That is worrying ...
Steve Smith was the difference ...
Root reacts ...
Barney Ronay on England and what they lack.
And that is the end of that chapter. Thanks for joining everyone that was involved today.
Here is the match report.
Sky are now just going through the wickets again, which is pretty painful. My brother was at Old Trafford today and they ran out of John Smith’s, which is a shame. Luckily he only drinks Pimms.
Is Ollie Pope the next cab off the rank? Does Dom Sibley merit a go as he has actually scored some runs this season? After that, the options are not great. Liam Livingstone, maybe?
Hussain points out that Roy opening was a poor decision on the selectors’ part. Now he is questioning the dropping of Woakes for this Test. He has not had a great series but his stats in England are incredible. He is averaging 22.78 with the ball. Beefy and Ponting also say it’s rather silly to leave Woakes out.
Who will replace Roy in the next game?
Botham slags off the Kookaburra ball, adding how much better Dukes balls are. So there is one victory for England.
Phil Town says: “It has to do with talent, sure, but also hunger. Who was hungrier? Who wanted this more?”
Plenty of England players seem to have eaten plenty, it would seem.
Langer revealed in his chat that he sat the team down to watch the final stages of the loss at Headingley. Some might have viewed it from behind the sofa but maybe it was quite a cathartic experience. Will England watch back some of their dreadful shots throughout the series?
John Shercliff emails in: “Who cares?”
Thanks for your contribution, John.
Justin Langer speaks: “It’s been an unbelievable series and it’s great for Test cricket.
“He’s [Paine] fantastic, isn’t he? He is the best wicketkeeper in the world in my opinion. He is a really good leader.
“We have the No 1 fast bowler in the world and the No 1 batsman in the world. I thought Virat Kohli was the best batsman I’ve ever seen but I think Steve Smith is another level.
“We haven’t been great at winning away for some time, so winning away from home with such a way from home is really important for this group.
“This has been the most challenging week of my coaching career and now the most rewarding.”
Langer is now off for a beer.
Needless to say, Steve Smith win’s Man of the Match. People still booing him!
“I didn’t enjoy sitting and watching last week, that’s for sure,” Smith says.
“To know that the urn is coming home is an incredibly special feeling.
“It’s been a good series, I’ve really enjoyed my time in the middle, I’ve worked very hard. I want to be the man in the middle doing the best for my team. I don’t like watching cricket, so I’d rather be out there in the middle.
“I’ve got two hundreds in two games at The Oval, so it’s a place I do like batting. We didn’t come here to just retain the Ashes, we came here to win it.”
Tim Paine: “I am pretty pumped. This team has been through a lot in the last 12 to 18 months, some individuals more than others.
“I was really proud how our bowlers stuck at it. We were trying to stay calm, but it’s not always easy in that situation. I am really pumped for the boys to get it won.
“He [Smith] is pretty handy. He is the best player I have ever seen.
“We’ll enjoy tonight but we came here to win the series not just retain the Ashes.”
It’s the presentations ...
A rather emotional Joe Root: “I thought we show greater fight and belief in what we wanted to achieve.
“We always believe and make sure we fight to the end.
“You can always sit back and look back at different areas of how you could do things differently.
“Everyone stood up and played bravely.
“We’ve seen some wonderful test cricket this series and I expect the same at The Oval. It’s tough to lose but we have to pick ourselves up and get ready for The Oval.”
We are having a lovely montage to remind us of some woeful England shots. At least we can hold on to the fact that the Australia openers are terrible, right?
Paine has got a few things wrong over the series when it comes to his bowlers but bringing on Labuschagne was a certainly a critical decision he got right. He saw the conditions and backed his part-time leggie to get the job done and did so with a lovely ball into the footmarks.
Gower is trying to find some positives ... mainly focusing on Denly getting a few more runs. I am not sure he is exactly the future and the rest of the batting lineup have plenty of questions to answer. Can Roy survive for another Test? Will Buttler be replaced?
You cannot underestimate how important that first over was last night from Pat Cummins, as without those early wickets England might have had a chance.
Josh Hazlewood says Australia will be going to win the series in the next Test, which is the sort of attitude required. Will they come up against a much changed England side?
Marnus reacts: “I was actually at the top of my mark and I said ‘just trust it, spin it hard’ and I got the length right. It bounced up and struck Leachy’s gloves.
“I am getting chills even talking about it. It’s not the way you want to get the opportunity, seeing Steve [Smith] going down but you have to take the opportunities when they come.”
As Rob said, Australia have been the better throughout the series and merited the victory.
Steve Smith reacts to the victory: “It feels amazing to know the urn is coming home.
“It’s always been one to tick off the bucket list to take the urn back home from England.
“They fought incredibly hard, I thought Overton was excellent at the end.”
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There was a lovely moment as Australia watched the replay, waiting for confirmation that Overton was out. Steve Smith was hopping around nervously, of course he was. The rest were perfectly still – and then it was confirmed, and they all went ballistic. They deserve to celebrate exceptionally well tonight, and they will.
AUSTRALIA WIN BY 185 RUNS!
England almost stole a draw, but it would have been a travesty. Australia have been much the better team in this series - they have an awesome, relentless bowling attack and a supernatural batsman, and they fully deserve their first retention of the Ashes since December 2002. I have to go and do newspaper stuff, so Will Unwin will talk you through the reaction. Thanks for your company and emails, and congratulations to Australia. Night!
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AUSTRALIA RETAIN THE ASHES!
WICKET! England 197 all out (Overton LBW b Hazlewood 21) They’ve done it! It was a lovely delivery from Hazlewood, a big nipbacker that hit Overton in front of middle stump. Height was the only thing that might have saved him - but it was hitting the top of the stumps.
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OVERTON IS GIVEN OUT LBW AND REVIEWS! I think this is out. It was a token review.
91st over: England 197-9 (Overton 21, Broad 0) Broad does survive the last two deliveries. Labuschagne, his work done, is going to be replaced by Josh Hazlewood.
90.4 overs: England 197-9 (Overton 21, Broad 0) Overton has been heroic in defence. But he now needs to find a way to farm the strike; he takes a single off the fourth ball of Lyon’s over.
90th over: England 196-9 (Overton 20, Broad 0) The No11, Stuart Broad, has one ball to survive from Labuschagne. He should just run at the ball so it hits him outside the line. In fact it’s a full toss, which Broad defends. The last hour begins, with 15 overs remaining.
Brilliant captaincy from Tim Paine! Labuschagne got one to spit from the rough at Leach, who could only fence it to Wade at short leg. It was the bounce that did for him. He walks off looking desolate, having fought so hard for 51 balls.
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WICKET! England 196-9 (Leach c Wade b Labuschagne 12)
Now then: Marnus Labuschagne is coming on to bowl some legspin. That’s not a bad idea, with the ball kicking out of the rough to the left-handed Leach. And the gamble has worked!
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89th over: England 196-8 (Overton 20, Leach 12) Starc replaces Cummins, who gave everything in that short spell. Starc is the freshest of the Aussie bowlers, in the context of both the match and the series, and a specialist at blasting out tailenders. Overton is better than that, a good No8 at Test level, and he calmly survives another six deliveries. It’s been a heroic innings of 20 not out from 98 balls. There are 16 overs remaining, light permitting.
88th over: England 196-8 (Overton 20, Leach 12) Lyon beats Leach with a textbook, flighted off-break. Gorgeous bowling. Leach is beaten again, trying to cut the last ball - a rare poor stroke is a fine defensive innings. Another maiden. (Ignore the change in score, I missed a run somewhere.)
87th over: England 195-8 (Overton 20, Leach 12) A short ball from Cummins hits Overton on the arm. That gives the physio the chance to walk down the steps. “Easy does it on those stairs - health and safety,” says Nasser Hussain on commentary. Overton actually tells the physio to stay by the boundary edge. We must be due a drinks break soon as well. It’s getting very heated, and not just on Jack Leach’s glasses.
Cummins is ramming almost everything into the pitch now, prompting a few pantomime boos from the crowd. He beats Overton with a length delivery - but it’s a no-ball, which is good for Australia. They get an extra delivery; more importantly it’s a warning for Cummins to watch his front foot because they will check if he takes a wicket. Overton survives the remainder of the over - 18 to go, and there’s a pulsating atmosphere at Old Trafford.
“You can never stop,” says Niall Mullen. “You’re our liveblog Sisyphus. Every time you roll the OBO up one side of the hill it just rolls down the other side...”
But, Niall, I’m 94 years old.
There’s no cap on playing time, unless bad light stops play. Craig Overton has a change of bat, which takes up a minute or so. I suspect we’ll get at least 12 of the remaining 19 overs, if necessary. But this might not take long, because Cummins has gone to a whole new level of nastiness.
86th over: England 195-8 (Overton 20, Leach 12) Lyon replaces Hazlewood, with six men round the bat. Leach survives a hopeful LBW appeal from a ball that straightened - but only after pitching outside leg stump. After that he defends solidly, and it’s yet another maiden. Nineteen overs to go.
“This is, of course simultaneously unbearable and brilliant,” says Guy Hornsby. “I can’t take much more so I’m going for a run with TMS on, one that was supposed to be calming me down after our inevitable pre-tea capitulation. We all know that it’s still not going to happen but.... oh CRICKET.”
85th over: England 195-8 (Overton 20, Leach 12) Tim Paine puts his around Cummins’ shoulder, and asks him to extract blood from a stone one last time. The Aussie seamers look shattered, understandably given their relentless yakka. Cummins has decided to bomb Leach, who gloves a horrible bouncer to safety on the off side. That could have gone anywhere.
Leach takes a break to clean his glasses. Marais Erasmus has a word, so Leach politely points out that dealing with 90mph bouncers tends to steam up your lenses. The physio runs on, hoping to waste a bit of time with a concussion test. Leach tells him he just needed to clean his glasses, and then jumps under a follow-up bouncer.
Cummins follows up with a few hard-faced words, his eyes full of malevolence. This is terrific stuff. Leach was hit very badly by Morne Morkel last year, which affected him enormously until he got that 92 against Ireland. He’s showing so much courage, not to mention clarity under such extreme pressure.
Twenty overs remaining.
84th over: England 194-8 (Overton 20, Leach 11)
CLEAN YOUR BLOODY GLASSES, LEACH! ACCIDENTALLY BREAK A LENS SO THAT YOU HAVE TO GET ANOTHER PAIR! SPECSAVERS DOESN’T OPEN UNTIL 9AM MONDAY MORNING FFS!!! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT, YOU’RE AN UNOFFICIAL BLOODY AMBASSADOR FOR THEM!
Hazlewood replaces Starc. Leach turns him off the pads for three. Moves into double figures. Staccato sentences hereon in. 21 overs left. Huge applause. Help.
83rd over: England 191-8 (Overton 20, Leach 8) Cummins beats Overton with a beautiful delivery in the corridor. That aside he’s a fraction too wide, allowing Overton to leave a few deliveries. Yet another maiden. Whatever happens, England have fought admirably today. I suppose rearguards like this make their dozy, laissez-faire performances even more frustrating.
“I don’t know much about cricket, and many of your updates seem to be in a foreign language,” says Kirsty, “but I’m sitting here in my flat in the South of France thoroughly enjoying the match (and cheering England on!), remembering childhood summers in Sussex with my dad watching cricket on TV with the sound off and the radio commentary on… I’m supposed to be working, but reading the minute-by-minute is much more entertaining!”
It’s just as much fun to write, especially during heart-stopping finishes like this, the Headingley Test and the World Cup final. I could do this every day! In an unrelated query, does anyone know of a vacancy for a fortysomething trainee barista? Doesn’t have to be a salaried position.
82nd over: England 191-8 (Overton 20, Leach 8) Leach is beaten by a nasty lifter from Starc. “That’s more like it from Mitchell Starc - get nasty,” says Shane Warne, which is entirely inappropriate before the watershed. Leach, to huge cheers, turns Starc off the pads for four. It’s getting slightly darker at Old Trafford, and the floodlight are on, but we’re a long way from bad light stopping play. Leach cleans his glasses at the end of the over. Were he so inclined, that would be a great timewasting tactic.
“I woke up at 4am to the delightful sound of torrential rain,” says David Farrelly. “Then I realized I was in Utah and not at Old Trafford. The first rain for months here. Right time, wrong place.”
81st over: England 186-8 (Overton 19, Leach 4) Pat Cummins returns, with the second new ball in his huge right hand. He needs one for his five-for and two for the match. If anyone deserves to take an Ashes-winning wicket, it’s him. His first over is a bit of a loosener, which Leach defends reasonably comfortably - at least until the final delivery, which zips past the inside edge.
Another maiden, the 25th of the innings. England have parked the bus. There have been 22 runs from the last 16 overs, and more than half of those have been edges for four. There are 24 overs/144 balls remaining. Realistically, we won’t get all those. England need to survive another 80-90 minutes, at which point the light will became a factor.
80th over: England 186-8 (Overton 19, Leach 4) Starc goes around the wicket to Overton, a sure sign the ball is reversing. He has three slips, silly point, short leg and leg gully. Overton again uses his reach to defend, and gets a bonus boundary from a thick edge all along the floor. He’s survived 74 deliveries in this innings, more than anyone except Denly and Buttler. The second new ball is available.
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79th over: England 182-8 (Overton 15, Leach 4) Lyon changes ends to replace Hazlewood, who blew the bloody doors off with the wicket off Jos Buttler. Leach is surrounded by six fielders, plus Paine and the bowler Lyon; he softens his hands to play out a maiden.
78th over: England 182-8 (Overton 15, Leach 4) Back comes Mitchell Starc, the man who eats tailenders for his sport. Leach is beaten twice - but he survives, and does especially well to dig out a brilliant yorker off the last delivery. For some reason he also takes a single to keep the strike. Overton should be taking as much as possible.
77th over: England 181-8 (Overton 15, Leach 3) Overton does extremely well to survive some vicious inswingers from Hazlewood before taking a single off the fourth delivery. England can’t survive another 28 overs of such relentless bowling, although Leach does cheer the crowd up by clipping off his pads for three.
“Hi Rob, I’m following the cricket from the balcony of a restaurant in Bucharest,” says Steve Clowes. “On a giant screen, a football match is about to begin with Hagi starting for Romania against Malta. I’m not trapped in the 1980s; it’s the great one’s son. I haven’t spotted any budding Romanian spin bowlers yet.”
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It was a monstrous inswinging yorker from Hazlewood to Overton, which hit something and flew to fine leg for four. The umpire thought it was inside edge - but replays suggest it wasn’t! There was a scuff of bat on ground, not ball, and then it brushed the back pad before continuing past the leg stump. But the fact it hit the back pad and still missed leg stump meant that, you guessed it, it was going to miss leg stump anyway. It was some delivery though.
REVIEW! England 173-8 (Overton not out 14)
Oh my goodness. I don’t know where to start.
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Australia review for LBW! I have no idea whether this is out or not.
76th over: England 173-8 (Overton 14, Leach 0) Once more unto the Leach: everyone’s favourite spectacle-wearer has been promoted to No10. His first defensive stroke prompts a huge cheer.
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Archer has been trapped by an unplayable grubber from Lyon. It was very similar to Nasser Hussain’s comedy dismissal in the West Indies 21 years ago; a No9 batsman, even a useful one like Archer, had no chance. Australia are two wickets away from retaining the Ashes!
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WICKET! England 173-8 (Archer LBW b Lyon 1)
You can’t play those!
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75th over: England 173-7 (Overton 14, Archer 1) Jofra Archer is the new batsman. He almost kicks the ball onto his stumps via the back of his standing foot.
That was a brilliant delivery to Buttler from Hazlewood, which came back a fair way to hit the top of off stump. That’s what he and Cummins have done all series.
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Buttler was set up beautifully there The field was set for the short ball, but Hazlewood sent down a lovely fullish inswinger. Buttler offered no stroke and then heard the miserable sound of his off stump being pegged back.
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WICKET! England 172-7 (Buttler b Hazlewood 34)
Done him!
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74th over: England 171-6 (Buttler 34, Overton 13) Overton shovels Lyon off the pads for a run, or a dot ball by another name. It’s not going to rain, but light could become a factor if England take this past 6.30pm. This pair have now batted for 20 overs; I reckon they need to survive at least another 15 for England to have a realistic chance of some twilight robbery.
73rd over: England 170-6 (Buttler 34, Overton 12) We’ve already had two heart-stoppers this summer. Surely we’re not heading for a third. Buttler is beaten by a grotesque legcutter from Hazlewood. Sheesh, even Steve Smith wouldn’t have nicked that. It’s another maiden. We’ve had six runs from the last eight overs, and nobody gives a fig. Four of those were off the edge as well. It’s over-my-dead-bat stuff from Buttler and Overton.
72nd over: England 170-6 (Buttler 34, Overton 12) Overton’s height is allowing him to get a long way forward to a number of Lyon’s deliveries, killing any spin at source. The likeliest dismissal looks like a catch round the corner or at short leg from a slightly shorter delivery. For now, another maiden: 72 overs down, 33 to go.
“This has been such a weird series,” says Felix Wood. “On the one hand Australia could win 3-1 and be very unlucky not to win 4-0. On the other, there’s still a very small chance England could win the series, and could argue that but for Smith, a dropped catch at Lord’s and their best bowler being injured after four overs in the first Test (meaning one Test being played with ten men effectively) they could have won the series comfortably. Swap Smith for Root, certainly, and there would have been no contest.”
Yes. It feels like a cross between the 2010-11 Ashes, when the away side’s superiority eventually told, and England’s steal against South Africa in 1998. I still think it’ll end 3-1 Australia though, and that’s probably the right result.
71st over: England 170-6 (Buttler 34, Overton 12) Hazlewood to Buttler, bowling very straight in an attempt to maximise any uneven bounce. Buttler defends, and defends some more. This has been comfortably his best innings since approximately 14 July 2019. He has a bit of fortune off the last delivery, though, thick edging along the ground for four.
“Fourteen years since 2005, eh?” says Simon McMahon. “I was 33 during that summer, so always think (in a parallel universe where I was an international-class cricketer) that I could have played in that England side, as one of the elder statesman, guiding the less experienced players to a famous victory. A Mike Brearley figure, if you will. I always thought it a bit of a shame that at least one of the 1990’s stalwarts, say Atherton, Stewart, Thorpe, Gough or McCague, who had endured so much suffering at the hands of the Aussies, did not get one last shot at redemption.”
Yes, I know what you mean. Michael Vaughan would argue that’s why they won, because they had no players with significant mental scarring. At least Gough played a part in setting the aggressive tone during the white-ball games. His growl at Andrew Symonds in the T20 game was especially funny.
70th over: England 166-6 (Buttler 30, Overton 12) Australia celebrate a non-wicket from the first ball after tea when Craig Overton chests Lyon to short leg. Kumar Dharmasena says not out, and Australia don’t review. The next ball is pad-batted just past Head at silly point. “He’s too close there!” says Ricky Ponting on commentary. Overton is surrounded now: silly point, slip, short leg, leg slip, short midwicket. He survives the rest of the over: 35 to go.
“Good afternoon,” says Damian Clarke. “I feel Mr. Sawyer’s pain. There was a thing called Band T-shirt Day a couple of years ago, where apparently one is allowed to wear said shirt to work. My only band t shirt was a uber cool Bunnymen one from my younger days, with Pope John Paul II wearing fluorescent pink rabbit ears. When I dug (and dug, and dug) it out, it looked like it would better fit my eight-year-old nephew than my current self.”
Wasn’t it Steve Lamacq who introduced that idea? It’s fine when you have his physique. Even though I work from home, I don’t think I’ll be digging out my Menswe@r number for next year’s T-shirt Day.
Here come the batsmen, to another ovation. If England pull this off, the place will go bananas.
That opening over from Pat Cummins last night, which was awesome at the time, now looks even better. As does Steve Smith’s extraordinary innings, in some ways his best of the series, which enabled Australia to declare earlier than expected.
Once more unto the Leach, dear friends, once more...If England are to save this match, Jack Leach will surely have to do it again. Australia need four wickets; England need 216 balls, or some very bad light.
“Hi Rob,” says Ian Forth. “Cardiff ‘09 is the obvious precedent, but let’s not forget Matt Prior’s finest hour in Auckland.”
Quite. In some ways, that’s my favourite OBO memory - stinking cold, up all night until about 6am, shaking like a leaf for most of the final session. That’s my Radox.
Tea
69th over: England 166-6 (Buttler 30, Overton 12) Labuschagne replaces Starc and has a huge shout for LBW against Overton turned down by Marais Erasmus. Very close, this, and Paine is tempted... but he decides not to review. It was a lovely delivery, but there was a bit of doubt over height. Yes, Hawkeye shows it was bouncing over the stumps.
That’s tea. Buttler and Overton walk off to a lusty ovation. England are fighting so hard to keep the Ashes alive: Buttler has 30 from 96 balls, Overton 12 from 47. But there are still 216 balls remaining.
68th over: England 164-6 (Buttler 29, Overton 11) Lyon continues to rip the ball as much as possible, even though his spinning finger is clearly causing a lot of pain. Another maiden to the diligent Overton. One more over until tea. Unless...
“Is it too early,” says Niall Mullen, “to send the physio on?”
Haha. That’s one of the funnier things I’ve seen on a cricket field, especially as it turned out he was an Australian and Ponting was his hero. I believe that, among others, Ponting deployed the letters F and C.
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67th over: England 164-6 (Buttler 29, Overton 11) There hasn’t been much swing for Starc in this spell, which is a surprise given how much Cummins was making it talk. Buttler continues to play his unnatural game, leaving or defending almost everything. Another maiden. Well played.
66th over: England 164-6 (Buttler 29, Overton 11) Overton survives another LBW shout from Lyon. Outside the line I reckon, though it was close. A maiden. Overton has survived 38 balls, which is a fine effort in the circumstances. If there were three Overtons to come, England would have a chance.
“Is it possible that injuries, loss of form and Smith have meant that the Aussies will retain the Ashes rather than big selection errors or structural failings in English cricket?” says Niall Mullen.
Yes. But I’d also argue this England team has been drifting and underachieving for three or four years now. You can’t just ignore that and keep picking players on reputation. It’s all become a bit Gerrard/Lampard. And it’s about bloody time Stewart Downing got a game!
65th over: England 164-6 (Buttler 29, Overton 11) Starc returns to the attack, and Buttler times a lovely square drive for four. A bit of traffic news: a pile-up of wickets earlier this afternoon has caused a bit of a delay, which means England fans won’t arrive in the village of Hope until at least 5pm. (There are 40 overs remaining.)
“Please stick in a mention for Afghanistan, who have to take just four wickets in a full day tomorrow, with a 262-run cushion, to beat Bangladesh at home,” says Romeo. “Bangladesh are not easily beaten at home.”
Yes, good point. That’ll be a monstrous and thoroughly heartwarming victory. I see Rashid Khan is having a heck of a match on his debut as captain.
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64th over: England 160-6 (Buttler 25, Overton 11) The ball was changed a few overs ago, and the replacement is doing all sorts - conventional swing, rather than reverse. Overton ignores all that and thumps Hazlewood through extra cover for four. He’s batting with admirable determination.
“Afternoon, Rob,” says Phil Sawyer. “Given the intervening years of indulging in wine,
women
more wine and quite a lot of cheese, I fear it may be futile to dig out the Is It Cowardly To Pray For Rain T-shirt for entirely different reasons. The passage of time has not been kind...”
A base layer like that would surely be a talking point in the locker room.
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63rd over: England 155-6 (Buttler 24, Overton 7) “Replace Root as captain, bring in Morgan,” says Sandra Panter. “Drop Roy, bring in a bowling all-rounder for Bairstow or Butler. Curran should get a call, it’s too late but they have to do something.”
It’s too late for Morgan, sadly. I’d have him as captain in a heartbeat, even if he averaged 4.21 with the bat, but his back and possibly his mind wouldn’t allow it.
Overton survives! The third umpire decided there wasn’t conclusive evidence of an inside-edge, which was absurd, but it didn’t matter because the ball hit Overton outside the off stump. There would have been plenty of controversy had that been given out.
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I have a nasty feeling the third umpire is going to give this out. There’s a clear inside edge Clive!
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Overton is given out LBW to Cummins but reviews. There’s a last-gasp inside edge, he’ll be fine. It was another huge inswinger from Cummins.
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62nd over: England 153-6 (Buttler 24, Overton 5) Hazlewood replaces Lyon. Buttler, who has shown his flexibility with a determined defensive innings, survives another over. He’s had a bad series, a stinker really, but he’s starting to find a bit of form.
“Please can we have experiments at an Oval dead rubber Test?” says Dominic O’Reilly. “I’ve missed that so much. Half the One-Test Wonders Club must have achieved eligibility there. Paul Parker, John Stephenson, Alan Wells, Joey Benjamin, Neil Williams and Simon Kerrigan - who will swell their ranks?”
That’s such a good point. CricViz statistics show that 78.41 per cent of WTF England selections have taken place for the last Test of the summer at the Oval.
61st over: England 152-6 (Buttler 24, Overton 4) This is blistering stuff from Cummins. Buttler does well to fend a lifter just short of the slips amd then survives a huge LBW appeal from a hooping inswinger. It was just clipping leg, so the original decision would have stood even if Australia had reviewed. It was more beautiful bowling from Cummins, who set Buttler up with a series of outswingers.
60th over: England 150-6 (Buttler 22, Overton 4) Overton uses his reach to smother a couple of deliveries from Lyon. A bit of flight tempts him into a big drive; he misses and the ball scuttles between Paine’s legs for four byes. There are 45 overs remaining.
59th over: England 146-6 (Buttler 22, Overton 4) An absurd delivery from Cummins, a swinging 88mph legbreak, beats Buttler by a long way. It’s the start of a majestic over to Buttler that includes an edge short of slip and three plays-and-misses.
Since you asked, England were also six down at this stage at Cardiff in 2009. No.
58th over: England 146-6 (Buttler 22, Overton 4) Overton is a very useful lower-order batsman, with a highest first-class score of 138. He’s applying himself diligently, but asking him to hang around for 50 overs is a bit much. He survives a big LBW appeal from Lyon, who beat him on the inside with a lovely off-break. It hit Overton outside the line.
“Is it cowardly to bring out your ‘Is it cowardly to pray for rain?’ shirt?” says David Slider, including a photo of said T-shirt.
It’s not cowardly, but it is futile – the forecast is fine until 6am tomorrow.
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57th over: England 142-6 (Buttler 20, Overton 2) Pat Cummins returns. You’d have to be a miserably little Englander to begrudge this man an Ashes victory. He’s taken 24 wickets at 17 in this series, and he’s bought a few for his mates as well - not least on Friday, when he tenderised Joe Root for the benefit of Josh Hazlewood.
“Drop Bairstow?” says Richard Holmes. “Big call that. Take the gloves off him. Give them to Foakes.”
He’s averaging 29 over a three-year period. That’s sub-Hick, and that poor bloke was dropped every three games, never mind every three years. Bairstow has the talent to be England’s second-best batsman after Root, I agree, but you can’t keep picking on reputation and potential. I also think the dressing-room needs a cattle prod to the lower middle order, and a winter off would reinforce Bairstow’s clarity sufficiently that he’d score millions of runs when he eventually gets back in the team.
In other news, you may or may not recall an email from Sam Wrighton on Friday. He was asking for an emergency pitch for his team’s title decider the following day. Well, thanks to you lot, a pitch was found in Walthamstow - and Sam’s team, Hackney CC, won the North East London Cricket League title. Hurrah for them. Hurrah for you, dear readers.
56th over: England 141-6 (Buttler 20, Overton 1) A hint of reverse swing from Starc to Buttler, who gets a thick edge through point for a couple. Batting is pretty tricky now: spin, reverse swing, uneven bounce. For all Australia’s clear superiority, this was an excellent toss to win.
“With twice as many wickets,” says J.A. Hopkin, “England still haven’t reached Australia’s first-innings total...”
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
55th over: England 139-6 (Buttler 18, Overton 1) With the lower order exposed, Nathan Lyon returns to the attack. Not much happens.
“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “It looks pretty likely that Australia will retain the Ashes today, in which case the Oval becomes a dead rubber. So will the selectors continue to stick with the current squad (for sentimental reasons mainly) or try out a few more alternatives? If so, who gets the nod and who gets dumped? It might swing on how they want to choose players for the short form games against the Kiwis, but red-ball cricket needs all the players to gain experience.”
I doubt they will make many changes, the rationale being that the series can still be drawn. I don’t really mind either way, but I would omit a few players from the winter tours - Roy, Bairstow, probably Denly, maybe Buttler. It’s time to start again, again. I’d probably bring in Sibley, Pope and Foakes, maybe Northeast as well. A lot depends on whether Root stays as captain. I wouldn’t want to be in Ed Smith’s loafers.
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54th over: England 139-6 (Buttler 18, Overton 1) Won’t be long now. Overton does well to keep out a lively first delivery from Starc and edges his second through the slips, all along the floor. Bairstow, meanwhile, is averaging 25 in this series and 29 since the start of 2017. Time for a change, I think.
“I’ve discovered that our hotel pool has an underwater sound system,” says Kim Thonger, “and as a person of advanced years this is an entirely new experience. I’m trying to persuade the lifeguard to play Test Match Special through it. It seems to me that Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan will make more sense aquatically. I think ‘stick of rhubarb’ and ‘new cherry’ should be identifiable but worried ‘corridor of uncertainty’ will sound like whale song.”
WICKET! England 138-6 (Bairstow LBW b Starc 25)
Gone! It was a good ball from Mitchell Starc, angled in from round the wicket. It hit Bairstow above the knee roll, so he was right to review - but it was umpire’s call and that was enough for Australia.
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Bairstow is out LBW to the first ball after drinks! And he’s reviewed. Of course he has. I reckon this is umpire’s call on height.
That’s drinks, and it’s also handover time. Great fun today, thanks for your company, and apologies to the many correspondents who we weren’t able to reply to. We love your messages, keep them coming. Rob Smyth will take the Statham steering wheel from here.
53rd over: England 138-5 (Bairstow 25, Buttler 18) So now it transpires that Head was the swingman. Or was Starc the swingman? Because Labuschagne has moved around to the Statham End. Had a message in from a friend in Australia yesterday asking if I could confirm that Old Trafford had a Jason Statham End. Reader, it does not. Brian, yes.
“What’s in the car?”
“Seats and a steering wheel.”
Buttler blocks out most of Labuschagne’s over, but glances a single late. Marnus is around the wicket to Bairstow, but bowls a full toss and gets whacked for three runs to deep midwicket.
52 overs left to face, 245 runs to get.
52nd over: England 134-5 (Bairstow 22, Buttler 17) Marnus Labuschagne’s spell was all of one over. Travis Head is coming on from the Pavilion End, bowling some part-time off spin. Bowls a fair bit in T20 cricket, and has 40 first-class wickets, but he’s a relief bowler more than a wicket-taker. He finds a bit of turn late in the over, but has to go very wide of the stumps to get it. Bairstow sees out a maiden, delighted to tick another over off the total without having to face a more difficult bowler.
51st over: England 134-5 (Bairstow 22, Buttler 17) Starc is just helping a few deliveries trickle by. Full on the pads, worked for a run. Wide of off stump, left. Short and angled at the body, blocked. Gets the length better from the fourth ball onward. Buttler blocks him out from the crease.
54 overs.
50th over: England 133-5 (Bairstow 21, Buttler 17) Time for some leg-spin then. Young Marnie Labuschagne will come on from the Pavilion End for a twirl. Hazlewood still on the field despite bowling only a couple of overs, he’s one of the pillars at mid-on with Cummins at mid-off. Like the big stone kings astride the river in the Lord of the Rings.
The Labrador drops too short in this over, allowing the batsmen to set back and punch singles through point: once, twice, thrice. Finally pitches up to win a couple of dot balls.
55 overs to go.
49th over: England 130-5 (Bairstow 19, Buttler 16) Hazlewood is off after two overs. Change of ends, perhaps? Mitchell Starc is on though, and he wouldn’t be the swingman. Starc starts off in his inaccurate iteration, bouncing a couple down leg, leaving one very wide of off, bowling on the pads for Bairstow to flick a couple of runs. Three, even.
“Leaving out Curran looking a pretty rubbish decision now?” Well Matthew, it depends what part of the remaining 56 overs he can bat out this afternoon.
48th over: England 127-5 (Bairstow 16, Buttler 16) Lyon pitches fuller, and Bairstow drives him down the ground for four! Good shot, even if it was unnecessary in the circumstances. Not quite full enough to be entirely safe, even though the shot worked this time. Bairstow works a single square, then Buttler whips through long-on for four more! That was fuller, from around the wicket, and Buttler was confident to play a fluent stroke against it.
Nine runs from the over, 256 behind, 57 overs left.
47th over: England 118-5 (Bairstow 11, Buttler 12) I wonder if Hazlewood is just setting up these two batsmen for the outswinger or cutter. Again, his over is right on the spot outside off, decking in. Bairstow jabs a single from the fifth ball. There are 58 overs left.
“Was there a chance that Denley’s hand was off the bat before it struck his hand? A la Michael Kasprowicz in 2005?” asks Martin Laidler. I didn’t look at it that forensically, but you would think the batsman would know if he’d let go the bat?
46th over: England 117-5 (Bairstow 10, Buttler 12) Just a single from Lyon’s over for Bairstow, pushed away behind point.
“Happy for Cummins,” writes David Seare. “As England followers we just heard that he wasn’t playing in a given series every couple of years, without understanding what he’s had to go through to get fit to play. I heard him interviewed on your podcast and he deserves all the success he gets.”
45th over: England 116-5 (Bairstow 9, Buttler 12) Ten overs, 4 maidens, 2 for 23 in the spell for Cummins. He’s now replaced by Hazlewood. In similar style, he’s banging the ball onto the seam and making it jag into Buttler, time and again. Buttler leaves one that whistles over his stumps, but makes it through a maiden.
44th over: England 116-5 (Bairstow 9, Buttler 12) Again Bairstow is able to turn a run away first ball of Lyon’s over. Again Buttler goes against the turn, and this time gets the gap at cover for three. Lyon comes around the wicket, but slips the ball well down leg side for a bye. Buttler turns a single, like Bairstow.
England have 61 overs to survive.
43rd over: England 108-5 (Bairstow 7, Buttler 7) Bairstow is bunny-hopping to start Cummins’ 10th over in a row, squirting runs away behind square on one side of the wicket and then the other. Buttler when he gets strike just tries to keep the bowling out. Surely that’s the end of Postman Pat for a while?
42nd over: England 105-5 (Bairstow 4, Buttler 7) Bairstow gets away from Lyon first ball, backing away and turning a single. Buttler looks less comfortable, letting the ball hit him a few times when he thinks it’s short enough. Every ball is spinning big. When it’s too full, Buttler drives against the spin to cover, but hits the field.
England trail by 278, and have 378 balls to survive.
41st over: England 104-5 (Bairstow 3, Buttler 7) Cummins will continue, his ninth over in a row with the lunch break in between. Angling in at the stumps, perhaps moving away a touch, and Buttler gets a thick outside edge along the ground for four. Cummins strays onto the pads and Buttler clips a couple, then to vent his frustration Cummins bangs in a bouncer too short, and four byes are added! Unfair to Paine, who could never have reached that. Cummins pitches up again, chastened, and beats the outside edge. The hundred has come up for England, greeted with hearty applause. English crowds love doomed resistance almost more than winning, don’t they?
40th over: England 94-5 (Bairstow 3, Buttler 1) Faint hope recedes even more for England. Their last recognised pair now. Buttler manages to get through Lyon’s over, though the ball is now turning prodigiously. Gets off the mark turning a run away. England have 390 more deliveries to survive.
WICKET! Denly c Labuschagne b Lyon 53 (England 93-5)
Finally, Nathan Lyon takes a wicket! He has been straining and ever more frustrated. Denly’s fine vigil is over. Like the last over against Bairstow, it was high bounce that did for him. It takes Denly’s glove, into his body, and away to short leg, and this time the fielder can dive forward and get under the ball.
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39th over: England 92-4 (Denly 53, Bairstow 2) Cummins continues, but a couple of bumpers don’t faze Denly too much. He gets down underneath them, and those are two fewer deliveries that England have to face today.
38th over: England 92-4 (Denly 53, Bairstow 2) Bairstow to Lyon, and will have to resist the temptation to have a pop. So far it’s working, with Bairstow trying to play him from the crease. But playing back has its own risks, as Lyon gets one to bounce very high, nearly taking the glove... it ends up with short leg. I can’t tell if that bounced just in front? I think it did. Glove, then turf, then the hands of Labuschagne.
Half century! Denly 53 from 112 balls
37th over: England 92-4 (Denly 53, Bairstow 2) There’s the milestone for Denly, with a perfect straight drive! Too full from Cummins and it gave the batsman a chance. His third Test fifty, his second in this Ashes. But where he looked all at sea during the fifty at Headingley, he’s got better and better today aside from some early nonsense against Lyon. He has defended stoutly against some outstanding fast bowling, and has started to flourish with his shots as he’s gone on.
36th over: England 88-4 (Denly 49, Bairstow 2) Lyon from the other end. He’s holding up that end well, but no wicket as yet. He’s looked threatening at times, but maybe not consistently. Denly gets the first run after lunch off his pads.
35th over: England 87-4 (Denly 48, Bairstow 2) Cummins to start after lunch, and he starts exactly where he left off. Jagging it back off the seam, smashing Bairstow in the thigh. A warning that the ball will keep moving. Cummins does it again for good measure. Then tests Bairstow with a wider line, but Young Jonny doesn’t play.
How do they remember whose turn it is to take strike after the lunch break? And who is allowed to bowl? And from which end? Umpires have a lot of invisible work to do. I would never remember any of that.
I hope you’re adequately provisioned after the break? The umpires are coming back out. The Australian team has massed on the boundary and will now cross it. And here comes Denly with Bairstow trailing him to the wicket.
Lunch – England 87 for 4, trailing by 296
Forget about the runs – no one is getting 150 per session on the last day. It’s the overs that matter. England need to get through 71 of them. The chances of that happening are obviously very slim. But one must retain belief until all hope is gone. Denly should win praise for his resistance, but he needs to double or triple that stay at the crease.
As for Australia, what a session for Pat Cummins. What a Test match for him. What a bowler. Two wickets in two balls last night, with the ball of the summer to England’s captain. Then two of the most classy and quality spells in this morning session, first knocking over Jason Roy and then, so vitally, Ben Stokes.
Cummins has 4 for 23, and deserves more in the hours to come.
I’m going to grab a bite to eat, and I suggest you do the same. Let’s all look after ourselves, hey?
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34th over: England 87-4 (Denly 48, Bairstow 2) Last over before lunch, and well played Joe Denly. England have every reason to be grateful to him, as he blocks out Hazlewood calmly to reach the interval. One session down, two to go.
33rd over: England 87-4 (Denly 48, Bairstow 2) Cummins just tiring a bit perhaps with the break looming. Bowls a bit wider, and then a bit straighter to be picked off for a couple. He also oversteps for a no ball.
32nd over: England 84-4 (Denly 48, Bairstow 0) With 13 minutes to lunch, Josh Hazlewood will come back for a little rumble. Denly works his loosener square for two, but Large Josh is on the money just after that, decking a ball in to hit the bat flap and nearly get him lbw. Just a bit high. Hazlewood overpitches after that and Denly creams it through cover for four. That’s his classiest shot of the day.
“I reckon you cannot legitimately used the term ‘walked’ as long as the other side has reviews left,” emails Andrew. The batsman doesn’t know if the bowling side will use one, though. How confident are they? And will the technology be conclusivce enough to overturn a decision? Stokes started walking as soon as he heard the appeal.
31st over: England 78-4 (Denly 42, Bairstow 0) Cummins has another right-hander to hassle with the ball that cuts back in, having got Stokes with one nicking away. Bairstow is the new batsman, and there’s a hefty appeal against him as the ball comes off his thigh pad, bounces before it reaches the cordon, and spins away to elude keeper and slip for four leg byes. Those extras don’t go against the bowler, so it’s a wicket maiden for Cummins. He gets a huge standing O from the crowd at long leg when he goes to the fence to field.
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WICKET! Stokes c Paine b Cummins 1 (England 74-4)
There will be no miracle! Stokes has walked! Back of a length from Cummins, the ball decked in. Stokes was trying to leave, couldn’t get the bat up out of the way, and it takes a little inside edge still in the backlift through to Tim Paine! It almost takes the corner of the toe of the bat. The Australian captain rolls across to the leg side to take the ball, then bounds up and is jubilant. Umpire Erasmus says no, but Stokes tucks his bat under his arm and goes off! The Ashes surely, surely, are gone for England as well.
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30th over: England 74-3 (Denly 42, Stokes 1) Lyon to Stokes, who plays back in his crease so often that the spinner always thinks he’s in the game. Looking for the pads, but Lyon drops short at one point and Stokes belts it straight into poor Marnus under the lid. Saves a few runs. The batsman gets one by turning it off his pads, and he’s off the mark.
29th over: England 73-3 (Denly 42, Stokes 0) The Cummins Show continues, this time decking away from Denly to just beat the edge. This is like one of those nights when you just hang onto the floor and hope to survive. Denly stands up tall and defends the next. As soon as he gets a ball a touch shorter and wider, so the stumps aren’t threatened, Denly is trying to force through the off side, but gets a thick edge to leg instead. Can’t quite compose himself to put those shots away and just get through the spell. It’s another maiden.
28th over: England 73-3 (Denly 42, Stokes 0) Lyon bowls a maiden to Stokes, who is beaten once by a big turner, but otherwise gets through without alarm.
27th over: England 73-3 (Denly 42, Stokes 0) This is an absolutely monstrous spell from Cummins. Who would want to face it? Ball after ball carves in off the seam, bashing Denly in the pads, making him fear for stumps every time. He manages to get something between it and them, unlike Roy. Finally he gets a bouncer to duck, then manages to glide away a boundary and a single to third man. I’m not sure either shot was about scoring, he just held the bat there to cover off stump and get the ball away, anywhere but here. You’ve got to respect Denly for getting through that over.
26th over: England 67-3 (Denly 36, Stokes 0) Denly on strike for Lyon and an edge isn’t taken! Can’t call it a drop, that ball took the inside edge into pad, then went almost verically, up past Paine’s ear as he tried to get gloves to it, then there was a thought that slip might get across to take it but it went too fine for that. Stokes gets on strike, and he has two slips and a bat-pad on the off side for the off-spinner, turning the ball away from the left-hander. He manages to negotiate the over.
25th over: England 66-3 (Denly 35) Roy is out from the last ball of the over, and there’s a huuuuuuge cheer as Ben Stokes walks out. He can’t do it again, surely?
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Wicket! Roy b Cummins 31 (England 66-3)
Brilliance from Cummins! Success for Tim Paine! Starc was preparing to bowl the next over, and then got bumped. Cummins is ushered back instead. And what a first over. He carves the ball back off the seam repeatedly: just missing Denly’s stumps, then taking his pad, then an inside edge past his leg stump. Jason Roy isn’t so lucky. He gropes for the ball, well out in front of his pad, and it unerringly finds the gap and takes out his off stump! No inside edge, pure seam movement at pace. What a bowler. What a ball.
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24th over: England 65-2 (Denly 34, Roy 31) The crowd are getting very involved. Lots of Bronx, as Lyon appeals for lbw against Denly and gets turned down. Denly works a couple of runs to midwicket. Then takes a quick single to mid-on, and it’s a bad idea. The run out looks some chance. But Cummins fumbles the take, meaning the batsmen are safe. Then Cummins’ throw is a shocker, mid-pitch rather than either end, and it runs away for two overthrows! Warner has to put in a big sprint to stop it going for four. Bonus for Denly, who has looked much more convincing than he did in Leeds.
23rd over: England 60-2 (Denly 29, Roy 31) Goodness, the bounce is going to be an issue. Before Roy drives a couple of runs straight, Starc gets a ball to creep through him, low and making the batsman squeeze down. Surely someone is going to land the untameable delivery. Like Regina Spektor sang: “And it’s only a matter of whom, and it’s only a matter of when.”
22nd over: England 58-2 (Denly 29, Roy 29) Lyon to resume after the beverages. Lots of turn and some inconsistent bounce for him. Paine takes one delivery up around the grille, another down around the shinpads. There’s a big appeal as Roy is struck on the pad but Lyon gestures that it’s hit him outside the line. Roy shimmies to the next ball and drives, but Cummins at mid-on dives to save four. As does Warner at backward square to deny Denly a run off the hip. The batsmen stay in scoring sync.
Duncan Stackhouse writes a misty-eyed missive.
“I was trying to think of the last time a single batsmen had looked so far ahead of everyone else during an Ashes series and I didn’t have to look back as far as you may expect. Now I’m not saying that the sledgehammer of eternal justice (Ian Ronald Bell) is in the same class as old Stevie but in 2013 He did look a cut above. Around 600 runs at an average of over 60 (25 more than the next best English batsman, KP.
“More than that, much like Smith, he just looked so much better than any other batsman on either side. On more typically English pitches, if memory serves correctly. Without his runs, England’s superior all round attack (for English conditions) would not have had enough runs to win. Anyway, all this got me thinking what we’d give for even late-career, eyes gone, averaging only a tick over 40, coming in at 5 or 6, IRB in this England side. He will forever be gliding fours down to third man in my heart.”
I’ll tell you what, if he hadn’t done his Achilles or whatever it was this season, he would have been a chance for an emergency call. The classic coming out of retirement for one last job.
21st over: England 56-2 (Denly 28, Roy 28) Starc comes around the wicket to look for some left-arm angle into the right-handers. It doesn’t bear immediate fruit, with Denly knocking a run to midwicket before Roy comes forwards into an elegant push-drive through extra cover for four! Lovely shot. Crucially and atypically, he didn’t try to smash it. Just used the pace. Moving to 28, Roy has matched his highest score of the series. Has to make this chance count. Drinks.
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20th over: England 51-2 (Denly 27, Roy 24) Cheers go up around the ground as England’s 50 comes up, via Roy’s circumspect drive off Lyon through cover. The relentless positivity of an English crowd does have to be admired.
19th over: England 49-2 (Denly 27, Roy 22) The Denly-Starc battle rolls on. Denly is hopping again against a couple, gloving one away and then slicing a bit with a defensive shot. But when there’s width he’s still happy to go for it, lashing at a shorter ball with a cut shot. Not entirely timing it, so he only gets three. But the runs are coming. Roy turns away a single.
You can’t argue with fate.
Fortuitous Brunch cancelation = emergency #Ashes attendance!! Please wrap up by 3pm so we don’t miss our flight home
— Alica /alisɑː/ 🇦🇺🇨🇭 (@alicadaly) September 8, 2019
18th over: England 45-2 (Denly 24, Roy 21) Denly is using his feet to Lyon, Roy is hanging back in the crease to play off the pitch. They each get a single, then Denly again tries a big shot. That was absolutely daft. Nearly caught. There are boundary riders out, and he tries a slog-sweep anyway. Gets a big top edge, and it bounces just in front of Travis Head running in at the ball. Very lucky, very foolish. Denly is having an extended rush of blood against the spinner. England trail by 338 and he’s trying to get them by lunch.
17th over: England 42-2 (Denly 22, Roy 20) Starc tries a yorker but it ends up as a shin-high full toss and Denly blocks it out. Then plays an unholy swat a wide ball, chopping it down and into the gully. Could have gone anywhere. Starc strays onto the pads and Denly glances a single, giving Roy a look at another overcooked yorker that the batsman can flick through wide mid-on for four! Cummins thought he had it covered but it just eluded him. Top shot.
“Enjoying the updates from my sunbed Hammamet, Tunisia,” writes Martin Woodruff. “Hoping Roy can actually get some runs this time.... is he going to be the hero?”
I’m assuming that a sunbed is where the sun goes at night.
16th over: England 37-2 (Denly 21, Roy 16) Nathan Lyon on from the Pavilion End. This will be interesting with Roy in the middle as well. Remember Edgbaston (the World Cup semi)? Remember Edgbaston (the first Test)? Funnily though it’s Denly making the aggressive move. He chooses smartly to sweep at a ball well outside his off stump, taking the lbw out of the equation, and nails it square for four! Travis Head dives but can’t save. Then follows up with a similar shot for a single.
15th over: England 32-2 (Denly 16, Roy 16) Get set for action of some sort, because here is Mitchell Starc. Left-arm fast from the Statham End. Full on the pads first up and clipped for one. Denly gets strike and tries to keep the straighter balls out, but when Starc bowls a really loose wide one Denly goes after it, and gets a fat edge over the slips for four! Horizontal slap shot. The batsman follows up with a calmer push for a single. Roy and Denly are 16 and 16.
14th over: England 26-2 (Denly 11, Roy 15) Jason Roy is hopping and dropping one again, jolting forward to keep out Hazlewood on off stump. We saw some inconsistent bounce yesterday, and that will make batting much more of a lottery than it was on a fourth-day pitch at Headingley. Roy misses out on a gift down leg side, but finds a run off his pads next ball. He’s getting them in singles.
“On subject of Root’s conversion rate of 50s to 100s and whether he is a great or just a good batsman,” writes Andrew Cruikshank, “my impression (without statistics to hand) is that at the start of his career he was well on the way to becoming a great batsman (and was an excellent slip). Then he was made captain, in which capacity he is no more than competent.”
That’s the general impression, but it’s not quite right. His ratio of hundreds per match is about the same with or without the captaincy. I’d guess that his conversion rate got noticed a lot more as the leader who is supposed to make the defining score rather than the up and coming player who is a talent for the future.
His conversion issue is marked though: 59 scores over 50, and only 16 hundreds.
Compare that to Smith: 52 scores over 50, 26 hundreds.
13th over: England 25-2 (Denly 11, Roy 14) Good grief, Pat Cummins is bowling a gorgeous spell. Under lovely blue skies, he’s getting the ball to skip sideways, at high pace, around the off stump. One goes straight through Roy, beating the inside edge and nearly bowling him. Another draws a thick miscued inside edge away for a single, Roy jolting forward at it, bending double. This is survival batting at the moment, Roy doesn’t look like a player with the tools to cope. He just has to find a way through, no matter how it looks, and hope that things get easier.
12th over: England 24-2 (Denly 11, Roy 13) Now it’s Roy’s turn to be hit on the pad, with Hazlewood bowling. Again it’s missing, but this seems a matter of time. Hazlewood tries again and Roy manages to stab a single away awkwardly from leg stump. England trail by 359.
11th over: England 23-2 (Denly 11, Roy 12) Cummins to Denly now and nearly gets him twice, first chipping up a defensive shot that bounces in front of mid-off, then missing a ball that cuts in and hits him in front of leg stump. Just going down.
Lee Henderson emails in. “Just picking up on a point that’s been made by BTL and ATL pundits; Australia have not just one great bowler in Cummins as England does at the moment in Broad but they have another two in Hazelwood and Starc. Archer’s trajectory was incendiary but like all fireworks they sometimes splutter and fizz. Australia’s attack is three world class quicks. Smith is freaky but, I still think it’s a team effort this series and down to one individual alone. Not a lot of point having a V12 Lambo with out a gearbox or wheels is there.”
The bowling attack is definitely excellent. It’s more a case that Australia’s batting outside Smith was so poor that there was zero chance of giving those bowlers enough room to win a Test had Smith not been there. Great batsmen can give more modest bowlers enough room to win a Test, but even the best bowlers can’t rescue many games with no runs to defend.
10th over: England 23-2 (Denly 11, Roy 12) Woof. Hazlewood bowls an absolute beauty, almost as good as the one Cummins bowled yesterday. It just wasn’t on line to take the stumps, and instead beat Denly’s edge by a micron. After five balls Denly manages to drop a single to the off side and run away. Not nice. Now he’ll get to face Cummins as a break.
9th over: England 22-2 (Denly 10, Roy 12) Now then. Jason Roy batting for a draw. Rather like a dog trying to drive a bus. Things that are not suited to one another. Jason Roy playing a World Cup innings might put the frighteners on Australia though. A brisk 150 and they’ll be rattled. He’s only... 142 short of that. Make that 138, as he flicks uppishly off his pads through midwicket for four. Otherwise Cummins bowls an unimpeachable line, which Roy plays an uncertain sequence of defensive shots to, seeming to glance up at the Bayliss Balcony each time to say “Am I doing this right?”
8th over: England 18-2 (Denly 10, Roy 8) We’re away, Josh Hazlewood thudding in with that heavy-footed plonk of a run-up. He thuds, but the ball zings when he sends it down. Roy and Denly are batting together: which is the opener again, and which the second drop? Can’t remember, and it doesn’t matter in the end. Here they are. Hazlewood jags one in his first set, back into Denly and into the pad. Going down leg. It’s a maiden!
To pre-empt most of you, and post-empt a couple of the keener beans, here is the TMS link for overseas listeners. Get us in your eyes while it’s in your ears. (This is today’s link, don’t be fooled by the fact that Joe Root is smiling.)
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Good morning from Manchester. It’s a glorious day, it’s sunny and not even particularly cold, and the wind has gone away. Aaaah, yes.
Manchester. No draws today. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/LqJwuZqiUR
— Geoff Lemon Sport (@GeoffLemonSport) September 8, 2019
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Ok folks, I can just about hear the J of Jerusalem which means it’s time for me to vacate my seat and allow Geoff Lemon to take you through the morning session.
Retune your emails to geoff.lemon@theguardian.com and redirect your tweets to @GeoffLemonSport.
Stuart Broad’s domination of David Warner has been one of the enduring storylines of the summer, as Ali Martin reports.
Warner has done some remarkable things in the longest format. There have been 21 hundreds. One of them was the rare beast that is a century before lunch – a 78-ball blitz against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground – while three times he has passed three-figures in both innings.
But this summer, after a bumper return in the World Cup, Warner has been kept down by Broad. In eight innings the right-armer has had his number six times. Only once has Warner made it past double figures and in that instance, the gritty 61 on the opening day at Headingley, it involved several heavy slices of fortune with ball doing too much under leaden skies.
The absence of James Anderson has been felt throughout this series, none more so than at Old Trafford, a venue with an end named after the Lancastrian seamer. To ram home that point it was two years ago today that Anderson racked up his 500th Test wicket and celebrated career-best figures of 7/42.
Trevor Bayliss is holding on for a hero.
Geoff Lemon will be around in about 20 minutes or so to take over this blog. If you can’t wait until then to read his thoughts, here is riffing on Steve Smith and his one-man army.
If Australia do what they should by retaining the Ashes, and if they go on to win the series, it will feel thoroughly disingenuous to say that “Australia” did any such thing. Team sports are all about crediting the collective but in this case you can’t credibly do so. Australia’s captain, Tim Paine, started the series with a misfired attempt at a Winston Churchill quote; he could end it more accurately with “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”.
Gregory Pemberton is already looking ahead to future series and better selections. “What were the Aussie selectors thinking, having four lefties in the top six, especially when Joe Burns is better credentialed than most of them? A possible Ashes victory should not obscure this.”
Note the phrasing from England’s official Twitter account here. Not “can we win”...
All set for Day 5. Can we survive?
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 8, 2019
Scorecard/Video: https://t.co/ZpaIgpcNl6#Ashes pic.twitter.com/POEt25295m
Matthew Wade has long got under the skin of his opponents. His latest target was Jofra Archer, but as Barney Ronay writes, the Englishman exacted his revenge.
With any luck, Archer v Wade will fade into the background, an oddity in the middle of a largely good-natured contest. However, it was at best an encouraging riposte from a cricketer whose career is likely to revolve around managing his own tension, raising his levels at the right moment, blocking out the background hum; and in giving the right answer in his own way, as he did here on a day of rising drama all round.
“Does anyone know how to copyright a newspaper headline?” enquires Alex Gaywood. “I fancy making a few quid from the inevitable When a Roy becomes a Man that all the papers will be leading with tomorrow after Jason leads us home with a magnificent double century. Nothing like a blind bit of optimism eh?”
Let me just check with Jeremy...
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Bill Lawrenson is bringing Kate Bush into things. “I’m imagining Stokes pacing the dressing room, already padded up at sunrise this morning, while listening to this. In the meantime, Joe Root is randomly positioning the cloudbuster in the outfield in the forlorn hope of creating rain.”
How did we get here? Vic Marks has all you need to know.
Another miracle is required here for England to keep the pursuit of the Ashes alive. They began their second innings half an hour before the close and the ball was tossed to Pat Cummins, rather than Mitchell Starc, who had had that privilege in the first innings. This proved a good option that may well have decided the destination of the Ashes.
We’ve located the one Australian cricket fan lacking confidence, and his name is Rick Chapman. “Logic suggests an Australian victory but I have this nagging feeling we may lose a series where we were the better team for most days. England are fighting hard when it matters most - e.g. Lord’s day 5, Headingley day 4...”
Ian Forth has logged on to entertain the troops. “Look no further than the Chennai Test of 2008,” he emails. “England declared leaving India an improbable 387 to win. Sehwag went nuts, Tendulkar got a ton and India cruised home four wickets down. Cut and paste Roy and Denly into the last sentence, and Australia are staring down the barrel.”
Martin Laidler has sent in an email dealing with a topic I’m sure many of you will be familiar with. “I’m hugely confused,” he begins. “Are England terrible, or do the Aussies just have a really good bowling attack? Or are England actually rather good but Steve Smith is just outstanding? Or are Australia and England equally bad but the Aussies have an unlimited trump card in use? Should we run a control experiment where Smith alternates between teams and we then take an aggregate score? Please help.” I like the sound of that suggestion at the end - not just for this series but for all Tests.
In short, I think it’s a bit of all of the above. England clearly have some glaring issues with their batting, as their form over the past few years has proven. However, the quality and depth of Australia’s attack should not be underestimated, nor the way the touring party prepared for the series. Smith clearly is on another level and it will be fascinating to see how other sides attempt to deal with him over the coming years. Obviously he relishes playing England but his average overall is second only to Bradman, so, yeah, he’s that good.
I do think we need to factor in all those variables when considering the series though. It cannot be just written off as a Smith freakshow, or a crisis in English cricket. This has been a series full of nuance, just one where Australia have largely had the upper hand.
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Some admin from the good folk at Lancashire CCC. A reminder that today is already a sell out, so don’t make your way down to Old Trafford on the off-chance. And if you are making your way there from Manchester city centre, leave yourself plenty of time because the trams are not running.
The weather is contemptuously glorious at Old Trafford. Trust Manchester to forget where it put the drizzle when England need it most. The forecast is for a dry, still, cool day, ideal for bowling long spells and singing Under the Southern Cross.
Updated
The pitch looks very serviceable for day five. An optimist would suggest there’s nothing in the surface for England to worry about if they bat diligently. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon again looms large but the skill and variety of the trio of pacemen alongside him have done the damage so far and will begin the day with a ball just seven overs old, and have access to a second new ball 25-overs before the scheduled close - should they require one.
Day🖐#Ashes pic.twitter.com/Nd9bFXWQ89
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) September 8, 2019
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live OBO coverage of the final day of the fourth Test from Old Trafford. Savour it England fans because these could be the final hours during which the destination of the Ashes remains in dispute.
That is because Australia are well on top of this contest, requiring just eight further wickets for victory. The touring attack now has more control over England’s destiny than the minority government.
After a lacklustre start to this Test England showed flashes of ticker on day three but it still wasn’t enough to remove Steve Smith cheaply, nor repel Pat Cummins late in the day when the world’s best bowler showed just why he sits on top of the ICC rankings. His dismissal of Joe Root for a golden duck may well be remembered as fondly as that of Simon Jones bamboozling Michael Clarke back in 2005, one of those occasions where the greatness of the delivery, the stature of the batsman, and the timing within the series, all coalesced to form one perfect moment.
Of course, Ben Stokes could yet make it three miracles in one summer and compel even James Randi to question the presence of a supernatural being. Such an intervention cannot be discounted, but the brittleness of England’s batting order means even if Stokes does do something absurd again the Englishmen at the other end of the pitch still have to survive a day totalling 98 overs against a relentless, skilful attack.
If you want to be a part of history - one way or the other - you can reach me on Twitter or feel free to send me an email.
