” recalls Alan Synnott. A fine off-spinner himself, I’m sure that’s why Synno remembers this well. “It’s in here at 29:40. Not a great game for Chris all told.”
Catch up on the week that was in the Shires with Gary Naylor’s round-up, including a lovely bit about Glenn Maxwell.
WICKET! Buttler b Cummins 1 (England 85-5)
That’ll do! After beating Buttler to begin the over he castles him to finish, hitting the top of off-stump with the perfect off-cutter. Class.
33rd over: England 85-5 (Stokes 0)
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Righto, the players are back on the field. Cummins will be starting the session running away from me at the pavilion end, Buttler the man on strike. PLAY!
“Dear Mr Collins.” Hello, Bob Wilson “With the assembled talents of OBO emailers at your disposal and your own wide ranging career experience of politics, sports-writing (and an unexpected spot of catalogue modelling), I’m disappointed that there has been no mention of the real take-away from this match. All that feared Hollies Stand booing, sledging and general disobligingness really worked. Smith was deeply affected. He blew that 2nd inns 150 like an 8 year old girl with confidence issues. Talk about mental disintegration. Fans at other grounds should follow suit and chivy him into an early grave (or a thousand runs in the series). Same thing happened to Shane Warne in 2005, I seem to remember. It is always a good idea to give Australians the general Bronx cheer. They’re a very undefiant bunch.”
I wonder what will happen at Lord’s next week? It can get a bit loose in the Compton and Edrich Stands these days. Then again, when Amir made his comeback in 2016, the booing lasted three overs.
“All I remember of the last session at Cardiff was that I found a screen in a pub to watch it on” emails Geoff Wignall. “I can’t recall the name of the pub nor even which town/city it was in but I do remember the cricket. And that whichever pub it was sold Timothy Taylor’s Landlord.” What an odd thing memory is.
“With regards to the lbw shout against Root in Lyon’s previous over, the “bat-behind-the-pad” technique needs dealing with by general umpiring consensus, if not a definitive rule of some sort,” says Adam Giles. “I would add, however, that the umpires have done well with consistency in such a regard in this match, seeing as a certain Mr. Wade is a rather experienced proponent of such a tactic.”
Like so many things in cricket, you have to know it when you see it. I don’t know if there is a way of policing in any formal way, is there?
Gareth Frith reports that he is watching the Lancs 2nd XI play Oman today. Is Glenn Maxwell playing? What about Haseeb? Or Parko?
“Why didn’t Australia declare 8 or 10 overs earlier leave England more of a possible-but-not-really-gettable total to tempt them and give themselves more time to get the 10 wickets?” asks Stephen Brown. “It doesn’t seem like rocket science.”
My guess is that they didn’t want to give England anything even remotely chaseable - drive them into the ground, and so on. The reality is, on a fifth day track, they alwas had time to get this done.
“Just wondering when you’re due to switch with Rob?” asks Richard Jansz-Moore. “Need to know whether England can survive long enough for Rob to get into the hot seat to provide the necessary despair to describe England’s failure. Or whether you will be lucky enough to write about the glory of Australia’s triumph?”
Drinks in this session. So, it should be Rob. But don’t rule out six wickets falling in an hour here. We know that games like this have a habit of finishing in a real hurry when a spinner gets on one.
Lunch time emails. “I’m a total newbie to following cricket,” writes David Brazil. “Having been at Lord’s and enjoyed the ecstasy and then abrupt agony of seeing Ireland almost do well but then get humbled against England. What a brilliant sport! I spent too long ‘consuming’ Premier League football and missed more exciting cricket tussles down the years. The highlight of my short-run cricket appreciation so far is Googling ‘nervous 140s’ to work out if yesterday’s OBO description of Steve Smith was freshly minted or another sporting cliché. So if you start inventing terms you’ve at least one extremely gullible reader today.”
Wonderful! Welcome to our sport’s dysfunctional family.
“More Cardiff 2009 love / hate,” says Jack Jorgensen. “I was on my then girlfriend’s (now wife’s) family farm 3 hours east of Perth. ABC feed of the TMS coverage and, I think, Channel 9 coverage on the TV. I egregiously went to bed thinking we had it in the bag. What a disappointment to wake up to a draw, but what admiration for Panesar and Anderson. Hopeful, albeit not entirely sure of, a different outcome today.”
It’ll be worth staying up for tonight. Always worth it. It’s something I miss about living in Australia: late night Tests from England.
“Hi Adam.” Hi Suzy McAnanama-Brereton. “I was in New York when my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) introduced me to cricket through the Guardian OBO. Being an American who only knew cricket as that weird game that kept putting brown patches in the middle of my soccer field, it was difficult to follow by just reading. Regardless, I had the utmost respect for Collingwood batting for almost 6 hours, and then when all hope seemed lost, Jimmy and Monty batting until the close of play. Because of the 2009 Ashes I’m an England fan for life.”
Yes! The OBO, as we learned on day one when hundreds (and hundreds) of people told me where in the world they were reading in from, really does bring people together from around the world.
“Is this a record for number of decisions overturned in a single test?” asks Matthew Valentine. This is it. I don’t know what the record was before, but I’m sure Andrew Samson noted that we went beyond it at some stage yesterday. Poor old Joel Wilson. Was only promoted to the elite panel a couple of months ago and everything.
On that same topic from Mike Daniels: “In fairness to Wilson, inside edges are very difficult to see/hear. The bowler doesn’t necessarily pick it up either. That’s not a bad decision - those inside edges have been given throughout cricketing history. It’s not new and is no evidence of umpires being worse today. It’s only that we’ve now got the technology that can turn back time and allow for a second (or third) look - a facility that was denied umpires in the past.”
Yep, I’m more sympathetic than most as well. Where he’s really let himself down are the leg before decisions: Wade and Root. Both fairly obviously not out when watching in real time. He’s frazzled.
“Bilal Shafayat is inside the stumps,” lols Eamonn Maloney, “with a fresh pair of gloves.” It’s time for a Where Are They Now on him.
Four wickets across the session. Australia’s morning, without doubt. I’m going to take a break and grab a bite to eat. Back with you soon.
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LUNCH! England 85-4
32nd over: England 85-4 (Buttler 1, Stokes 0) Lyon to Stokes and he has three catchers on the off-side: slip, gully and silly point. This was what I referenced in the preamble before play- Lyon, 24 hours ago, shadow-batting as a left-hander, working out where he would target. Stokes doesn’t take any bait here though, watching and leaving. One takes off that ends up with slip, but he’s through to the finish line. Well, this finish line, anyway. Four hours (65 overs) to go. For England to be any chance now, their vice-captain will need to face a great many of them. He can think about that at LUNCH!
31st over: England 85-4 (Buttler 1, Stokes 0) Cummins mixes up his lengths to Cummins in what could be the final over before lunch. One keeps low just outside the off-stump; later in the over from the same spot it takes off. Just on a length, he beats him on the drive too! Gotta put that one away for now, Jos. Australia have done really well to get through the set in three mintues, so Lyon will get another.
30th over: England 85-4 (Buttler 1, Stokes 0) Watching back the replay, what a wonderful piece of bowling from Lyon - a classic wicket for an off-spinner with a bit of extra pace and bite. As for Bancroft, what a skilful take too. Little wonder Steve Waugh has described the West Australian as the best bad pad he’s seen. Bancroft will be under some pressure to keep his spot for Lord’s (correctly or otherwise), but catches like that help an awful lot. Stokes does his job well, the in-form man comfortably defending the rest of Lyon’s set. “Sir Richard Hadlee, Sir Ben Stokes” says Tim Paine through the stump mic. I guess that works? One over from Cummins to come.
WICKET! Root c Bancroft b Lyon 28 (England 85-4)
Textbook! Lyon over the wicket, Root jumping forward, the inside edge found, Bancroft holding his pose and snaffling it expertly.
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29th over: England 85-3 (Root 28, Buttler 1) The end of a dangerous Cummins over. He’ll get six more balls before lunch. Australia aren’t far away from busting this innings, and match, right open.
HAS CUMMINS GOT BUTTLER LBW? Joel Wilson says no. Paine wants them to have a look upstairs. NOT OUT! Umpires call on height; the England star survives. “Good decision, Joel.” I know the game isn’t about umpires but I really am pleased for him there.
28th over: England 84-3 (Root 27, Buttler 1) Lyon should get three more in here before the long break. Around the wicket to Buttler with three catchers around the bat, he has to make a good decision in response to every delivery. The bowler gets excited when Buttler misses a clip but there is only half an appeal. Maiden. Dangerous.
27th over: England 84-3 (Root 27, Buttler 1) Siddle’s fine spell continues from our pavilion or broadcast end. This is a touch less dangerous, mind, singles exchanged early in the over, Root then finishing with a compact clip through square leg for two.
“Hi Adam!” Sarah Jane Bacon, always great to hear from you. “Is it too late to pitch in with my whereabouts in ‘09?” Not at all! “Watching the match on the telly in Dubai! It was brutally hot out there, naturally, but even the global financial meltdown couldn’t stop a few stalwart fans like us. PS. Go you good thing, Gazza!”
I have a lot of emails, by the way. I’m not ignoring them, just getting through as fairly and quickly as possible between the action.
26th over: England 80-3 (Root 24, Buttler 0) As David Gower notes on TV, they could live to regret that at 6pm when needing a review with men around the bat. Buttler leaves the only ball he has to look at, so very close to turning back into his off-stump! Oohs and aahs!
WICKET! Denly c Bancroft b Lyon 11 (England 80-3)
Lyon has his man! Denly shut up shop to him from around the wicket, inside edging to short leg for the easiest of chances. He reviews the decision at the last possible moment but that’s a terrible call, the ball clearly deflecting off his edge into the pad before ballooning to Bancroft. He’s out AND burned a review. Shocker.
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25th over: England 77-2 (Root 22, Denly 10) Siddle gives Denly nothing, the Kent veteran in all sorts of strife on the fourth stump line, edging him into the cordon then beaten by a beauty. Forget what I said about the big quicks, Paine will surely stick with Siddle.
“I was fielding in a Sunday match for Crouch End back in 2009, so I missed the whole thing,” says Ben Mimmack. “The opposition were nice enough to tell us how amazing it was when we came in at the end of the innings though.”
Reminds me of the end of the 2012 Premier League. I was in the middle of a (productive!) spell with the new ball somewhere in Cambridge, learning what happened down at fine leg after an over.
“Shame you missed the chance to write, in a first-ever occurrence, the phrase ‘Buzzing stump stopped play’ says John Starbuck. Urrrrgh, I’ll never forgive myself for this! “In 2009 I was doing what I always do: following the OBO.”
24th over: England 77-2 (Root 22, Denly 10) Denly again attacks through the legside, men everywhere on the side of the ground both in close and on the rope. He gets one away to begin then later in the over, after Root gives the strike back via a sweep, takes a big swing. He doesn’t make full contact but gets one more to midwicket. Changing direction to around the wicket at Root, Lyon misdirects with the ball spinning down leg and past Paine for four byes.
23rd over: England 70-2 (Root 21, Denly 8) It’s all on Root here, isn’t it? He clips a couple of Siddle’s first ball, defending and leaving the rest. Against the new man Denly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Pattinson and/or Cummins back for a quick burst right away.
22nd over: England 68-2 (Root 19, Denly 8) Oooh! Denly isn’t far away from gloving the first ball of his day down the legside. There is an appeal but no review. Denly said before the Test that this was the most important week of his career. He’s clearly decided that to make the most of this opportunity he has to have a pop at Lyon, twice sweeping him to the rope in the space of four balls in an over where a wicket has already fallen! Great contact. Plenty going on here at Edgbaston. With the stump mics up, we can hear the Australians getting stuck into him straight away for his early shot selection.
Speaking of stump mics. “I think we need to call off play for a few hours whilst a preferably very lazy and incompetent technician goes to take a look at it,” suggests Oliver Atkinson in relation to the dodgy off-stump. “For the integrity of the game you see.” David Seare on that same topic: “Do you they choose a new stump from a box a similarly aged ones?” But will it fit through the two hoops in the ump’s pocket?
A rush of blood from Roy! 💉
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 5, 2019
Roy takes a risk but gets it all wrong and is bowled by Lyon!
Follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips from the first #Ashes Test at Edgbaston live on Sky Sports The #Ashes: https://t.co/244fxDvaYd pic.twitter.com/coVwwQTrbC
WICKET! Roy b Lyon 28 (England 60-2)
Roy has danced at the second delivery of Lyon’s new over, the ball turning through the gate and crashing into his middle stump! Yuk.
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21st over: England 59-1 (Roy 28, Root 18) Siddle draws another false stroke from Root, skipping off the outside edge for four through the cordon. It kept a bit low too. The veteran is dangerous today.
“I was at that time living in Brussels,” recalls Eva Maaten of that day in 2009. “We had been to see an afternoon movie with our young daughter and were utterly amazed to find the match still going on when we got into the car for the drive home and turned on TMS on longwave. The 7 year old daughter was slightly bemused. Happy days.” How Test Matches time-stamp our lives. Great, aren’t they?
20th over: England 54-1 (Roy 28, Root 13) Roy sweeps and sweeps well, getting Lyon away. The captain tried the same stroke on earlier in the over and missed. But later in the over, Roy then jumps on the front foot for a couple more forward of square. Not the worst way to play Lyon early, who is so dangerous when he gets into his rhythm.
19th over: England 47-1 (Roy 22, Root 12) Ooh, so close for Siddle. The ideal place to land on the final day, hinting away off the seam - nice and full. Roy prods - his outside edge clipped - but the ball lands just next to the right glove of the diving Paine, sneaking through for four runs as well. Siddle nearly sneaks through the other way from the next ball, hitting the pad but via the inside egde. Excellent.
“We haven’t blocked out day five for a draw in a decade,” notes Matthew Tom. “So we’ve lost every time we’ve tried. Is it really *that* crazy to have a go for once?”
Look, it’d be great craic. And I might get back to London for dinner tonight with England all out by 2pm. So, maybe they should?
“Thanks for the 1987 Preliminary Final link,” writes Peter Salon. “Still might not mean much to UK readers, but Fergus, an old bloke I played cricket with who was a Melbourne fan was so distraught he walked home. From Melbourne to Monbulk. Forty-two kilometres. Took him three days, and he never spoke of what the things he had seen. I have always seen this as the apotheosis of mourning a sporting loss.”
Perfect. Please put me in touch with Fergus so that I can interview him. I trasncribed the commentary of the final stages a couple of years ago - “POOR OLD MELBOURNE”.
18th over: England 43-1 (Roy 18, Root 12) Lyon gets one over before drinks and is immediately up for lbw. I tell you what, Root might be very lucky there. Aleem Dar said that the England captain was playing a shot with his bat hidden well behind his front pad. So, had Australia reviewed - on the basis of Dar’s assessment - it would have been impact outside the line. But as Atherton says on television, Root has pulled the wool over the umpire’s eyes there. DRINKS!
17th over: England 41-1 (Roy 18, Root 10) As Athers notes of Wilson, it is like being a player out of form for Wilson. Considering the toughest part of his Test might be ahead of him with men around the bat later in the day, his heart must be pumping. Of course, Siddle was bang on the money in this his first over, having already beaten Root outside the off-stump before the lbw that wasn’t.
“Have the England team all carefully chosen slightly dodgy batting gloves today so they can regularly call for replacements from the dressing room?” asks Robin Hazlehurst. “I seem to remember Jimmy and Monty using that tactic quite well in 2009. And the random visit the from the physio to give them a pat on the bottom and then run back off. I hope our bottom-patters are ready for plentiful slow jogs out the middle today. England are likely to need them.”
We should be so lucky to have a final hour filled with that nonsense.
NOT OUT! There was an inside edge! That is the tenth incorrect decision from Joel Wilson in terms of those sent upstairs in this Test Match. What a harrowing experience this must be for him.
HAS SIDDLE TRAPPED ROOT? He’s given and reviewed for a second time! Stand by!
16th over: England 40-1 (Roy 18, Root 9) Good again from Roy, for the second time in two overs driving confidently through cover for four. Cummins was operating at Root earlier in the over, the captain looking quite useful early on here.
From Geoff Wignall: “So since the time of 122/8, Australia have managed 649/9 and England 394/11. That isn’t just down to Jimmy’s injury.” Brutal. Max Connell on that theme: “Who would’ve thought that when Australia were 122-8, England would still need to bat the entire fifth day to save a DRAW? If we escape with a draw I certainly hope that the time between this and the next test is spent trying to find some way, any way at all, to get Smith out before he manages to put a decent score together.”
And from Timothy Sanders. “Charlotte Brontë summed it up for me, in her early days as cricket correspondent for the Keighley Evening News,” he begins. This should be good. “Call anguish — anguish, and despair — despair; write both down in strong characters with a resolute pen: you will the better pay your debt to Doom.”
Was at the ground - my old man bought 2 tickets for the game off Stacky as he, and the Aussie team, were staying in the same hotel as us. What made it all the more frustrating was we went out for a pizza after the game and it was complete shit. A metaphor for the day really...
— Scott Gilbert (@scotty_g_23) August 5, 2019
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15th over: England 34-1 (Roy 14, Root 8) Nope, there is another delay. “A mini-fan in the stump cam has gone off,” reports the public address system. They finally go out and actually replace the stump in question. We can hear the Australians getting stuck into them about it; hard to know exactly what the theme of their chat is but it is a distraction they are trying to take advantage of. Earlier in the marathon Pattinson over, Roy struck the shot of the morning through cover for four. In reply to the delay, Pattinson immediately bumps him, the opener getting well underneath.
“Over the last few days each innings has sored higher than the last and contained more overs, I see no reason for this trend to not continue, England are more than capable of knocking out 350+ as they did in the first innings,” insists Antony Stones. His email is entitled ‘blind optimism,’ I should add. “All they need to do is figure out how to take Smith’s wicket given he is a one-man lynchpin for the Aussies.”
Very droll. Very good. Smith should bowl today just to mess with England. Maybe sooner rather than later, come to think of it.
@collinsadam I'm playing "Would you rather... All out by Lunch, all out be Tea, final wicket on the last ball." I'm favouring lunch so I can get the pain over with.
— Matthew (@MashMath) August 5, 2019
Your 2009 look is incredibly strong @collinsadam. They'd never have known you were an Aussie. I was following it at home in London on the OBO and TMS, and pretty sure I'd already given up, so it was a nice surprise. Whatever happened to that left handed Lancastrian no.11, eh?
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) August 5, 2019
The photo of me at Lord’s is from 2005 not 2009, but yes, the long hair was a real thing for a really long time.
Delay! The stumps are buzzing?! Odd scenes, there is something buzzing in the stump and Roy has heard it. Root comes up to meet him and tell the umpire “you would’t want that to come up on snicko!.” The ground staff do something or another. We’re back.
14th over: England 30-1 (Roy 10, Root 8) Cummins turn and he’s once again peppering Roy at pace, beating his outside edge with one that moves appreciably off the seam. He gets off strike with one past short leg. A second boundary in as many overs from Root, pushing carefully down the ground, timing it just well enough. This is just what the captain needs to do early on: survive by scoring regularly.
“I was sunbathing underneath an apple tree in the Cotswolds, TMS on, oblivious to wasps, crossing each ball and minute off on a piece of sweat-dripping graph paper,” reflects David Alcock. “By far the most exciting test I’d ever listened to, I barely even remembered to drink cold beers... Ah, memories.”
Indeed. Simpler times. Just the global financial crisis to worry about.
“In the spirit of avoiding the term ‘collapse’, I’m hoping any kerfuffle this morning can be avoided in favour of heroic resistance,” notes David Seare. “It would be good to see Root stick in and not give it away after reaching fifty. His talent deserves bigger scores than his concentration allows at times.”
Athers makes a good point on telly. Looking back at Burns’ dismissal, it would have sailed over his head in the first innings but the variable bounce helps quicks as well as spinners. Lyon will be licking his lips.
#Ashes2019 Jason Roy has made 10 off 39 balls. It's taken two Tests to turn a buccaneering opener into Trevor Bailey @collinsadam
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) August 5, 2019
13th over: England 25-1 (Roy 9, Root 4) NOT OUT! It is going down the legside by a mile, making another Joel Wilson error. Dear me, that isn’t much better than the Wade one that he gave yesterday. Root hit a lovely four off his back foot through point from the ball before to get off the mark.
“Morning Collo.” Nick Toovey, g’day. “Cardiff ten years ago was spent draining cans too quickly on a mates sofa in Wandsworth that we, under some duress, had to send his girlfriend out to replenish as we didn’t want to leave the sofa. This led to a barrage of foul language during the inexplicable decision to bowl Marcus North at the end of the day (still don’t understand why it wasn’t Peter Siddle) that my mates flatmate complained about. I don’t think I was ever invited back, come to think of it.” Quelle surprise!
“I remember the day 5 of the 1st 2009 test very well,” says Chris Parker. “In the South of France with my parents, me and my dad huddled around my laptop listening to TMS on the balcony, my mam ready to go out looking very annoyed, and our French neighbourhoods for the week looking very confused at the whole situation. Quite a ridiculous scene, fitting for a ridiculous match.”
There is a theme emerging here: everyone was on holiday!
Habib Butt is “praying” for Headingley 2001 rather than Cardiff 2009. Habib, I can assure you, that is not happening.
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IS ROOT OUT LBW TO PATTINSON? He has been given out but going upstairs!
12th over: England 20-1 (Roy 9, Root 0) Deary me, this is both RAPID and brilliant from Cummins. Roy leaves close to his stumps early in the over, which means one thing: the bouncer is next and it is scrary-quick. Backing up from that, an all-but unplayable that pitches on the stumps and jags away, beating the edge on the way through.
“Returned from a weekend away that afternoon,” Richard O’Hagan says of 2009. “Listening to the final session on an old longwave radio whilst pottering around the garden and entertaining my then two-year-old son. Having to avoid swearing when Collingwood got out, due to presence of said infant. All work and play slowly drifting to a halt as each over passed and Jimmy and Monty dug in for anything but an Australian victory. Happy days.”
And Simon Jessop has a question for us. “I need some crowd-sourced wisdom. I’ve found myself in Brum for work (which was booked months ago without considering the ashes and not ever thinking these things go to the fifth day anymore!) and my office is 15 minutes from the ground. Do I stay in Office and attend some dull but worthy meetings or do I sack it all off and head to the ground asap?! My heart is saying one thing but my civil service soul (which is tragically deep) says stay. Crikey.”
Simon, there is only one answer to this question. You understand that. You’re asking this so I confirm your instincts. Get down.
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11th over: England 20-1 (Roy 9, Root 0) Roy takes one early in the over, subjecting the captain to a tough examination first up. Pattinson is moving the ball away from Root then angling it back in, all at around 90mph. Today might be about Lyon later on but the two big quicks are giving Australia a huge burst of energy early on.
“While you’re talking Cardiff ’09, can I put in a plug for Monty Panesar’s recently-released autobiography (ghostwritten by my brother)?” Sure thing, Thomas Atkins. “For all that one associates him with comedy fielding and slapstick batting, it’s interesting how he claims he’d really been working on his batting and as a result regards it as one of his finest achievements rather than the streaky knockabout fun that it’s often seen as. Obvious bias notwithstanding it’s a really good book and contains some interesting angles on the characters of that period, as well as his background as a Luton-born Sikh, and the mental battles that he and many of his teammates faced.”
Thanks. I’ve seen him promoting it around the traps. I’ll read it.
“Moving on to to today, I got stuck in the rain on the Sussex Downs this morning, and the only thing that lifted my spirits was the thought that there’d likely be some of it at Edgbaston too. Particularly piqued that none of it seems to have made its way up there.” It would take a big shift in the weather for rain to hit today.
10th over: England 19-1 (Roy 7, Root 0) Root gets in behind the one ball he has to deal with in the successful Cummins over.
“Hey Adam.” Hi Brendan Large. “I’m sure I’m not the only one not planning on watching or following along today. There is no way that Australia can be as unlucky/England can be so lucky in this 2nd innings and the thought of being obliterated by Australia at Edgbaston in the first test of an Ashes is just too much. I literally cannot bare it. Good luck England and god speed. (I hope to be able to enjoy the OBO in the aftermath of a great escape).”
Nothing quirkier than not watching/leaving early. This won’t mean much to UK readers but will for those on the Guardian Australia platform. My dad decided that we should leave the 1987 Preliminary Final early. We were in the VFL Park carpark listening on the radio when Gary Buckenara kicked the winner after the siren. CRAZY!
WICKET! Burns c Lyon b Cummins 11 (England 19-1)
He has done plenty right in this match but Burns has been done for raw pace here! Cummins’ short delivery got big on him, the opener unable to out of the way in time. In the end, the ball hit the shoulder of his bat and lobbed out to Lyon in the gully. Superb fast bowling.
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The overseas TMS link. Here you go. I stress: overseas link. If you’re in the UK, go to the BBC website or something like that.
9th over: England 18-0 (Burns 11, Roy 7) That the stump mics are being left up between deliveries hasn’t been such a big deal when Edgbaston has been full. You hear a bit, but not heaps. Today, though, with the ground about a third full, we can hear everything. Needless to say, Matt Wade is just as loud at mid-off as he was when wicketkeeping. This should be fun. Pattinson to Roy, who is more than happy leaving the first few alone as both players find their range. Directing straighter, the opener has to keep out a full ball right on the money and is then struck on the pad, but it is going well down the legside from my vantage point. No review. Roy gets his first run for the day behind square, Burns seeing out the rest. I saw some crazy stuff on twitter overnight suggesting that Roy should have a pop at 398 and all the rest. That’s not how this works.
8th over: England 17-0 (Burns 11, Roy 6) What a lovely way to start for Burns, getting onto his front foot and driving Cummins down the ground for four! By facing this first ball, Sky tells me, the opener becomes the fourth English man to bat on all five days of a Test Match. Top response from Cummins, beating the left-hander with a ball he had to play at. Burns leaves the next two and defends the last with a straight blade, the crowd applauding the stroke. They get it.
Jerusalem is playing, which means we are a couple of minutes away from a resumption on this fifth day. Roy and Burns enter the field of play from my left, Paine and his Australians following suit from my right. Cummins will bowl the first over. PLAY!
“I was at Wembley stadium for Oasis (There last ever UK stadium gig),” recalls Neil Harris. Nice. “Luckily I had club Wembley tickets so had access to TV’s, lots of us crowded around applauding every ball whilst a concert was going on outside (The Enemy – 00’s Brit Indie band). Monty saved the match and we all went out into the stadium to the sound of Kasabian on Fire.” Less good that bit!
“As much as I appreciate the intent is your preamble optimism, this game is dead as Disco,” insists Kristian Petterson. “The only interest lies in how well England can push back against the psychological impact of having their faces ground into the dirt yesterday. A creditable performance will at least mean they can “take the positives”; a real smashing and this series could be toast.
All of which is to say, in County Cricket Live parlance, DOOOOOMED.”
This is mainly why I’m keen to see this go deep into the final session. If England are cooked here, well, yes. I share your view.
Courtney Barnett on the Sky montage this morning - Australia taken a few before a ball is bowled. #Ashes
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) August 5, 2019
“I was listening to the Cardiff epic on the way back from Alton Towers,” recalls Steve Castle. “My stomach was already in knots after an unwise decision to take repeated rides on Oblivion, and I was frankly in such a state as Jimmy and Monty bravely blocked, nudged and ducked I should not have been behind the wheel of a vehicle.”
2009 is such an underrated series. If not for 2005, sigh. Free TV, sigh.
“Re The Open,” he continues. “You are almost correct, but instead of the Great White Shark competing for the Claret Jug, it was the venerable Tom Watson. He eventually lost out in a heartbreaking play-off to Stewart Cink. I’ve always felt a tiny bit of sympathy for Cink - that day was the culmination of all those years of practice, commitment and focus, and yet everybody loathed him for pipping Watson.”
Of course! That makes a lot more sense. Norman did come close to winning a major around that era though, didn’t he?
“I always have to think twice about whether I turn on Liveblog updates or not,” writes Anthony Noel. “As an England fan this morning, who also needs to pay attention at work today, the question is: do I active the Liveblog alerts switch, or do I just check in manually every now and again? Automatic alerts will presumably only be bearers of bad news, whereas the optimist in me can remain undisturbed so long as I leave my phone alone. On the other hand, if I was an Aussie this morning I’d want to be notified about every single development because each little message will bring another bit of good news.”
Stick with me through the day and everything will be okay.
“Morning Adam.” If it isn’t the master predictor Kim Thonger! “I’m assuming that the English batting will find itself in a ‘spot of bother’ at some stage today, but may I make a plea in advance for total avoidance of the word collapse? It’s become hackneyed, and I’d like to put in a good word for some of the fine alternatives available to us, such as crumple, disintegrate, cave in, slump or subside. Fine words all of them, and they deserve their time in the sun, or even in warm but slightly overcast and weather.”
When writing on collapses, there’s a lot of *right click/synonym* going on, which means I give all of these a run. A touch harder with the OBO when you get once chance, and no time to edit, but I’ll try.
How about this prediction from Kim Thonger?!
Hi @collinsadam I feel you should give a shout out to Mystic Kim who contributed this to the OBO at Tea on the third day (ignore the time stamp I’m in Spain) . pic.twitter.com/elMXfe4pwt
— Richard Morris (@richardmorrisuk) August 5, 2019
Some other bits and pieces to dig into. Geoff wrote about Travis Head.
Barney on Smith, via Dylan.
Ali, too.
Where were you in 2009? All over the place. “On a family holiday in a house somewhere outside Barcelona,” says CricViz gun Pat Noone. “We somehow found a radio channel on the TV playing TMS and all huddled around listening to it all. Happy days.”
His colleague Ben Jones, also of the CricViz genius factory, was but a wee boy back then: “Mum made me pause it when Monty and Jimmy came together, because Sunday lunch waits for nobody - not even Bilal Shafayat.” This is adorable.
Alex Macdonald notes that he was “sending text messages to mates rather than using twitter,” which is how I remember it too. I didn’t realise until a few months later that I could use twitter on my phone, so my reflections each day at stumps came via what we would now call on that platform, a thread. Simpler times.
“I was on holiday in Turkey. 15 at the time,” replies Luke Gravener. “Cycled for 20 minutes into town to the nearest sports bar to watch the last day...by the end it was full of English fans cheering every ball. Think I bought about 17 cokes!”
How did you experience those 52-minutes at Cardiff in 2009? In that era, I was working for the Australian Prime Minister and had taken a couple of rare weeks off to coincide with the first two Tests. Of course. I was at Cardiff for Ponting’s 150 but watched a lot of rain.
By the Sunday, I was in a little village called Baston in Lincolnshire where I had spent a couple of months during the 2005 Ashes bashing around playing cricket and being your stock-standard 20-year-old Australian backpacker. Evidence of that. Anyway, four years on I was back. Was Greg Norman not close to winning the Open that day too, falling just short? That’s how I like to remember it. It was hot.
But nobody at the Spinning Wheel boozer had Sky. So we crowded around a TV and listened to the TMS call that way. Peter Siddle giving his all; Mitch Johnson not quite dependable enough - despite having had a very good match, it is so often forgotten. Nathan Hauritz so unlucky. Ben Hilfenhaus underbowled. Marcus North!
There is a scene in Barney Douglas’ new film The Edge that documents that final hour at Cardiff is so incredibly well, thanks in large part due to Felix White’s score. We discussed this with them at length in an interview from Geoff and my pod the other week. But yes, be sure to see that film if you want to re-live Monty and Jimmy.
Where were you? Let’s start there as we open the batting on my inbox for the day. If you want to tweet me, that works too.
Preamble
At lunch yesterday, Nathan Lyon walked out into the middle of the ground and looked deeply into the soul of the 22 metres that matter most. At both ends, he surveyed the rough on offer. Instructively, he then lined himself up to shadow-bat as a left-hander, doubtless signalling to the southpaws in the home dressing room that he would be coming from them in the fourth innings of this match.
The off-spinner isn’t today’s only actor, but he will play the most important role. Nowadays, he bowls with confidence in the final stanza - with numbers to match. If England have to survive 540 deliveries, about 250 will be from Australia’s most accomplished finger-spinner of all time. That’s some degree of difficulty.
I can report that from my desk that it is a stunning morning with barely a cloud over over Birmingham. If the hosts are going to manage this, and pull off something Cardiff-esque, they won’t be helped by missing a couple of hours due to rain. Could Jimmy feature again, as it did ten years? I’ll let that thought sit with you.
Welcome to day five at Edgbaston. Sure, instead of the four results on the table we had yesterday that is now wound back to two thanks to the heroics of Smith and co. But provided the home side can dig in across the first session, this promises to be fascinating all the same.
Day five. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/NUMx004trw
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 5, 2019
