Pat Cummins' The captaincy and bowling at Old Trafford left much to be desired. Photo: Getty Images/Conor Molloy
Now I understand what baseball is.
We heard about it, even we were threatened by it. Now we've seen it with our own eyes and I must say it was a breathtaking sight.
England may not have won the Ashes this time, but on the second day of the fourth test, I finally understood what they were doing and why they did it.
It was one of the most impressive crickets I've seen in a very long time. It was an absolutely breathtaking sight and proved to me that this style of play can work against the best bowling attack in the world. Yes, there was no Nathan Lyon in Australia, but they preferred to be left without a spinner.
It was unusual to see that the Aussies seemed to have no response, especially in the second session and when Johnny Bairstow went crazy at the end. They searched and tried but couldn't find an answer.
Johnny Baristow returned to his best at Old Trafford with both stick and bat. Photo: Getty Images/Alex Davidson. play, and that it will bring them much more wins than losses. I have seen their track record in this series: 11 wins in 13 matches, some of which were quite extraordinary, such as a 3-0 win in Pakistan with an incredibly bold approach.
But the reason why I I say that I understand it only now, lies in the fact that in the first two tests I did not do this. What I saw was a team creating breathtaking moments and moments of pure recklessness.
This time they carried out their plan to perfection within three days before the rain challenged them. They have a strategy and a plan and have shown how ruthless they can be over the long haul and that it works against the very best teams, even the world testing champions.
Watching this test reminded me of a game in the 2005 TV series. Everyone is talking about England's brilliant bowling attack in this series, but looking back, it felt like every time Matty Hayden and I pulled the pads to open the batting, England had a fast 400 on the board. It's hard. You are immediately under a lot of pressure and mistakes follow. You know that you can share a large starting position and still fall far behind in the game.
There are people who will say that England should have announced the beginning of the bowling game on the third day, but isn't the retrospective beautiful? We all would like a crystal ball. I can't fault their approach, I liked that they didn't look for extra runs and I liked how quickly Jonny Barstow got them. In the first test, Ben Stokes showed up too early, too late here. The critics can't have both.
I guess it will be a real relief for the Australian camp to know that after three intense tests they have completely lost in Manchester. It was a disappointing way to end the test and I'm sure I'm not the only Aussie who feels a bit indifferent about the rain keeping the ash out. Yes, relief, but not satisfaction.
However, Australia should be applauded for breaking the line in two very close Tests early in the series, allowing them to still win the series at the Oval this week. England absolutely must have upset their decisions in the first two tests, because, as I said, they were reckless. They didn't carry out their plan the way they did at Old Trafford.
It should also be noted that although Australia had no answers at Old Trafford, Pat Cummins did play a big part in those early wins. , well leading in his actions with both the bat and the ball. On the whole, however, the Australian captain will be relieved to know that they are lucky to go to the Oval with the urn already in their hands.
«England will be desperate to play this way again»
I'm fascinated by psychology this week. England will feel overwhelmed after being denied victory in a game they have dominated. They will be desperate to play like this again, and not just because they want to defend their record by not losing a home Ash since 2001. If England lose this series 3-1, they will probably feel a bit ripped off.
With that in mind, who has more motivation? This Australian team is very similar to the one that drew 2-2 in 2019 and never spoke on this tour about keeping their goal. They've all done it before and they want to win. For many of them, this will be their last tour of England.
They will desperately try to play better than last time we also kept the urn at Old Trafford. We went from gloom over the miracle of Ben Stokes at Headingley to ecstatic over a great Test win at Old Trafford in just a few days, but then failed to do it right at the Oval. We felt we had won this series but left England without winning. We were very flat. Australian players remember this superficial feeling.
This test was one of the few times that Captain Tim Payne and I disagreed on anything. Payney changed his mind shortly before the throw and chose bowling. I remember my wonderful friend Ricky Ponting approached me in the outfield and asked what the hell was going on and I had no answer! Our bowlers worked hard at Old Trafford, and on the first day they had to work again, and everything flowed from there. You'll never bowl first at the Oval, but it could be the Stokes again this week.
Australia has a lot of questions about how they'll hold England back as they've seen them at their best. They will probably consider withdrawing the spinner and changing some tactics. But one thing is certain: the motivation to win in England will be there.
Let's hope that the English Bazballers can find something special once again in this series. This Ashes deserves an unforgettable climax because it was one of the best test crickets I have ever seen.
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