Three Ashes Tests have been played. And all three have gone to the wire. Australia won the first two, but England pulled one back with a tense three-wicket win in Leeds. Harry Brook’s 75, and his stand of 59 with Chris Woakes, turned out to be the game-changing passage of the match as England chased down the target of 251 in just 50 overs.
At 171 for 6, with Jonny Bairstow dragging one on to the stumps with an airy-fairy drive, Australia would have believed they were in with a chance to seal the Ashes. At that moment, Brook and Woakes played some sensible cricket to put the home side in ascendancy. Woakes played the occasional drive and flick, while Brook brought out the pull and also employed the cut against Todd Murphy’s off-spin. The duo also were quick to pounce on any opportunity to pinch singles and twos.
There were a few close shaves, with Woakes struggling against Cummins’ short ball. It is a tactic that Australia have used quite well against Woakes in the past. But the ball landed in no-man’s land a few times. At 230 for 6, it seemed as if Brook would steer England to a famous win. However, against the run of play, he attempted an ambitious pull stroke off Starc and could only spoon a catch to Cummins at mid-off. In fact, the catch could have been put down as Starc also ran across to snaffle the catch. Thankfully for Australia, Cummins kept his eyes on the ball and grabbed it.
Mark Wood, England’s hero with the ball. then got a top edge on his pull shot off Cummins and collected six vital runs. In the very next over bowled by Starc, he creamed one through the covers, and Woakes provided the finishing touches with a nicely played drive through the covers. Just like in Leeds in 2019, the crowd let a collective roar to celebrate the moment. In that over, Alex Carey also dropped a tough chance, but it has to be said that he covered a lot of ground to run across towards third man. On the replays, it looked more like Scott Boland’s catch. Wood was the batter who got the reprieve.
For large parts of the day’s play, the game swung back and forth. A lot of the English batters got starts but were out to soft dismissals. Ben Duckett planted his front foot too early and was trapped in front by Starc, with the batter playing across the front pad. Starc, who dislodged Duckett with the 3/4 seam, then removed Moeen Ali with a similar delivery. The only difference was that Moeen got castled.
Zak Crawley fell to an attempted drive sans conviction, with Mitchell Marsh making the breakthrough. Joe Root looked assured at the crease, before inexplicably pulling a leg-side delivery into the hands of Carey. Meanwhile, the move to send Moeen up the order helped England as it meant Brook could play his natural game batting at No. 5. Brook put up a good show, cracking some sumptuous drives. On occasions, the in-between length from Cummins troubled him, but he was able to negotiate those phases.
After the lunch break, Ben Stokes, too, succumbed to a rather tame dismissal; via a strangle down the leg-side. When Bairstow also followed him back to the hut, England were in a spot of bother. Woakes and Brook, though, had other ideas.
The Test would also be remembered for Mitchell Marsh’s blitz in the first innings. He also found some swing with the old ball in his final spell of the second innings, and perhaps could have been given another over or two. Wood bowled incisively in the first essay and took a five-for. Wood came across as a thoroughbred fast bowler, employing the short ball and fuller one according to the batter’s strengths and weaknesses. He also generated a hint of swing when he dropped his pace a touch. Meanwhile, Travis Head continued to show his worth with a superb knock of 77.
Australia perhaps would look back at the first innings, when they lost their last six wickets for the addition of only 23 runs. In the second dig, there were a few soft dismissals, which didn’t help their cause. From England’s perspective, for once they took their catches in the second innings. Also, all five bowlers chipped in with wickets, while Australia seemed to largely depend on Starc and Cummins. On the other hand, England seemed to have worked out a way to play Boland.