Sport First Specsavers Ashes Test
In being dismissed in only 52.3
overs, after being set 97 of them to
survive, England batted almost as
badly as Joel Wilson umpired.
As Australia have gone 1-0 up al-
ready, England will have to win two
- and probably three – of the four
remaining Tests if they are to regain
the Ashes.
It made for an inglorious ending
to the era of “Fortress Edgbaston”
where Australia had not won in any
format since 2001. Even a propa-
ganda department would have
been hard pushed to call it a strate-
gic withdrawal as Pat Cummins,
who recorded his 100th Test
wicket, and Nathan Lyon, who
passed 350, routed England. This
was not the low-scoring match
widely prophesied, until England
were dismissed mid afternoon
for 146.
If there are three main reasons,
Australia won partly because Eng-
land found the loss of James Ander-
son insuperable, partly because
they have an all-time great in Steve
Smith who scored 144 and 142, and
partly because they were better
prepared for red-ball cricket.
This superiority is only going to
continue and the disparity increase:
county cricket is nothing but T20
until the Lord’s Test tomorrow
week, except for the Australians’
three-day game against Worcester-
shire, when the tourists can tone up
their opening batsmen, their one
weakness in this match.
By Nick Hoult CRICKET NEWS
CORRESPONDENT at EdgbastonEngland have big questions to an-
swer over their middle order, with
concerns mounting over the toll the
World Cup win has taken on JosFears over Buttler
burnout following
World Cup heroics
No scope, in other words, for any
English batsman to force his way
into the home squad by weight of
red-ball runs. If Warwickshire’s
opener, Dominic Sibley – the lead-
ing run-scorer in the first division
of the championship (940 at 63) –
had a red-ball game this week, he
might have given the selectors an
option. Only, if Sibley were to open
with Rory Burns, would Jason Roy
drop to No 3, thus disturbing Joe
Root again, or four, a position
where he is going to face even more
of Nathan Lyon?
As it is, England’s only obvious
batting options are to persevere
with Joe Denly, in the hope that he
can eventually translate his free
stroke play into a substantial in-
nings, or to replace him with Sam
Curran. Root would then stay at
three and Ben Stokes, his vice-cap-
tain, move up to four – and Stokes
would then have a reduced bowling
load – with Jos Buttler at five and
Curran at six. Given his mettle so
far, Curran at six in the rest of this
series could be fancied to score
more runs than Denly at four.
Anderson’s replacement by Jofra
Archer is straightforward, so long
as the latter comes through his Sus-
sex second XI game this week.
Archer has yet to make his Test de-
but, but his bouncers have already
ruffled Australian helmets, during
the World Cup qualifier at Lord’s.
England, moreover, have not yet
tried extreme pace to dismiss Smith- from over or round the wicket –
specifically with a leg gully and two
men out.
Allowances should be made for a
day-five Edgbaston pitch that of-
fered copious spin for Lyon and un-
even bounce for the quick bowlers:
Rory Burns and Jonny Bairstow
copped short balls that did not
bounce as they would have nor-
mally. Even so, England batted
poorly, too content to play a few
shots, rather than adopt a thou-
shalt-not-pass attitude; so the way
they lost by 251 runs was bad, as
well as the result itself.
England, however, lost this game
on day one, not five. They let Aus-
tralia wriggle off the hooks of 35 for
three and 122 for eight. The impact
of Anderson’s absence was severe,
but England did not make the most
of the three seamers they had left:
the same number as Australia had.
Smith and Travis Head started
the revival when Stokes’s bowling
was all over the place. Smith com-
pleted it in his stands of 88 with Pe-
ter Siddle and 74 with Lyon. Smith
has become one of the all-time
greats but Siddle, who contributed
half the runs to their ninth-wicket
stand, has not. England departed
far too soon, far too readily, from
plan A of full-length bowling just
outside off stump.
It was the first time since Febru-
ary that Stokes had bowled in a red-
ball game, so no wonder he found it
difficult to bowl a full length; it was
by banging the white ball in short of
a length that he was not hit for one
six during the World Cup. It was
here, in Stokes’s bowling and the
batting of Bairstow and Jos Buttler,
that England’s shortage of red-ball
preparation showed. A quart can-
not be crammed into a pint pot – it
is a saying which may not be famil-
iar to those administrators who
scheduled England’s summer.
On a wearing pitch, the most ef-
ficient form of bowling has always
been quick off-spin, and Lyon
added an extra stride during the
game to his run-up to fizz ’em
through. England’s right-handed
batsmen had to cope with two short
legs; left-handers, such as Stokes,
Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad, had no
chance if Lyon’s off-break landed in
the right spot and spat.
Still, Roy’s dismissal was mostly
self-destruction. There was noth-
ing to be said for trying to charge
Lyon and hit him off his length, be-
cause he was always going to bowl
from the City End all day (bar one
over from Smith). The sweep was a
worthwhile shot on the basis of per-
centages – and Roy had got steam
up by using it – but the charge to
drive a six was not.
After Roy had gone at 12.18pm,
the gates of “Fortress Edgbaston”
were opened and the Australians
entered, to the strains of their sup-
porters who outsang England’s and
had the final chant. Smith was the
player of the match for mesmeris-
ing England, for making their bowl-
ers abandon the plan that was right
for the conditions, and luring them
into bowling at his legs so he could
pick them off ad nauseam.
Winning is one thing, psycholog-
ical domination is another. Not
since 2005 have England gone 1-0
down then won the Ashes, and it
will take another epic effort to turn
this series around.England surrender
as Australians end
Edgbaston hoodoo
Bad omens Why tourists now favourites to win series
Scyld Berry
CRICKET JOURNALIST
OF THE YEAR
at Edgbaston
IST
Lack of red-ball cricket
crucial factor in debacle
Anderson injury fatally
weakened hosts’ attack
Buttler, and over how long Joe
Denly can be given to prove his Test
credentials.
Buttler looks mentally exhausted
after a gruelling World Cup. He ad-
mitted in an interview after the fi-
nal that he went through the
emotional wringer during the tour-The evidence suggests Australia are now firm
favourites for the Ashes. On the 29 occasions
they have won the first Test of an Ashes
series, they have won the urn 22 times.Australia win first Test
Won Drawn Lost
In Eng In Eng
In Aus
7
15
1
1
3
2
England win first Test
Won Drawn Lost
In Eng In Eng
In Aus
6 1
0
3
7 3
These were the chances of each result
at four key stages of the match,
according to CricViz's 'WinViz' simulatorDay 1: Aus 122-8
Day 2: Eng 267-4
Day 3: Aus 27-2
Day 5: Eng 13-0
79% 19% 2%
80% 11% 9%
84%11% 5%
1% 43% 56%
England Australia Draw
2 *** Tuesday 6 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph