I must confess that all Bazball hype had left this Test cricket fan rather subdues and less than enthusiastic about the home Ashes series. For starters, I cringe at the way so many so-called England fans believe that cricket revolves solely around the occasional battles with Australia and possibly a World Cup so long as the nation is winning. I cling desperately to the association of TV cricket with the ‘Soul Limbo’ tune and am old-fashioned enough to detest the shift to drunken football-style crowds.
And yet if Test cricket is to survive the flood of Twenty20 and Hundred, who am I to complain about any connection felt between young English blokes and the traditional summer sport (at least, while the footie season is in abeyance)? Whether it’s the cider bar at Taunton or the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston, if people are enjoying themselves and perhaps enjoying some cricket then it must be a good thing. I only hope that that those who attended the First Test, especially on the final day, appreciated what was happening on the pitch because it was quite extraordinary.
I confess I rarely watch the game on TV these days, with little inclination to sacrifice whole weeks to Sky’s coverage. Thanks, BBC, for your website coverage and evening highlights show. There were certainly plenty of highlights on offer this week.
It was billed as the clash between Bazball and the old-fashioned Aussies. How things have changed! The tourists were crowned world Test champions only the other week so Ben Stokes was unlikely to have everything his own way.
On Friday morning, he did. From Zak Crawley’s courageous crunching cover drive from Pat Cummins’ opening half-volley to the bravado of Brooks and Bairstow and another imperious century from Joe Root, England were stroking their way to a total well into the 400s. Then the skipper declared on 393-8 to leave Broad and Robinson a few overs hopefully to dismiss Usman Khawaja and perennial cartoon villain David Warner.
Tipping convention on its head has been a hallmark in England’s astonishing transformation last year. This decision, along with some novel field placings, were well to the fore at Edgbaston but the declaration was unsuccessful in its prime aim. Nonetheless, it served as an appetiser for some superb Test cricket over the next four days. Broad got Warner (of course he did!) and Labuschagne, then Stokes pinned the other hate figure, Steve Smith, for 16 but Khawaja played an excellent restrained innings lasting eight hours. Head and Carey were bolder, and Cummins joined in with the six-hits off poor Moeen Ali, whose raw spinning finger must have been awfully painful.
With a slender lead of seven, England sallied forth to set the Aussies a tough target and unleash a pumped-up Broad, Anderson and Robinson. This time, Cummins and Nathan Lyon never allowed the batsmen the same freedom and nobody passed fifty. Alex Carey took another three catches and added a third stumping, illustrating England’s penchant for taking risks to the spinner. They scored at ‘only’ four an over but were all out for 273. So to a dramatic climax full of twists and turns.
The raucous crowd must have helped England’s bowlers and put the fear of God into the Aussies. At 143-5 and four dismissals to Bairstow’s name, all looked rosy for Stokes and co. But that man Khawaja was still there. When Green played on, Robinson looked set to explode, and even Stokes looked quite calm when his ultra-slow delivery fooled the Aussie opener. 209-7, 82 short. A fabulous caught-and-bowled by Joe Root ended Carey’s resistance and surely the tailenders wouldn’t survive the pressure and score the required 54 to win?
Statistics were against them. During the morning rain delay, commentators were keen to remind us that Australia always lose tight matches. Not since a young debutant Cummins struck the winning runs to beat South Africa by two wickets in 2011 had they edges such a close finish, but against all odds he repeated the feat. Khawaja also played in that match in Johannesburg, and his second innings score of 65 was identical to his corresponding total at Edgbaston. Statistics, eh?
I
wouldn’t begrudge the Aussies their victory. Stokes seemed to take the defeat
stoically but in good heart. England came oh-so-close, four Tests to come,
blah-blah-blah. I think another England victory could have killed the series as
a sporting spectacle. Now we have something really special to look forward to.
Test cricket is back, folks!
