How Khawaja and Warner crashed the Stuart Broad show

London: “Present your tickets for the Stuart Broad show,” barked an Oval gatekeeper, as seated spectators filed past numerous unfortunates holding up signs requesting tickets to day four of the fifth Ashes Test.

At that point, the sun was shining, the crowd expectant and the vibes for England almost universally positive. They got better when Broad, his stage presence impeccable as ever, hoisted what turned out to be his last ball faced in Test cricket for a mighty six off Mitchell Starc.

David Warner launched James Anderson over mid-off.Credit: Getty

And during the innings changeover, previously blue skies were replaced by an obliging cloak of grey clouds. Broad, James Anderson and company have a career-long habit of creating mayhem in opposition batting line-ups on such days.

Everything, then, was set for a pageant. Broad to take some final wickets, Australia’s batting to fold, and England to finish the series with pretty much everything gained but the Ashes urn itself. Even the scoreboard listed wickets required for England, rather than runs for Australia.

Few present at the Oval, however, counted on the cussed Australian tourists having other ideas.

With the longest partnership of the series – the first century stand for Australia in the Ashes since 2017 and first in England since 2015 – Usman Khawaja and David Warner showed fierce determination to make a bit of history of their own.

It was difficult, given recent trends, to imagine such a union being sustained. Warner and Khawaja have added plenty of useful runs together this series, none more so than the second innings at Edgbaston and on the opening day at an overcast Lord’s.

But England have been so good at finding a way through. Whether via Broad, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes or Moeen Ali, those partnerships had never assumed truly match-shaping proportions on their own.

Good friends and teammates since childhood, Khawaja and Warner have each fought their own battles to achieve all that their talents suggested might be possible.

Though Warner has had a longer unbroken run in the Australian side, he was also the man at the very centre of the Newlands scandal. For a while it looked as though that episode would end his international career.

Khawaja, close at hand on that fateful 2018 tour, has fought perceptions and stereotypes his whole life. Stubbornly and with increasing flourish as he matured, Khawaja has successfully overturned those notions. So much so that he is now not only the most prolific opening batter in the world over the past two years, but also among the most beloved of all Australian cricketers.

At their best, Warner and Khawaja dovetail nicely as players, the former’s energy at the crease beautifully complemented by the latter’s serenity.

All of that was in evidence as they steadily accumulated runs against England on the fourth afternoon, scoring off the front foot and back, against pace and spin, and avoiding the snare set by Ben Stokes for a checked drive on a slow pitch.

Warner, having bided his time, even launched into a one lofted punch off Anderson that recalled his earlier, wilder batting days.

Usman Khawaja excelled on the cut shot.Credit: Reuters

For just about the first time all series, the hosts looked flat with the ball in hand. Very little movement could be found through the air or off the pitch, and the spin available out of footmarks was mitigated somewhat by Moeen’s inability to bowl with his usual bite due to a groin strain suffered on the opening day.

This spoke somewhat to the compression of the series into six weeks. It also demonstrated how the Oval surface had been prepared with an England chase in mind. Pat Cummins, by finally winning a toss, had flipped that equation.

There were a couple of worrisome moments, first when Anderson delivered a nasty if accidental beamer that Warner somehow deflected to the boundary. Soon afterwards, Wood’s bouncer skidded through lower than Khawaja expected and clanged the back of his helmet. Dusting himself off, Khawaja flicked two runs from his next ball, and carried on to 5000 Test runs.

Khawaja’s recall in January 2022 has been the start of an extraordinary vein of scoring: 2114 runs at 62.17 with seven centuries. Across seven series, Khawaja has averaged better than 44 every time, and will now lead the Ashes aggregates. He looks fresh for many more.

If Warner’s productivity over the past two years has dipped into the realm where he is consistently subject to questions about his place, the resolve to make something of this final Ashes innings was clear. Partly, that is because Warner wants the opportunity for a farewell similar to Broad’s at the SCG in January.

But it was also important not to underestimate the Australians’ collective will to not simply roll over for England at this final juncture. They have struggled mightily since Lord’s, missing Nathan Lyon most of all, but also failing to put the hosts under sustained pressure.

It’s a state of affairs that does not sit comfortably with the team, given the notion of a “hollow” Ashes retention that would accompany a 2-2 series ledger.

When rebuked as “boring” by a well-oiled England supporter at the close of day three, Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne bit back, earning an instant apology.

There was something similarly flinty about the way Khawaja and Warner went about their work on day four. As a consequence, attendees for the “Stuart Broad show” ultimately went home soggy, unfulfilled, and not a little apprehensive about the final day of this beguiling Ashes.

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