Originally Posted by
Mibbes Aye
Thanks ACL, that’s kind, as were your previous comments.
What a scintillating day in what has been a tremendous series!
Australia retained the Ashes on English soil for the first time since 2001 but one should acknowledge the stubborn rearguard defence that England put up. And we still have the prospect of a Test at The Oval, very often the series finisher for teams touring England and very often a match that produces outstanding efforts, often by the unexpected.
I thought England battled well today in the face of excruciating pressure from the Australians. Roy and Denly have both had their struggles in this series and Denly probably hasn’t benefitted from being moved around to accommodate other players, but they managed to hang around a bit. The jury remains out on both. Denly has probably done enough to make the next series. The question is whether continuing to try to utilise Roy in a Test role might have a negative knock-on effect on his white ball game, which would be a disaster for England. I think either would find remedy in a big score at The Oval, even if that was only papering over some real selection cracks. By the same token, outside of the Indians, I don’t think Roy will face better Test bowlers.
Bairstow and Buttler also began to settle in to a degree though a reintroduced Starc took care of Bairstow. This saw Overton join Buttler at the crease and England started to steady themselves.
Paine was really shuffling the pack, bringing in both Labuschagne and Head and even switching Labuschagne’s end in short order. Head was very tidy, Labuschagne more expensive (more of him later) but it felt like they were giving Lyon a rest and the pacemen too, while the overs ran down to the new ball.
Curiously, Paine wasn’t that patient, as maybe, just maybe, it felt like England could string out a draw. Starc and Hazlewood both came in before the eightieth over and it wasn’t long before there was an impact.
Josh Hazlewood, in simply masterful pace bowling, drew Jos Buttler into expecting a short ball by sending a couple down and manipulating the field to make it look like a short one was on its way and then just clattering his off stump. If there were three stages to ensuring the Australian victory here in Manchester, the first was Smith’s innings, the second was Cummins’ two late wickets last night and the third was eliminating any chance of a draw with this exquisite delivery by Hazlewood.
The Old Trafford crowd had been fairly raucous to this point, and surprisingly more so than Saturday which is traditional ‘party day’. They stepped it up a bit now and really turned up the noise, not least when Palliyugurage took an age reviewing Overton for lbw. The TV shot made it look like it was bat onto pad but snicker was inconclusive and I think it genuinely had just moved through the air and hit pad first. He rock and rolled for around five minutes while a partisan crowd grew hugely angry and then he decided it was inconclusive. Then ball tracker showed it wouldn’t have been a wicket anyway!
It wasn’t much longer before things were wrapped up. Labuschagne, the unexpected star of the series grabbing the wicket of Leach and Hazlewood finishing things off.
So, all in all, a deserved Australian victory and retention of the Ashes in my opinion. England had their stellar moments but Australia were consistent, or more accurately Smith, Cummins and Hazlewood were consistent with cameos from Wade and Siddle and the unanticipated emergence of Labuschagne.
I agree with comments I read somewhere else today that it all reflects the fact that England prioritised the World Cup and Australia prioritised the Ashes. That seems fair.
Having said that, in a series with still a match to go, we have seen what was likely once-in-a-lifetime heroics from Ben Stokes.
And we have seen Steve Smith demonstrate he is simply on a different plane to his peers who are rightly to be considered elite sportsmen in any other sense.
And we have seen Paddy Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, two different bowlers who combine beautifully, showing they are one of the best opening attacks you could name - these guys hopefully have a good few years ahead of them and can really establish themselves in the pantheon of all-time best fast bowling pairs if they stay injury-free.
Gorgeous, sumptuous cricket to date, I am gutted there is only one Test left but so grateful for all we have been given so far!
