The Observer - 04.08.2019

Section:OBS 2S PaGe:4 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 19:42 cYanmaGentaYellowblac

• The Observer
  4 04.08.19 Cricket

Subhead Here

The Ashes

Broad cranks up the

gears to remind old

foe of belligerent best

The crowd sang Jerusalem. This does

not really narrow the third day of

this Ashes Test to any particular time

slot. It is probably safe to assume the

crowd is always singing Jerusalem,

unless specifi cally stated otherwise.

Or if not that then “Campeones” or

“You’re the convicts” or “We saw you

cry on the telly”. This was the mid-

afternoon version of Jerusalem, the

one where the tempo stutters but the

volume is beyond reproach.

As David Warner and Cameron

Bancroft walked out to open

Australia’s second innings a heavy

August sun drenched the Hollies

stand. Here, safari-suited soldiers

mixed with Dalai Lamas. A nappy-clad

Donald Trump was pursued down the

aisles by poncho-clad Mexicans. Now

and then the England 1966 World Cup

team rose from its bank of seats and

performed a brisk, knees-high circuit

of the stand to respectful applause.

There were boos and further boos

• deeper, richer shades of boo – as
  Warner and Bancroft prepared to
  set about England’s 90-run fi rst-
  innings lead. In any Saturday
  afternoon TV planning module
  of likely game scenarios, this
  was probably quite close to the
  ideal. Plus, Stuart Broad was
  opening the bowing, and tak-
  ing the fi rst over in the absence
  of the injured Jimmy Anderson.
  Broad against Australia: this
  has been a dominant note of every
  series he has played, from that colt-
  ish six-wicket haul at Headingley
  10 years ago, through the triumphs
  and disasters of Brisbane and the
  edge-clipping, gully- snaffl ing, face-
  clutching madness of Trent Bridge.
  Broad has loved these contests.
  Broad’s game rises to meet England’s
  most consistently cussed opponents.
  He took the new ball having
  taken 100 Ashes wickets at 29. He
  had also spent the previous hour
  and half playing his most valuable
  innings since he was clanged, hor-
  ribly, through the grill by Varun
  A aron in 2015 – the ball that trans-
  formed a useful batting career into
  a sustained five-year act of flaky,
  chancy courage.

There are certain things it is nec-

essary to say about Broad when he

looks to crank up through the gears.

At times you wonder why he does not

always seek the full length that coin-

cides with his God Mode days where

wickets tumble and the whole sky

seems to turn a rich shade of Broad.

The knees pumped here. The run-

up was even. Broad’s fi rst ball was full

and blocked with a jerk by Bancroft.

His second hit the front pad, drawing

a huge, refl exive appeal. The third was

nicked just short of the cordon.

From the other end Chris Woakes

was a little wild, straining a bit against

the occasion. Then came Broad’s

montage moment. It is an oddity of

his career that so little has changed.

This is basically the same slim, blond,

loping fi gure of 12 years ago. The run

has not slowed. The action remains at

a distance the same.

But then Broad is astonishingly

durable, a gangling, looming oddly

indestructible rake of a 6ft6in fast

bowler. What has changed are shades

of nuance, the relentless analysis of

his own line and angles and mode

of attack. This is an all-time career

that has essentially been built out of

being tall and being smart. There are

no other extreme qualities beyond

resilience and an ever-whirring brain,

plus the commitment to working his

way through the fallow patches.

Part of that is his recent attacking

line around the wicket to left- handers.

This was what did for Warner here,

not fate or righteous anger, or some

dark cloud of karma-laden guilt.

Warner hopped and blocked his

fi rst ball, then drove for four past mid-

off, a lovely controlled clip, waiting

a beat for the ball to come. The next

one was also full and edged through

fourth slip. The line was dragged back,

Broad applying the brakes, mid-over.

Then it happened. Broad’s fi fth ball

was quicker and closer to Warner’s

body, borrowing that angle of

approach. Warner went to leave, the

ball fl ew through, and then some-

thing strange happened as Jonny

Bairstow caught the ball and hurled

it in the air, shouting and jumping

and looking desperate.

Umpire Joel Wilson drew a blank.

England reviewed. Replays showed

the ball grazing Warner’s glove, that

first wobble of the foam baffle at

his wrist drawing huge cheers; plus

the feeling of something authenti-

cally Ashes and authentically Broad

imprinting itself in real time.

A moment to dwell on Broad, who

remains for all his success, a rather

underrated modern English

sporting great. This was his

450th Test wicket. Six men

have gone past this mark

ahead of him. Three –

Anderson, Glenn McGrath

and Courtney Walsh, were

quick bowlers. None have

close to his accompanying

3,000 Test runs at a strike rate

of 65.

Broad has been doing this for 12

years , without tailing off or preying on

easy targets. His most dismissed bats-

men, 70 of his total scalps, have been

Michael Clarke, AB de Villiers, Ross

Taylor, Hashim Amla, Shane Watson,

Chris Rogers, Steve Smith and

Warner. Had he managed to sneak in

another Aussie here Edgbaston would

probably have started to melt in the

late afternoon sun.

Instead, Smith began to fi nd an

ominous rhythm as Australia moved

into the lead. This Ashes Test could

still turn either way. Broad, as ever,

will be key.

Bowler claims 450th

career Test wicket

and challenges his

undervalued status

Barney

Ronay

Edgbaston

Stuart Broad

fl icks the ball away

during his valuable

knock of 29 which

helped England

to post a total of 374

at Edgbaston

Middle -order collapse Three fall in 11 balls

12:14

Burns

12:18

Mo een

12:22

Bairstow

Rory Burns

is removed by

Nath an Lyon

after facing 312

balls. A classic

off-spinner’s

wicket, the ball

delivered from

around the

wicket turning

away from

the left-hander

and the edge

taken by

Tim Paine

Moeen Ali lasts

just fi ve balls

and is bowled

off-stump

shouldering

arms, with

Lyon taking

him with his

straight ball

from around

the wicket.

Moeen now has

four ducks in

his last eight

Test innings

Jonny Bairstow

lasts only eight

balls, steering

Peter Siddle

from too close

to his body

straight into

the hands of

David Warner

at fi rst slip, to

complete the

fall of wickets

as England go

from 2 82-4

to 300 -8

9

Stuart Broad has now been

involved in nine partnerships

worth 50 or more against

Australia. His 65-run ninth-

wicket stand with Chris

Woakes helped England

post a fi rst-innings

lead of 90.

ameron

o open

a heavyy

Hollies

soldiers

ppy-clad

down the

ans. Now w

orld Cup

eats and

gh circuit

plause.

her boos

boo – as s

red to

first-

day

ule

is

he

as

k-

ce

on.

this

of every

hat colt-

adingley y

riumphs

and the

ng, face-

Bridge.

ontests.

ngland’s

ponents.

having

29. He

hour

uable

d, hor-

Varun

trans-

er into

of flaky,

w

W

w

Stuart Broad

flfl icks the ball away

during his valuable

knock of 29 which

helped England

to post a total of 374

at Edgbaston

Stuart Broad has now b

involved in nine partner

worth 50 or more agai

Australia. His 65-run ni

wicket stand with Chr

Woakes helped Engla

post a fi rst-innings

lead of 90.

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