By Nick Hoult at Headingley
Ben Stokes’ bold proclamation that he wanted “flat and fast” pitches was eyebrow raising at the time but was fully justified after a scintillating day of cricket, one for the ages on a ground with a long history of Ashes spectacles.
A good drama requires twists as well as fallible characters and this provided it all. With England 68 for three at the close it was honours even. A terrific, true surface kept everyone interested, batsmen and bowlers alike, and showed what Stokes’ team can do with the surfaces he wanted and a fit fast bowler after two that missed the brief badly, nullifying James Anderson in the process.
Mark Wood provided the missing ingredient for Stokes and showed why he wanted a battery of fit fast bowlers with one of the most breathtaking displays of quick bowling from an Englishman in recent Ashes cricket.
There are few more popular or watchable cricketers than Wood, whose England appearances are like eagerly awaited blockbusters. They come along rarely and have to be treasured especially when he is presented with a pitch fit for the occasion.
His five for 34 was a magnificent display of fast bowling, reminiscent of Mitchell Johnson giving England night-terrors 10 years ago and was only matched for heart-stopping excitement by Mitchell Marsh’s pulsating hundred, the second quickest by an Australian in this country.
Australia are still in the game because of England’s brittle fielding. Four drops – two each by the local heroes Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow – including Marsh on 12 continued England’s failure at the basics of the game. They have now missed 14 catches, a stumping and taken two wickets off no balls in three Tests. You can gift average teams chances but not this Australia.
Marsh counterpunched like Tyson Fury in a world title bout. At 91 for four at lunch he cracked England all over Leeds in the afternoon, scoring 113 in the session. Travis Head was the next highest scorer with 39 and that was a scratchy too. Marsh hit 118 in total of their 155 stand without which Australia’s 263 would have been paltry.
The value of pace is it bring wickets in clusters. Wood flattened Australia after Marsh’s dismissal with four for five in 16 balls; including crowd bogeyman Pat Cummins for a two ball duck as Australia lost six for 23 in 8.4 overs, their first collapse of the series.
Wood lengthened his run up in 2019 after advice from Michael Holding and it has given him more momentum through the crease. He is quicker at 33 than he was at 28. Here he was swinging the ball more than he ever has before, bowling some absolute jaffas that didn’t take wickets because they possibly did too much. On a rock hard pitch it was noticeable the only one who coped was Marsh, brought up on the surfaces of Western Australia.
Wood struck Alex Carey on the head with a 90mph bouncer and one short pitched ball flow over the head of Bairstow and hit the sight screen. He was up to 93mph with his first ball of the Test, and clocked 96.5 in his second over. The slips moved 6.5ft further back for Wood than Ollie Robison’s trundlers at the other end. Wood’s slowest ball was 88.2mph, and only twice on the first two Tests did England bowl balls that quick. This is what Bazball had been crying out for.
His 95mph inswinging yorker to Usman Khawaja beat the defences of a batsman who had been immovable for four innings and capped off his first spell of one for two from four overs.
The problem for Stokes was he could only use Wood in very short bursts. Stokes made one mis-step bringing Wood on for just three overs during the Marsh-Head stand and bowling him from he wrong end. Wood ran up the hill from the Football Ground end and it seemed to take a little venom out of his bowling.
Brendon McCullum moved on the specialist fielding coach when he slimmed down the backroom staff. It may have made little difference but there is no getting away from England’s fielding. Root missed a straightforward edge off Marsh on 12, and palmed another off Carey over his head. Two balls later he held on to a nick from Head and threw the ball down in disgust.
Bairstow missed two chances and you wonder if he was just too stoked after Lord’s. The first was hard, an inside edge off Steve Smith on four but he dropped a much simple one off Head on eight down the leg side. England are at the stage where they cannot keep dropping chances behind the stumps and must start thinking about recalling Ben Foakes.
If Root had held on to Marsh off Chris Woakes, Australia would have been 96 for five and Headingley rocking but the place fell flat. Marsh launched one of the great counterattacks. The Bazballers were Bazballed by an innings out of the Stokes playbook. He swung 17 fours and four sixes, reaching his hundred off 102 balls, incredible given he was only picked in the morning when Cam Green went down with a hamstring strain.
Amidst the carnage, Robinson went off with a back spasm with England regretting giving him a third game in a row over Josh Tongue, who would have been a handful and offered Wood support on this pitch.
Robinson will be assessed on Friday morning after he remained off the field for the rest of the day.
It was the excellent Chris Woakes, bowling remarkably well in his comeback Test and on the back of little cricket, who knocked over Marsh, caught off his pad at slip.
Root was clearly determined to make up for his drops, seeing England through a difficult last half hour after Zak Crawley played one of his classic innings of glorious shots without staying around for long enough and Harry Brook was worked over in his first innings at no 3.
In the end it was a quietish day on the Western Terrace. Barring some ugly catcalls at Carey and Pat Cummins, everyone was too engrossed in the cricket to care about anything else.
England vs Australia, third Test, day one: as it happened
11:52 PM BST
Boycott’s briefing: More missed chances for England
06:45 PM BST
Mark Wood speaks
That was amazing, a great feeling to get five wickets for the first time in front of my mam and dad, so that was a lovely moment to see them in the stand.
The outfield is rapid, rock hard. The lads can score quickly if they get in.
To come back fairly fresh and produce that, I’m happy. Nice to show I can do it in home conditions as well.
If you just bowl fast they can deal with it, they practise against blokes off 17 yards. It’s the movement that’s deadly. But we have to back it up, it’s a must-win Test.
I had a bit of a setback with my elbow at Lord’s but coming here I felt mentally and physically ready to go. Stokesy got us into the game nice and early.
Movement was the key, all of them looked like hitting the stumps, sometimes if we went too full it slid on, so we were trying to bash the one that hits the top of the stumps, then go full.
Stokesy knows me well, very clear before the game that it would be short sharp spells, give it everything for three or four overs.
I’d like to stop falling over. It shows I’m putting it all in but [it hurts] my hands and knees and it irritates me as well.
06:36 PM BST
CLOSE: ENG 68/3
Fast bowling at its best:
A great day of excitement, an Ashes innings for the ages from Mitch Marsh, some terrible fielding from England, some fine fielding from Australia. Australia lead by 195.
06:31 PM BST
OVER 19: ENG 68/3 (Root 19 Bairstow 1)
Starc sets Bairstow up for the inswinger with two pushed across him but when he does start one straighter it’s too legside and Bairstow presses it off his pads. Two more inswingers follow and Bairstow covers the shape well. One ball to go …
Bairstow defends on off stump.
England walk off 195 behind with seven wickets in hand.
06:28 PM BST
JL on day one
A wonderful day of Test cricket. No spite, no rubbish, no controversy. Just great Test cricket dominated by exciting fast bowling and a run a ball 100 by Mitch Marsh, whose innings was sublime. Brilliant cricket. Enjoy watching Joe Root fight like this, it’s no wonder he’s currently best in the world.
06:26 PM BST
OVER 18: ENG 68/3 (Root 19 Bairstow 1)
Cummins to Bairstow who nicks the first ball of the over into his pads and makes a great show of regaining his ground and staying there as the ball gets trapped between his feet. The next two are leave-able, so he lets them go by, raising his bat so Cummins tries the inswinger for a surprise but sprays it too wide.
Bairstow gets off the mark by flicking the straight, final ball round the corner for a single.
06:22 PM BST
OVER 17: ENG 67/3 (Root 19 Bairstow 0)
Mark Wood is practising forward defensives in front of the window in the dressing room, big smile as ever, ostentatiously putting on a show for his adoring public.
Root leaves two and plays out a Starc maiden. Cummins has been getting loose for a pre-close spurt.
06:18 PM BST
OVER 16: ENG 67/3 (Root 19 Bairstow 0)
Root leaves two, busily defends another three, on his toes, always looking for the single which finally comes off Marsh’s last ball, whipping a low full toss square.
06:14 PM BST
OVER 15: ENG 66/3 (Root 18 Bairstow 0)
Cummins calls Starc back into the attack because the ball is swinging and YJB, pre annus mirabilis, was very vulnerable to being bowled by the full inswinger. Root starts by nurdling a single into the legside. Starc starts four in a row slanting across Bairstow but none of them come back in to trouble the stumps.
06:11 PM BST
OVER 14: ENG 65/3 (Root 17 Bairstow 0)
Jonny Bairstow strides purposefully to the crease and makes sure the Australians know he is staying in his crease after his initial defensive. Having swung one away, Marsh nips one back in off the seam, sawing Bairstow in half between inside edge and box as the ball climbs over the stumps.
The game’s afoot. Excitement mingles with extreme terror.
06:05 PM BST
Wicket!
Crawley c Warner b Marsh 33 Who writes his scripts etc. Marsh stays on the right side of the line, bowls fuller, swings it away and tempts Crawley into a vacuous push. Warner manages to cling on with his fingertips. FOW 65/3
06:03 PM BST
OVER 13: ENG 65/2 (Crawley 33 Root 17)
Crawley steers Boland for a single down through third man. Half an hour to go. Root jams the yorker out of the blockhole and then filches a leg-bye when Boland errs too straight. Crawley keeps the partnership ticking with another single to cover, tapped into the infield.
05:59 PM BST
OVER 12: ENG 62/2 (Crawley 30 Root 17)
Marsh oversteps coming down the hill from the Kirkstall Lane End, Root eases a single off his pads. The allrounder strays back on to middle next ball, too and Crawley whisks it down to deep backward square for two. Crawley takes a single through midwicket, Root does the same off a second no-ball and Crawley makes it three to the same fielder off the eighth ball of the over.
05:54 PM BST
OVER 11: ENG 54/2 (Crawley 27 Root 15)
Root is always looking to pinch a single and drive the opposition captain to distraction. It’s time for a yearly observation that he is our Miandad. Joeved. Root pulls Boland for a single
Swampy Marsh, who was here for Edgbston and Lord’s, missed Mitchell’s century as he is in Bali celebrating Shaun’s 40th birthday. There are worse excuses.
He’s coming on to bowl next, too.
05:48 PM BST
OVER 10: ENG 53/2 (Crawley 27 Root 14)
Crawley is diddled by the leg-cutter from Cummins, nicking it short of gully. Credit to him, he played that down with the softest of hands. Surgeon’s hands.
Time for drinks.
05:45 PM BST
OVER 9: ENG 51/2 (Crawley 26 Root 13)
Boland starts by spraying four wides down the legside and then hangs one outside off. Third man had been taken out and Root plays his favourite stroke, chopping it down past gully for four.
Australia appeal for a leg-side strangle and I think Root, knowing he didn’t hit, tried to encourage them to burn a review. He pulled a face that suggested he was doubtful, the corners of his mouth pointing to the floor before breaking into a smile. Australia aren’t buying it. It kissed the thighpad and nothing else.
Boland gets his line right to finish the over but Root leaves and defends respectfully.
05:39 PM BST
OVER 8: ENG 43/2 (Crawley 26 Root 9)
Fantastic from Root when Cummins drifts too wide and the right-hander slaps it through point, bat halfway between perpendicular and horizontal, for four. Root plays tip and run to cover, Cummins tests Crawley on the bouncer and he carts the first for four, witheringly. The next, AME Roberts style, is much quicker and Crawley takes it on and just about manages to control it, pulling it for a single off his chin.
Scott Boland is coming on. He could be a handful on this pitch. Well … they all could.
05:36 PM BST
OVER 7: ENG 29/2 (Crawley 19 Root 3)
Cummins has blocked off Root’s strike-rotator release shot at third man, forcing him to play straighter, which eh does for a single through cover to match Crawley’s off this Starc over. Crawley plays a Hollywodd off drive, holding the pose but gets nothing for it as it smoked straight to mid-off. Hang on, he does get something as Starc had overstepped. The opener square drives for a single and Root drills another in front of point. They plugged that gap in 2019, too, and though he made 325 runs, he could not push on and was caught by keeper or slips six times in 10 innings.
05:29 PM BST
OVER 6: ENG 24/2 (Crawley 17 Root 1)
A feeling of a long day’s journey into night for England here unless these two can steady a listing ship. My word, Australia are so good at this game. Give them a sniff and they always stand up. They are not World Test champions for nowt.
05:23 PM BST
Wicket!
Brook c Smith b Cummins 3 It’s that line again. It’s that man again. Fast, straight, holds its line and Brook nicks off to second slip. England can’t catch for toffee. Australia are Venus fly-traps. FOW 22/2
05:23 PM BST
OVER 5: ENG 22/1 (Crawley 16 Brook 3)
Brook’s away when he outRoots Root, opening his grip to run two off the face of his GN down to third man. But that’s about as much succour he can take from an over in which he and Crawley are beaten comprehensively by two wobble-seam pearls that swerve in then nibble away.
05:19 PM BST
OVER 4: ENG 19/1 (Crawley 16 Brook 0)
Enter Harry Brook, England’s new No3. He has the technique to bat there but does he have the temperament? He is greeted by a Cummins bouncer and he thinks about pulling, thinks again and jack-knifes out of the road. After a forward defensive he is beaten by a beauty outside off, not holding his shape, the bat flirting with following the ball, like a moth to the proverbial. Brook takes the inswinger on his pad and sprints a leg-bye.
05:12 PM BST
Wicket!
Duckett c Carey b Cummins 2 Terrific catch by England’s bete noir. Nothing special about the delivery other than it tempted Duckett to go after it, as he always does. The ball flew between Carey and first slip and the keeper soared to take a blinder with his fingertips. The contrast, the gulf between keepers has never been more apparent. FOW 18/2
05:12 PM BST
OVER 3: ENG 18/0 (Crawley 16 Duckett 2)
It looks spawny but it is effective. Crawley thick edges high over the slips fir four. He thought it would swing back in but it held its line. The next ball does swing back in and leaves Crawley scissoring his bat down from third slip to midwicket in ungainly fashion, beaten all ends up by Starc.
Crawley’s drives so far have been more tappy than meaty.
05:07 PM BST
OVER 2: ENG 12/0 (Crawley 11 Duckett 1)
Cummins, too, starts well down on his Lord’s pace, now in the early 80s. Crawley uses his feet to fiddle four through fine leg then scrapes a drive past mid-off for two. Ian Ward points out that Australia’s captain bowled 25 overs in England’s second innings on Saturday and Sunday.
Crawley pushes a single through mid-on, Duckett gets off the mark when Cummins strays on to middle, flicking a single through square leg and Crawley shovels another full delivery into the legside.
05:03 PM BST
OVER 1: ENG 3/0 (Crawley 3 Duckett 0)
Mitchell Starc starts with a jaffa from over the wicket to Crawley, nice and full, swinging it and whistling past the right-hander’s edge as he pushed forward hesitantly. Jersualem rings out as Crawley flicks a pair of inswingers past the square leg umpire for a two and a single. Three slips and a gully for Duckett who follows the first ball as it hoops away and is then foxed by one that starts on his pads and veers late towards middle. He had already closed the face and it popped safely off the leading edge.
God wheels from Starc, mid 80s but he didn’t gear up Wood-fashion. But then again he was running in hard on Sunday, Wood wasn’t.
04:57 PM BST
JL on the two Ws
If the Australian changing room was up and about at tea, England will be feeling happier now. A great fightback led by my post match prediction of Woakes and Wood, who are both experienced, excellent bowlers. Australia will want a few wickets tonight, England won’t. What this innings does expose, is Mitch Marsh’s incredible contribution and what a difference serous pace makes to the look of a game.
04:54 PM BST
AUS 263 all out
A sensational return for Mark Wood and a fine OBO debut from Frank Morrish. Thanks, Frank. Rob Bagchi returns for the final 90 minutes of play.
What to make of what we’ve witnessed so far? Well, as far as England go, it was, forgive the vulgarity, a veritable s— sandwich. Disgusting middle because of those dropped catches, Bairstow x 2 and Root x 2 but a tasty beginning and end. For Australia it was the reverse. Mitch Marsh was magnificent after being given his ‘life’ by Root but we have a proper pitch at last and exhilarating play. Wood will be all over the front pages tomorrow morning and deservedly so, he is a fine cricketer and a good man. But Chris Woakes bowled with great guile, too, and dug England out of a chasm.
04:49 PM BST
Rocket man
However flaccid England were in the afternoon session, how fallible their catching and keeping, however dependent they are to Mark Wood for his rockets, it is still a good effort to dismiss Australia for 263.
04:46 PM BST
Wicket!
Murphy b Wood 13 Drags it on. Wood has an Ashes five-for. What a comeback! TIMBERRRRR! Wood has five and he earned it with some of the best fast bowling you’ll ever watch. White-hot pace, accuracy and threat whilst others around him faltered and limped off. Man of the moment. Take a bow.
FOW 263/10
04:40 PM BST
OVER 59 and 60: AUS 263-9 (Murphy 13 Boland 0)
But perhaps he’s shaken, because the very next delivery he backs away and slices straight to the man at cover. Mark Wood has taken England by the scruff of the neck after a listless second session and hauled them back into the ascendancy. Game-changing stuff.
The last man is Scott Boland. Fielders are in close and Wood, four wickets to his name and fully deserving of a fifth, beats the bat twice. Colossal over. Australia have collapsed from 240/4 to 254/9.
Chris Woakes’ contribution shouldn’t be ignored by the way – he has three poles in his column and should have had two more if Root could hold on. Murphy cuts nicely for four and picks up a single off the last ball of the over. As a reward for his excellent batting he gets to face Wood again.
04:34 PM BST
Wicket!
Carey c Woakes b Wood 8 Backed away the ball after being sconned and spooned a catch to cover. Speed kills and sends sound minds off-kilter. FOW 254/9
04:33 PM BST
OVER 58.1: AUS 254-8 (Carey 8 Murphy 4)
Wood the wrecking ball is in to Carey and clocks him on the helmet, hard. He will need a concussion test; that was a proper haymaker, but he’ll survive.
04:32 PM BST
Read all about it
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04:31 PM BST
OVER 58: AUS 254-8 (Carey 8 Murphy 4)
Woakes begins a new over, bowling at Carey, who will have to think about getting a move on all of a sudden. The field is set for short bowling again, and Woakes does indeed go short first up, Australia’ wicketkeeper-batter allowing the ball to hit him. Woakes goes fuller, and Carey comes down the wicket with power and purpose. Good fielding off his own bowling from Woakes, who is still finding some movement and passes the outside edge. Every ball is an event at the moment. Carey rotates the strike and Murphy has one ball to survive… which he does.
04:28 PM BST
Hello Mr Topsy, here’s Ms Turvy
The roller coaster of this series continues as wickets tumble, and the crowd responds to Alex Carey and Pat Cummins with boos and chants. Great theatre. This is Ashes at its best. Look at the reaction of the crowd. I ask again, where has Mark Wood been? He changes the whole outlook and feel of this England bowling attack.
04:25 PM BST
OVER 57: AUS 253-8 (Carey 7 Murphy 4)
England’s nuclear weapon, Mark Wood, will start a new spell, and second ball he blasts through Starc’s limp defence and rearranges his stumps! Starc gone for 2, and Cummins emerges to a cacophony of boos … and departs to one, too.
With the crowd in his ears and one of the quickest bowlers in the world in his face, the Australian captain – hero of Edgbaston – faces up. There are oos and ahhs as Wood’s first delivery is down leg… but HUGE CHEERS as his second pins Cummins leg before? Too quick, too accurate, too good for the Postman. England have come surging back into this contest and the Western Terrace is right behind them.
Cummins missed that by an absolute mile, by the way. Wood comes steaming in to Todd Murphy – what a bowler to have to face for your first delivery in Ashes cricket! But cometh the hour etc. Murphy squirts this down to third man for four. All action insanity from Leeds!
04:22 PM BST
Wicket!
Cummins lbw b Wood 0 Fearing the bouncer, Cummins crouched deep in his crease and was again beaten by pace, the ball nipping back and hitting him bullseye on the back pad. There’s plumb and then there’s that. Two in three balls for Wood. FOW 249/8
04:20 PM BST
Wicket!
Starc b Wood 2 Beaten by pace and swing. Knocks back the top of middle as Starc gates himself. FOW 249/7
04:19 PM BST
OVER 56: AUS 248-6 (Carey 6 Starc 2)
Moeen continues to Carey and his first ball isn’t far from Root again! Who’s now under the lid at short leg. He actually performed really well in that position when Pope was off with his dodgy shoulder. Now that Marsh is gone Moeen is finding it easier to tie an end down, and it’s another maiden.
04:16 PM BST
OVER 55: AUS 247-6 (Carey 5 Starc 2)
Woakes is still getting some shape through the air, challenging Alex Carey’s pads. Woakes goes a little wider, Carey has a slash which he outside edges above Root’s head – and he shells it again! Very catchable again. Shambles from England’s most reliable slip fielder. But he makes amends yet will not be consoled by Stokes for the earlier drops.
Mitch Starc is in at No8. The remainder of the over passes without event. Whew.
04:12 PM BST
Wicket!
Head c Root b Woakes 39 The ball after Root had shelled a chance off Carey, he hangs on to a nick offered by Head. He hurls the ball away in self-disgust. Actually he ran it off the face as it seamed away more than it came off the edge. Good bowling. Woakes now has three for 61. FOW 245/6
04:10 PM BST
OVER 54: AUS 244-5 (Head 39 Carey 4)
It will be Moeen Ali to continue from the other end, bowling at the other recipient of England’s kind donations, Travis Head. Moeen produces a maiden with a tighter line to the left hander.
04:10 PM BST
Robinson update
England say he has had a back spasm and will not return to the field today. He had one in Hobart on the last Ashes tour. And came back to bowl at half ratpower.
04:07 PM BST
OVER 53: AUS 244-5 (Head 39 Cary 4)
Frank Morrish joins us for a stint on the OBO:
Welcome back to the final session of the day. Can England wrest back control after it was so unceremoniously snatched from them by the Bison? They will need to bowl better if so. It will be Woakes round the wicket to the newcomer Alex Carey. How will Headingley react to this new pantomime villain?
Carey eases into a cover drive to get off the mark as Woakes overpitches. Not much else to report.
Will Macpherson reports from Headingley
Finally, things are getting lively in the Western Terrace. “Stand up, if you hate Carey” is the chant. He’s getting a strong defence from the Aussie fans down there.
03:55 PM BST
Tea report: Bazballers Bazballed
By Nick Hoult at Headingley
The Bazballers were Bazballed by a Stokesian innings of 118 from Mitchell Marsh who snatched ascendancy away from England with one of the all-time breathless Ashes innings.
Marsh crunched 113 in the session, falling for 118 on the stroke of tea, to rescue Australia from 96 for four.
It should have been 96 for five but Joe Root dropped Marsh on eight at first slip just after lunch, the 13th opportunity missed by an England fielder in this series.
Marsh made England pay swinging pace, seam and spin all over Headingley hitting 17 fours and four sixes to silence the crowd who were warming up to give next man Alex Carey a hostile welcome.
Marsh was only called into the XI in the morning where Cameron Green failed a fitness test on a hamstring injury. Marsh was perfect for this track. Brought up on the pace and bounce of pitches in Western Australia, Marsh felt at home on the quickest surface of the series. Shots that beat the in field raced to the boundary on a quick outfield and he was happy to take on the pace of Wood, pulling him into the Western Terrace for six.
He dominated a stand of 155 with Travis Head, a naturally aggressive player himself who but was happy to sit back and enjoy the view from the other end giving Marsh the strike and letting him dominate.
Ollie Robinson left the field two balls into his 12th over and has not been seen since, the seamer breaking down yet again in an Ashes Test. At lunch England were sitting pretty. At tea they in trouble.
03:47 PM BST
JL on MM
Mitchell Marsh, my little brother. What an effort. We have been hearing about Bazball but we have just witnessed Marshball. His partner Travis Head has been playing Headball for the last 18 months. There is no more popular player in Australian cricket than Mitch Marsh and this is certain to lift his team. They love him and will gain great energy from this test 100.
Equally impressive has been the fact he has hardly played any red ball cricket for a long time. The wicket now looks good and this session has been a fantastic counter attack by the Aussies. The energy in their rooms will be electric at tea. Once again England have been down on their basics today. Drop catches are cardinal sins in any game of cricket, let alone test cricket. Robinson limping off will do nothing to lift Englands spirits either. Australia currently on top and this batting is giving England a bit of their own medicine.
How do they react? Time will tell.
03:45 PM BST
TEA: ENG 204/5
Woakes strikes with the first ball of the pre-tea over. Some reward for some diligent bowling in an otherwise chastening afternoon session in which Head made Bairstow pay for his drop and Marsh made Root pay for his.
They put on 155 for the fifth wicket, the highest for that partnership in Leeds since Matthew Elliott and Ricky Ponting put on 268 in 1997.
03:40 PM BST
Wicket!
Marsh c Crawley b Woakes 118 Spat up unexpectedly off a decent length, takes the inside edge on to the thighpad and balloons to second slip. FOW 240/5
03:40 PM BST
OVER 52: AUS 240-4 (Head 39 Marsh 118)
It’s not just the crowd that has fallen silent. So has Jonny Bairstow, a rare cry of ‘Mo-zer’, after he is milked for a single, emphasising just how quiet it has been, Marsh harpoons a sweet drive through cover for four and shares a pair of singles each with Head.
03:38 PM BST
OVER 51: AUS 232-4 (Head 36 Marsh 101)
Marsh, too, in white-ball mode, pulling a perfectly respectable Woakes back of a length delivery for a towering six over midwicket, followed by a flowing on-drive for four. That £100,000 worth of pre-lunch Western Terrace ale, seems to have been replaced by £100,000 worth of Diazepam. England have given the crowd very little to cheer this session and they’re getting nothing back in return.
03:33 PM BST
OVER 50: AUS 220-4 (Head 36 Marsh 101)
Just a couple of singles off Moeen’s sixth over. No turn for the offie, yet. I wonder if Root to Head would not be the better match-up with his round-arm, fizzing slingers.
03:31 PM BST
OVER 49: AUS 218-4 (Head 35 Marsh 100)
Woakes, who nicked off Marsh to Root, replaces Broad. Two slips. This game is not lost. The last five Headingley Tests have been won by the chasing side but England need a lift now.
Woakes adopts white-ball mode, good line with outswing and a cutter, and it earns him a maiden.
03:25 PM BST
OVER 48: AUS 218-4 (Head 35 Marsh 100)
Mitchell Marsh races to his century in style, clubbing four through mid on by closing the face a fraction early, thumping a six off Moeen over long-off and then haring a single with a lovely, strike-rotating steer through point.
What a man. What a knock!
Headingley fall silent. A hundred off 102 balls, 15 fours and three sixes.
03:23 PM BST
OVER 47: AUS 207-4 (Head 35 Marsh 89)
Marsh sensed that Head was struggling and simply took the initiative. I think that comes from being out of the side so long and a determination that if he were to get back in, he would be his own man, play his own way and come away with no regrets. He has been superb – yes, I know he should have been caught by Root – and deserves a century for his nerve and skill.
03:17 PM BST
OVER 46: AUS 205-4 (Head 34 Marsh 88)
Obviously no turn on a first day Headingley pitch with only half a day’s wear. Moeen is being asked to go into the lion’s cage with only a chair … and this lion hasn’t been sedated by years of life in the circus and doping. Marsh opens his stride to murder a cover drive for four then hunkers deep in his crease to whip four through long leg. I hope his dad, Swampy, who was at Edgbaston and Lord’s, is still here.
03:14 PM BST
OVER 45: AUS 197-4 (Head 34 Marsh 80)
Marsh keeps rolling along, unfurling two of the crispest drives you could wish to see, creaming the first through mid-on and the second through Broad’s dive in his followthrough. It reached the bowler very low on the full and he dived, telescoping out his arm to try to stop it. It struck the fingertip and all but amputated it.
03:10 PM BST
OVER 44: AUS 185-4 (Head 34 Marsh 69)
Much better from Moeen in that all six are on the money and, after five dot balls, Marsh crouches deep to stab a single through point to bring up the century partnership off merely 118 balls.
03:06 PM BST
OVER 43: AUS 184-4 (Head 34 Marsh 68)
Broad completes Robinson’s over. A recurrence of the ankle injury that dogged him in May? Marsh continues his inspired counter-attack and absolutely flogs Broad through cover point for four. Carpe diem, indeed. This could be an Ashes-winning innings and hence and Ashes-losing drop by Joe Root. Marsh pulls the final ball for a single. England need to change tack here. Marsh is devouring width and gobbling up anything short.
03:02 PM BST
Ollie Robinson is injured
He pulls up after two balls of his 12th over, both of which were dispatched for four. Marsh pulled the first and had a tickle at the next one but didn’t connect. The ball scooted down for four leg-byes nonetheless.
Ollie Robinson has pulled up, mid-over, in slightly mysterious circumstances, and is leaving the field. Mmm. Everything, suddenly, feels like it is flowing against England.
03:00 PM BST
OVER 42: AUS 171-4 (Head 34 Marsh 59)
Decent opening five deliveries from Moeen, polluted by the last ball, a full bunger that Head pumps between extra- and mid-off for four.
It’s hard not to like Mitch Marsh. He’s got a sense of humour, and is just a nice bloke. This is some comeback to Test cricket after four years. Worth bearing in mind that his nagging swingers might well be handy in these conditions, too.
02:57 PM BST
OVER 41: AUS 165-4 (Head 29 Marsh 59)
Robinson follows the captain’s plan and bounces Head who gets on top of the bounce to cart it for four between long leg and deep backward square. Neither man picked it up. Head pulls another for a single. As soon as Marsh is on strike, Stokes calls up three slips but Marsh defends the three remaining deliveries with the middle of his angled bat.
02:54 PM BST
OVER 40: AUS 159-4 (Head 24 Marsh 58)
And the move almost bears fruit immediately. Head edges Moeen just wide of Root. ‘A quarter-chance,’ says Michael Atherton, hmm. Stokes used to field well at slip to the spinner because of his greater wingspan but that finger injury means he no longer risks it. The nick earns Head four. Another flashing drive turns into a French cut, dragging the ball off the inside edge past the off-stump.
02:50 PM BST
OVER 39: AUS 155-4 (Head 20 Marsh 58)
Marsh is suitably refreshed and tucks into a Wood half-volley and smears it for four through extra-cover. Wood had fallen over in his followthrough for the umpteenth time today.
Wood pitches up again and this time Marsh plays a gloriously flowing off-drive for four. The difference between the off-drive and the cover drive? It’s the old Blue Suede Shoes definition. One’s for the money (off),the other’s for the show.
England are going flat on the second afternoon here, having gone flat on the first morning at Lord’s, but Moeen has been talking to Mark Wood and Chris Woakes during the drinks break about hooking.
Moeen may have been talking about hooking but now he’s coming on to bowl.
02:42 PM BST
OVER 38: AUS 147-4 (Head 20 Marsh 50)
Australia deserve credit for batting well against good bowling. It’s been seat of the pants stuff at times but, as they usually have down on this tour, they have found a way. Head carves a single off Robinson through point then Marsh reaches a 59-ball half-century with a midwicket whisk. Fine innings, his first in Tests for 46 months. That is first Test innings since the Oval in 2019, not just the first 50.
On come the drinks.
02:39 PM BST
OVER 37: AUS 145-4 (Head 18 Marsh 42)
Wood is maintaining his high pace but Marsh is a match for it, squeezing out a 92mph inswinger for a single then, after Head jogs a leg-bye off his thighpad, he digs out a 93mph yorker. Wood responds with a bouncer and Marsh nails the hook, lamping it over forward square leg for six!
How costly is that Root drop looking now?
02:34 PM BST
OVER 36: AUS 136-4 (Head 18 Marsh 42)
Against his better judgment, Stokes is persuaded to send a ‘catch’ upstairs when Marsh pushed forward. ‘Two noises,’ says Root as the ball ballooned to Crawley at second slip. Robinson didn’t seem that keen either. And wisely so, as it came solely off the pad.
Robinson then beats him with an outswinger. But, as he has done every couple of overs, Marsh then gorges on errors in length, leaning back to hammer a cut for four.
02:29 PM BST
OVER 35: AUS 132-4 (Head 18 Marsh 38)
Mark Wood returns for another blistering spell of bar-clearing bowling. Marsh pulls the offside bouncer for four in front of square and chisels out a yorker. Wood, who is tearing in, hurls himself off his feet a couple of times.
02:24 PM BST
OVER 34: AUS 127-4 (Head 18 Marsh 33)
Woakes makes Marsh play and miss. He looks most vulnerable to the fuller ball but England keep giving him width and back of a length ones to cuff.
02:22 PM BST
Gas in Wood’s tank
England have to keep some petrol in the tank of Mark Wood for when Pat Cummins comes in: he doesn’t like ordinary bouncers let alone Wood’s rockets. And if one should happen to hit him on the fingers, it may not be in the spirit of cricket, but since 1882 that has not always been applied to the Ashes.
02:20 PM BST
OVER 33: AUS 124-4 (Head 17 Marsh 31)
Another glorious stroke from Marsh who is a far better batsman than Cameron Green, who doesn’t look ready to bat at No6 in England in Tests. This one’s too full from Broad and Marsh gets his foot to the pitch and fillets cover without elongating his followthrough beyond the perpendicular.
02:17 PM BST
Tim Wigmore is in his natural habitat, on the Western Terrace
Cradling four pints of Tetley’s for Messrs Macpherson, Hoult, Berry and himself, he reports:
‘We’re selling quicker than normal… it’s a busy one.’ A bar manager by the Western Terrace tells me that, by 2 o’clock, the three bars serving the Western Terrace have already cleared £100,000 worth of alcohol sales.
Thirsty work.
02:15 PM BST
OVER 32: AUS 116-4 (Head 16 Marsh 24)
England continue the bombardment of Head who takes it on and pulls wildly, ducking simultaneously, but just short of Stokes at deep backward square for a single.
England appeal for a legside strangle after Bairstow snaffles it marvellously to his left – just when it didn’t matter. The ball missed the glove and came off Marsh’s hip. Marsh then jams out the yorker and then is trapped on that big, front dog as he played back. England ponder a review but decide against it, Woakes himself suggesting it was angling down the legside. In fact it would have kissed leg stump but only as umpire’s call.
02:09 PM BST
OVER 31: AUS 114-4 (Head 15 Marsh 23)
Now that’s the perfect example of Marsh’s ability to strike the ball cleanly. Broad hangs a shortish one outside off and Marsh leans away and absolutely scythes it for four, the ball rifling through point. He struck it with a vandal’s abandon.
Broad, lesson learnt, pitches up but can’t elicit another attacking shot and Marsh farms the strike with a defensive push that beats cover for a single.
02:04 PM BST
OVER 30: AUS 108-4 (Head 14 Marsh 18)
The Warwickshire Wiz is bowling well and with decent wheels, whistling one past offstump when Marsh leaves, pretty judiciously it turns out. Marsh follows that by drilling a straight drive for four. He’s such a clean striker of the ball but that one had more offal than meat.
02:00 PM BST
Sloppy is as sloppy does
That is a bad drop from Root, who last week became England’s top catcher in Test cricket. England are just a sloppy side right now.
01:59 PM BST
OVER 29: AUS 102-4 (Head 13 Marsh 13)
Stokes chases down a Head pull, played at navel height, and, though he seems to touch the foam pyramids when he dives to claw it back, the third umpire, Headingley and Stokes’ hero Joel Wilson, gives him the benefit of the doubt, as he did in 2019 with that late leg-before not out call. This time it costs Australia only two runs. That’s the hundred up. A smattering of applause from the yellow-capped tour party.
Head pulls another that doesn’t vault into his blindspot, rolling the wrists for a single.
01:53 PM BST
OVER 28: AUS 98-4 (Head 10 Marsh 12)
Terrific stroke from Marsh as Woakes takes the Football Stand End after lunch. It’s back of a length and he climbs into it. pulling hard in front of midwicket for six. He absolutely walloped it.
Woakes, though, canny as ever in England, pushes the ball further up, Marsh pushes at it and nicks to Root’s right at slip. It’s a cuckoo, a dolly, a goober. And down it goes. England’s catching this summer has been embarrassingly poor. That’s 13 dropped chances now (and a missed stumping).
01:49 PM BST
OVER 27: AUS 92-4 (Head 10 Marsh 6)
Broad continues after lunch. No short leg or leg gully for Head and, after Marsh whisks a single off his bootlaces, Broad digs it in to the left-hander. And, as if a plan is coming together, Head does have a fiddle at one, playing and missing around his hip. Stokes has seen enough and calls up Root to put the helmet on.
Head survives the next two deliveries, both of which are bouncers. He bottom edges when he pulls the first and misses the second entirely as it keeps climbing. It’s not that he takes his eye off the ball … he loses sight of short balls from over the wicket bowled into his body.
01:44 PM BST
JL on Wood
Where has Mark Wood been? How good is it watching Test cricket with genuine fast bowling? He must have been injured not to have been a part of this series so far? So good to watch, as has been this whole first session. You can feel the atmosphere pouring through the tv. Even from Australia where I am currently sitting. When you win the toss and bowl, four wickets in the first session is what you are looking for. Brilliant entertainment once again. The scene is set for another wonderful Test match.
01:42 PM BST
Shaved fish
Good afternoon. Well, wasn’t that exhilarating. Leeds always comes up with the goods. And for this afternoon? Travis Head looks doubly vulnerable shorn of his upper-lipholstery. Fancy doing a Delilah on that midway through a series. Yes, he no longer looks as if he’s juts swallowed a squirrel, but it makes him look about 12 as England continue to aim at his armpit and Adam’s apple.
I suspect England would rather hand the gloves to Ben Duckett than recall Ben Foakes at this point but, as we’ve known al series, Bairstow’s keeping, having not done the job regularly for four years and doing it now after such a complex lower leg fracture/dislocation, is seriously flawed. Thank goodness he held on to that Smith nick but he really should have snared Head too. His footwork, which ahs come in for scrutiny and criticism, wasn’t the problem there. He got there and grassed it. He will be supported to the hilt by his team-mates but the only way they can dig him out of this hole is by bagging Head quickly in this session.
01:26 PM BST
LUNCH
A terrific session of cricket. Wood was utterly compelling at 96mph, but there wasn’t a bad spell bowled by England’s seamers.
I’m handing over to Rob Bagchi for the afternoon session. And before I go, here a thought from an old sage…
Too late to wish that England had started the series with such animation and zest, and Edgbaton was too turgid for any fast bowler’s liking, but at Lord’s at least England could have approached the opening session with something of the same zest.
Or maybe England too needed Mark Wood to galvanise, not only his speed but zeal. Game on, 2-1, how much for a ticket at Old Trafford?
01:14 PM BST
_
01:04 PM BST
OVER 26: AUS 91-4 (Head 10 Marsh 5)
Head gets off the mark straight away and Mitch Marsh tries to pull Wood off a length first ball. Mad shot, but would you be thinking clearly in the quarter of a second you get to respond?
Wood’s next ball is probably the best of the morning slinking away from Marsh’s outside edge. Bradman wouldn’t have been good enough to edge that.
Last ball before lunch and the crowd are baying for blood. What an atmosphere! Marsh manages to clip it behind square for a single.
Another wonderful session of cricket.
01:00 PM BST
OVER 25: AUS 89-4 (Head 9 Marsh 4)
Broad’s second ball to Marsh is an offcutter that slams into the pad but England resist the urge to review it. Five slips waiting for the ball that moves the other way.
Broad jogs back to his mark to try and make sure Wood gets another over before lunch. Marsh responds by stepping away from the crease to waste a bit of time. And now he drives Broad for four, but despite it all there will be time for one more Wood over before lunch…
12:56 PM BST
It’s out!
Why did Smith review that! Clear inside edge on Snicko and Smith trudges back to the pavilion to a chorus of jeers. Smith can’t believe it. Just goes to show that despite the hoary old cliche, batsmen do not always know if they’ve hit it. Smith out for 22.
Broad revs up the crowd for his first ball to Mitch Marsh.
Very peculiar from Smith, to linger that long after a review proves he was gone for all money. The review was absolutely categorical.
12:55 PM BST
WICKET! Possibly…
Smith caught behind off Stuart Broad. But he’s reviewed it immediately
12:54 PM BST
OVER 24: AUS 85-3 (Head 9 Smith 22)
Wood not starting this spell with quite the same venom as he did his first. Still in excess of 90mph, mind.
Smith gets off strike – clever sausage – with a dab off the back foot into the leg side. That brings Head into the firing line and he’s immediately dropped by Bairstow! Head tried to tickle Wood round the corner but got only a faint touch. Bairstow put down a pretty regulation catch falling away down the leg side. That’s his second drop of the morning.
The delivery was actually given as byes, but England would have reviewed it and would have had the not-out call overturned.
12:50 PM BST
OVER 23: AUS 80-3 (Head 8 Smith 18)
Interesting from Stokes who throws the ball to Stuart Broad rather than Mark Wood for a burst before lunch.
Broad too is flinging the ball in halfway down to Travis Head. It ain’t subtle, but Travis Head really doesn’t look comfortable. Broad gets his fourth delivery spot on: right into the throat and Head pulls the classic scorpion pose – back arched, feet off the ground – as he plays it off the splice. Head actually plays the last ball of the over very well indeed, dropping his hands and sniffing leather as the ball flies by.
Oh! Wood is getting another run before lunch – up the hill though. Could make his bouncer even nastier. Here we go…
12:44 PM BST
OVER 22: AUS 79-3 (Head 8 Smith 17)
Smith pulls Woakes for six! Not really Smith’s meat and drink, that shot, but the way he moves across to the off side and sets up square-on means he’s almost naturally in the right position to play it and he deliberately aimed it into the stands.
Head tries something similar but misses altogether. Woakes (who is greying these days) following Robinson in keeping the ball short to the Australian No 5.
12:40 PM BST
OVER 21: AUS 72-3 (Head 8 Smith 10)
For Head, England revert straight to bodyline. Deep square leg goes out, fine leg moves square, short leg comes in. Robinson tees it up with a short ball and Head pulls, somewhat unconvincingly, into the gap between the two boundary fielders behind square.
Interesting that Robinson, who is bowling in the low 80s or even just high 70s, is used for this short-pitched stuff. Anecdotally, it can be harder to play the short ball when it’s not at express pace. And Robinson’s high action might just make it fractionally more difficult to pick up – very much like Glenn McGrath’s bouncer used to be.
12:36 PM BST
OVER 20: AUS 65-3 (Head 4 Smith 8)
Labuschagne has not been at his best so far in this series. The ball before the wicket squared him up too, albeit he got four runs off a leading edge.
Travis Head is off the mark with four runs punched down the ground from his first ball.
12:31 PM BST
WICKET!
Labuschagne caught at first slip off Woakes! Just the absolutely classic Woakes wicket: away movement at respectable pace. Finds the outside edge and Root takes a simple catch at first slip.
12:30 PM BST
OVER 19: AUS 57-2 (Labuschagne 17 Smith 8)
Smith leaves the first ball of the Robinson over but it’s an off-cutter and it thuds into his pad. Not coming back far enough to hit the off stump though.
Then a Bairstow drop! Smith got an inside edge on a ball that got a little bigger than he expected. They’re the toughest chances for wicket-keepers, who are generally expecting the ball to go to their right-hand side. Bairstow got a hand on it, but only enough to slow it down on its way to the boundary. Foakes would have caught it, etc, etc, ad nauseam.
Smith takes a little shuffle out of his crease to combat some of the movement that Robinson is getting. Though actually, it’s when he gets a little extra bounce that he looks most dangerous.
12:26 PM BST
OVER 18: AUS 53-2 (Labuschagne 17 Smith 4)
Woakes hits Labuschagne on the pad – twice – but both times the appeals are stifled. Probably needs to go a touch fuller to get the umpires interested there.
12:21 PM BST
OVER 17: AUS 52-2 (Labuschagne 17 Smith 3)
Robinson to Smith. Lots of all-action leaves, then a tickle to the leg side for a single
The Western Terrace, needless to say, have enjoyed proceedings so far: especially the first wicket. ‘Look at that pitch – how f—ing green is that,’ one fan said just before the first ball. Five balls in, there universal cries of cheerio – barring the Australian contingent, conspicuously outnumbered but defiant – after Warner nicked Broad behind. And, er, some less quotable language too: “F— off Warner you fing cheating b——,” exclaimed one supporter here – though more in jest than outright hatred.
The noise will certainly be amped up when Alex Carey comes out to bat for the first time since stumping local boy Jonny Bairstow at Lord’s last week. “Got to get involved haven’t you,” laughed Jack Marshall, who has come down from Durham and didn’t approve of the wicket. “Not for me. Personally I wouldn’t have done it. If he was stood outside his crease and started outside I wouldn’t have had any problem with it. Once you scratch your guard you think you’re in.”
But not everyone agreed. “If it the other way around I’d have loved it,” said Matthew Harrison, 27, from Hartlepool. “If it was the other way around you wouldn’t complain.”
12:18 PM BST
OVER 16: AUS 51-2 (Labuschagne 17 Smith 2)
Wood’s bowling put this game on edge, but now that he’s out of the attack – and with Smith and Labuschagne at the crease – the game has quickly settled back down. That could be the shape of this innings: bread-and-butter fare interspersed with scotch bonnets.
12:13 PM BST
OVER 15: AUS 50-2 (Labuschagne 17 Smith 1)
Mark Wood’s spell ends with that wicket. Four overs and done. It was completely electrifying.
Ollie Robinson is back. Labuschagne gets a single to square leg and Steve Smith dabs one into the offside. For a moment, it looked like an opportunity to run out Labuschagne, who was slow off the mark at the non-striker’s end.
That Woody spell: speed guns can vary, so I’m going on my impression, safe from beyond the boundary and out of range.
I’d reckon the only other candidates for the fastest spell ever by an England bowler are by Wood himself in early 2019 in St Lucia, when he had 8 slips, who were standing deeper than those today; and by Jofra Archer at Lord’s in the summer of 2019.
12:08 PM BST
OVER 14: AUS 47-2 (Labuschagne 16 Smith 0)
Woakes continuing after drinks, but with a changed ball. Not sure why it had to be changed at drinks. Probably went out of shape. Occupational hazard for balls being propelled at warp speed.
Labuschagne mistimes a drive that runs away to the boundary nonetheless. A single, then Smith defensive shot from his first ball.
12:05 PM BST
Drinks
Here’s a topical read from Tim Wigmore.
12:03 PM BST
OVER 13: AUS 42-2 (Labuschagne 11 Smith 0)
Behind the stumps, Bairstow must be 25 yards back. Maybe more.
Khawaja left the first ball, blocked his second off the back foot and then ducked a rapid bouncer. Between balls he looked ice-cool and he even managed to play a cut shot, picking up a run in front of square. He left the fifth ball, then came that laser inswinger. On replay, looks like he got an inside edge.
12:00 PM BST
WICKET!
Khawaja bowled by a 95mph Mark Wood rocket!
Stunning from Wood, who gets the wicket this spell deserved. Khawaja had actually played the first five balls of the over superbly but he was beaten by a combination of searing pace and significant inswing. Rainbow stumps scattered.
11:56 AM BST
OVER 12: AUS 40-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 11)
Woakes is bowling at 85mph, fully 10mph slower than Mark Wood. Khawaja bunts him for a single – too much to suggest that he’s gambling on Wood’s spell being over?
Wood having one more over, so he will bowl at Khawaja…
11:52 AM BST
OVER 11: AUS 39-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 10)
Wood into his third over. How many can he bowl at this pace? Three over spells? Four at a push?
Ben Stokes takes out one of his slips to move him into short leg. Wood bowls his first bouncer, which flies clean over Labuschagne….and clean over a leaping Jonny Bairstow. Two bounces and smack! into the boundary boards.
Wood’s speeds in that over: 94, 95, 94, 93, 93, 93. Labuschagne is in pure survival mode…and succeeding.
11:46 AM BST
OVER 10: AUS 35-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 10)
Woakes into the attack. Finds a bit of swing from his first two balls and then gets driven crisply down the ground for four by Khawaja. Don’t think the Australian opener will be in a hurry to get down to the other end.
It is motorway driving at one end, B road at the other. Wood is flinging it down from the Pavilion End at 96.5mph while Robinson was running up the hill from the football ground end clocking 79mph. The slips are standing 23m behind the bat for Wood, 21m for Robinson. One thing to remember though is Wood’s record at home. He is a rare beast for an English bowler averaging much better overseas (24.18) than at home (40.71) because pace is needed on flat pitches on tour,, and seam and movement in England.
11:42 AM BST
OVER 9: AUS 31-1 (Labuschagne 12 Khawaja 6)
At Wood’s pace, batting is on instinct and Labuschagne is doing it beautifully. He leaves a couple, manages to take his hand off the handle as the ball smashes into the top of his bat and leaves another.
Oohs and aaah from the crowd as the big screen shows that Wood’s fourth ball of the over is at more than 96mph, and it was an utter pearler that left Labuschangne in the air and off the pitch.
Fabulous over, fabulously well played by Labuschagne.
Chris Woakes is replacing Ollie Robinson
11:38 AM BST
OVER 8: AUS 31-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 6)
Ollie Robinson, the snail to Wood’s hare, is plugging away on and outside Khawaja’s off stump with those five slips. Another maiden. That’s three on the bounce. When England went to No 1 in the world under Andrew Strauss, the “bowl dry” theory was that three maidens equates to a much heightened chance of a wicket.
11:34 AM BST
OVER 7: AUS 31-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 6)
91mph from Mark Wood’s first ball, and more away swing than either Broad or Robinson. Wow. Labuschagne leaves it.
Second ball is 93mph. Very well played on the forward defensive from Australia’s No 3.
Now 95mph! Someone’s has had his Weetabix. The fourth ball flies off a pad for four leg byes. England’s slip cordon have already taken a step backwards. Labuschagne plays the sixth ball – a lifter – brilliantly.
Quick pitch; fast bowler; lightning outfield, bit of sunshine. This is more like Melbourne than Leeds.
11:30 AM BST
OVER 6: AUS 27-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 6)
Five slips for Ollie Robinson coming over the wicket to Khawaja, lined up like prop forwards on the five-metre line. Robinson finds an outside edge that goes to ground and raps Khawaja on the pad. Robinson looking lively. Or at least as lively as a bowler can at 82mph.
Even on this pitch, which is quicker, Australia have had three gentle edges fall short of the slips, because they are playing with such short hands. Actually been good stops from England, which is important given runs will flow quickly today.
Mark Wood is replacing Stuart Broad…
11:26 AM BST
OVER 5: AUS 27-1 (Labuschagne 11 Khawaja 6)
Another boundary for Labuschagne in similar fashion: just gently timing the ball through midwicket. Broad is pitching up – which is clearly the correct approach – and there’s an edge or two from Labuschagne in this over – but with the ball not moving around prodigiously there are plenty of scoring opportunities too.
You can sense England’s batsmen licking their lips at the prospect of batting on this.
11:20 AM BST
OVER 4: AUS 20-1 (Labuschagne 6 Khawaja 5)
This outfield is like a golf green. Labuschagne taps Ollie Robinson into the leg side and picks up four runs simply for finding a gap.
Ollie Robinson is bowling in the low 80s with a leg slip, three orthodox slips and a gully.
Also, check out these Pride stumps…
11:16 AM BST
OVER 3: AUS 16-1 (Labuschagne 2 Khawaja 5)
There’s bounce out there, folks. Four byes fly past Jonny Bairstow as Broad strays down the leg side. Not much Bairstow could have done about that, to be fair.
Then a gorgeous, beautifully-balanced drive from Khawaja through mid-off. Really lovely simplicity to his game the way he’s batting so far this series.
11:12 AM BST
OVER 2: AUS 8-1 (Labuschagne 2 Khawaja 1)
Robinson settles quickly onto his length, running up the hill at Headingley, and getting a little bit of lift out of this well-grassed pitch. There’s a no-ball, then Khawaja gets off the mark by riding a ball and dropping it into the leg side.
Robinson ends the over with a peach, nipping the ball away from Labuschagne off a wobbly seam.
Last summer Ollie Robinson used to offer long opening spells I.e. 8 overs and often a couple of wickets, maximising the new ball. A repeat today would be welcome if England are going to bounce back.
11:08 AM BST
OVER 1: AUS 5-1 (Labuschagne 0 Khawaja 0)
Broad was round the wicket to Warner, who actually struck the first ball of the match for four. He simply leant on a full ball and watched it fly to the boundary at mid-on over the lightning quick outfield.
The wicket ball seemed to deviate slightly. Warner was caught on the crease and Crawley took a really sharp catch away to his left. Smart work in the cordon, of the kind that has been a little lacking from England so far in this series.
Labuschagne was struck on the pad with his first ball but the England appeal was wildly optimistic.
Ollie Robinson to share the new ball…
11:04 AM BST
WICKET!
Warner caught at second slip by Zak Crawley off – who else? – Stuart Broad.
What’s that now? 16 times for Broad v Warner, who is now halfway through his final series in England without that elusive hundred. The pitch is quicker, so is the outfield. We are in for some entertaining cricket come what may. England are crowding Marnus.
‘Look at that pitch. How f***ing green is that.’ Plenty of anticipation overheard in the Western terrace ahead of the first ball. And, five balls in, universal cries of cheerio – barring the Australian contingent, conspicuously outnumbered but defiant – after Warner nicks Broad behind. And, er, some less quotable language too: ‘f off Warner you fing cheating bastard,’ exclaimed one supporter here – though more in jest than outright hatred.
11:00 AM BST
England roared onto the field…
…Australia’s openers roundly booed.
Stuart Broad adjusts his headband, rolls over his arm to the man at mid-on and we’re about to get under way.
10:53 AM BST
‘The toss is irrelevant’
A lot is always made of the toss. England winning the toss and bowling is interesting to me after the last Test match. What I have learned is that the toss is irrelevant because it is the execution of skill that really matters. Both teams will be determined to win this first session to set up the match. I predicted at the start of the series that the team that remains the healthiest will win the series.
Back-to-back Test matches are physically and mentally challenging so it’s no surprise to see each team making three changes. Wood and Woakes are both excellent bowlers abs will add great value to England, who’s team looks very well balanced for this Test. Nathan Lyon, who I also predicted would be the difference between the teams, is out injured and although Todd Murphy is a talented young bowler, he is not Nathan Lyon – yet.
I would be amazed if England don’t continue their super aggression against him. Mitch Marsh is a natural replacement for injured Cameron Green. Scott Boland in for Josh Hazlewood provides fresh legs and an advantage for England. So much talk over the last few days. Bring it on. The action at Leeds should be scintillating.
10:52 AM BST
Steve Smith on his 100th Test
Steve Smith, interviewed on Sky Sports on the occasion of his 100th Test, says he never expected to play this much for Australia.
“It’s been a great journey and I’ve loved every minute of it,” he says. That’s quite the selective memory from the disgraced former Australia captain.
But as Mark Butcher points out, you can’t fault a batting average of 59.56, behind only Bradman (99.94) and Herbert Sutcliffe (60.73) among batsmen who have played more than 50 Tests.
10:43 AM BST
–
10:43 AM BST
The allrounders’ aims
It’s Steve Smith’s 100th Test, but there are some landmarks in reach for some of England’s players too.
Moeen Ali needs two wickets and 49 runs to become the 16th to reach 3,000 runs and 200 wickets in Tests. As England have seen Australia in, however, you wouldn’t want Moeen to reach that target of 200 too soon. Ben Stokes needs three wickets for his 200.
10:34 AM BST
Three changes to Australia’s team
A few boos there for Pat Cummins, the Australia captain, as he announced his team. Three changes:
-
Mitchell Marsh in for Cameron Green, who has a hamstring strain
-
Todd Murphy (who has never before played a game of cricket in England) in for the injured Nathan Lyon
-
Scott Boland in for Josh Hazlewood
That’s a weaker bowling attack and a weaker close-catching cordon.
10:31 AM BST
England win the toss and bowl
Stokes confirms the team announced earlier this week.
“The Yorkshire crowd love watching Rooty and Jonny bat,” says Ben Stokes. Presumably they also like watching Yorkshireman Harry Brook.
Cummins says he would also have chosen to bowl first. That must be based primarily on the green-tinged pitch. Mind you, the sun is out already at Headingley and, according to those on the ground the pitch and outfield are rock-hard. Suspect this might not be a bad toss to lose.
The last five Tests at Headingley have all been won by the team bowling first: Ben Stokes’s decision to bowl first makes a lot of sense, especially with four specialist seamers in the attack and – without Nathan Lyon – fewer concerns about England chasing in the 4th innings. And there is grass on the wicket too.
10:23 AM BST
Weather forecast is set fair
For today at least. There’s a little rain around on Saturday and on Monday, if the Test goes that far. The first two did of course.
(The forecast below is courtesy of the Met Office)
10:16 AM BST
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10:15 AM BST
Coming to you live from Headingley
10:11 AM BST
Cameron Green fitness update (sort of)
In 20 minutes we’ll learn who’s been picked in the Australia team (we already know the England team). In the meantime, here’s an update, of sorts, on the fitness of Cameron Green.
There was some strong speculation – vehemently denied by Cricket Australia – that Cameron Green was not quite right, because he did not train yesterday. Well, this morning, he’s just stood around with a rugby ball, while the reserve all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has marked his run-up and looked busy. We will find out in 20 minutes, but it appears Australia will also be making a third change to their team.
That said… Marsh is a wind-up merchant and was marking his run-up before the Edgbaston Test, to just to set the hares running. Let’s see.
09:59 AM BST
Headingley: the happy hunting ground.
From 1981 to 2019 – not forgetting Mark Butcher’s brilliance in 2001 – Headingley is the ground of outlandish Ashes deeds from England. They will need an encore to keep the 2023 series alive.
If you thought Lord’s on Sunday was febrile, Headingley over the next five days, particularly the Western Terrace, promises to be something else. A cocktail of the simmering controversy over the Jonny Bairstow stumping, England’s precarious Ashes position and the strong Yorkshire core to the side (England’s No 3, No 4 and No 5 are all White Rose) means that Australia are braced for a raucous home crowd.
Not that Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, thinks that there is anything to apologise for. “The team did nothing wrong so we’re all comfortable,” Cummins declared in his press conference before the Test. “We’ve all moved on.” Asked whether he would do the same thing again in a Test match, Cummins simply replied: “Yep”.
The Laws of the Game and most former professionals are on Cummins’ side. The Yorkshire crowd, you suspect, will think rather differently.
Amid all the despair about England’s 2-0 deficit in the series, and their collapse against Australia’s well-telegraphed short-ball ploy at Lord’s, there are also reasons for optimism. Both of England’s margins of defeats – two wickets, and 43 runs – have been tight. In the second of two back-to-back Tests, Australia’s pace attack might just feel the effects of their sterling deeds at Lord’s, when Nathan Lyon was ruled out after taking just one out of England’s 20 wickets. There are also indications that the Headingley wicket will restore some of England’s missing home advantage.
England certainly need it to: the more assistance that conditions offer to seamers, the better they perform against Australia. Since 2005, there have been 27 Ashes Tests in England. In the 14 matches when the ball has seamed and swung the most, England lead 8-3. But in the 13 Tests when the ball has seamed and swung the least – including the first two this year – Australia are leading 6-3. England fans will hope that the Headingley wicket brings back memories of some of Australia’s gruesome collapses in recent years.
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