And more further reading …
Geoff Lemon is being optimistic ...
Tim Paine reflects on the loss ...
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A good innings ...
Ben Stokes has spoken ...
I’m going to wrap the blog up, as there’s plenty to do for tomorrow’s paper. Thanks for your company and emails during another staggering Sunday of cricket. Bye!
Some more tributes to an astonishing human being
Ricky Ponting “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything better than that on a Test ground.”
Mike Atherton “It has to be right up there with the greatest English Test innings. It was a combination of all kinds of things: craft, skill, versatility, and most of all an over-my-dead-body attitude.”
I’ve seen some remarkable cricket moments in my life but that is the best I’ve seen in over 50 years. @benstokes38 saved the Ashes and gave a magical inspirational innings. Even better than his World Cup performance.
— Geoffrey Boycott (@GeoffreyBoycott) August 25, 2019
Well done @ECB_cricket
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And of course Ben Stokes winning runs v Australia in the 3rd Ashes test is so much better with Titanic music 😅 pic.twitter.com/TSNbpcATrr
— Ryan Williams (@razza699) August 25, 2019
Stokes finished with 135 not out from 219 balls, with 11 fours and nine sixes. At one stage he was three not out from 73 balls. He played with such intelligence, patience and flexibility. And then, when time was running out, he went nuclear. To quote Martin Tyler, I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.
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The Man of the Match is Ben Stokes, and the crowd are giving him his 44341238th ovation of the day
“This probably matches the World Cup. Wow. When you’re out there and you know what’s on the line, adrenaline keeps you going. There’s nothing better than getting your team over the line. Today has been incredible… I’m blabbering on here because I don’t quite know what to say. It still hasn’t sunk in.
“I didn’t really start to get nervous until the target was in single figures. I didn’t know what to do then! Before that it was pretty obvious. Those are the most crucial deliveries Jack Leach will face in his career, and credit to him for the way he played in such a hig-pressure situation.”
Read all about it, again and again and again
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And here’s Joe Root
“We’ve witnessed some freakish things throughout the summer. I didn’t think we’d see something similar in these series! It was an incredible atmosphere in this ground. Test cricket is alive and kicking and the Ashes is alive and kicking.
“To try to sum Ben’s innings up in words is impossible. Outrageous batting, it really was. To be able to stay so calm and calculating was incredible. It’s a fabulous lesson that you should never give up.
“The fact [Jack] was so calm, able to take his glasses off and clean them between balls, shows he was very much in the moment. He did a fantastic job. I’m still trying to get my head round it, to be honest.”
Tim Paine speaks
“It’s hard to take. But you’ve got to tip your hat sometimes and Ben Stokes played an unbelievable innings. That’s probably the best Test innings I’ve seen, and he was too good for us. He bats really well with the tail; he controls the game. There are always things you can do differently, but cricket is a game of inches. It tests your character.
“It’s not the end of the world. We’re here to win the series and we’ve got two opportunities to do that. We’ve spoken a lot about playing on skill, not emotion, and I reiterated it to the boys just then: if we continue to do what we do, we think we’ll be right in the mix in the last two Tests.”
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Australia should have retained the Ashes today. This will really smart, and it’s probably good for them that they have a break to process it all. They will also have Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the next Test.
You cannot do that Ben Stokes .....
— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) August 25, 2019
More from Ben Stokes
“We had to win this game. We’ve managed to keep our hopes alive of doing the double, and we’ll take a lot of momentum into Manchester. It’s nice that we’ve got a bit of a break to recharge the batteries. I’ll never forget that ovation. I have to take it all in, because I’m not sure that will ever happen again.”
Ben Stokes is speaking to Ian Ward on Sky Sports
“[How the hell have you done that?] Erm... dunno … just never give up really. When Leachy came in, it was pretty clear what had to be done. I had to take five deliveries and him one. Leachy’s done it before – he’s our supernightwatchman, so I backed him.
“When we needed 60/70, I thought I had to really try and go. Yeah. I think I was just so in the zone of what I had to do. Yeah. Mate, I dunno.”
LEACHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BEST 1 EVER
— Dom Bess (@DomBess99) August 25, 2019
Botham 149*. Gooch 154*. Butcher 173*. Stokes 135*. Leach 1*. Headingley.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) August 25, 2019
Lowest totals in Test wins
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) August 25, 2019
45 Eng v Aus SCG 1886/87
60 Aus v Eng Lord's 1888
63 Aus v Eng Oval 1882
67 Eng v Aus Leeds 2019 - lowest in 131 years#Ashes2019
Ben Stokes, eh. Sometimes there’s a man, sometimes there’s a man...
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“Can I just say that’s the finest innings of 1 I’ve ever seen,” says Kim Thonger. “Well done Jack Leach!”
He was so level-headed, the Penfold to Stokes’s DangerMouse. Apart from that stupid attempted run that almost lost the game, but let’s not dwell on that.
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“Well, that’s SPOTY sorted,” says Geoff Wignall. “Sorry, Jofra.”
NRAIUBHGFIVUDSAHPGPUAISHFPOAUWHFVPASDICNSDOAHBC!!!!!!!!!!OEWIFHOEWQIHWEF'QWEJF!!!!!#Ashes
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 25, 2019
Selve, I love you.
I do not believe what I've just seen. I am literally in tears. The greatest match winning innings I have ever seen . Just astonishing.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) August 25, 2019
Ben Stokes bowled like a drain on Thursday and played the worst of many bad shots from the England batsmen on Friday. And then, in the second innings, he bowled 24.2 overs off the reel and smacked the most glorious 135 not out. His Test averages are fairly modest - 36 with the bat, 32 with the ball - but this match, like Headingley 1981 with Sir Ian Botham, is the ultimate proof of his greatness.
With two Tests to play, it’s England 1-1 Australia. That last hour was beyond ludicrous. Australia will be haunted by two moments in particular - the missed run-out and the brainless review, which meant they had nowhere to go when, sad to say, Joel Wilson made another poor decision.
Justin Langer waits by the boundary, applauding Stokes before shaking his hand. The Aussies know class and ticker when they see it.
Stokes has a long embrace with Joe Root. Stokes might have saved his job. Finally he leaves the field to the kind of standing ovation that is reserved for very few sportsmen.
Stokes has his hands on his head, trying to take in what he has just achieved. He and Jack Leach - who deserves so much credit - added 76 for the last wicket. The England players all jump on Stokes, who is starting to register what has happened.
Stokes slammed a short ball from Cummins through the covers for four and let out a primal roar that seemed to last about a minute. He has played one of the most immense innings in history - and he did it on the back of a 25-over spell with the ball. Never mind 258 in South Africa or even 84 not outin a World Cup final; this is and will forever be the innings of his life.
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ENGLAND WIN BY 1 WICKET!
Ben Stokes, I adore you.
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Test cricket > everything else, ever.
125.3 overs: England 358-9 (need 1 to win; Stokes 131, Leach 1) Leach steals a single - England cannot lose the game!
125.2 overs: England 357-9 (need 2 to win; Stokes 131, Leach 0) Leach ducks under a bumper and works the next ball round the corner to short fine leg. Four balls to go.
Amid the mayhem, Stokes was unable to keep the strike, so it’s Cummins to Leach. One to tie, two to win. One wicket to retain the Ashes.
125 overs That should have been out. I am sure that was out. He missed a slog sweep at a ball that straightened sharply and would surely have hit leg stump. We haven’t seen a replay yet. We have now: it would have been out on review!
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Stokes survives a huge LBW shout - and Australia wasted their review a moment ago! That looked so close.
Stokes reverse swept to the fielder, Leach set off and was sent back. The fielder threw to Lyon, who let it through his hands.
NATHAN LYON HAS DROPPED THE BALL WITH LEACH MILES OUT OF HIS GROUND!
I cannot believe this.
124.4 overs: England 357-9 (target 359; Stokes 131, Leach 0) Stokes cuts, and it’s fielded well at cover point. My goodness.
124.3 overs: England 357-9 (target 359; Stokes 131, Leach 0) Stokes goes down the ground - and it’s six more!!!!! Two to win, one to tie. TAKE THE TIE BEN.
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124.2 overs: England 351-9 (target 359; Stokes 125, Leach 0) No run. This is terrific bowling from Lyon.
124.1 overs: England 351-9 (target 359; Stokes 125, Leach 0) Stokes slaps Lyon to the cover sweeper and turns down a single.
It’ll be Nathan Lyon to continue.
Leach is not out! Yes, it pitched miles outside leg. Australia have no reviews left.
124 overs: England 351-9 (target 359; Stokes 125, Leach 0) Stokes can’t watch - but Leach survives! Australia appealed for LBW but it pitched outside leg. Australia are going to review, just in case, but I’m sure this isn’t out.
123.5 overs: England 351-9 (target 359; Stokes 125, Leach 0) Here comes Cummins ... and Leach gets under a bouncer. One more ball.
123.4 overs: England 351-9 (target 359; Stokes 125, Leach 0) A single. Stokes wanted two but couldn’t risk the second. Leach has two balls to survive.
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123.3 overs: England 350-9 (target 359; Stokes 124, Leach 0) Four more! Stokes has whacked Cummins straight down the ground off the back foot! Nine to win.
123.2 overs: England 346-9 (target 359; Stokes 120, Leach 0) Stokes pulls Cummins for four! David Warner, trying to take the catch, dived over the ball at deep midwicket.
123.1 overs: England 342-9 (target 359; Stokes 116, Leach 0) Stokes is dropped! It was a sharp chance for Harris, diving forward at third man - just like Simon Jones at Edgbaston all those years ago. Didn’t Australia need 17 to win then as well?
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Cummins replaces Hazlewood, whose only over went for 19.
123 overs: England 342-9 (target 359; Stokes 116, Leach 0) Leach defends. Well played again.
“Whatever happens, we’ve gotta admit, this has been one hell of a fight!” says Shivam Baurai. “First Root and Denly dig deep, with Stokes’ incredible 2 off 50-something balls. Then, today, a great partnership between Stokes and Bairstow. Bairstow, Buttler and Woakes’ dismissals have been pretty soft, but Stokes has fought admirably. He’s easily been England’s best player this year.”
122.5 overs: England 342-9 (target 359; Stokes 116, Leach 0) A single to Stokes. Seventeen to win, one ball for Leach to survive, again.
122.4 overs: England 341-9 (target 359; Stokes 115, Leach 0) This is crafty stuff from Lyon, who is bowling very wide of off stump. Two more dot balls.
122.2 overs: England 341-9 (target 359; Stokes 115, Leach 0) A huge offspinner turns straight to first slip!
122.1 overs: England 341-9 (target 359; Stokes 115, Leach 0) Stokes survives an appeal for caught behind after missing a reverse sweep! No review from Australia.
Nathan Lyon returns to the attack. Sheesh, that’s a fascinating move. Will Stokes try to win it in this over?
122 overs: England 341-9 (target 359; Stokes 115, Leach 0) Hazlewood tries the leg-stump yorker and misses. Stokes is back on strike, 18 to win. Truly, I do not know what is going off out there.
121.5 overs: England 341-9 (target 359; Stokes 115, Leach 0) He takes a single off the penultimate delivery. One ball for Leach to survive. Whatever happens, this performance from Ben Stokes is off the scale. My fingers are trembling.
121.4 overs: England 340-9 (target 359; Stokes 114, Leach 0) Can he steal two? He does! 19 to win. The fifty partnership has come up. Leach has made none of them.
121.3 overs: England 338-9 (target 359; Stokes 112, Leach 0) Six more over midwicket! Sixteen from three balls! England are 21 away! Ben Stokes might be 21 away from a knighthood.
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121.2 overs: England 332-9 (target 359; Stokes 106, Leach 0) Now he’s hit him for six! It was a low full toss, an attempted yorker, and Stokes pinged it straight over the rope at square leg!
BEN STOKES MAKES AN IMMENSE CENTURY!
121.1 overs: England 326-9 (target 359; Stokes 100, Leach 0) Hazlewood replaces Pattinson - and Stokes pulls him for four to reach the most glorious hundred!
121st over: England 322-9 (target 359; Stokes 96, Leach 0) Stokes steals two more to fine leg. He slipped at the non-striker’s end and looked in trouble, but Harris threw to the wrong end. Stokes is absolutely shattered, and he walks a single off the penultimate delivery. One ball for Leach to survive - and he does, prompting another enormous cheer.
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120.3 overs: England 319-9 (target 359; Stokes 93, Leach 0) Paine decides he can risk Lyon no longer; Pat Cummins replaces him. Stokes steals two off the first ball - and then he scoops Cummins for six! That’s another outrageous stroke to go with his reverse sweep off Lyon. After all the criticism of England’s batsmen for treating Test cricket like an ODI, it would be especially amusing if Stokes won the match with a series of white-ball strokes. Forty to win.
“Following surreptitiously from a cafe in the Cotswolds,” says Nick Parish. “Wife not amused. However the waitress has just put this on the table. It’s a message from God.”
Either that or an indication of which ketchup was on a two-for-one offer when the cafe owners did their weekly shop.
120th over: England 311-9 (target 359; Stokes 85, Leach 0) Stokes tries to smear Pattinson out of the ground, drags the ball onto his knee and shouts in pain. He takes a single off the second ball - he wanted two but it was too tight - which gives Leach four balls to survive. He does well to drop a nasty delivery short of the slips, and diligently blocks the rest of the over. Well played. Ben Stokes needs 48 to win.
“Broad has always been a selfish player,” says Olly Blaydon, “but using that review was appalling.”
For once, I’d say he gets a pass – two wickets left, two reviews remaining, so it was a freebie. Something might have appeared on Ultra-Edge.
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119th over: England 310-9 (target 359; Stokes 84, Leach 0) Stokes smears Lyon down the ground for six more! The leaping Hazlewood was close to taking the catch, but Stokes got just enough on it. And then he reverse sweeps Lyon for a mighty six! That’s an outrageous shot, almost identical to the one he played against India in the World Cup. And he steals a single off the last ball to keep the strike. The crowd are going mad! It’s surely a doomed venture from Stokes, but it’s spine-tingling stuff nonetheless. He is a superhero.
118th over: England 297-9 (target 359; Stokes 71, Leach 0) Stokes turns down a single off Pattinson’s first and third deliveries. The fourth is a wide and then, after a change of bat, Stokes knocks a short ball into a gap and comes back for two. An edged single gives Leach one ball to survive - and he does, ducking under a bouncer. Ben Stokes needs 62 to win.
117th over: England 293-9 (target 359; Stokes 68, Leach 0) Stokes will surely go down swinging. He does, swishing Lyon down the ground for six, and then he takes a single off the last ball to keep the strike. For the umpteenth time this summer, he is alone on the burning deck. The futile superheroism of his performance in the second innings, with bat and ball, almost brings a lump to the throat.
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116th over: England 286-9 (Stokes 61, Leach 0) Pattinson tries to slip a yorker behind the legs of Leach, who does well to dig it out. A wicket maiden, so Ben Stokes will have six balls from Nathan Lyon to hit the 73 runs England need.
WICKET! England 286-9 (Broad LBW b Pattinson 0)
He’s gone! It was a brilliant delivery from Pattinson, a sizzling yorker that slipped under the bat and trapped Broad in front. Broad, who was expecting the bouncer, was right back in his crease.
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Broad is out LBW! Australia are one wicket away from glory! Broad has reviewed it but it looks plumb.
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115th over: England 286-8 (Stokes 61, Broad 0) Head took that catch very calmly. He was backpedalling towards the rope, so he threw the ball up before his momentum took him off the field, then stepped back inside the rope to complete a relay catch with himself.
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WICKET! England 286-8 (Archer c Head b Lyon 15)
Archer has gone! He hacked two boundaries earlier in the over, but they were risky strokes and he ran out of luck off the last delivery. He slog-swept Lyon high towards the deep midwicket boundary, where Head took a beautifully judged catch.
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114th over: England 277-7 (Stokes 60, Archer 7) Archer is beaten, flashing at a wider delivery from Pattinson. That aside he defends solidly, as he has for most of this innings, and it’s a maiden.
“Afternoon Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Doing my fatherly duty and accompanying 17-year-old daughter to see The 1975 in the baking heat in Glasgow. As you might imagine, the fortunes of the England cricket team are not high on the list of priorities for teenage August bank holiday festivalgoers in Glasgow. But I’m doing my bit by following the OBO. Us Scots know a thing or two about heroic failures...”
Thanks Geoff, hello everyone. Sunday Sunday here again: after the World Cup final and the dramatic end to the Lord’s Test, we’ve had another day of delicious tension in the old cricket. Australia have been given quite a fright, but that will make their probable victory all the sweeter. The last time they retained the Ashes was on 1 December 2002. They are three wickets away; England need another miracle from Ben Stokes.
113th over: England 277-7 (Stokes 60, Archer 7) Lyon to Stokes, with two slips and a bat-pad on the off side. He pushes a run behind point. After a lot of careful defensive shots, Archer takes Lyon on. Lofts him into the leg side, landing safely for a run of his own. Stokes follows it up by advancing and driving straight for four! Gorgeous shot! All along the ground, proper straight drive, nothing uncontrolled about it, and it beats mid-on inside the line for four!
England need 82 to win! Drinks are on the field.
And I’m going to get amongst the Western Terrace. Rob Smyth will take you home or take you off the road into a ditch from here.
112th over: England 271-7 (Stokes 55, Archer 6) Tell you what, Archer is doing the job against fast bowling beautifully. Ducks every Pattinson bouncer, gets right behind every Pattinson fuller ball. Edges one on the bounce to slip, but you’ll forgive that. Maiden.
111th over: England 271-7 (Stokes 55, Archer 6) With Archer on strike, Paine brings back Cummins immediately. This will be short all over, with three men out in the deep on the leg side. But Cummins bowls wide of off, and Archer cracks him for four! Cut shot, airy, but no one anywhere near it on the off side. Archer ducks one, plays one down nicely to short leg, then nudges to midwicket and sets off for a single. Stokes sends him back, but that draws an overthrow. One more run, and Stokes blocks the yorker to close.
88 to win.
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110th over: England 266-7 (Stokes 55, Archer 1) Steve Smith faced bowlers in the nets today for the first time since his concussion. He’ll play against Derby and be back for the fourth Test. Jimmy Anderson very likely will be as well.
Stokes goes hard at Pattinson but straight back to the bowler. Eventually takes a single from the third ball. Archer will have to face Pattinson, but there’s no alarm as the first ball flies way over his head. The next short one is at the body, and Archer flips it nonchalantly off his hip between the fielders in the deep, and gets one. Stokes stabs a single to keep the strike, but a misfield – accidental or no? – allows a second run, and after some hesitation the batsmen take it.
93 to win.
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109th over: England 262-7 (Stokes 52, Archer 0) Lyon to Archer then. Right-hander, long-armed. He stretches down the pitch a couple of times to block Lyon, then gloves one over the top of short leg! Turn and bounce, evading Labuschagne. Also a slip and a leg slip in place. Archer dead-bats the rest of the over, proving to Stokes that he’ll be good and not try to clear long-on, as he did when he got out against Sri Lanka in the World Cup.
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108th over: England 262-7 (Stokes 52, Archer 0) In-out field for Stokes against Hazlewood, who has done a power of work. Three slips still in position, but the field is set fairly deep at cover, mid-off, mid-on, then boundary riders at point, square leg, long leg. He hits the field a couple of times and doesn’t chance a single, thinking of pinching one from the last ball but then scrambling back.
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107th over: England 262-7 (Stokes 52, Archer 0) Well, it’s the man of the moment sauntering to the crease, Jofra Archer. Stokes is happy to trust him, cutting a single from Lyon. Archer can bat. First-class average over 30, with six half-centuries. England just need a partnership, someone to stay with Stokes while he puts on 40 or 50. Then assess the run to the finish line.
97 to win.
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WICKET! Woakes c Wade b Hazlewood 1 (England 261-7)
106th over: England 261-7 (Stokes 51) That’s a shocker, Chris Woakes. After five short balls in a row from Hazlewood, all of which he plays well, he gets one full ball and drives it straight to cover. What are you doing? Stokes is battling like mad, and the last three wickets have just been given away.
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Half century! Ben Stokes 51 from 152 balls
105th over: England 261-6 (Stokes 51, Woakes 1) Two slips for Stokes when Lyon bowls. But they aren’t any use when Lyon bowls short, which allows Stokes to cut two runs and raise his minor milestone, as well as getting the deficit under three figures. He gets a genuine standing ovation from the entire ground. He is carrying England once again, after 25 overs with the ball in the third innings, after a century at Lord’s, after the World Cup campaign...
England need 98 to win.
104th over: England 259-6 (Stokes 49, Woakes 1) Hazlewood in short, and Woakes rides the bounce to push a single out behind square. They’ll go short at him after Cummins did a number on him last time. He handles that one well. Three slips still in for Stokes, plus a deep backward point. Cover, mid-off, mid-on, deep square leg, long leg. Stokes takes a run to the midwicket gap to keep the strike. England need an even 100. And the Terrace goes wild once again.
103rd over: England 257-6 (Stokes 48, Woakes 0) Chris Woakes to the middle. Stokes takes out some of his frustration on a short ball from Lyon, carving it through cover point for four. England are still 102 runs from the impossible.
WICKET! Buttler run out 1 (England 253-6)
What on earth! What have they done? Shambles! Never a run! Stokes works Lyon to the leg side, straight to midwicket. Stokes stutters two steps down, and Buttler just goes with the striker instead of paying attention to the field. He realises the ball is in the hands of Marcus Harris and turns back, but the throw hits direct from midwicket as Lyon falls over backwards trying to field it. That is a ludicrous mistake, and England have thrown away their slight chance, first with Bairstow and now with Buttler. As in the World Cup too many times, Stokes will have to do it alone.
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102nd over: England 253-5 (Stokes 44, Buttler 1) Hazlewood, short, and Stokes pulls it for four! Top shot. The short ball didn’t quite get up, it was about collarbone high, and Stokes nails the swivel-heeled pull. In front of square to beat the man in the deep behind the line. You think this is the only option for England, they have to keep the deficit coming down to maintain pressure on Australia. Get it down to double figures and see what the squeeze can bring.
Stokes nudges a single. Three slips for Butter and that short cover that got him in the first innings. Lyon at backward point. Mid-off, mid-on, midwicket, long leg. Hazle beats the edge, there was a hint of swing on that ball still. England need 106 to win.
101st over: England 248-5 (Stokes 39, Buttler 1) Lyon from the Kirkstall Lane end, and Stokes is looking more comfortable against him now, twice working straighter balls off his pads to leg for singles. Buttler is less so, playing to short leg before getting off the mark with a thick inside edge behind square.
England need Nelson, 111.
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100th over: England 245-5 (Stokes 37, Buttler 0) It always seemed like the weight of numbers would tell against England. Too many balls to face, too many chances to make a mistake. Bairstow got the scoreboard moving though, he gave England some impetus. Now it’s Stokes and Buttler, the World Cup partnership, as the last real hope for England to do something else remarkable.
They added 110 in that final, and they need 114 here.
Buttler survives five balls of Hazlewood: leaves three, blocks two. Wicket maiden for Hazlewood, he’s been so good in this match.
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WICKET! Bairstow c Labuschagne b Hazlewood 36 (England 245-5)
There’s that breakthrough! Bairstow goes, going after a wide ball, gets a thick edge to second slip and it’s taken! Still 114 behind!
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99th over: England 245-4 (Stokes 37, Bairstow 36) Lyon to Stokes, and missed at first slip! Barely a catch, because it was so low, Warner got down just above the ground and fingertipped it into the turf. It goes for four. It was wide to his left hand and dipping, and his weight was going the wrong way.
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98th over: England 241-4 (Stokes 33, Bairstow 36) “He’s got the eyes back, that’s good,” says Alastair Cook on the BBC coverage. Talking about Bairstow’s angry-intense focus look. A fair bit of chat between Bairstow and Paine after the review goes in favour of the more ginger of the keepers. He adds a single from JH, as does Stokes. 118 to win.
Here’s Timothy Sanders. “The fascinating paradox of yesterday & today is that, on a dry and slowish pitch, the old ball is easier to survive against, but harder to score safely off. The new ball has proved to be both a danger and an opportunity. Jonny’s positive approach to batting against the new ball is England’s best chance; and also means Australia are always in with a chance of breaking through. It will come down to who gets a bit of luck, in the blink of an eye when the wrong shot is selected, or an unplayable ball comes down.”
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WICKET! Overturned!
Hazlewood beats the inside edge as Bairstow plays an awkward chop. The ball seamed in and maybe kept a bit low. Gaffaney gives it out, Bairstow goes the Mr T immediately, and the replays show no contact! England survive!
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97th over: England 239-4 (Stokes 32, Bairstow 35) We’re back. Lyon bowls an over for a single, pulled hard by Bairstow past short leg and between the two boundary riders. One less to get.
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“What a time to be alive,” writes my colleage Martin Farrer. “Am I the only England fan who noted the significance of Australia losing their last eight wickets for 43 on the first day, recalling Willis’s figures in 81?”
I’m going to say yes to that one. I’m sure Andrew Samson of TMS noticed, but he’s impartial.
“Thanks to Wade Howland and OBO,” replies Will. “Have downloaded the app and will watch it but still might have to give priority to a hospital run.”
We all have our decisions to make, Will.
“Congrats to Will Dickerson earlier,” writes Wade Howland. “In Australia he should be able to livestream the game on his phone via the 9Now app. I’m convinced England will do this, and fair play to them. Sets the series up beautifully.”
Speaking of Amazing Adelaide, there’s no bad time to throw in John Farnham’s 80s ad for Rundle Mall.
Very fair email from Sarah Bacon. “If England pull this off today, it will at least be an overdue addition to the highlights collection rolled out by Sky ad infinitum. Headingly 1981, while memorable, is getting a little too long in the tooth. I’ll bet a lot of OBOers can’t even remember it, so an update would be grand.”
That would be nice. Though I understand that Nine have mostly been filling their rain breaks with Amazing Adelaide.
A suggestion from a few readers that if you can’t load TMS via the YouTube link that I posted earlier, you can also get it on a UK phone using the TuneIn app. This is probably true.
“Waiting for my first born, due date today, a Brit living in Australia but can’t get the cricket on my TV. Don’t think I can get away with going to the pub. What the birdsong are my priorities?!”
Will Dickerson, if your child is born during the overnight span of one of history’s great Test results, it will be story to tell them forever. If your child is born some time after a desultory England defeat that looked falsely exciting for an hour or so, maybe just leave that bit out. Adolescence is hard enough as it is.
I left off the emails in that session because the cricket was... worth our attention. But let’s have a couple at lunch. “Same pitch, same sunny day, same batsmen, same bowlers... so what’s the deal?”
Well, Stephen Morley... cricket, innit? It’s super weird sometimes. It’s a rolling maul of peculiarity. Vastly disparate results branch out from similar stems. There are trillions of possible sequences within a single match, and sometimes those sequences stand out thanks to the parameters that our perspective on the universe deem notable. I have no idea. None.
Lunch – England 238-4, needing 121 to win
What a Test match this is turning out to be. Overnight, an England win looked a distant dream. When Root fell early, the dream was over. But the next wicket did not follow it, with Stokes and Bairstow batting through.
Of course, Australia are still in the box seat. All it takes is one mistake, one wicket, and suddenly England will look miles from safety again. Jos Buttler fresh out of runs in this series, a sore Chris Woakes and the tail to come. That is still the overwhelming likelihood.
But there was a chance overnight that England could defy it, and there remains a chance at lunch on the fourth day. Australia will regroup and come back hard at England, and Bairstow especially will play shots and give any bowler a chance. But if the momentum of this partnership can get through another 50 runs or so, who knows.
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96th over: England 238-4 (Stokes 32, Bairstow 34) Last over before lunch, and Marnus will be the one to bowl it. From short leg to leg-break. His over isn’t too testing though, with the batsmen working a few singles, not worried about being overly defensive before the break. That’s what they need to do: stay relaxed, stay confident, and make good decisions. That’s lunch, and what a session for England!
95th over: England 235-4 (Stokes 31, Bairstow 32) Lyon to Stokes, that squeaky match-up once again. Stokes has to play at every ball, but he does it well. Gets well forward, controls his strokes. Even the one that Labuschagne fields at short leg, it comes to him on the bounce, down sharply into the ground first. Another maiden.
94th over: England 235-4 (Stokes 31, Bairstow 32) Bairstow is playing this smart, seeing out Cummins with lunch in a moment and only so many overs that Australia’s enforcer can bowl. Another maiden as Bairstow ducks, blocks and leaves as required.
93rd over: England 235-4 (Stokes 31, Bairstow 32) Lyon to Stokes again. You wonder whether Bairstow should be trying to take more of the strike from the off-spinner, especially with 13 minutes to lunch. Lyon’s second ball turns past the push once again, Stokes prodding. Eventually he gets off strike by patting one on the head down to fine leg. That looks a better arrangement for England. Better still when Bairstow drops to one knee and sweeps four! Into the Western Terrace fence to delirious applause. Down between the legs of Labuschagne, then back-spinning enough to get behind square and split the two men in the deep. Then an inside edge! Into the pad and over short leg! Well, the umpire gives it a run, but on replay I think that was just off the thigh pad.
124 runs to win, the partnership is 76.
92nd over: England 229-4 (Stokes 30, Bairstow 27) Cummins finally wrests back a measure of control, bowling a maiden. A couple of those balls are a bit wide or a bit short to cause Bairstow any dilemmas, but a couple that angle in or hang in the channel require more care.
91st over: England 229-4 (Stokes 30, Bairstow 27) Nathan Lyon is back for Australia. He only bowled two overs earlier, picked up Joe Root and was off for the new ball. He got fourth-innings wickets for Australia in Birmingham, he needs to get them at least one here. And he nearly does, after Bairstow turns over the strike. Lyon bowls well to left-handers, Stokes is one, and twice Lyon turns the ball sharply past the edge of Stokes’ bat. Except Lyon to settle in for a long spell here. Will Stokes try to go after him as he did at Lord’s? Lyon drew a lot of false shots there too. Vital battle, it looks like. Stay tuned.
England need 130 to stay in the Ashes.
90th over: England 228-4 (Stokes 30, Bairstow 26) Cummins in to Stokes, and he’s been pulled for six! That was the flip-pull that Stokes got wrong earlier, again to a ball that isn’t all that short. This time Stokes makes better contact, looping it high over backward square leg and over the rope. That makes a difference!
He pushes another single to point, before Paine fumbles a bye from the final ball of the over. 62 runs added since the new ball.
Romeo emails in: “A quarter of today’s target for England in 80 minutes, for one seventh of Australia’s. Australia’s bowlers haven’t (or didn’t) serve up any bad balls for the batsmen to punish, so they blocked and left, and did so very well. In the last three overs or so, it seems to be slightly squirting England’s way. All that said, another two great deliveries and it all changes.”
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89th over: England 220-4 (Stokes 23, Bairstow 26) Pattinson is hitting 90 miles an hour consistently now. Most of the time it looks good, right on the off stump of Stokes and shaping. Then it looks bad, when he slips too wide and Stokes plays his best shot of the innings, a dominant cut shot for four! Through cover point, up high, right on top of it, and hit with a sashaying bat for extra style points. What a shot, and the crowd noise booms again. This is some atmosphere.
88th over: England 215-4 (Stokes 18, Bairstow 26) Time to calm down a bit. The England pair are both very watchful against Hazlewood, who does look the biggest threat. His accuracy, his bit of seam movement. A Stokes single gets Bairstow on strike, who edges streakily away for a couple more runs.
87th over: England 212-4 (Stokes 17, Bairstow 24) Pattinson, to Bairstow, and he drives hard at a wide ball, so wide he has one hand off the bat as he slices through point. Two runs. Pattinson hoops a couple, then loses his line down the leg side! Four leg byes. The runs keep coming. What’s this though? What’s this? Pattinson has lost it wildly! He bowls a Harmison ball. Not quite that bad, because it swung a mile. But it starts wide and goes wider, literally to first slip, and it dips on Warner who is leaping across but can’t get down far enough, and it sneaks under his fingertips for extras! It’s called wide, so five wides added to the total.
What on earth. Pattinson finishes the over on the pads, and Bairstow clips two more runs. That’s 13 off the over, most of them extras, and this pair have added ... I think it’s 53 from 57 balls. The Western Terrace is losing it. What a change in mood, and what a passage of play.
We’re under 150, it’s 147 to win.
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86th over: England 199-4 (Stokes 17, Bairstow 20) Hazlewood pitching up, and being driven again. This time bang straight by Bairstow for four! Stokes follows up with a similar shot for two, the bat twisting a bit in his hands to dampen some of the power. The deficit is down to 160. If this pair do a bit of what they did at Lord’s, things could get interesting. Woakes apparently doesn’t bowl in this team anymore but his batting could then get useful. Hmmm.
85th over: England 192-4 (Stokes 15, Bairstow 15) Cummins continues to Stokes, and gets clobbered! That was streaky as Canadian bacon, but equally delicious to the packed Western Terrace as it flew their way. Cummins loses his line and bowls way outside off, and Stokes throws the bat. Much like the shot that got him out in the first innings, except the ball was shorter. This time instead of the top edge flying to slip, it soars over the slips to third man for four. Cummins goes around the wicket to angle in, so Stokes picks him off for two through midwicket.
Apparently we’re having a shocking morning on the typo front, so please refresh your page if something doesn’t look right. Maybe we will have found it already.
England need 167.
84th over: England 186-4 (Stokes 9, Bairstow 15) That’s better from Bairstow! Out of the middle that time, as Hazlewood pitches up and gets cover-driven for his trouble. Four runs, but he won’t mind too much if the drive is being played. And you can see why the very next ball: Hazlewood pitches up again, Bairstow drives straighter this time, or aims straighter, but nicks it through gully for a far more risky boundary. There’s another great bit of running to follow, again turning one leg bye into two after he’s hit on the pads. Sharp.
England have passed the halfway mark, they need 173 to win, and that’s drinks.
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83rd over: England 176-4 (Stokes 9, Bairstow 7) One of these batsmen doesn’t look long for this innings. Bairstow has a couple of goes outside off stump and misses, then manages to fend away another short ball from Cummins for a run. Stokes goes from no-shot to millionaire, trying a pull to waist-high bounce and edging it high in the air, over midwicket to eventually land safely on the practice strips out on the eastern side of the ground. Two runs.
@GeoffLemonSport If Stokes manages to win this match, does he become England’s greatest ever cricketer solely on the basis of this summer?
— Calum Mechie (@calumcm) August 25, 2019
Pretty much, hey? They’ve never won a World Cup, so that would set this apart from crazy Ashes performances of the past.
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82nd over: Engand 173-4 (Stokes 7, Bairstow 6) Hazlewood now, and he starts by barbecuing Bairstow’s outside edge, then goes for the pads. With Bairstow’s high backlift it’s a big ask for him to get down in time to keep those balls out. One bounces away for a couple of leg byes, with the appeal turned down, and another he squeezes out via an edge to the fine leg boundary, where Cummins puts in a brilliant save. Some equally good running on both of those misadventures takes England on by five runs. They just need the 186 to win.
81st over: England 167-4 (Stokes 7, Bairstow 3) Right then, now the real stuff starts. And with Root already gone. There’s some weight behind Cummins’ deliveries already, shaking Bairstow’s bat as it gets hit hard from back of a length. YJB gets a run as he fends a ball without control into the leg side. There are catchers in the cordon but not in front of the wicket. Stokes looks a bit more controlled off the back half of the over, defending.
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80th over: England 166-4 (Stokes 7, Bairstow 2) Last over before the new ball. Bairstow ticks Lyon off his pads, before Stokes shuffles to whip gloriously through midwicket for four. Billiard-smooth across the carpet. First boundary for England since the 61st over.
Here’s a useful tip.
“As a long time OBOer I am aware that all threads remain open at all times, although England’s ability to collapse means they are often cut off. When today inevitably ends the series early I can strongly recommend you head to the rooftop bar of the Belgrave bar to enjoy the sunshine. You’ll be in a line down the street to get into the Original Oak beer garden and the Belgrave provides great views and beer. You’re cool enough to look them up on instagram I’m sure. As a Yorkshireman living in Belfast the only positive to ending the series early is I’ll no longer be getting strange looks from my colleagues for manically refreshing a Guardian webpage then looking disappointed. All the best, and enjoy several superb pints of Berliner for me.”
Was... that email written by a beer garden? Apparently it was written by Thomas Brennan.
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79th over: Engand 160-4 (Stokes 3, Bairstow 1) Pattinson pushes up towards the new ball, which presumably now Cummins and Hazlewood will take. A maiden, with a leg bye from Bairstow’s thigh pad, while Stokes leaves the rest.
78th over: England 160-4 (Stokes 3, Bairstow 1) Sorry to be that bearer of bad news for our English readers, but Root 66 has become Root 77. The Australians reading can stop worrying unnecessarily. That said, Stokes gets his first run of the day from Lyon’s over, increasing his tally by 50%, while Bairstow gets off the mark with a single. So, not all bad?
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WICKET! Root c Warner b Lyon 77 (England 159-4)
There it goes! The key wicket, the one that both sides’ hopes hinged upon, and it’s come about 76 runs too early for England. The early pace burst hasn’t worked but the change to spin has. Unable to score against pace, Root wants to take his chance against spin. He comes down the wicket, trying to drive. Lyon turns it. Inside edge, must have clipped the pad because it loops up over the wicketkeeper. It should be safe, but from the side of stage David Warner comes flying into shot, hands outstretched, and takes a wonderful catch before he hits the ground. What a way for it to happen.
England on the brink, and Lyon goes to 356 Test wickets, passing Dennis Lillee to take his own place on Australia’s list behind McGrath and Warne.
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77th over: England 157-3 (Root 76, Stokes 2) There’s a run! 26 balls into the morning, Root stands up tall and steers Pattinson into the gully for a quick single. Last ball of the over, Pattinson minces Stokes! Gorgeous delivery. Angled slightly across at the left-hander’s off stump, then leaving him off the pitch at 89 miles per hour. Past the edge by a whisker. Take a moment.
“How on earth does WinViz say 29% England?” implores Simon Yates. “Anyone needing to keep their hope down to realistic levels should remind themselves of the all-time highest chases list. If that doesn’t work, add up the averages of the remaining batsmen. Get a bit less than the target, even with Leach’s artificially inflated for now. Consider whether the conditions today (pitch, quality of attack, level of pressure, imminent new ball) are likely to be more or less favourable than in each batsman’s typical innings. Adjust WinViz percentage down, a lot... It’s the hope that kills you. Save yourselves.”
It’s the hope that gets England at Headingley... the last big chase here it was Shai Hope, making the second of his twin hundreds for the West Indies.
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76th over: Engand 156-3 (Root 75, Stokes 2) Hazlewood to Stokes, and he’s hit! That’s hit Stokes in the grille. Nasty bouncer, Hazlewood has a really uncomfortable one. He’s very accurate with it. Last ball of the over, in which Stokes has been looking to get forward assiduously, including a flick off the pads that bounced just in front of Head at midwicket. So the bowler gives him a short one to close, and there’s an exclamation from the crowd as the batsman’s neck guard goes flying off the helmet in two pieces. They’re designed to detach on impact, but he wasn’t hit on the neck guard itself. Stokes gets the once over and decides to carry on. It seems from Labuschagne’s example that the grille is the best place to be hit, if be hit you must. It seems to distribute impact away from the head better than the helmet itself.
Four overs without a run this morning.
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75th over: England 156-3 (Root 75, Stokes 2) Pattinson to Root, another maiden. Anyone who thought there might be some thought of scoring before bunkering down against the new ball, you were incorrect. There will be bunkering both before and afterwards.
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Radio listening
So many lost souls needing their TMS link as they drift through the outside-UK world. Patience, my pretties. I should also note that it’s the ABC Grandstand link, as our guiding light Jim Maxwell is a key part of the coverage.
74th over: England 156-3 (Root 75, Stokes 2) Hazlewood to resume from the Football Stand end. I like this, he’s the one who knocked off a couple of quick wickets in Adelaide in 2017 on the fifth morning to torpedo some similar overnight English optimism. Good captaincy, he can warm up into a spell and then have a couple of overs with the new ball. Double threat. Stokes blocks and leaves his way through a maiden, and now has 2 from 56 balls.
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73rd over: England 156-3 (Root 75, Stokes 2) WinViz has been out all night and needs to get some sleep. Good morning from Headingley, the field of dreams. The 404 chase was here, where Arthur Morris made 173 alongside Braddles. The whatever it was chase was here, where Mark Butcher made 173. Is Joe Root going to make 173 today? Probably not. The harsh realist in me expects everyone to be deflated when a wicket falls within the first few overs.
James Pattinson takes the old ball for a decent start at decent pace. A couple of yorkers that look hard to smother. A ball just down leg that clips the hip of Root and wasn’t far from the edge. A maiden though, survived. Seven overs till the new Duke.
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Ok, the battered old copy of Jerusalem is being inserted into the Headingley cassette player, which means it’s time for me to take my leave and chew my fingernails to the quick.
Have fun with Geoff Lemon. Send him your emails (geoff.lemon@theguardian.com) and tweets (@geofflemonsport).
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Toby Ebbs asked for help and Paul Griffin has stepped up. “Toby Ebbs should propose,” he emails. “She’ll be walking on air and tolerant of his cricket watching. He can simply rescind the proposal once The Ashes is over. Happy to help (I’m foreseeing a new career as an agony uncle of Stalinesque wisdom and tenderness).”
England have been extremely secure & circumspect while playing attacking/rotating shots in this innings. The 18% false shots in this innings is their lowest in an innings in 2019. The scoring rate of 4.17 rpo is also their lowest this year. Can they keep this going? #Ashes pic.twitter.com/YrEwbXKu3C
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) August 25, 2019
@JPHowcroft Cricketers seen yesterday, at Whitstable, defying the incoming tide. It did occur to me at the time that this batsmen might outlast England's best. How could I have doubted? pic.twitter.com/FzmtlDPk1R
— mark crick (@AtelierCrick) August 25, 2019
What a fabulous image.
Tom vd Gucht is a glass half-full guy - but I get where he’s coming from. “I almost don’t want them to win as it will paper over the cracks that have been laid bare within the England batting line up. For the past couple of years, the team seems to often bounce back and put in a display that just about redeems them after a series of terrible performances. Everyone pats each other on the back and they retain the same squad for the next tour only to suffer some trouncing before doing just enough again to avoid serious changes being made. Even Joe Denly, as resolute as he was yesterday, is still likely to have earned another series based on a 50 despite the fact he seems to flirt outside offstump as often as Vince. If we lose the Ashes, it may be the catalyst for a serious test overhaul with the new coach doing a Fletcher 99 and bringing in some fresh top order batsmen to mould whilst allowing the ODI batsmen to flourish at what they do best.”
In amongst all the speculation there’s science. WinViz reckons the match situation is 70/30 in favour of Australia.
Brian Withington might be on to something. “I may not appear to be the first to suggest that it’s all about the new ball. But I’m talking about the third one due this evening. At current run rates England may be looking at a desperate Aus final fling late this evening and then again (if that’s not contradictory) tomorrow morning. Drama. You heard it here first.”
“An excellent initiative for second and subsequent new balls. Some Test-playing nations have even experimented with this for the first new ball, putting in two watchmen at the start of the innings. I believe they’re typically referred to as openers. Bayliss and co might like to try this new-fangled stunt once in a while.” Adrian Armstrong there with a well-crafted email.
Joe Root stole the headlines yesterday but Joe Denly performed admirably as his offsider.
Steve Smith continues to push for a return to the Australian XI for the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
“Morning Jonathan,” morning Damian Clarke. “Les Mis or Les Fat? I’m feeling a bit more Les Big Byrd, “A Little More Numb”.
Ian Chappell: “Jason Roy is totally out of his depth opening in Test cricket.”
While England search for an against-the-odds hero, Australia can celebrate their own unlikely saviour, Marnus Labuschagne.
When he played a first couple of tentative Tests in late 2018, it came off the back of a few years of Sheffield Shield cricket averaging in the low 30s, and a dearth of domestic batting that meant any player stringing together a couple of scores was in with some chance for higher honours.
The new ball watchman idea is catching on. Here’s Geoff Wignall: “England will be hoping that Root and Stokes can stick around long enough to deal with the new ball, say another 20 overs. But failing that is there a case for adopting the nightwatchman convention and sending in a newballwatchman (Woakes) to protect Bairstow and after he gets out Buttler, in hope of later runs?”
Although Ben Heywood has spotted an obvious flaw. “The problem is, for it to come into effect either Root or Stokes has to get out first, and I’d rather that didn’t happen until about this time tomorrow.”
Toby Ebbs needs help. “I’m currently up in the Sierra de Guadarrama, one hour north of Madrid, where the temperature is a much cooler 28 degrees. I’m on a diplomatic rescue mission to reunite with my girlfriend after a ‘time out’ of several months. So that I don’t appear inattentive to her needs I have to avoid the score, bank the OBO feed and then scroll through your reports with a mixture of apprehension and excitement at the end of the day. The only thing is that Friday’s play nearly destroyed me and ruined the mission. I was visibly upset but couldn’t really explain why. What should I do today?”
My advice: pour a glass of lemonade and confess that you’re a secret cricket watcher.
Weather: We’re in for a glorious summer’s day in Leeds, clear and hot.
Is this genius, or have I eaten too many Haribo gummy bears?
@JPHowcroft has anyone considered a new ball watchman? Leach did a great job as a night watchman against Ireland. Obv. Australia attack is quicker + better, but is it worth using up a few new ball overs on a tailender rather than a potential match winner like Bairstow or Buttler
— huaweithelads (@huaweithelads) August 25, 2019
I keep rereading and it continues to make sense.
Joe Root has become the central protagonist in this unfolding drama. As Andy Bull writes, what happens today - good or bad - could well define his captaincy of England.
Root has played a lot of international cricket in the last six years: 320 innings altogether – more than any other player – and he has faced almost 20,000 balls, nearly a quarter as many again as two of the four other great batsmen of this generation, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith. Virat Kohli is the only one who gets close. Right now, Root is the only one of the four whose Test average has fallen below the fifty watershed. It falls all the way from 53 to 42 when he has been captain. Root’s game has frayed and worn, Watching his strange field placings in this series, it was beginning to feel as if his leadership was not worth what it costs in runs lost.
I like Scott’s approach; methodical, like how a batting coach would break down the challenge.
@JPHowcroft Let's start with the assumption of all out by drinks. If not then by lunch.
— Scott Bennett (@ScootBenet) August 25, 2019
Best approach.
Pitch: The Headingley surface has offered something to the seamers throughout this Test but it’s also improved for batting the longer the match has worn on. There are no gremlins for England to fear, although there are growing footmarks Nathan Lyon could exploit when bowling to left-handers.
Day four... #Ashes pic.twitter.com/UUeEKzvBZp
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) August 25, 2019
Tor Turner has emailed in, and I’ll paraphrase, because it sums up what the majority of England supporters seem to communicating. We really really really want and hope England to win. But, it’s horribly possible to see them collapse in under an hour.
There can’t be many sporting sides around the world where the gap between two credible outcomes is so vast. Nor where that dichotomy is so keenly embraced by the team’s supporters.
Regardless of how things go today, think it’s good to acknowledge that the rising hope in a fourth innings chase might - *might* - be the best feeling in cricket. #Ashes
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) August 25, 2019
So, how did it come to this? Let’s turn to Vic Marks for some guidance.
When England were 15 for two in their seventh over with another 344 runs required for victory and 70 overs to be bowled in the day, swift exit possibilities were being explored. Now other possibilities, more unlikely but much more intriguing, have surfaced. In their pursuit of 359 for victory England were 156 for three at the close with Joe Root on home turf attempting to play the innings of his life. At stumps he was unbeaten on 75, which already constitutes his innings of the series.
“Since we’re talking about unlikely events, there have been two ties in test cricket history and only four higher fourth innings run chases.” A tie! An excellent idea Ian Forth. That results in a super over, right?
Michael Robinson touches on the how, not how may. An interesting approach considering so much of England’s difficulty this summer has been attributed to the focus on white ball run-scoring. “As much as I don’t back England today I can’t help but think that if Root/Stokes, and then Buttler and Bairstow can just keep blocking the ball for two days then the runs will come. Lord knows they got long enough to soak up maidens.”
James Roe has joined the growing legion of believers. “England just need to dig in and survive the first 20 overs then the Aussies will start to tire and we could be on for a famous England win. The spirit of our world cup victory and never say die and England can do it!”
I can’t decide whether this groundswell of confidence makes me think of Les Mis or Les Fat.
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“It can’t happen but I can’t stop thinking it might” emails Ben Heywood. “203 runs. 7 wickets left (4 useful). Two days still to play. I know I shouldn’t daydream about a record-breaking, unprecedented comeback, and that we’ll probably be all out by lunchtime....but...but...but...isn’t the mere possibility of the impossible why we watch sport in the first place?”
Yes, Ben, yes it is. And reading these emails and watching these dreams shatter into a thousand tiny pieces is why Australians watch the Ashes.
Bruce Henderson is steaming in from the Kirkstall Lane end, convinced England are going to do it (with a little help from Steve Marriott), declaring: “For England, this is the summer of all. Not nothing.”
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live OBO coverage of day four of the third Ashes Test from Headingley.
How are your nerves? If you’re Australian, are you toey? If you’re English, dare you dream?
In around an hour from now Joe Root (75*) and Ben Stokes (2*) will stride out to the middle of a field in Leeds in pursuit of the 203 runs England require to pull off one of the most incredible victories in the long history of Test cricket. They have seven wickets with which to complete the heist after suffering the ignominy of a first-innings total of 67. For the improbable to occur all manner of records require breaking. But this is Headingley, the crucible of so many previously unthinkable accomplishments.
Commonsense analysis would say Australia are only eight overs from a new ball and their high-quality attack contains four world class, and crucially, patient bowlers. They will have access to a day four pitch that will aid the pacemen with the pristine Dukes and then Nathan Lyon once the ball has aged. No matter how plausible the maths become teams simply don’t chase over 300 in the fourth innings very often.
But it is days like today that keep us returning to Test cricket. A day pregnant with possibility. A day that could end with Australians gambolling across the Headingley outfield celebrating the retention of the Ashes or an Englishman or two leaping in delirium with bats raised saluting an unlikely triumph. One way or the other history will be made.
If you don’t know the drill yet, I am around for an hour or so to set the scene but as play begins Geoff Lemon will join the fray. If you want to share your thoughts before the opening ball you can reach me on email or you can tweet @JPHowcroft.
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