The Ashes: Marnus Labuschagne under English fire as first Test sits on knife’s edge

Another telltale image from the first Test has left the England crowd steaming at the ears, with brutal chants aimed at the World No. 1 batsman ringing around Birmingham.

Australia is in the driver’s seat heading into day five of the first Test. With 174 runs to make and seven wickets remaining, England has been dealt a brutal reality check.

The lively Birmingham crowd has been brutal at times, laying into Cameron Green earlier in the match for what they believed to be a dubiously claimed catch.

On day four, it was Marnus Labuschagne’s turn to cop a beating.

As England’s tail fought desperately to stay alive, Ollie Robinson was caught off-guard defending a ferocious short ball from Josh Hazlewood towards short leg.

After his comments defending a brutal sledge at Usman Khawaja, Robinson was expected to be put in a furnace when he came out to bat in the second innings.

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His defensive prod sent Labuschagne scurrying forward to take a remarkable one-handed grab. The Aussie tossed it in the air immediately in celebration, but the umpires went upstairs to check.

Replays revealed that, although Labuschagne took the ball cleanly, he had scraped the ball along the ground as his hand twisted.

On certain angles, the attempted catch looked a bit dubious, with the ball clearly touching the grass.

And the crowd thought so too, with chants of “same old Aussies always cheating” echoing through Edgbaston.

Marnus Labuschagne scores a magnificent try at Edgbaston 🏉 #bbccricket#ENGvAUS#Ashes2023#TheAshes#theAshes2023pic.twitter.com/x534BIO9rS

— Georgie Heath 🎙️ (@GeorgieHeath27) June 19, 2023

The Barmy Army have made it their mission to remind Australia of their 2018 ball tampering scandal, targeting players who weren’t even in the team at the time as “cheats”.

On day three Green took a spellbinding catch, getting his left hand under the ball and wrapping it up before he went to ground, in the gully to remove Ben Duckett — but the English crowd instead started doubling its efforts to unsettle the Aussie all-rounder in the field.

It was sent upstairs for review but there was no doubting this one. English fans clearly remembered their recent history after Green was also accused of being a cheat by Indian fans for a similar diving catch he took during the World Test Championship final.

The Barmy Army could be heard booing when the wicket was confirmed by the TV umpire on the big screen.

England has now fought back to turn the first Test into a 50/50 contest, with three late wickets in the evening session leaving Australia at a junction overnight.

281 runs needed for victory suddenly looked like an intimidating total when David Warner – and key duo Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith – fell within 28 runs of each other.

“At the start of the Australian batting innings I thought it was Australia’s game to lose. But now it’s England’s game to lose,” Ricky Ponting said in commentary for Channel 9 at the end of play.

Warner had done well to finally survive a Broad opening spell, but failed to cash in when he was undone by Ollie Robinson.

Denied early, Broad was in full flight in his second spell as he found the edge of both Labuschagne and Smith’s bats.

Australia opted to send Scott Boland out as nightwatchman and he was superb, not only soaking up 19 pressure-packed deliveries but also scoring 13 runs to leave the visitors 3/107 at stumps – needing 174 runs to win.

Usman Khawaja (34 from 81 balls) is again looking to anchor the Australian innings.

Uzzie has another massive job on his hands in the second innings.

Cummins lashed by cricket legends

As Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow began taking the game away from Australia in the second session, it was Aussie skipper Pat Cummins in the firing line.

Cummins came in for repeated criticism from Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara, who questioned his lack of adaptability or specific plans for each batsman.

Sangakkara said there was a clear contrast in Ben Stokes’ regular interventions when England was bowling and Cummins’ commitment to bowling line and length.

He clipped the Aussie skipper again while Cummins was bowling and pushed most of his field back to the boundary.

“He just pushes the field back and waits and hopes,” Sangakkara said, in commentary for Channel 9.

As Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow began taking the game away from Australia in the second session, it was Aussie skipper Pat Cummins in the firing line.

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain described it as a one-day field, before correcting himself because “there’s too many fielders out for a one-dayer”.

But Cummins immediately had an answer, with Australia finding a breakthrough soon after as Bairstow paid for attempting a reverse-sweep of Nathan Lyon.

The England keeper was trapped in front for 20, leaving his side 6/196.

And then Cummins made it a double strike, removing Stokes LBW for 43 to leave Australia 217 runs behind with three wickets to take.

‘He’s cost us’: Poms already pointing the finger

English pundits have already begun questioning the home side’s selection, with wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow in the firing line over some easily missed takes.

“Everyone always focuses on the runs Bairstow scores in the Bairstow vs Foakes debate,” Oliver Smiddy said via The Guardian.

“But he’s cost us an awful lot this game through missing some pretty regulation chances. Leftfield suggestion – ask Foakes to open and keep, if Jonny is too scared to bat above 7, and drop Duckett (if you want Crawley to be the swashbuckling opener)? It’s sufficiently wacky to align with Bazball. He could be the new Alec Stewart!”

Jonny Bairstow’s place behind the stumps has already been put up for debate.

Cricket writer Geoff Lemon questioned whether Foakes could stand up to the new ball, but did admit it was the worst he’d ever seen Bairstow perform behind the stumps.

“I wondered about Foakes opening but I don’t think he could do it. One point in defence of Bairstow is that this is one of his worst keeping performance for England. He’s usually a lot more reliable than this, though not in Foakes’s class, and he is coming back from a horrible injury.”

Even former Aussie keeper Darren Berry said the decision to leave England’s best gloveman out of the Ashes was “madness”.

For those interested Ben Foakes is the best keeper in England by the length of the Flemington straight and has scored Test match hundreds. He also scored 124 for Surrey in a run chase victory last weekend. Go figure 🤷‍♂️🙈 #madness

— Darren Berry (@ChuckBerry1969) June 18, 2023