The Observer - 25.08.2019

The Observer

25.08.19 3

Hazlewood, he settled in to play an

innings of old-style discretion. There

were no expansive drives but many

soft defl ections on either side of the

wicket. He let the ball come to him

and usually he had enough time to

deal with it. Like Denly he was pre-

pared to play the long game, to try to

wear down his opponents, not that

the Australians at any stage suggested

that they were running out of fuel.

Their bowlers certainly started

at full throttle. Rory Burns soon

edged a steep lifter from Hazlewood

into the increasingly safe hands of

David Warner at slip. Then Jason

Roy was bowled by a trimmer from

Cummins, which clipped the top of

his off-stump.

So a fast game was in prospect.

Batting still seemed a trial out there

even when the Australians were at the

crease. They managed to add another

75 in the morning but with enough

uncertainty to suggest that the

match might be over by the close.

Ben Stokes was selected to

accompany Stuart Broad at

the start and he would bowl

throughout the session, which

meant that, apart from a four-ball

interruption from Jofra Archer on

Friday night, he ran in from the

Rugby Stand End for 24 consecutive

overs. The impression was that Root

may have struggled to remove the

ball from his hands even if he had

wanted a change from that end.

England looked grumpy out

there, not surprisingly given

their situation; Marnus

Labuschagne, such a famil-

iar fi gure now, was still calm

and measured in between

being hit on the head by

a cricket ball – he took

two more blows in the

morning session – and

The Joes had

opted for the hard

route out of the

rut, the red ball

route rather than

the white

 Josh
Hazlewood
celebrates the
wicket of
Joe Denly after
a century
partnership held
up Australia

he remained a formidable obsta-

cle. On 60 he gave a tough chance to

Jonny Bairstow off Stuart Broad that

fell to ground. Broad did not quite

succeed in hiding his disappointment

as he fl icked the ball along the ground

to his keeper at the end of the over.

It looked like another one of those

days especially after the donation

of four overthrows – fortunately off

the bowling of Archer, which meant

that there were no volcanic erup-

tions out there. Then, after starting

gingerly, Archer found the edge of

James Pattinson’s bat and Root took

the catch. Stokes’s sweat was justi-

fi ably rewarded with the wicket of

Cummins, who was fending off a

short delivery.

Soon Labuschagne became the

fi rst batsman in the series to be run

out. A square drive sped out to Denly

on the point boundary. There was a

misfi eld, but only a little one, which

encouraged Labuschagne back for a

second; Denly gathered the ball and

his throw was swift and straight into

the gloves of Bairstow who gathered

the ball smoothly. To mild surprise

Labuschagne was a couple of inches

from home when the bails were

removed. Soon Nathan Lyon was

bowled off the bottom edge by Archer,

the 13th wicket of his brief Test career.

The target was set. It is a formidable

one. But we are still here.

75

Australia

were bowled

out for 246

after just

under 90

minutes

of play at

Headingley,

England

claiming

the last four

wickets for

75 runs.

2

England have

been set 359

to win the

third Test.

This year

they have

successfully

chased down

359 – v

Pakistan at

Bristol– and

364, against

West Indies

in Barbados.

But Joe Root’s

side would

need to make

the second-

highest chase

on English

soil to square

the series 1-1

and stand

a chance of

reclaiming

the urn in

the fi nal two

matches.

591

Steve Smith

and Marnus

Labuschagne

have scored

591 runs at

98.50 for

Australia this

series. The

rest of the

tourists all

together have

made 876

runs at 15.92.

Match

numbers

Late arrival Denly

shows class as he tries

to shed outsider tag

Joe Denly’s belated Test career owes

much to the perspective that comes

with age.

After a handful of one-day caps

in his early twenties, he admits he

went missing in county cricket and

only overcame a crippling run of

poor form when he stopped craving

an England return so badly.

On the eve of this series, when

others might be hyped up with

adrenaline, the 33-year-old could

scarcely have been more Zen. He

spoke calmly of the good fortune by

which he was getting this late stab

at Ashes cricket, a determination to

enjoy the ride come rain or shine,

and the experience he hoped to

bring as a senior pro.

Nevertheless, Denly cannot

have been impervious to the chat

surrounding his position since fi rst

being called up for the winter tour

to Sri Lanka and then earning a

debut in the Caribbean in January.

No England cricketer in recent times

has so obviously been the pick of

one selector – in his case a former

Kent team-mate, and now convener

of the panel, Ed Smith.

Even before this third Test we had

Trevor Bayliss betraying a touch of

uncertainty about Denly when he

suggested Jason Roy may be better

suited down the order. It was clear

who the head coach fancied in the

plum spot away from the new ball,

despite neither man having pulled

up many trees.

And so with one half-century

from 10 innings to his name before

this match – 69 in St Lucia that

booked his continuation through to

the summer - and a near-miss with

the World Cup squad after Bayliss

and Eoin Morgan lobbied for Liam

Dawson at the 11th hour, Denly

could have been forgiven for feeling

like a bit of an outsider.

It’s not often the top-scorer in an

innings attracts a fair chunk of the

heat but when the total is 67 and the

top score is 12, all bets are off. Denly

had faced 49 balls during England’s

Ashes-blowing blow-out on day

two, edging seven and missing a

further 16.

With white-ball success having

fed into his original England chance

• as opposed to outright fi rst-class
  dominance – and an expansive drive
  his downfall amid the meltdown,
  Denly was beginning to sum up the
  team’s issues as a whole.
  Yet on day three at Headingley,
  perhaps in a similar vein to the
  reduced expectations that saw
  him overcome a mid-career slump
  at Middlesex, Denly produced a
  performance that should earn him
  at least one more Test; another hint

at the ‘touch of class in his DNA ’ that

Smith lauded upon fi rst picking

him.

It started in the morning, when

Denly’s initial fumble at third man

talked Marnus Labuschagne into a

second run, only for a lasered throw

to Jonny Bairstow at the stumps to

see Australia’s new limpet from his

rock. It may seem a little thing with

England’s predicament so forlorn,

but being swamped by his team-

mates will have provided an early

confi dence boost.

Did this bleed into the batting that

followed? Arriving at the crease with

the score 19 for two and Roy having

been dispatched by a pearler from

Pat Cummins, there were times

early on in Denly’s innings where

you wondered if the lessons of Black

Friday had really been learned.

As well as wearing one on the

helmet from Cummins early in

the piece – and getting into some

awkward positions against the short

ball generally - there were a number

of whooshing drives at fresh air

that suggested England’s long-held

desire to go hard at width will not be

re-programmed overnight.

But slowly Denly began to fi nd

his tempo, feeding off Joe Root’s

growing assuredness at the other

end in a stand of 136 that has given

England a puncher’s chance of a

Headingley miracle.

Ali Martin

Headingley

Where runs fi rst came off Denly’s

edge, as the balls ticked over they

started to come via the middle. A

lofted drive off Nathan Lyon here, a

pull off Josh Hazlewood there - who

knew that Test batting gets easier

the more time you spend out there?

In the end it came unstuck when

both men lost some momentum in

the evening session. Denly, having

reached 50 from 134 balls, went

20 without scoring before another

Cummins delivery came into his

body, fl icked the glove on the way

through to Tim Paine.

It was a fl at end to an otherwise

encouraging innings and it is likely

to prove inconsequential in terms

of the result. But with some hard-

fought Ashes runs on the board,

Denly will feel more like an England

Test cricketer than ever before.

Joe Denly’s spirited innings of 50

off 155 balls against Australia showed

signs that he can prosper at Test level

Sixth over slaughter

More woe for Roy and Burns

Pat Cummins

delivers one

through Jason

Roy’s defence

beating the

England

opener on the

outside edge

at pace, the ball

crashing into his

off -stump. Th e

opener’s feet

were nowhere.

Josh Hazlewood

tests

Rory Burns

but the opener

has ample

time to get his

bat out of the

way. Instead,

he off ers the

blade through

to David

Warner at fi rst

slip. Out.

Burns

15/1

Roy

15/2