The hour when Bazball made least sense

Australia end Day 3 with a lead of 221 runs after England batters again fail to rein in their exuberance

One hour was all it took to ruthlessly expose the alarming depth of England’s state of delusion that prompted them to turn a blind eye to the obvious. Resuming on 278/4 on the morning of the third day of the second Test of the Ashes, England—trailing 0-1—were staring at a 138-run deficit. London was expectedly overcast. But lying in wait was a blameless Lord’s surface, rolled out almost to atone for the thrills it had provided in the past. In front of them was an Australian bowling attack without Nathan Lyon—seen in crutches, most probably ruled out of the series—and backup plans, holding on to just the short-ball strategy with a 61-over ball.

Stuart Broad reacts as he walks off the field after losing his wicket during the third day of the second Ashes Test match between England and Australia (AP)

Common sense would have dictated England to shield up, see out the first hour, wear down Australia’s pacers and wait for the second new ball under kinder skies, like any team intent on drawing level would have strived to achieve. This lot, however, seems to have signed up for a brand of cricket that is entertaining but hardly sensible. The implosion feels more dramatic if read in a nutshell—47 runs added to the overnight score for their last six wickets—but the trigger of this thoughtless meltdown really were the needless dismissals of Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow. “That’s how they play” is the ruse commonly drummed up in case of their failures but if there ever was a day to show aggression need not always be literal, this was it.

If at all, the sudden dismissal of Ben Stokes just two balls into the day should have prompted an even more immediate change of plans. Mitchell Starc had aimed for the good length but the ball skidded across and Stokes closed the face of his bat a tad earlier, giving off a leading edge that flew to Cameron Green at gully. That made Brook, batting overnight on 45, and Bairstow England’s last specialist batting pair. So many England sides have crumbled under pressure in similar situations in the past. But English cricket has been exuberant over the last one year, declaring brazenly and pulling off absolute heists of chases, leading them to believe they are pathbreakers. Brook has hit a Test hundred off 80 balls, Bairstow is the orchestrator of quite a few of those stupendous chases in the past year. If there was any pair that could get England out of the hole, it was this.

But they are also indoctrinated to play just one way. Australia, fully aware of this, knew all they had to do was to stick to their bouncers. First to go was Brook, baited into a nothing slap by an angled away short ball from Starc who had put Pat Cummins on the edge of the infield anticipating it. That Brook chose to flat bat that ball wasn’t surprising, but shocking was the timing of it—just after completing a fifty that had set him up for a bigger, more invaluable innings. Bairstow was at least trying to play straight. And so, when Josh Hazlewood literally bowled into his slot, Bairstow almost instinctively went for a lofted drive. Only, this time the ball seemed to move back a bit and caught the inner splice of Bairstow’s bat to fly to Cummins at mid-on. The second hour had just started but England’s challenge had effectively been nullified.

Throughout the incredulity of it all now stands two damning numbers. Only 12 times since 2006 has a side lost five or more wickets to balls shorter than 10m in one innings. Two of them are by England this year—5/71 in New Zealand’s Mount Maunganui and now, 5/70 at Lord's. That England had also learnt nothing from the last-hour mayhem on Thursday was evident in how they again attacked Australia’s short-ball barrage, conceding three wickets while playing at 63% of the deliveries of this length. This despite the well-known fact that the hardest ball to bowl on a slow pitch is a bouncer. That in turn made Australia tiring out at one point a foregone conclusion. But England couldn’t have waited.

Australia wouldn’t complain though. Left with two days of play despite rain taking up a considerable part of the post-tea session, they are comfortably placed to dictate this Test. And they are going about their business unhassled, gaining small victories like starting the second innings with yet another fifty-run opening stand. Usman Khawaja, unbeaten on 58, looks solid. At the other end is Steve Smith. Time is Australia’s ally. And they know best how to utilise it.