They have now missed 14 catches, a stumping and taken two wickets off no balls in three Tests. 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. 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.Īustralia are still in the game because of England’s brittle fielding. They come along rarely and have to be treasured especially when he is presented with a pitch fit for the occasion. There are few more popular or watchable cricketers than Wood, whose England appearances are like eagerly awaited blockbusters. 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. 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. With England 68 for three at the close it was honours even. 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.Ī good drama requires twists as well as fallible characters and this provided it all.
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