England’s inconsistency with the bat finally worked in their favour today, with a couple of the batsmen finally showing an above-average Test performance. On a personal level it was slightly annoying, as I had already pencilled in what I was going to write in today’s report, and scheduled stuff to do tomorrow. Joe Root’s decision to actually bat longer than a session was, quite frankly, massively inconsiderate.
The first half of the day showed no deviation from the expected script. England’s tired bowlers struggled to take the final four Australian wickets, with an inadvisable run off a misfield eventually leading to Marnus Labuschagne’s dismissal. Archer was the main strike bowler for the hosts yet again, taking the wickets of two Australian tailenders plus giving Labuschagne’s grill another testing blow, but Stokes and Broad also bowled fairly well.
Puzzlingly, Chris Woakes didn’t get a chance with the ball this morning. It seems an odd choice on paper by Root, since Woakes has taken more wickets than Stokes at a lower average so far in this series. Given the lack of trust shown in his bowling, it seems likely Woakes will be the one expected to make way for Anderson if the veteran seamer is considered fit to return by England’s medical staff. Apart from a series of solid (but by no means amazing) bowling performances in the series, the allrounder also has the third-highest series batting average for England. He’s scored more runs than Bairstow, Roy and Buttler, and yet is more likely than any of those three to be dropped. Life is just not fair. Especially if you’re an English bowler.
England’s batting seemed to be following the pattern of recent games, with two quick wickets at the start. Burns was the first to go, fending a bouncer to the slips. Roy followed a few balls later after being bowled by Cummins after playing down the wrong line.
This left Root and Denly at the crease, with 69 overs left to survive in the day and (even more unlikely) 344 more runs needed to win the game. Denly rode his luck early, being lucky enough to miss the assorted wild drives to full and wide deliveries from the Australian quicks. But, over time, he settled down and made a partnership with Root which somehow lasted most of the day.
Eventually it was a bouncer which did for Denly. The Australian bowlers had targeted his head and body through the day with some success, and he finally fended one with his gloves which looped into the wicketkeeper’s welcoming hands. Having scored fifty runs in this innings, it’s hard to see England dropping him for the remaining two games. On one hand, Denly was under pressure, with many people (including myself) calling for him to be dropped, and he delivered. On the other hand, Australia might well think that he’s vulnerable to the short ball and bowl accordingly.
Joe Root’s 75* was no doubt a huge relief for England’s captain after he had made two consecutive ducks in his previous innings. We all know he’s an extraordinarily capable batsman, once compared to Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, but it’s been a lean couple of years for him. (It’s been even more lean for Smith, of course, due to his ban for cheating) Whatever the reason, his form has declined from ‘great’ to ‘good’, and then again from ‘good’ to ‘good enough for England’. Hopefully this innings will allow him to rebuild his confidence and Test batting, although I’ve seen too many flashes in the pan to be very optimistic on that score.
Root and Stokes were still there at the close of play, with England on 156/3 needing 203 more runs to win. It’s still massively unlikely that they can cause an upset, but at the same time it’s significantly more likely than it was this time yesterday.
It’s the hope that hurts the most, I find.
Finally, we were ‘just’ four overs short today. I think we saw that one coming…
Being Outside Cricket 
I refused to watch today and I’m not watching tomorrow – because it is the hope that kills. I might change my mind if we get close with some wickets in hand. But then, maybe superstition will warn me off.
LikeLike
Yep. If you watch any of the game and England lose, I’m 100% blaming you.
LikeLike
Hope is a terrible emotion, an irrational balancing act between expectation and desire. But superstition is more irrational yet. If you don’t watch, you just might miss something you would afterwards really have liked to see.
LikeLike
I was a bit surprised by Denly, expecting him to form part of a procession of cheap dismissals, but he gutsed it out. He had a load of luck, it’s true, but he did display the inclination for proper test match batting, and he certainly has an unruffled and phlegmatic approach. Root is a class act. He’s still averaging close to 50 in tests and it’s a bit churlish to relegate him to “good enough for England”. He might play a career-defining innings yet, though I can’t say I expect it.
LikeLike
Denly hung in there, no doubt. We do sometimes forget that in his previous incarnation he was considered a very talented stroke-player. TLC summed him up well on the previous thread, but it has to be said, his technique against the short ball looks like it could get him hurt when he says in for any length of time. Still, good for him today, as for whatever else, he’ll always have an Ashes 50.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve got a soft spot for him. I used to play with and against his Dad, Nick, and remember Joe playing on the boundary at Whitstable as a kid. I want him to succeed for entirely personal reasons.
Nick was a bloody good player too, one of the best around in Kent at club level.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So far in 2019, even including his current not out score, Root averages 29.53. I think that counts as good enough for England now, sadly, since that is still the highest average for an English specialist batsman. Leach (50.00) and Stokes (42.22) are the only two above him.
LikeLike
I am afraid that I think we (and Joe Denly) should bank his 50 runs and move on. His want of technique against the short ball (all periscope and averted head) is terrifying. His Vince-like optimism to the sucker ball outside the off stump equally, although less likely to land him in intensive care.
LikeLike
If his apparent weakness to the short ball proves to be a lasting issue, that might also make him unsuitable for swapping duties with Roy too. At least outside Asia…
LikeLike
Is it my imagination or is Ben Stokes a much better 2nd innings bowler than 1st?
P.S. Can’t wait for us to win this one.
LikeLike
Win? If Root gets 150 England will be thereabouts. It would be fairly astonishing if it happened.
LikeLike
See? Nailed on.
LikeLike
Clear evidence you’ve lived in North America too long, you’ve caught the optimism disease.
Still, seems there is life in the old dogs yet. Sunday will be fun, I expect Australia’s bowlers will be chastened and annoyed.
It would be really funny if Australia won a test match without Steve Smith.
LikeLike
We’re totally going to win, Fred.
LikeLike
But yes, the Steve Smith thing had occurred to me.
LikeLike
He’s certainly due a big score…
LikeLike
Root’s best in fourth innings is 87 (Adelaide 2013). 75* is already his second best, so asking for a 150 or thereabouts is already quite optimistic.
In fact since January 2013, there have been 4 4th innings tons by England batsmen (Stokes, Ali, Buttler and Prior). Only Prior’s was not in a losing cause.
In a won match England have produced all of 3 50s (all unbeaten), 2 of which were in the same Test by Cook and Ballance against West Indies in 2015 (and the target was just a paltry 143). The other was Ian Bell’s 65* against Australia in the same year.
In draws, Pietersen, Bell and Trott produced one 50 each. Root’s best (and he is by far the best of the lot) is just a 33*.
So let’s just summarise to say that plenty of people who have had ample opportunity to produce some goods in the fourth innings have never raised their hands before.
For example, Bairstow averages just 20 from 16 innings, with a best of 54 in a losing cause.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hope he is a better 2nd innings batsman too.
LikeLike
Over his career: yes. In the last two years: no.
Interestingly though, his batting average over the last two years is better in the second innings than the first. So there is that straw to cling onto…
LikeLiked by 1 person
In the words of Tim Vine – What we need is a miracle.
We saw enough to know that 8-11 are going to be bounced out pretty quickly.
I think this will be a close finish though.
LikeLike
Great session for England. However, I refuse to get my hopes up. (maybe just a little)
LikeLike
Up to now they’ve just been batting. Now they’ll be thinking about winning.
Test cricket is a psychologist’s dream.
LikeLike
– Explains much of his written output over the past 6 years or so…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Archer fell straight into the trap…. I imagine Stokes asked him to stop swiping… What a fool!
LikeLike
To be fair, it was only his second Test, and he does not have that much FC experience either. Silly, but at least understandable.
The Buttler runout was the real turning point in the innings, because that meant it was down to Stokes and the bowlers.
LikeLike
Silly bowling plans for the Aussies as they just need one wicket.
LikeLike
Maybe Leach should coach Roy about playing hostile bowling
LikeLike
Or just take his job? Leach is a significantly better opener than Roy.
LikeLike
Paine removes Lyon from the attack… Why? Why? Why? Take the pace off on this slow pitch
LikeLike
One or two of this side don’t deserve to look Stokes in the eye later.
It’s almost certainly just too much (even for him) and utterly infuriating that Aus didn’t even need to take a couple of valuable wickets.
LikeLike
Faf will have some competition for the Cricketing Imbecile of the Year Award. And he appeared to be a shoe-in.
England will win this.
LikeLike
Stop trying to jinx it…
LikeLike
I was accurate during the World Cup too.
LikeLike
Big political and humanitarian issues aside, there is almost no group of human beings I feel more sorry for than people who think cricket is a dull sport.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can’t take any more of this
LikeLike
And that’s why you don’t waste your reviews
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, England AGAIN can’t complain about the umpiring. Stokes would have been out lbw, Australia winning by one run.
LikeLike
England also don’t need to complain about the umpiring either, because they didn’t piss away their reviews. But yeah, that was a HUGE stroke of luck for Stokes and England.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Whether Australia wasted their reviews or not, that is not a justification for umpiring howlers.
Whether New Zealand wasted their reviews or not, that is not a justification for an umpire not knowing how to apply the laws with regards to overthrows – and while we can doubt whether it impacted on the eventual result of the game, the end certainly does not justify the crappy means.
LikeLike
If people didn’t make mistakes, no one would ever lose their wicket. It’s not like they make bad decisions on purpose. But yeah, some umpires (like some players) make more mistakes than others.
LikeLike
So thanks to the substandard level of the umpiring, the Ashes are still alive.
Well done Joel Wilson and colleagues.
LikeLike
I also think well done England, or at least Root, Denley, Stokes, Leach, Archer, Broad and Woakes, but especially Stokes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely. Certainly well played by the abovementioned players – they really fought it out. And actually batted (I am talking about the batsmen here, who let England down two days ago) like it was a proper Test match – the bowling has usually been good. Test match batting is a dying phenomenon, so that was good to see.
But it will be a once-off in all likelihood, as the march towards the destruction of Test cricket will only accelerate on the back of this result. And yes, the ECB will certainly use this fantastic game of cricket as a means to further destroy the County Championship. Not that they needed encouragement, but the push-back will be certainly be weakened by this.
I called the game for England about 25 minutes before Stokes hit the winning runs.
I wanted New Zealand to win the World Cup. New Zealand players must have been devastated to have lost the World Cup like they did (tie break rules, two dodgy umpire decisions going against them). Those things can be career defining or even career-destroying. So it matters, a lot. We’ll see how they bounce back from that disappointment, but I would not be surprised if several Kiwis fade into oblivion.
If you decide a World Cup Final on the luck of an umpire not knowing how to apply the laws, and then win or lose this one on an umpire who was extremely dreadful in the First Test (8 wrong decisions, a record shared with Dharmasena), not giving a plumb lbw, you wonder just how much luck a team can have. Lack of reviews is no justification for dreadful umpiring being okay or even par for the course. Let alone decide games of such importance.
Well played England; my 4-0 to toss prediction is still on.
LikeLike
Healy and Chappell are really pissed off about the wasting the review – with good reason. Still, Lyon missing the run out was also bad
LikeLike
Good God that was so obviously out. Bad umpiring
LikeLike
That is fucking insane. Good luck writing the days report. Seriously, how can anyone bat like that – my heart was beating so hard I thought it would explode through my chest. Ben Stokes – you fucking beauty.
LikeLike
It’s @thelegglance doing today’s report. I expect it’ll be a while coming though, he needs a bit of time to recover first…
LikeLike
Test cricket. And the ECB dont care
LikeLiked by 3 people
Fred, you really should trust me by now.
LikeLike
Well, no Olympics, no major football, nothing at Wimbledon or the golf.
If Ben Stokes doesn’t win the BBC SPOTY the only thing you can possibly blame is the decision to remove cricket from free to air TV.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sadly, when the Sky commentators just now were saying “This’ll set the country alight, you’ll see kids in the park playing cricket”, I thought “Nope. They won’t have seen it. They won’t know it happened.”
Replays and YouTube highlights are no good for an innings like that, you need to experience the real time ticking away. You need to sit there chewing your nails while Jack Leach cleans his glasses.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Man their lack of self-awareness is incredible. All of them enjoyed their great moments during FTA. I didn’t even see many kids in the park playing cricket after the World Cup final which was shared with C4. I did however see Tom Harrison deliberately quoting misleading figures about the number of people watching the match on Sky.
Wonderful as these two Sundays were, they change nothing about systemic, structural issues. When I’ve calmed down I’ll even be slightly annoyed that Stokes and Leach have covered for the horrors revealed by the 67 all out.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I suspect that had we lost, the ECB wouldn’t have done anything anyway so we might as well just enjoy the win.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah. I wonder if the win makes it easier for England to change the batting. If they had lost, the series was lost and, you could argue, bringing new players into a losing team would do more harm than good. Now, the series in the balance and England need to win both remaining games to win back the Ashes. Does anyone really think that opening with Roy is the best way to achieve that?
LikeLike
England only need to win one more than Australia to bring back the Ashes. A win and a draw will suffice Danny.
LikeLike
Well yes, but I still find it hard to believe that England can bat long enough for a draw to be a likely result, even with a bit of rain.
LikeLike
Yeah. Of course, he also has the World Cup performance which was actually seen by a lot of people, thanks to Channel 4.
LikeLike
My eyes are leaking.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Leach sucked up 17 balls. Broad?
LikeLike
There is much to admire about Leach
LikeLiked by 2 people
The most astounding this about this is that Quebecer was right, dammit.
What a force of nature Stokes is.
LikeLike
Ben Stokes just said bollocks on TMS.
Refreshingly, Agnew didn’t do the immediate puritanical BBC apology. He still hasn’t.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haven’t the Liberal Democrats established that ‘bollocks’ is officially not a swear?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Is that how they try to remain relevant?
LikeLike
Well, I kept away until about 3:45pm.
Fortunately, my malign presence was balanced out by Aus wasting their review.
Had to look away every time Leach had to face a ball.
What a win. Ridiculous.
Highest ever run chase for England.
Of course they were lucky… but luck is a big part of this ridiculous game.
Stokes is having a very special year.
LikeLike
England have had a bit of luck this year. Long may it continue.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How hard must it be for Tim Paine to give an interview after loosing that game? He’s a class act
LikeLiked by 2 people
Pain was just asked by Mark Taylor “looking back..would you have done anything differently”
and he immediately replied “Yep, one thing. I wouldn’t have referred that LBW….. My eyes must be going. The only thing Patty Cummings thought was wrong with it was that he might have hit it and it pitched a mile outside leg. I have a different appreciation for umpires now because we get it as wrong as they do at times.”
Class.
LikeLike
It could be his last game. Someone has to be dropped from the Australian side for Smith’s return (assuming he’s fully recovered), and he has the lowest batting average of the Aussie batsmen.
LikeLike
He’s gone there. Of course he has.
I don’t think it’s mean-spirited to add qualifications. Personally I’m only prepared to say “since Gooch in 1991” among English Test innings. I might say GOAT for an English 4th innings but there is no way I’m going to put it ahead of Lara in Bridgetown in 1999 given the attack he was batting against.
Of course, I watched that one in a pub and I’ve only listened to this one on the radio. But my point is that the constant use of “greatest of all-time” without qualifications is deeply tiresome.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ian Healy just said it was the greatest innings he has ever seen. To be fair, it was a bit special.
LikeLike
Well he would, he dropped Lara at Bridgetown!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jim Maxwell did too. Put it above the Lara innings mentioned above, interestingly.
LikeLike
I’m quite prepared to believe it. Without having seen it, the best argument in its favour seems to be the three distinct gears he went through: ultra-Tavare, standard senior player Test batting; extraordinarily well- judged attack with 1 wicket left. He had 7 off 80 balls at one stage I’m told. That’s phenomenal mental strength and resilience as well as native once in a generation talent.
LikeLiked by 3 people
I think there is something special about 4th innings performances with bat or ball. The pressure is simply greater. That’s why I’d take Stokes over Gooch 1991, but not over Lara 1999.
LikeLike
What kind of game is cricket? England were out of the match after their first innings and yet could still pull through to victory. The umpiring at key points was an aid but it probably evened out over the course of the game. Root set the tone, Bairstow gave momentum and Stokes had the maturity to win it despite the brainless batting of WOAKES, Archer and Broad. Leach played a fine hand. What is wrong with Woakes… Failing time after time with bat and ball
LikeLike
That’s a bit harsh on Woakes. He’s averaging more than Bairstow, Denly, Roy and Buttler in this series with the bat, and taken more wickets than Stokes at a lower bowling average.
LikeLike
Averages pretty misleading, sometimes. Woakes doesn’t seem to make critical runs or take crucial wickets. I expect that this idea could be statistically tested, because it is an argument of this sort that is said to have kept Starc out of the side (they know he is good at skittling the tail, but takes few top order wickets and leaks runs against the top order).
LikeLike
Woakes’ wickets: Khawaja x3, Smith x2, Head, Wade, Paine, Siddle
Stokes’ wickets: Khawaja, Labuschagne, Head x2, Wade x2, Cummins x2
So it appears that Woakes has taken more specialist batsmen’s wickets at higher batting positions, including Smith twice. All whilst maintaining a lower bowling average.
LikeLike
Well done – and by hand too! Point well made. I still lack that impression of a truly influential cricketer, and I suspect there is something in it that isn’t captured by the stat that we’ve proposed and investigated.
LikeLike
You could argue that Stokes’ average is higher because he’s more likely to be brought in when there’s a set partnership which needs breaking. Set batsmen are more likely to score runs, and harder to dismiss. Certainly, when Stokes is bowling he *seems* more threatening than Woakes. He’s faster, he includes more bouncers and the like.
LikeLike
Roy, 33 balls for 15 runs…. Match winning performance.
LikeLike
Really enjoyed this article: insightful and entertaining. I half-listened to most of the day’s play and this piece filled in the gaps and added some context I’d missed.
Keep up the good work!
Ed.
LikeLike
I’ve not seen any of today’s play…actually not seen any of the match. On holiday. Seems I’ve missed a cracker.
I’ll still say, I can’t get behind Ben Stokes. I said it after the WC final.
Appreciate I may be in a (very small) minority. The guy is clearly hugely talented but he’s a scumbag.
Perhaps he’ll grow up now. We’ll see
LikeLike
I think he has grown up quite a bit.
LikeLike