The Ashes: England scrape home in third Test to keep series alive

The celebrations spoke more eloquently of the significance of the moment than words. Woakes and Mark Wood, two protagonists of the Leeds script, tightly embraced each other in the middle of the pitch. Ben Stokes and other colleagues rushed on to celebrate euphorically, releasing all their stifled nervous energy. Though they are still trailing the series, though the win was more a scrape than a stroll, the victory could transform the series and careers, and could shape their legacies. At Old Trafford, in nine days’ time, they could be an unstoppable force.

❤️ The match-winning moment…

Chris Woakes, what a man 👏 #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/hnhvEMu0jR

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 9, 2023

As though staying alive in the Ashes was not big enough, they had a philosophy, one that possessed powers to change the landscape of cricket’s oldest format, to protect and preserve. The public and media hounding would have been scathing. Few England coaches and captains survive an Ashes drubbing, even if the margins of defeat were thin. Already, poisoned darts had been shot at Brendon McCullum and Stokes after the first innings declaration at Edgbaston, before the short-ball barrage and aggressive stroke-play left the purists wincing. A series defeat here would have been celebrated as much as mourned. Not that Bazball is flawless or is the magic cure to dwindling crowds in Test cricket, but it is an approach that is both radical and joyful, a system that enthralls as much as entertains. It gives the format a shot of rejuvenation; it has fleetingly given the grand old version a dose of forgotten youth. It would have died an abrupt death, at the hands of a notoriously reactive cricket board, had England lost here. It could breathe a little longer and deeper now.

Taking advantage

Nothing shone as brightly as England’s unflinching resolve. Like the first two Tests, there were junctures in the game when they looked to wither away, when they seemed to squander friendly conditions, be it batting or bowling. When Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh were in the middle of a racing partnership in the first innings, it seemed that England had not picked their lessons from Edgbaston and Lord’s, wasting helpful overhead conditions. But this time, they had answers. Woakes chipped away with wickets while Wood blazed away the lower order, triggering a calamitous collapse.

Stokes, again, staved off embarrassment when batting under bright blue skies that appeared every time when England batted and crept back to the cloudy duvet when Australia batted. That England always contrived to squander favourable conditions, whereas Australia beat adverse conditions, has been a recurring theme.

England’s Harry Brook celebrates a century during the fourth day of the third Ashes Test match between England and Australia at Headingley, Leeds, England, Sunday, July 9, 2023. AP/PTI(AP07_09_2023_000274B)

During the chase on the fourth day, too, there were times England made themselves uneasy, when a meltdown hung uncomfortably over them. But they demonstrated desire and drive to hang on. Panic kicked in when the hosts lost Stokes and Jonny Bairstow in the space of 10 runs, with the score at 171/6. But Harry Brook exuded serenity that belied his adolescent looks. He is 24, became the quickest to complete 1000 runs in this format in terms of balls faced, but this was the most tense moment of his 17-innings-old career.

Blamed often for injudicious stroke-play, he composed an innings of assurance to form the spine of the chase. The choice of strokes was exemplary, the adherence to fundamentals was refreshing.

His innings busted the myth that Bazball is contrived, forced aggression. The reality is that most of the players are naturally aggressive, the result of a streamlined selection process. It’s horses for courses, but in a wider sense. Horses for a cause, perhaps.

Method, not madness

Stokes, McCullum and the selectors have, with forensic eyes. assembled a team of skillful aggressors than a group with blind, careless aggression. This is not a bunch that wantonly throws their bats around. It’s the way the likes of Broo, Ben Duckett. Stokes and Bairstow had batted all their lives. Joe Root operates in an elevated batting space and has the gifts to adapt to any approach. Bazball, thus, is letting talents express themselves naturally, not trying to manufacture something out of nothing.

By design or happenstance, they discovered the perfect balance too. At times in the recent past, England have looked a bowler short. It did not help that their first-choice spinner Jack Leach and talismanic seamer James Anderson are not as proficient with the bat; Stuart Broad’s batting prowess has long waned; Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue are at best glorified night-hawks.

But here, England made brave selection calls. The addition of Moeen Ali, Woakes and Wood, in place of the injured Ollie Pope, Tongue and Anderson, reaped golden dividends.

Suddenly, there is a Test centurion coming at No 8; there is a number nine in Wood who could hack lusty blows (he scored priceless 40 off 16 balls in both innings combined). There is depth in bowling too. Excluding Stokes, there are five specialist bowlers, all with varied skill sets. Wood injects pace; Woakes is a swing-seam merchant quicker than Anderson; a canny and experienced off-spinner in Ali. The extra bowler compensated for Robinson, who picked an injury during the match.

Most importantly, England showed they are made of stern stuff, that they don’t wilt under extreme pressure. They had Ashes to reclaim, they had their principles to vindicate. They have kept the Ashes alive, and made a big stride in defending their means and methods. The best of this see-sawing, dramatic Ashes has yet to come.