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64th over: England 286-5 (Brook 48, Bairstow 5) “England fans adore me,” wrote Andrew Tomlinson. “England lost the Ashes on day one. They almost won it yesterday, only to throw it away again at the end. Maybe just enjoy playing the best Test cricket since… I don’t know, 1924?”
You’re right, the Warwick Armstrong era was incredible. The Big Ship! Arthur Mailey giving them a spin. Jack Gregory scares people. Jack Hobbs would have done his thing too, the man who tracked Steve Smith’s Ashes records.
Brook gets a single to cover, Bairstow one to fine leg.
63rd over: England 284-5 (Brook 47, Bairstow 4) Cummins from the Pavilion End, hoping to make a move down the slope. Tried a short ball and Brook promptly hooks it, for one.
“There is little if any false argument going on over baseball and bouncers,” writes Mark Hooper. “England’s new approach (which I love), is not just about pointless crash-bang-wallop – it’s just about taking a positive approach and taking the game to the opposition. By falling into their own tactics, they messed up, plain and simple. The smart thing – and the positive, game-changing thing – was to work the field for one and two and wear the fast bowlers, knowing that Lyon was not in game. I think it’s an understatement to call Bazball brainless, Stokes showed brilliant captaincy – and he showed how they should play after their brainless half an hour.
He is, and it’s a big blow for England that he’s out in conventional fashion this morning.
62nd over: England 283-5 (Brook 46, Bairstow 4) There’s something about Mitchell Starc and Ben Stokes at Lord’s. that’s it ball, during the 2019 World Cup group stage. I wrote a whole piece about that delivery, back in the day. And there was an on-field dismissal in an ODI in 2015.
Bairstow drives a four through cover from this third ball. England trail through 133.
WICKET! Stokes c Green b Starc 17
On the first pass! The England captain fell. Not trying anything silly. He was on strike thanks to a leg bye. Starc fires it quickly on the pads. Stokes tries to work the ball to midwicket for a run or two. The ball grows on him, taking an edge on the back corner of the blade indeed. So a leading edge that goes behind him, if that makes any sense? Flying in the ditch, Green added to his collection of incredible traps. The reflex, to his right, shoulder height, he actually raised both hands on it without even having time to fully look at the ball. It sticks.
Here we go…
Link to Test Match Special in other countries? Go ahead.
“I’ve mellowed overnight here, but I’m still a little annoyed it’s that time,” wrote Guy Hornsby. “I think I can ride this brand of cricket, but not to the exclusion of everything? How many hooks is ok on a field that feeds that plan, before it becomes a no-brainer? You definitely have to read the game too, like what Stokes did when he came in? If we learn from it now and can beat Australia positively and get past Australia, it could turn the series on. Surely egos are not so fragile that they have to assert themselves in all situations? This team has been outstanding and breathless and inventive, and they’re still learning. We’re all along for the ride, but if they do anything right now, the pressure might be apply in many different ways, and plans are not binary.
If there’s one thing that has stood out for me in this series, it’s that Stokes has been pinned as the leader in this all-out approach, but he’s also the only one who hasn’t bowled like that. Played quite soberly for the second time at Edgbaston and again yesterday, probably because the rhythms of Test cricket are baked in for him and he knows that sometimes you have to survive. See Headingley, 2019, third session, third day. A little before the fourth day.
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Some people have already emailed, so they don’t need this reminder, but you can send me a message about it or the bird machine. Details in the sidebar. I will publish some more if England’s batting leaves us time to breathe.
Finally, Barney Ronay if Test cricket is ever to see the likes of Smith again.
Jonathan Liew looked at the place of Ben Duckett, a man too cubic for the English public.
I spent my time with Lyon’s misfortune, and a bit of Smith, and the fact that jinxes make for a very boring strand of humor.
And we’ve created The Final Word, if you want to wrap up your day in podcast form.
… and the Ashes diary from yesterday.
Here’s Simon Burnton with quotes on Nathan Lyon’s injury…
In yesterday’s round-up, here’s the match report from Ali Martin.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
It’s like we just left the cricket ground, then, what do you know? We are back at the cricket ground. Mornings roll around easily this time of year. Day three of the Lord’s Trial, after we escaped the dire forecast for Day two without losing a minute to the rain. Today’s forecast suggests that apart from a small chance of a brief afternoon thunderstorm, we should be fine.
So, what is your camp? Some people look at the second day and say England stuffed it, others think it’s a decent position actually and it would be worse if the team from a few years ago were playing. Both positions have some merit. England will continue 138 runs behind, with captain Ben Stokes and new gem Harry Brook at the crease, and Jonny Bairstow still to come. Those three can lead to lunch.
Or maybe they’re all gone.
#Ashes #England #Australia #Test #day #live
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