Bet right about now the English are rethinking a lot of the pre-series smack talk they threw around.
And just like that the Ashes have been retained by Australia in a 3-0 victory over the visiting English side. With two games still to come, the English might be licking their wounds in the lead up to the biggest match of the year in Australian test cricket, the Boxing Day test. But how did this happen? Ahead of the series the English spectators and cricketing professionals were positive that this series would be a 5-0 victory for the English side. With sound bytes from both English TV Personality Piers Morgan and English cricketing royalty Stuart Broad both claiming that this English team was the best side they’d built since 2010 and the opposing Australian team was the worst team they’ve fielded since 2010. So how has the series been decided in 11-days with the wrong side on top for the English? Well they might want to stay away from the media for a while whilst the cricketing world begins to rip into all the smack talk they laid out against the result they delivered.
Innings 1 – Australia Batting
The third test begins in Adelaide, notably the home town of Aussie players Alex Carey and Travis Head. Australia went out to bat first, opening with its newest opening pair of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald an opening pair that appears to be staying around for the foreseeable future. Australia saw some quick dismissals by some excellent bowling from Carse and Archer that saw our start to the third test a little shaky. After a last minute decision that saw Steve Smith miss selection due to illness, Usman Khawaja goes to the crease at fourth and goes on to score a respectable 82 runs. Eyes have been on Cameron Green this series with many commenting they don’t think he’s had the form to hold his position which is sadly only reinforced when he is dismissed by Jofra Archer for a duck, sending out the Adelaide boy Alex Carey. Earlier this year, Alex Carey lost his father to cancer so when he went out to bat in front of his home crowd he dedicated his performance to him. After an error by Snicko that saw Carey get away with an edge to the keeper that absolutely should have been out, he went on to score 106 runs, raising his bat for his father. The rest of the Aussies didn’t last too much longer, other than Mitchell Starc who landed another 54 runs, the Aussies were all out for 371 runs. But frustration grew amongst the English side and some choice words were said. Jofra Archer made a comment to Ben Stokes about the fielding placement that was met with a fiery reply from the skipper, emphasising the tension the team felt about this test after the last two results.
Innings 2 – England Batting
With a sizeable score set by the Aussies, the England side were gearing up for a proper test chase. However, an early collapse set an uneasy tone. Duckett and Crawley both departed yet again with scores under 30. and it wasn’t until Harry Brook coming out at five did we see some momentum from the English. The captain though was yet again the driving force for the innings, with Ben stokes dragging the team by their teeth. He played a proper tactical test knock alongside Archer who put on an impressive 51-runs. Stokes put on 83-runs before being taken by a seed from Mitchell Starc that saw the captain depart furiously, as if knowing this fall of wicket was the decider of the series. England were all out for 286 giving Australia a lead of 85-runs going into their second innings.
Innings 3 – Australia Batting
With the benefit of leading the run score already Australia went out to bat with a bit of ease. Weatherald departed for only 1-run after an LBW that should’ve been reviewed. Labuschagne was only able to add an additional 13-runs before falling to Josh Tongue. Many of the Aussies fell with single digit scores or scores in the 10’s, aside from three batters. Usman Khawaja scored 40, but it was a certain South Australian batting pair that secured Australia the Ashes. The batting pair of the game was that of Travis Head and Alex Carey. Long time friends and Adelaide boys Carey & Head won the crowd on both sides of the fence with Head scoring 170-runs and Carey getting 72-runs to carry Australia to 349, giving them a lead of 434. England would need to get a world record chase of 435 to secure victory.
Innings 4 – England Batting
435, the magic number to keep the series alive for England, but would they be able to chase it? Crawley and Duckett had a huge responsibility as openers to keep the game alive but unfortunately Duckett yet again departed early with a total of 4-runs. Zak Crawley however was able to secure a solid 85-runs to give England some much needed momentum before being stumped by the masterful Carey. Things looked glum for the English though when Pope, Root, Brook and Stokes all departed for less than 40-runs each. At the end of day four, England were down by over 200-runs and with only four wickets in hand it looked like Australia had one hand on the urn. On Day Five England came out with a point to prove as Will Jacks and Jamie smith survived a brutal onslaught from the Aussie bowlers in the first session. They had even managed to chase down a fair few runs and keep the game alive with many now thinking England were going to achieve the impossible. Sadly though, after a few solid four’s Jamie Smith got cocky and sent the ball soaring for Pat Cummins to catch a sitter that saw the last glimmer in Englands eye slowly begin to fade. Jacks departed shortly after and with some masterful catches from Marnus Labuschagne the game was over. Englands bottom order made a seriously good fight back on day five but it seemed that after weeks of show boating and talking smack they had massively over estimated their own ability and seriously under estimated the Aussie side.
To their credit, I think the English side they have on paper is genuinely really dangerous and have the potential to be one of the most formidable teams in test cricket. But their biggest roadblock is what was once their greatest strength, bazball. When it first erupted to the scene it helped the team find confidence and reignite a love for the game, but they’ve not adapted to the changing times. The team now seems to put out a feeling of overconfidence and arrogance. Over the series only Ben Stokes has seemed capable of recognising fault. Brendan McCullum up until the end of this third test stood by the mentality they had been over prepared. If the English side can look within and recognise the errors they made rather than ignoring them like they have they will grow to be the side they already think they are. I hope this series doesn’t result with Ben Stokes relinquishing captaincy, as I stand by the fact he has been the one man doing everything to keep the team alive. But if in a few years time the side can reflect, adapt, and evolve they can be the greatest team the English side has fielded in well over 50-years. But for now, it’s worth also noting that this Australian side is far from the worst side we’ve fielded. Our bowling attack at the moment is the most dangerous it has ever been since the era that saw Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins and Lyon is an incredibly strong combination of bowlers. Whilst I agree our current batting lineup seems fragile due to some uncertainty of incoming replacements, the batters that are cemented are deadly. Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Marnus Labuschagne are all competent batters that can be hard to counter when they get the ball rolling. Alex Carey is one of the teams most reliable batters and could be in the worlds top 3 wicket keepers playing right now. Yes, we have four spots that need some refinement, but the one thing Australia had over the English this series that secured them the ashes over anything else is this: when we made mistakes, we owned them and adapted. When times got tough we stuck it out as a team and played a collaborative game with a team of 11 rather than a disjointed effort pointing fingers and fighting amongst ourselves.
Australia have retained the Ashes with a 3-0 win over England. Two more games are still to come.
