Sport Second Specsavers Ashes Test
Rory Burns
Exemplary courage under fire,
and the one England batsman in
red-ball mode, but has to find a
hook shot, otherwise he will be
peppered and pulped.Joe Root
Changed his guard between
innings, and being disorientated
mid-series is not healthy in a
captain. Back to No 4? At least
he now has a rocket-launcher.Jason Roy
Another chance or time for a
breather? Has to know the game
he wants to play – surely leave it
or bash it – and does not seem
to yet, plus dropped two at slip.Joe Denly
More valuable at No 3 if he is to
make neat 20s. Took the catch
of the match and played the
shot of it in second innings then
gave his wicket away next ball.Jos Buttler
Great that he toughed it out for
108 balls second time round- not just a white-ball basher –
in another match-shaping Test
innings, using brain and feet.
Ben Stokes
Promoted to five in the second
innings, and should never bat
lower again. Back-foot batting
against spin has improved vastly,
and he bullied the quicks.David Warner
Struggled more than Roy, with
scores of two, eight, three and
five. Same issue of hard hands.
With Warner down and Smith
out, the flock has no shepherd.Usman Khawaja
Always scoring fluently, not yet
going on to anything substantial,
Khawaja’s half-forward footwork
is not made for a top-order
player in English conditions.Travis Head
After a frenetic start, and
dropped when 22, he buckled
down to save the game.
Australia need a junior to stand
up – and he did.Cameron Bancroft
Scored only 44 runs in this
series but faced 162 balls, and
has a game plan – if only
planting front foot half-forward.
Top short leg.Steve Smith
The inimitable and irreplaceable
had to be replaced after being
hit on the head by Archer when- Has dominated this series,
as his average of 126 suggests.
Matthew Wade
After two failures he might be
vulnerable if Australia pick
Mitchell Starc at Headingley and
therefore need a fifth bowler in
Mitchell Marsh to contain.Tim Paine
Not such a good all-round game
as at Edgbaston. Troubled by the
wobble of the ball after pitching,
and defensive in his field-
placings on the fifth morning.Peter Siddle
Still wobbling the ball around,
but his reputation for economy
damaged by England scoring 16
off his last over. To be replaced
by Starc at Headingley?Josh Hazlewood
Veered from being an
impossible handful with a new
ball – nothing to hit in front of
the wicket – to being ordinary
with an old ball on a slow pitch.Pat Cummins
The only Australian bowler
unpunished by Stokes, and their
answer to Archer, but he might
well be replaced by James
Pattinson at Leeds.Nathan Lyon
Instead of pushing forward
hopefully, England anaesthetised
his off-spin – as did Paine’s
defensive field-placings and bad
reviewing – by playing back.Marnus Labuschagne
A brave, doughty and yet fluent
innings after he had been hit on
the helmet second ball. Ready to
replace Smith at Leeds – or one
of Australia’s other batsmen.Chris Woakes
One of his lesser Lord’s Tests but
still pretty good all round. Less
effective than normal from the
Nursery End because the wind
did not favour his outswinger.Stuart Broad
Fulfilling his brief, in James
Anderson’s absence, by getting
Warner out – three times out of
four – from round the wicket.
Has world-class support now.Jonny Bairstow
Up and running now, back to his
best as wicketkeeper and
swashbuckling with the bat in
his second innings, after keeping
England afloat with his 52.Jofra Archer
Took “only” five wickets but no
fast bowler has made such an
impact on Test debut for
England. Has to cash in on his
bouncers by pitching a few up.Jack Leach
Steady stuff on the last evening,
and you would expect nothing
less, if not quite the inspirational
match-winning spell to
maximise the rough.7
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England
player
ratings
By Scyld Berry
Australia player ratings By Scyld Berry
‘Lah-buh-shane’ makes his name
Game’s first concussion
substitute proves he is
made of stern stuff,
writes Isabelle Westbury
H
e does not even
pronounce his name
correctly. It is
unlikely, therefore,
that in years to come,
when comperes in
pub quizzes announce the name of
the first concussion substitute in
international cricket, they will get
it right either.
“Lah-buh-shane”, like
champagne, is the variant Marnus
has settled upon, easier off the
tongue than his native Afrikaans
version. A bottle or two might be
called upon to celebrate
Labuschagne’s first Ashes innings,
a match-saving half-century,
arising in the most unusual of
circumstances. Yesterday morning,
the young Brisbane batter woke up
to rainy skies and the multiple
formulas for the isotonic drinks his
team-mates might need. A few
hours later he had a Jofra Archer
delivery hurtling into his helmet
grille at 91.6mph. Labuschagne’s
drinks bottle might require
something stiffer in it, please Steve.
The player Labuschagne
replaced, that man Smith, has by
contrast both the most common
surname in the English-speaking
world (546,960 in Britain, at the
last count) and one of the most
recognisable in the cricketing one.
Smith, a name derived from
someone who works with metal,
had the mettle to continue, butnot the medicine to allow him to
do so.
The new concussion substitute
protocol, introduced to Test
cricket only 18 days ago, “shall be a
like-for-like replacement for the
player who has sustained the
concussion”. What “like-for-like”
means is contentious, and the
International Cricket Council
only last month clarified the
match referee would
determine if a proposed
substitute fits that criteria.
He did, and soon we were
speculating on what this
entailed.
Would Labuschagne
be walking out to a field
of boos? Must he leave
the ball only in a way
deserving of its own
highlights reel? Or could
he deliver the
impossible – a
dependable,
stubborn, top-order
batter defying all
convention in style
and batting averages
in this series so far? Archer
continued the short-ball
barrage, like-for-like. Despite
playing just one innings,
Labuschagne was the man hit most
by Archer – three times.
“I was [surprised],” admitted
Tim Paine, the Australia
captain. “We wanted two
[replacement players],” he
quipped. “Smith is
averaging 62, you should
be able to bring a couple of
batters in. Marnus played
superbly for a guy in his
third or fourth Test, he washit hard in the face second ball, but
I thought he showed great
character, great skill and really
good technique.”
For much of the final day at
Lord’s, the most inexperienced on
show looked the one most at ease.
Smithsonian in nature, he alone
was preserving the 1-0 series lead.
Until that contentious Joe Root
catch. The understudy stumbled
over his lines, but only during
the most demanding of
monologues; the applause
therefore was both sincere
and widespread once the
final curtain fell. A draw, a
series lead, and with Smith’s
concussion unlikely to
clear before Thursday, a
shoo-in for the next Test.
It would not be an Ashes
contest without a
sprinkling of South
African-origin conjecture
thrown in. “Born in South
Africa, moulded in the
County Championship” is a
refrain normally suited to one
of the English contingent.
But Labuschagne has played
more County Championship
matches this season than any
England player. He is also the only
man in the country to have
surpassed 1,000 first-class runs in
Championship cricket, 1,114 at an
average of 65.52 for Glamorgan.
Perhaps we should not be
surprised he slipped so serenely
into Smith’s shoes. Yesterday,
Australia’s batters blunted a
probing onslaught in a manner
England could not in the previous
Test. Take note, England, for there
is no shame in Labuschagne.medicine to allow him to
new concussion substitute
l,introduced to Test
only 18 days ago, “shall be a
like replacement for the
who has sustained the
ion”. What “like-for-like”
s contentious, and the
tional Cricket Council
t month clarified the
eferee would
ne if a proposed
tefitsthat criteria.
and soon we were
ting on what this
.
d Labuschagne
ing out to a field
? Must he leave
only in a way
ng of its own
hts reel? Or could
er the
ble – a
able,
n, top-order
efying all
tion in style
ting averages
eries so far? Archer
ed the short-ball
, like-for-like. Despite
just one innings,
hagne was the man hit most
er – three times.
s [surprised],” admitted
ne, the Australia
“We wanted two
ment players],” he
d. “Smith is
ng 62, you should
to bring a couple of
n. Marnus played
y for a guy in his
fourth Test,he washit hard
I though
charact
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For m
Lord’s, t
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England
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surpass
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Perha
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Australi
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Labuschagne dug
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for AustraliaThe Daily Telegraph Monday 19 August 2019 *** 7
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