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England, Australia serve up another Ashes classic
The hosts ended up winning the battle of nerves at Headingley to win their first match of the series
As Chris Woakes (32*) punched the air after smashing the winning runs through point, the crowd on the Western Terrace rose in unison. Till just a few minutes ago, the nerves had been jangling, the nails were being eaten. But now they rose, free of their tension-induced shackles, to raise a toast to their champions.
England beat Australia by three wickets in the third Test at Headingley; a Test that had as many twists and turns as a Formula One circuit and a script that only a fool or a genius would dare envision. Uncertainty makes for a compelling match and if you ever wanted proof of that, you just have to see how the current Ashes series has played out.
Under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England don’t just want to win. They want to entertain and their style has managed to make Test cricket come of age in an era dominated by T20 cricket. This is theatre. This is a gladiatorial contest. This is madness.
The sun was out on Sunday and the batting conditions were way better than they were when Australia batted in their second innings. But a chase of 251 in the fourth innings of a Test is never easy. The pitch is an unknown variable and so are the nerves. However, Harry Brook, batting at No. 5 instead of the No.3 he batted at in the first innings, played an innings of rare quality to guide England to victory with the series on the line.
His innings of 75 (93 balls, 9 fours) came at a fair clip, as most of his innings usually do, but he played it smart as well. The sixes were missing as was unnecessary bravado. This was about getting his side over the line. This was bigger than Bazball. England knew that and so did Brook.
England, though, stuck to their guns. They chased down the target in exactly 50 overs, at a run rate of 5.08. They lost wickets regularly and when Bairstow was dismissed with the total on 171/6, they could have looked to change tactics. But they didn’t.
Brook found an able ally in Chris Woakes and they put on 59 off 73 balls to almost shut the door on the Aussies.
Mitchell Starc, 16-0-78-5, turned in a brilliant performance in the second innings but didn’t find enough support from skipper Pat Cummins, who was expensive, or from Scott Boland, who clearly looks a pale shadow of his usually accurate self.
"There's a few moments that went back and forth,” said Cummins after the match. “Day one we lost 6 for 20-odd, yesterday the sun was out and we missed an opportunity. Few key moments. Seems like a series where each session swings in one team's favour and then the other.”
It is an unprecedented unpredictability caused largely by England’s ultra-aggressive approach. They keep going for the quick runs and there will be days when their play will seemingly put you in an eternal shake-your-head mode.
But it also ensures that you can’t take your eyes off the action. When will they decide to take on the opposition; when will they make schoolboy errors; when will the opposition get sucked into their pace; when, where and how… three words that are almost perpetually on our tongues when England bat. It is a beautiful game of chance, one that puts the thrill back into the game.
There are others who have attempted the same but often that aggression would be driven by the match situation. England, though, use aggression as their most common ploy. Everything else is an afterthought.
Usually, the aggression is restricted to the batting but at Headingley, Mark Wood came to the party with the ball first and then the bat. His sheer hostility and pace engineered the Australian collapse in the first innings and played a huge role in England’s win.
“When you've got someone who can come in and bowl 95mph, it's a massive help,” said Stokes in the post-match chat. “It impacts the game, whether he's taking wickets at one end or they come at the other. Great to see him smiling, running in and bowling rockets. And with the bat, he's a free spirit, and very clear in his mind. He walked out knowing how he wanted to take the game on, doesn't always come off but it gives you a better chance.”
For now, the action will shift to Old Trafford in Manchester where the fourth Test will begin on July 19. A change of venue, though, will clearly not mean a change of intent — neither for Australia nor for England.
And perhaps that too is why this series has tugged on the heartstrings. It is a clash of styles and contrast has us enamoured in every way possible. The first three Tests have been classics and hopefully, the fourth will follow suit too.
