Ashes 2023: Pat Cummins had a shocker, England has the game in hand at Old Trafford

It was the worst of days for Australia as England’s batters broke the bowling attack and rattled captain Pat Cummins’ confidence.

England batsman Zak Crawley celebrates his century in Manchester, England. Picture: Getty Images.

Pat Cummins appeared to lose the plot and Australia any chance of winning this Test after England taught them a brutal lesson on the second day at Old Trafford.

England were 4-384 at stumps in reply to Australia’s 317, they lead by 67 but it feels like much more and will be if Harry Brook (14no) and Ben Stokes (24no) get going on the third day.

This was as messy as it gets. Everything that could go wrong did. Catches were dropped. Over throws conceded. Players injured. Reputations disrespected.

Bowlers got frustrated and England just got on with it.

Everything Australia got wrong, England got right. And every break appeared to go the home side’s way, as it so often does when you make the running.

Late in the day Mitchell Starc (2-74) left the field clutching his left shoulder after a fielding mishap, he reappeared for a moment to cover for Josh Hazlewood but was in clear discomfort and disappeared back into the dressing rooms.

Rarely has an Australian side look so clueless, rarely the captain looked so rattled.

There’s weather predicted for the third morning and the last two days, but the way England are moving it won’t take much clear air to equal the series 2-2.

Australia captain Pat Cummins leaves the field at stumps. Picture: Getty Images.

Opener Zak Crawley (189) and former skipper Joe Root (84), broke the opposition in the second session and turned the screws in the third.

The worst of this for Australia is it had a chance to seal the series on the first day of the Test but threw it away. A score of 317 was well below what was on offer.

Root’s dismissal in the last hour will have sent a shudder through the Australian batsman. The Englishman was bowled by a ball from Josh Hazlewood that just did not bounce.

It does not bode well for Australia and bode even worse when a delivery in a similar area reared up and hit Ben Stokes a few balls later.

Root’s a nice fella, mild in his ways, Crawley too, but there was almost a hint of disrespect in the way they went about it. Don’t they know this is a world class bowling attack? Didn’t they see how hard Australia had worked to summon its modest total the day before?

Together they put on 206 run from 186 balls. Alone Crawley put on 189 from 182 deliveries. On 21 occasions he crashed the ball into the boundary ropes, on three he cleared it. Early he played and missed often and a number of inside edges missed the stumps before one crashed into them to end the fun.

As far as Australia was concerned it seemed to be the only bit of luck that had gone their way.

The second session was something to behold. England scored 178 from 25 overs and Crawley scored 106 at a run a ball.

Travis Head’s six overs cost 48 runs, Cummins was going at a run a ball and dropping catches, fielders were spread and arms waved, but nothing seemed to slow, let alone, halt England’s audacious advance.

How Cummins must have longed to throw the ball to Nathan Lyon to settle things down and divide his attack into simple parts: off spin from one end, a smorgasbord of seam from the other.

Moments either side of Moeen Ali’s half century highlighted just how bad things were going for the team and Cummins in particular.

Travis Head had come into the attack, settled somewhat after his first two balls were reverse and slog swept his first two deliveries for four and six, induced a false in his second.

“Catch it,” came the cry from team mates, but Cummins could not see it and the ball dropped mockingly to the fielder’s right hand side. The resulting runs brought up Moeen’s half century.

Two overs later Moeen muddled a pull shot from Mitchell Starc but Cummins misjudged his lunge and dropped what should have been a fairly regulation catch.

Usman Khawaja did what the captain could not in exactly the same place two balls later but it was hard to shake the feeling the wheels had come off here.

When the second of two scorching straight drives went past Cummins to bring up Crawley’s 150 the captain put his hands on his hips, kicked at the dirt and cursed his luck.

The bum pats from team mates at overs end seemed almost conciliatory.

Zak Crawley of England shakes hands with Australia captain Pat Cummins as he leaves the field after being dismissed. Picture: Getty Images.

Later, his inbox filled with woes, he failed to back up a return from Smith on the boundary and the ball raced through for four over throws. It was the failure of a distracted man.

Cummins, who conceded almost a run a ball and has figures of 0-93 from 16 overs, has to be of concern. A few wickets would no doubt be a great tonic, but he looked tired and out of sorts. He has played five Tests in quick succession. He bowled four no balls and he spent time between overs phantom bowling like a player who is searching for rhythm.

If Starc’s shoulder is as bad as feared the quick turn around to the last Test is going to hurt,

England’s faith in this team has paid off.

You reckon David Warner has his critics, well Crawley’s review section has made for some alarming reading in recent times.

With an average hovering under 30, the England hitter, unlike the Australian, had little to fall back on as people questioned his place in the side.

Sure he’d hit a double century at Southampton against Pakistan back in 2020 and a two hundreds in the between but a string of low scores in the past 12 months saw a series of one star ratings.

Mitchell Starc of Australia holds his shoulder after picking up an injury. Picture: Getty Images.

On the eve of the Ashes vice-captain Ollie Pope predicted a run a ball hundred from the batter.

On Thursday he delivered, racing to a century from 93 deliveries, cracking 13 boundaries and sending Australia’s fielders scurrying to all parts.

At one stage in the afternoon Australia had two wide-ish fly slips and a deep point but Crawley kept pasting the ball through that region.

The no ball epidemic dogs both sides in this series and one cost England a wicket early on the second day.

It was the sixth time it has happened to the team in the past 11 months.

Chris Woakes nipped Hazlewood out early on the second morning, sending both batters sprinting for the dressing room to prepare for their next role in the match. Mitchell Starc was fastest out of the block and had disappeared into the change rooms by the time the word came down from above that the delivery had been deemed illegitimate.

Woakes had to park the celebrations for his first five wicket haul in the Ashes and the bowlers had to resume their batting positions.

Sensible farming of the strike followed and 17 more runs added before Woakes could once again celebrate his first five for.

It is unlikely to make a difference in the Test, but it was the third wicket England has been denied this series because the bowler has been ruled to have overstepped.

Khawaja was bowled by Stuart Broad on 112 at Edgbaston and went on to add 29 more runs in a game which came down to the last two England wickets.

Ben Stokes had Cummins caught on the boundary at Lord’s but was denied the wicket for over stepping.

Bazball’s feel good approach to the game has almost necessarily meant abandoning attention to the finer details.

Australia has had similar issues, highlighted by Cameron Green’s six no balls in a spell at Lord’s.

The day had started well for England with Pat Cummins caught driving ambitiously at the first ball of the day. It was, at least, a scalp for ageing Jimmy Anderson back in the side and bowling from the Jimmy Anderson end.

England’s batting innings did not, however, start well.

Starc struck in the second over, nipping one off the edge of Ben Duckett’s bat and into the gloves of Alex Carey.

Australia thought they had another breakthrough when Cam Green trapped Zak Crawley in front and the umpire raised his finger, but not for the first time in the match the DRS did not go their way.