A sea of fans bursts into wild celebrations with Ben Stokes at the centre of the frame, his heavily tattooed arms punching the cool Yorkshire air as batting partner Jack Leach sprints to him. A picture that tells a thousand words—jitters of the England team and fans through a 76-run last wicket partnership, one of the most important single run scored by a No. 11 facing 17 deliveries in an hour’s defiance against Australia’s pace battery, one of the great
A sea of fans bursts into wild celebrations with Ben Stokes at the centre of the frame, his heavily tattooed arms punching the cool Yorkshire air as batting partner Jack Leach sprints to him. A picture that tells a thousand words—jitters of the England team and fans through a 76-run last wicket partnership, one of the most important single run scored by a No. 11 facing 17 deliveries in an hour’s defiance against Australia’s pace battery, one of the great
Ashes series-levelling wins engineered by a century and more from that August evening in 2019.
There was already that photo from 1981—a bearded, padded-up Ian Botham lost in thought inside the Headingley dressing room, an unlit cigar between his lips during an Ashes Test he almost single-handedly decided. The great England all-rounder dived into the hearts of the English fans with that famous image, having made them believe in miracles. In the next 40 years, only Andrew Flintoff and Stokes would emulate heroics worthy of comparison with Botham at Headingley.
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After their crushing Lord’s defeat, and ahead of the third Test against India, England’s hopes of another Headingley miracle will depend on skipper Joe Root, who has almost waged a lonely battle so far and returns to his home ground.
Will Headingley throw up another classic? The ground, located in the Headingley suburb of Leeds, is immersed in history. Don Bradman still holds the record of most runs at this ground, his tally of 963 runs in four matches (334, 304, 103, 16, 33 and 173* between 1930 and 1948) even overshadowing son-of-the-soil Geoffrey Boycott, whose tally is only 897 runs in 10 Tests. Boycott did drive home the home advantage while scoring a tortuously slow 100th first-class century in 1977. John Woodcock, who recently died, wrote of that innings in The Times: “Boycott kept plodding along, taking infinite care not only in the production of his strokes, but in checking his guard, clearing out his block”. Six months later, Boycott—then England captain—was infamously run out by Botham in Christchurch.
The ‘Botham Test’ of 1981 was the first medal on England’s chest at Headingley. Now the UK trade envoy to Australia, Botham was 25, and had quit his captaincy after a torrid Lord’s Test, asking to be left alone. Mike Brearley wasn’t ready to give up. “The best way of describing it is, if you’ve ever watched Star Trek, is Spock—I’m a bit of a Trekkie,” Botham told Wisden. “Brears felt like how I think they wanted Spock to be portrayed. Maybe they got the idea from Brears! He could look into you like he was reading your mind.”
Bob Willis, who played a crucial role in skittling out Australia in the second innings, wasn’t even picked originally. Brearley had spoken to him, made sure he was match-fit and played Willis when the time came. The match progressed thus: Australia declared on 401/9 with Botham taking six wickets. England were bundled out for 174 with Botham hitting a fifty. Asked to follow on, Botham hit a 148-ball 149, with a 37-run last wicket stand with Willis, who was out for two. Willis came on for the second act of his comeback story, taking eight wickets (8/43) as Australia chased 130, helping England inflict an 18-run win.
The 2019 narrative dominated by Stokes’ defiant 135 sent Australia into a tizzy. Coach Justin Langer went into a fit of rage, kicking the waste bin after Nathan Lyon fumbled a Leach run-out.
Graham Gooch had been an exemplary act in 1991, carrying the bat in a dogged second-innings 154 against a West Indies pace attack of Malcolm Marshall, Patrick Patterson, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Kevin Pietersen’s 149 against South Africa in 2012 is a close comparison purely because it helped England secure a draw—the only one at the venue in 18 Tests since 2000.
England’s record is otherwise mixed in Headingley since 2000—nine wins and eight losses. The first of those defeats was a consequence of an imperious batting performance, Rahul Dravid (148), Sachin Tendulkar (193) and Sourav Ganguly (128) weighing in together in 2002. Across six sessions, they took turns to bludgeon the English bowling before inflicting an innings and 46 run defeat, England’s heaviest against India at home.
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That a ground this steeped in glorious contests could fall into hard times is unthinkable. In 2017, Headingley was on the verge of losing international status after a multi-million pound grant from the Leeds City Council was withdrawn. The tide turned after the £45m redevelopment project was completed with help from a private company just before the 2019 World Cup. A top ground now, it has even bagged a 2023 Ashes Test. And being Headingley, new memories started accumulating the moment the turnstiles opened—be it Rohit Sharma’s century in a record opening partnership with KL Rahul against Sri Lanka or Lasith Malinga puncturing England during the hosts’ triumphant World Cup campaign.
After a final day flop shot at Lord’s, England will have to deep really deep against a super confident India. Will Headingley be the ally again?
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