Daily Mail, Friday, September 6, 201985
THE ASHES
MARTIN
SAMUEL
Chief Sports Writer
at Old Trafford
T
he only surprise
was the declaration.
For some time, as
the shadows length-
ened, it seemed as ifTim Paine was waiting for a
milestone to be reached.
Steve Smith was back in the
hutch, his double century secure.
So what was the magic number?
Those with a cruel streak
speculated that it was the 100 up,
against the name of Jofra Archer,
for no wickets.
Bowlers hate three figures as
much as batsmen go in search of
them. Were Australia trying to
demoralise the bowler whose
energy had revitalised english
cricket this summer? It certainly
looked that way. In the end, tactical
considerations won the day,
Australia relented and called time
to take a proper swing at england
before close. They declared three
runs shy of 500, with Archer three
short of his century, too: 0-97.
It will have been a humbling day
for a player whose rise and impact
on english cricket has been little
short of meteoric. Archer was the
star of the summer until Ben
Stokes cut loose at headingley.
he had electrified Lord’s on his
red ball england debut, the third
Test was a sell-out on the back of
just being in his presence; and the
narrative before Old Trafford
centred on the recommencement
of hostilities with Smith.
england versus Australia became
Archer versus Smith; a personal
duel with the batsman
whose brilliance and
resilience has come to
define the tourists this
summer.
That race, it is
fair to say, was
run and won at
Old Trafford
yesterday.
Archer looked
a shadow of
the player who
appeared so intimi-
dating little more than two
weeks ago, Smith appears
to have taken victory away from
england with another epic display.
Archer surrendered his pace and
his fire, Smith surrendered his
wicket, eventually, but only to
part-time spinner Joe Root, after
recording a third double century
against england. This was Smith’s
day, as it is probably his series, too.
england were battling to keep
the Ashes alive from the first ball
they faced, in early evening.
Archer, by comparison,
deserves our sympathy. he
appears exhausted, bowled to
a standstill across the last
three Tests. At Lord’s, a
quarter of his deliveries
hit 90mph. That was down
to just five per cent at
headingley but Archer
explained this was part
of the plan.
Australia without
Smith required a fresh
approach and he was
more than just a speed
merchant. Yet at Old
Trafford, Smith was back,
and Archer bowled at
90mph just three per cent
of the time. Yet still,
whenever england were
in a hole, so most of the
day, Joe Root tossed
the ball his way.
Far from being the
game changer
in england’s
attack, he has
become the stock
option. In just
three Tests a
Yet Smith has outstripped them
already and is still going. he has
three innings to come, potentially,
this summer. At least one more
home series, too, probably more.
It is not unthinkable that he will
go down as the greatest Ashes
batsman of them all, Don Bradman
aside. his average is already
better than every Ashes batsman
in his sights, bar Bradman and
herbert Sutcliffe.
And if, by the close of Australia’s
innings, Smith had crushed
england’s spirit, just three balls
into Archer’s first over he may
have inadvertently done the same
to his supposed nemesis.
Archer bowled a lame full toss
and Smith offered him a chance.
Back down the wicket, a very
straightforward caught and
bowled. Archer shelled it. Maybe
he was unprepared for weakness,
maybe he hadn’t warmed up yet.C
RIckeT in this part of
the year, in this part of the
country, is no picnic for
any player, let alone one
relatively inexperienced in North-
ern hemisphere conditions.
Archer has experienced a typical
english summer or two with Sussex.
even so, the schedule of this Ashes
series is a test for all.
chilly Manchester in September
is no ally, any more than the Athens
heat was for Paula Radcliffe, or the
Nevada desert for Barry McGuigan.
For Archer, watching Smith
twitch and grind his way to a double
century as dirty grey clouds blew
from west to east and flannels
flapped in the breeze must have
been a dispiriting, sobering
experience; a no-fun zone,
exhausting, mentally challenging.
And foreign.
That he is seen as the remedy to
every english ailment merely adds
to the strain. hands plunged in
pockets on occasions, trying to
regain that ferocity, he now knows
the challenge ahead. It is so much
more than just getting Steve
Smith out; but the pressure of that
isn’t helping, either.We’ve turned Jofra
from fearsome gem
to English trundler
UNSUNG HERO — PAGE 83
«LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD
T P SPIN AT THE TEST
BY the end of Australia’s
first innings, Jack Leach
had bowled 15,539 legal
deliveries in first-class
cricket, and only 13 no-balls.
Unfortunately for him, the
13th happened to come as
he had Steve Smith caught
at slip for 118.SMITH has been out
to the reverse
sweep only twice in Test
cricket — and both times
he has fallen to Joe Root
after passing 200. The
previous occasion came
at Lord’s in 2015, when he
was lbw to Root for 215.AUSTRALIA captain Tim Paine made the most of two
dropped catches, on nine and 49, to register his
first Test half-century in 19 innings. His last was in
October 2018, when he helped save the first Test against
Pakistan in Dubai with an unbeaten 61 in 220 minutes.Chance: Jofra
Archer spills a
Steve Smith
shot and is
upset (left)
as Sam
Curran
drops
Tim Paine
REX/GETTY IMAGESgenuinely fearsome fast
bowler resembles a
very english fast-
medium trundler.
he needs
protecting. he
needs under-
standing.
Instead, Archer
has been Anglicised
by england’s
desperation.
As if it wasn’t hard
enough bowling to
Smith. What an
innings from him again,
the one constant in
Britain’s summer of
national chaos.
As Brexit drives the
country to distraction, the
only certainty is an Austral-
ian batsman who amasses
giant totals against england.
Smith is the highest run scorer
in Test cricket in 2019 already,despite having played just four
innings, and since scoring his
initial Test century, he averages
in excess of 110 in the first
innings of Test matches. And he’s
getting better.
Only two players in the history of
cricket have improved on an average
of over 60 in four consecutive Test
innings. The first is everton
Weekes, the second is Smith. And
Smith has now done it twice. In the
last Ashes series; and this one.
Yesterday he surpassed a succes-
sion of extraordinary batsmen as
an Ashes run scorer. Len hutton,
Geoff Boycott, Ricky Ponting,
Alastair cook, Graham Gooch,
colin cowdrey, Neil harvey and
Mark Taylor.
Some fair old batsmen there, you
might think. Some of the greatest
exponents of the art. Players who
defined Test cricket in their age,
whose brilliance often decided
where the Ashes urn would reside.