England suffered a huge first deficit in the second test of the Ashes at the Lords. The England Team showed zero game awareness to let Australia have a strong command over the game. There is a fine line between being brave and foolish. England chose the latter.
On the second session of the second day, the sun was out and the pitch had flattened out. The second day being the best batting day. Australia dealt with a huge blow missing Nathon Lyon due to injury. The injury looked serious to the naked eye. Hazlewood was coming back from injury. In a lengthy series like the Ashes, you must not look at the 5 days in front of you. England could have tired the opposition quicks. Made them work hard for wickets.
Ideally, England should have recognized the moment to play sensibly and gain control over the test match. For the most part of the second session, they did. They were comfortably sitting at 188/1 with Pope and Duckett looking to build a strong foundation.
England batters falling ‘Short’
The Aussie quicks employed a short ball strategy to stem the flow of runs and get a wicket or two in the process. Cummins set a fully packed leg-side field with 3 men behind the square and one at third man. He decided to test the BazBall approach of England. With the highly skilled Australian quicks, it was very difficult for the English batters to score runs with ease. And England fell right into the trap of the menacing Aussie quicks. They gifted their wickets like a generous donation, displaying a lack of focus and poor shot selection.
Ollie Pope pulled the ball awkwardly to the fine leg straight into the hands of Steve Smith. Soon Duckett was dismissed two runs short off his maiden Ashes ton. Joe Root despite being got a second chance, tried to pull the ball in the air where Steve Smith took a stunning tumbling catch at square leg. Harry Brook also could have soon joined them but received a reprieve as Marnus dropped a simple catch at square leg. The problem was not getting out to a short ball. The problem was in the execution of their shots. With a heavily packed leg-side field, England showed zero game knowledge. None of the dismissed batters tried to keep the ball down. This is not aggression, this looks more like a submissive approach. The inability to soak pressure.
At the start of the England innings up until the short ball barrage, it was looking like England’s day. But 3 wickets out of nowhere nullified the hard work done by the same batters in the first two sessions. England ended the day on 278/4 with the game still in the balance.
But England collapsed badly at the start of the third day. Starc bowled a beauty to initiate a collapse. Brook and Bairstow lost patience and soon the others fell like a pack of cards. They lost their last 6 wickets just for 47 runs. This was such a valiant effort by Australia without the services of their lead spinner. Apart from the dismissal of Ben Stokes, none of the wickets seemed to be earned. Australia played with the patience of the English batters whose impatience caused the downfall. 5 of their 10 wickets came on a short ball.
These are worrying signs for England for the rest of the series. Australia have discovered a massive chink in their armour and have implemented it to perfection. England have lots to ponder in the second innings as they cannot be gifting away wickets for fun in a big series like Ashes. Yes, Intent is important. Entertaining the crowd is important. But in the end, what matters is winning.
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