The Ashes Chronicles
Second Test Day 4 Brisbane
Tea on Day four. The pair of English batters walking off the field was the same pair who’d walked onto the field two hours earlier. Astonishingly England had batted through a session without losing a wicket. A huge round of applause is necessary from us all.
Sarcasm aside, it actually was a strong batting display from Ben Stokes and Will Jacks as they tried to find a way to give their team the chance at a result in this match.
The problem is, it was in direct contrast to their self aggrandizing, flamboyant, attacking and at times senseless, style of batting. The type of batting many have said is ‘saving the game of test cricket’.
How ironic the batting on show when England needed to save this particularly game, was the very batting this team has spit upon over the last few years.
Disciplined, defensive, opportunistic, respectful. Or as the rest of us like to call it. Test Match Batting.
The trouble for England was the bowling they were facing was all of those things and it was persistent.
Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Bredan Doggett and Michael Neser gave the English batsmen almost nothing. It’s why, after almost two full sessions of batting, this England team scored 107 runs from 40.2 overs. 242 deliveries.
For context that more deliveries than either of their two innings in Perth where they scored 172 and 164.
The whole cricketing world was watching Stokes and Jacks thinking “Oh. So you can do it.”
To give them their credit, they did it well. They left well, defended well and picked the right balls to hit. By tea, they’d even managed to erase the 44 run deficit they started the day’s play with and built a very slender 16 run lead. at 193/6.
After the interval, Stokes and Jacks continued in that fashion and you started to wonder how far this could go. Was 2019 Headingly, or even 2023 Lords for that matter, on the cards from Stokes? Jacks looked like the perfect partner. Until…
Two hours of wizardry from Steve Smith.
Really, Smith was the cherry on top of the excellent cake of Alex Carey and Neser.
Carey was keeping up at the stumps to three of the Australian quicks who were all bowling over 130 km/h (81 mph). Him being there didn’t allow the batters to leave their crease at will and put pressure on the bowlers.
Neser took full advantage of Carey’s presence and continuously threatened the outside edges of the English bats.
Eventually he found Jacks’ and the ball raced to Smith at first slip.
Smith obviously felt aggrieved by Jacks taking a brilliant class to dismiss him late on day two and therefore decided to take a worldie of his own to end the Englishman’s innings. It was absolutely astonishing and the Aussie captain celebrated wildly.
Partnership broken. England’s lead was 47. 224/7
Three runs later, a Neser delivery caught Stokes’ outside edge and Carey took a sensational catch of his own, standing right behind the English captain. 227/8.
Having watched 221 balls of old fashioned test match batting and the Australian tail at 95 runs the day before, England’s tail enders decided to return to tactic swing wildly. They didn’t last very long.
Three balls after Stokes’ dismissal, Smith moved himself from slip to the outfield. The very next ball Gus Atkinson slapped a ball from Doggett right to him. 231/9.
Three overs later, Neser found Bryden Carse’s outside edge and Smith gladly accepted the offering to give the bowler his first five wicket haul in test cricket.
Utterly brilliant from Smith the captain and Smith the fielder who now has 210 catches in test cricket. The second most all time behind Joe Root on 213. And Smith has played 39 less matches than his English counterpart.
All out for 231 and with a lead of only 64, England were staring down the barrel of a 0-2 series deficit.
Travis Head and Jake Weatherald ensured they never threatened to make it a game.
By the time Head chopped onto his stumps, the pair had scored 37 runs. Meaning Marnus Labuschagne walked to the crease with Australia needing only 28 runs to win. He didn’t last long, contributing two runs before he gloved a good delivery to Jamie Smith and out walked Steve Smith. Australia needed 23.
He got off the mark immediately with a single, setting up Jofra Archer v. Steve Smith. See 2019 Lords.
Smith crunched the first ball of the over for four. Then he tried to ramp Archer’s next delivery. Archer thought it a good idea to say something and Smith retorted dismissively by calling him ‘champion’. That’s got to sting.
Smith hit the next ball over the keeper’s head for four. The ball after, he smashed for six. It was incredible theatre.
Then he hit a single, trotted down to the other end of the wicket and waited for his next chance. England’s lead was down to seven.
He took a single off Atkinson. Six.
Weatherald hit a beautiful four, two, followed by a single. One.
Facing the last ball of the over, needing only two to win, Smith HAMMERED the delivery over the boundary for six.
Brilliant Smith the batter. In that two hour span, Steve Smith was the three dragon meme where all three dragons are menacing.
2-0 Australia.
Lost in all of that. Man of the match for his eight wickets and team’s highest score 77 was Mitch Starc. He now has 18 wickets in the series which is literally double the next highest tally.
On to Adelaide where Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are set to return for the hosts. Just the 871 wickets between them. They’re pretty good.