Key events
81st over: England 434-4 (Brook 39, Stokes 49) Australia choose not to take the new ball, banking on the old one being harder to smash perhaps. Weird field for Green bowling to Brook, six out on the rope either side of the wicket for cross-batted shots as he keeps bowling short. Then one from a fuller length to Stokes explodes off the pitch! There’s that variable bounce. It rears up, and luckily for Stokes it’s outside off stump and he’s able to flinch away from it.
80th over: England 429-4 (Brook 36, Stokes 47) Marsh is still off the field. The Australian camp first says he has no problem, then says he’s managing some soreness from yesterday. He bowled 9 overs.
Three others have had a go, now it’s Cummins. He starts well, tucks up Stokes for a few balls, only gives away two singles. That’s a win right now. I doubt it will last.
79th over: England 427-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 46) There’s the Harry Brook back-away-baseball shot. Doesn’t time it, gets two runs through mid on. Cameron Green is bowling now, bumper theory, Brook pulls down the leg side for one. Five off the over all up.
78th over: England 422-4 (Brook 32, Stokes 44) Brook’s turn to join in the fun, blasting a cover drive from Starc for four, at which point the Australian quick errs with a full toss that gets the same treatment. Two balls later, an even better shot, timed through deep third with an almost still bat! An even dozen for Harry.
James Kerr is supporting England from Amorgos on a scorching day. His eldest daughter, he says, will be following Australia. “Born 18 years ago at the wonderful Royal Randwick. Her first few weeks were spent nightly in my arms in our little cottage in Redfern following the epic 2005 series. I didn’t miss a ball. This is as good.”
77th over: England 410-4 (Brook 20, Stokes 44) He’s in the Stokes zone now. Stepping down and a little outside leg to make the room for a huge swing of the bat, all the way around to midwicket where he belts Hazlewood away for for.
76th over: England 406-4 (Brook 20, Stokes 40) Another run out missed! This one is a direct hit attempt, more difficult as Labuschagne pings from midwicket. Brook at the non-striker’s end had come down and had to turn back.
Email from Tom Farrell, which I promise I was trying to get to before play but ran out of time.
“In the 15 overs after Crawley fell last night, England scored at a little over 3 an over. We can all see the weather forecast: surely England’s only hope of victory was to push on, get a lead of 150-200 by as early as possible today, and have at least a couple of sessions to bowl at the Aussies? Even if it didn’t work, defeat would still be incredibly unlikely. Instead, Bazball went missing precisely when it was needed. The draw is now odds on. Discuss.”
There’s some logic to that. They had Australia down and out and could have really punished them. It was odd to pull back. But then, Stokes has done exactly that almost every time he has batted in this series. I assume that his logic, after Crawley and Root were out in quick time, was to make sure Australia didn’t get anything else out of the day to help them feel better, and then to come out the next morning and lay into them afresh. Which he’s now doing.
75th over: England 403-4 (Brook 19, Stokes 38) Stokes on the pull shot might be the shot of this series. Hazlewood tests him from around the wicket and he dismisses it for four.
74th over: England 397-4 (Brook 18, Stokes 33) Starc will bowl from the Anderson End… and he may wish he hadn’t. On the pads, Stokes wallops him through midwicket like he’s shovelling coal. In response, Stokes nearly loses a foot, Starc blasting a yorker through him but it’s outside leg stump. Squeezes out a run, Brook dashes another, Stokes drives to deep point and wants two. Gets two, running like it’s the 50th over of an ODI, and he should have been out! Neser’s throw from the deep is pretty accurate but it bounces and reaches Carey very low to the ground. The Australian keeper doesn’t take it cleanly, he would have had Stokes.
Now, this is interesting on the replay. Carey’s gloves hit the stump and the bails come off. But the ball actually ricochets off his gloves and hits the the stump a split second before his hand does. Carey doesn’t know that, he signals not out and doesn’t appeal. The ball wouldn’t have actually dislodged the bail before the glove did, though. It would have done if the glove hadn’t hit and hastened the process though, though. Would have been a niche one for a third umpire.
73rd over: England 389-4 (Brook 17, Stokes 26) Whoosh! Stokes starts the day with a huge slap through point, except he doesn’t hit the ball. Revises his ambition in a downward direction and nudges a single next time around. Brook drives three through cover. Neser is fielding. But Starc is out there. Mitchell Marsh is off the field. Probably busy being nice to somebody somewhere.
Players are out on the field, Hazlewood warming up to bowl from the Statham End.
“Morning Geoff,” writes Simon McMahon. “Had tickets for days 3 and 4 but gave them up as family and travel plans changed late on. I’m now convinced that today will go down in Ashes folklore, England bowling out the Aussies in a session to win by an innings before the rain comes tomorrow. And I’ll be following it all from home on the OBO. Which of course is much better than actually being there anyway, right? Any worse choices not to go to a sporting event out there…?”
We had a Final Word listener write in with the story of how his dad took him away from Edgbaston so they could go to the movies when a boring rain-affected Warwickshire draw was guaranteed on the final day.
Brian Lara finished with 501*.
Test Match Special overseas, you say? The soothing sounds of British voices and the occasional trumpeting Jim Maxwell shipping forecast? Go on then. Click.
Morning from a windy & wet Old Trafford @GeoffLemonSport. Funny old day yesterday, where Australians get to feel a bit like we did for most of the late 80s-early 00s. I fear we may run out of road here but my god it was exhilarating stuff. Do I finally need to get used to this?
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) July 21, 2023
The big story of the day, of course, was the big innings of the day. It might well prove be a story much bigger than one day, too. Jonathan Liew on The Zak.
I was on Australia Watch, which was a pretty grim watch to be on by the end of the day, when quality bowlers were being belted around like club threes. And no spinner, hey?
And yes, we have a Final Word pod for those who like their cricket through their ears.
Andy Bull was on Moeen Watch, after the purring cover drives that were the highlight of his half-century. Mo’s, not Andy’s.
Simon also put together the Ashes Diary.
We’ve had confirmation from the Australian camp now, by the way, that Starc is strapping that shoulder and will bowl.
Simon Burnton had Crawley’s reaction from the post-play presser.
Let’s catch up? Start with the match report from Ali Martin, who was still tapping away well into the evening at Old Trafford.
Preamble
Hello from Manchester. Australian supporters, have you emerged from your depression caves? Englishers, have you surfed down from your oxytocin highs? What a bewildering blaze of Test batting that was yesterday. The England team had talked of Zak Crawley as an investment – he paid off like selling out of GameStop at the peak. Ashes on the line, and here we are.
It’s funny, England only lead by 67, which in an ordinary match would have Australia still in it if they bowled well on this third morning. But it feels like 267 given how dominant England were yesterday. The emotional cost will be heavy. And it could well be 267 for real if Stokes, Brook, Bairstow live up to their capabilities. A bowling comeback from here would be one for the ages.
That chance will be further diminished by Mitchell Starc’s shoulder injury sustained late yesterday while fielding – the Australians say that he will bowl today, but he’ll surely be hampered.
It has been raining in Manchester overnight but hopefully we’ll still get a start on time.