After the extraordinary highs of Headingley last week, the trip across the Pennines provided a rather more low-key resumption of hostilities
The Report by Andrew Miller04-Sep-2019Australia 170 for 3 (Labuschagne 67, Smith 60*) v England
Put that Ashes fever on ice. And wind. And rain. And grim Mancunian Autumnal mizzle. After the extraordinary highs of Headingley last week, England and Australia’s trip across the Pennines provided a rather more low-key resumption of hostilities, as just 44 overs were possible in a stop-start day that nevertheless provided a microcosm of the series to date.Stuart Broad bowled with aggression, intent and thrilling early success – scalping David Warner for the fifth time in seven innings, and for his sixth single-figure score of a desperately poor series, before Steven Smith and his super-sub-turned-automatic pick, Marnus Labuschagne, continued their own fine runs of form with another brace of half-centuries – for both men, it was their fourth in as many innings in this campaign, and Smith’s eighth in a row against England since the 2017-18 rubber.But then the weather had the ultimate say on a day that also featured a maiden home Test wicket for Craig Overton, a player rather surprisingly recalled to England’s attack on account of the ticker he showed in adversity Down Under two winters ago, and who lived up to that reputation with a very timely late incision after a three-hour rain delay, his sharp inducker bursting through Labuschagne’s gate to bowl him for 67 and end a determined third-wicket stand of 116.In between whiles, however, this was a day on which it was hard to judge quite where the two teams were at. At 28 for 2, with both Australian openers succumbing to Broad in the space of seven overs, it seemed the Headingley hangover was set to be prolonged for a visiting team that had had the Ashes “stolen” from under their noses, in the colourful phrasing of their coach Justin Langer.But then, by the time a three-hour rain delay had given way to a 4pm resumption amid swirling winds and a biting chill factor, the momentum of the day – such as was able to develop – swung emphatically back to Australia’s most accomplished pairing.In a mildly comical half-hour that featured another two-minute rain interruption, the squally conditions were so atrocious that the rubbish being served up by England’s bowlers was matched only by the detritus fizzing across the ground as a succession of crisp packets, clingfilm and a rogue beach-ball (crisply swept for four by Smith) punctuated both the action and what little rhythm England could muster. Even the bails failed to survive the conditions, with the umpires removing them (in accordance with Law 8.5) before a pair of replacements, weighed down by some hastily hammered-in nails, were brought back into play.Steve Smith pulls through square•Getty Images
If there was a talking point from an England perspective, it centred around a notably off-colour day for Jofra Archer – an overdue development, some might say, after a summer of ceaseless highs and expectations for a player who – lest we forget – has barely celebrated his three-month anniversary as an international cricketer.Archer’s first five-over spell was cagey, averaging in the low 80s rather than the mid-90s, although that could have been put down to his assessment of the conditions – after all, having taken the new ball in similar weather at Lord’s, he had arguably bowled a yard too short to truly challenge the outside edge, and this time seemed more focused on line and length than pace and fire.It was his second spell in the afternoon that raised a few more eyebrows – with Smith in his sights and already well set after a solid start to his comeback innings, Archer opened up with a 79mph loosener and rarely exceeded 85mph in an occasionally sharp though largely lacklustre display. There’s no doubt that the chill did not favour such a thoroughbred performer, and he seemed reluctant to part with his two sweaters before finally settling for a short-sleeve only, but such are the expectations surrounding his every delivery these days that anything that veers towards the ordinary is bound to attract attention. But he’ll be back. He always is.Besides, with Broad in one of his Ashes moods from the outset, Archer perhaps felt entitled to be the support act for once. With James Anderson now officially ruled out of the series, Broad’s status in England’s Test attack has never been more senior, and he responded to Australia’s desire to take first use of a dry pitch with another outstandingly hostile opening gambit.His first over featured a second-ball lbw appeal against Marcus Harris that England rightly chose not to review, and a fourth-ball breakthrough, as Warner’s struggles against his round-the-wicket line were exposed once again.The manner of Warner’s parting today was stereotypical of the trouble that Broad has caused him all series. Around the wicket, outside off and shaping back in, drawing the batsman into two minds, then snicking the edge of a half-committed bat by a hint of jag off the seam allied to extra bounce.Off Warner trooped for a second-ball duck, for a series record that now reads: 2, 8, 3, 5, 61, 0 and 0. Only Mike Atherton, in his first full series against Glenn McGrath in 1997, has recorded more than Warner’s current tally of six single-figure scores in an Ashes series, and with a maximum of three more innings to come, there’s time yet to match or surpass his figure of seven.Broad now was in one of his ominously rhythmic spells, and three overs later, he thumped Harris on the knee-roll with another of his angling-in nipbackers from round the wicket, and roared down the pitch, arms outstretched in celebrappeal, with only the most belated of backwards glances to the umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, who duly obliged with a tentative, unconvincing raise of the finger.Harris reviewed, as well he might, and sure enough the ball was shown to be clipping the leg bail … indisputably out, but one of those ones that leaves a batsman ruing what might have been.And so, for the first time this summer, Australia’s two stand-out batsman of the series were united in the middle – by the close they had scored more than 40 percent of their team’s runs for the series, but until now in single file rather than tandem.The curious spin-off benefit of Smith’s concussion substitution at Lord’s was that Labuschagne was handed an opportunity that might not otherwise have arisen, and for the fourth innings of the campaign, the calm, methodical, reasoned approach honed by half a season of rich returns for Glamorgan paid further dividends for his country.As had been the case with Smith at Edgbaston, England were too quick to lose patience when their lines of attack failed to find the edges that have been standard among the rest of Australia’s batting, and at times it was surprisingly hard to tell the two batsmen apart, with Labuschagne every bit as adept at working the ball off the straight and narrow through the leg-side before capitalising on the over-compensations with drilled drives through the covers.And as at Headingley in what had appeared to be an Ashes-deciding hour of indiscipline in the first innings, England’s failure to settle into any sort of rhythm looked likely to cost them dear until Overton’s sparky intervention before the early close. Either way, Smith was able to take advantage and kickstart his comeback with 60 largely unchallenged runs. They got away with it last week, but England will need to be sharper on the resumption to keep their Ashes ablaze.