Daily Mail - 23.08.2019

QQQ

Daily Mail, Friday, August 23, 2019

89

No panic as

fiery Jofra

drags it back

By RICHARD

GIBSON

THE ASHES

THE ASHES

by NASSER

HUSSAIN

ThERE may have been a

period after tea when England

lost the plot and looked

ragged because they were

searching for wickets, but for

the most part they were

disciplined.

At no point was I too

concerned about England’s

situation because if you look

at this Australian side, with

their middle order you know

as soon as you get one wicket

a couple more could follow.

The door can be forced open

and there is an opportunity.

Joe Root did well to get

England back together after

Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes

failed to match the

consistency of Jofra Archer

and Stuart Broad. The way he

did that was to turn to the

man of the moment.

I have huge respect for

Michael holding, especially

when he talks about fast

bowling, so when he says

England over-bowled Archer

at Lord’s and his speeds were

down here as a consequence

I listen.

Only Archer will know if that’s

the case and he was feeling

sore after Lord’s or if he was

deliberately bowling slower

yesterday because at

headingley it’s all about

pitching the ball up and

hitting the top of off-stump

rather than being about pace.

But the problem for Root is

that he’s got an Ashes series

to win and it will go against

his record as captain if they

do not.

So when Archer was bowling

the way he was at Lord’s, it

was only natural for the

captain to throw him the ball

as much as possible.

Then, after England came

here and won the toss, it was

obvious that Root would want

Archer to bowl at the five

left-handers in the Australia

top six with the ball nibbling

around.

And after that poor spell

when England were getting

ratty with each other, who

does the captain turn to again

but the man who has already

become his go-to bowler in

only his second Test. It is only

natural.

Once Archer is made

available for a Test then

the captain will want to

use him as much as he

needs to do to win the game.

If down the line he needs a

rest then England will have to

look to rotate, the way

Australia have done with their

fast bowlers.

The problem for England is

that they don’t have that

depth at the moment,

with Jimmy Anderson,

Mark Wood and Olly

Stone all injured.

When they return maybe

Root will be able to

think about easing the

workload on a bowler

who is gold dust already.

England got their just

rewards in the final session

yesterday. They probably

could have been just a little

bit fuller, especially after tea,

but it was just one of those

days when they were a bit

unlucky because the ball

almost did too much.

Stuart Broad has been fuller

and faster all summer and

Travis head would not be able

to play that absolute beauty

that bowled him if you gave

him a thousand goes at it.

What England did well was

refuse to panic when things

were going against them.

They regrouped, got the big

two back together and went

again. The result was that it

was eventually their day and

Root’s decision to bowl first

was justified.

Australia struggled without

Steve Smith and it was the

man who replaced him,

Marnus Labuschagne, who

was their best player by a

country mile. It was so nice to

see such an organised

batsman and Labuschagne

leaves the ball better than

anyone on either side.

That may sound old-fashioned

but it is an important quality

to have and Labuschange did

it well yesterday, then working

it off his legs when the ball

came to him. It was proper

Test match batting in English

conditions.

David Warner had his share of

luck in the morning session

and got to the stage where he

probably felt he had done the

hard work and could cash in.

But the problem for him was

that the ball was still doing

plenty. Warner had played and

missed 15 times by lunch

yesterday, whereas in the

whole of the last Ashes in

Australia he played and

missed just 13 times.

Once you see off the new ball

in Australia the hard work is

done but in England, in the

last few years, there has been

no part of an innings when a

batsman is truly comfortable.

And so it proved for Warner

Lancashire give Jimmy friendly support here.

LANCASHIRE have

arranged a second XI

friendly next week

designed for James

Anderson to prove his

fitness for the fourth

Ashes Test.

The 37-year-old will add

to his workload in a

three-day match against

Durham at Chester,

having returned figures

of two for 23 from nine

gentle overs versus

Leicestershire’s second

string on Tuesday.

England’s all-time

leading wicket-taker

played no further part in

that match beyond

delivering two spells on

day one and travelled to

Headingley yesterday

to continue his

rehabilitation under the

guidance of physio Ben

Langley. Anderson

suffered a right calf

injury on the first

morning of the opening

Test against Australia at

Edgbaston.

The manufacturing of a

second XI contest — at a

time when the first-

class counties are

engaged in the final

week of Vitality Blast

group games — provides

echoes of 2018 when

Lancashire twos hosted

Nottinghamshire in a

hastily-arranged match

at Old Trafford, as

Anderson came back

from a shoulder injury

between the Pakistan

and India Test series.

Four-times Ashes winner

Anderson is hoping to

win his 150th Test cap at

his home ground of Old

Trafford, starting on

September 4, but the

England hierarchy want

to be confident about

his match fitness before

plunging him back into

the series.

Race

against

time:

Anderson

has a

bowl after

play

in Leeds

yesterday

ACTION IMAGES

Out: Root

successfully

reviews

BEN STOKES smirks as he stands
over Marnus Labuschagne
after a Stuart Broad delivery
had struck the Australian a
painful blow in the midriff.
Soon after, Labuschagne was
floored again by a Stokes full
toss (below left) and sent on
his way lbw for a fighting 74.

DOWN AND OUT!