By Malcolm Conn
Birmingham: Infected by the spirit of Bazball, Pat Cummins bludgeoned Australia to a remarkable first Test victory at the end of a tense final day at Edgbaston on Tuesday.
Australia won by two wickets after the Australian captain made an unbeaten 44, combining in an unbroken 55-run ninth-wicket partnership with Nathan Lyon (16 not out). Chasing 281 to win, Australia resumed at 3-107 after the first session was washed out, needing a further 174 for victory.
The match had undertones of the famous 2005 Ashes Test played at the ground when Australia were chasing 282 to win and lost by two runs.
Tuesday was Australia’s highest successful run chase in England for 75 years, surpassing the 242 Ian Chappell’s side overhauled in 1972. On that occasion, Paul Sheahan and Rod Marsh saw Australia home with an unbeaten 71-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Only the fabled Invincibles of 1948 managed better when Don Bradman, with an unbeaten 173, and Arthur Morris (182) shared a 301-run partnership as Australia amassed 3-404 in a famous seven-wicket win at Headingley.
Pat Cummins celebrates after scoring the winning runs to defeat England.Credit: Getty Images
It was a brilliant Test match set up by England’s ultra-attacking approach, but Bazball might be in danger of pushing the boundaries of cricketing common sense too far. An over-attacking declaration half an hour from the end of play on day one and some overzealous batting, particularly in England’s second innings, left the door open for Australia. It is the second time in three Tests that England have lost after declaring.
The match was in the balance until England captain Ben Stokes, a reluctant bowler these days because of a chronic left knee problem, brought himself on to bowl the 70th over with Australia still requiring 78 to win.
In his second over, Stokes induced Australia’s foundation, Usman Khawaja, to chop on for 65 from 197 balls, and the writing was on the wall.
Khawaja was remarkable in this match, facing a total of 518 balls and anchoring Australia’s first innings with 141. After two failed Ashes tours over a decade, Khawaja made his two highest scores in England during this match.
The loss of Khawaja appeared to be the end for Australia, but Cummins had different ideas. He is no stranger to claiming close matches, hitting a four in his first Test, as an 18-year-old, to claim a two-wicket victory in South Africa chasing 310.
This time England’s new batting sensation Harry Brook fumbled in an attempt to flick the ball to Zak Crawley as he slid around the third man boundary, only for it to roll into the advertising covers on the rope.
Cummins ran down the pitch with his bat in the air coming back for a second run and then Nathan Lyon leapt up and hugged his captain with delight.
England appeared to set the match up on the opening day after blasting their way to 8-393 in just 78 overs then declaring while Joe Root was in full flight already with a century next to his name. Another 30 runs would have made all the difference. Still, it was an impressive recovery given England had been 5-176.
Usman Khawaja of Australia raises his bat after reaching a half-century on day five of the first Test.Credit: Getty Images
It also helped to move the game on and made a result more likely when almost a day’s play was lost through rain across Sunday and Tuesday. Move the game on again they did in the second innings but, in typical Bazball fashion, 10 players made double figures and four were dismissed in their 40s while no one reached a half-century, leaving the door open for Australia.
England were forced to deal with several conundrums that hindered their progress.
One was the recall of Moeen Ali two years after retiring from Test cricket to replace Jack Leach, who is out for the series with a back injury.
Moeen Ali was not himself on his recall to Test cricket.Credit: Getty
A competitive cricketer he may be, but Ali’s lack of bowling preparation resulted in a damaged spinning finger from the sudden increase in workload. Unable to grips the ball properly, he could only be used sparingly on the final day when England needed its spinner to play a major role, and that forced Root to do most of the spin bowling late in the game.
Cummins ultimately benefited, hitting Root for two sixes in one over.
This was compounded by the injury hindering Stokes and restricting his bowling.
A related problem was recalling Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper after he spent almost a year out with injury following a freak golf accident.
While Bairstow deserved to return as a batsman after his brilliant 2022, his glove work behind the stumps is not the same quality as the dumped Ben Foakes.
Bairstow dropped three catches and missed a stumping which collectively cost more than 100 runs.
As well as he batted, with a run-a-ball 78 in the first innings that turned the match in England’s favour, Bairstow made only 20 in the second innings and his misses behind the stumps cost more than he contributed across the match.
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