For the first time in 18 years, Australia have claimed the Ashes on English soil. In yet another thrilling finish, the English tail fought valiantly before the tourists finally secured a 2-1 series lead moving into the fifth Test.
Australia looked to be headed for a comfortable win when they reduced England to 8-173 with the home side still needing to survive up to 30 overs for a draw.
Then lower-order batsmen Craig Overton and Jack Leach stonewalled with fantastic composure. With each over they survived, pressure mounted on Australia.
For 14 overs, that pair frustrated the Aussies and it took the unlikely figure of Marnus Labuschagne to separate them with his leg spin when he had Leach caught in close.
Then Josh Hazlewood produced a lovely off-cutter to earn an lbw against Overton and set off wild celebrations.
While Australia surely will be intent on actually winning the series when they head to the Oval, last night was a major achievement for a team that has had many dark moments in the UK since their last series win there in 2001.
Australia were shocked by the English underdogs in 2005, dominated large parts of the 2009 series but stumbled in the key moments, were comprehensively outclassed in 2013 and fell apart when the pitches were lively in 2015.
This time around Australia have showcased a resilience that was absent in the previous two series. In 2013 and 2015 when England built momentum Australia crumbled. In this series, however, Australia repeatedly have found ways to haul themselves out of perilous situations.
(Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
In the first Test they recovered from 8-122 to post a competitive total, then in their second innings were two wickets down still needing another 63 runs to make England bat again. Yet somehow they turned those predicaments into a massive 251-run win.
Then at Lord’s England had them on the rack. Genius batsman Steve Smith had been knocked out of the Test, quite literally, and their vulnerable batting line-up had to find a way to eke out a draw in very tricky conditions against a rampant England attack. They managed that.
Without Smith, the Aussies were rank underdogs in the third Test. Yet they controlled that match until the dying minutes when they were thwarted by a freak knock by Ben Stokes. Once more many pundits and fans predicted this would be too savage a blow for Australia to recover from, that it would scar them mentally.
When they slumped to 2-28 on Day 1 at Old Trafford there was a sense that maybe those predictions were correct – that maybe the events at Leeds had indeed cooked the tourists. Again they showed gumption.
While their huge first innings total here was built on Smith’s 211, the Aussies also got vital input from Labuschagne (67), Tim Paine (58) and Mitchell Starc (54*).
This solid spread of contributors continued with the ball as Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood all had a notable impact to help roll England for 301 in good batting conditions.
At 4-44 batting a second time, Australia were at risk of letting England back into the match. Then they rallied again through Smith and Wade, whose 105-run stand was scored at 4.4 runs an over to give Australia time to declare and get a crack at England before stumps on Day 4.
The time that pair bought their side proved to be crucial as Cummins grabbed two wickets late in that day, which all set it up for the Aussie bowlers to make one final push towards retaining the Ashes yesterday.
England didn’t roll over. The hosts batted with more patience than they have shown throughout most of this series. Australia’s bowlers were forced to toil for their reward.
Cummins again underlined why he is the number one ranked Test bowler in the world, maintaining an impeccable line and length that exploited any lateral movement and variable bounce on offer.
He castled Jason Roy with a delightful in swinger that opened up the England rookie and then caught Ben Stokes in two minds, catching the under edge of his bat as he tried to withdraw his blade.
Then the stubborn innings of Joe Denly (53) was ended when Nathan Lyon got an off break to leap off the pitch, catch his glove and pop to short leg.
When Starc dislodged keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, just as he was beginning to take root at the crease, Australia were on a rip and the end looked nigh.
Instead Australia had to toil and fret for a long while yet, with the threat of bad light stopping play.
All that’s relevant now, though, is that Australia have retained the Ashes.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Brendon, you can keep saying it's clear I don't understand Test cricket all you like. I've been watch Test cricket all my life, in Australian and touring with Australia around the world. The fact is your proposition is simply wrong regarding Australia's position. You are completely ignoring the fact the game lost a day's play to rain. It was a win in effectively four days play. Almost EVERY cricket expert stated on day 3 they thought Australia had little chance to win due to time lost. It was a remarkable effort to set up and execute the win in the time remaining. Australia won by 150+ runs and did so with more than 90 overs less than what was scheduled for the match.
Brendon
Roar Rookie
It took until the final hour of the test to win. It took over a whole day's play. England wasn't that far off saving the match. And its clear you dont understand test cricket or how a draw works. You could have a lead of 750 runs but if the opposition is 9/150 at the end of the 5th days play then its a draw. How many runs you lead by is irrelevant if you dont dismiss all 10 batsmen in the opponents 2nd innings. Fact is Australia had trouble and almost choked getting those 10 wickets. Struggling to get 8 wickets on a 5th day of a test isn't a good sign. Fact is this Australian team struggles to finish off games and thats definitely a mental thing.
Marty
Roar Rookie
Well we’ve won enough tests to retain the Ashes, and that’s the actual point of the exercise isn’t it? The way the team, country, and the vast majority of cricket fans reacted the other night would suggest they agree with me, but feel free to split hairs all you want. It’s great to hear your support for Langer, and who knows what the future will bring, but if you can’t give an ‘accolade’ or two to someone who has just achieved something that hasn’t been done in 18 years, well I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on that one.
JGK
Roar Guru
Actually we haven't won anything yet. The series could still be drawn. In which case we retain the Ashes won by the Darren Lehmann coached team of 2 years ago. That all said, I am happy with Langer as coach for now. It's just that the original poster was wondering about "accolades" for Langer whereas I still think the jury's out.
Marty
Roar Rookie
Well you also need to take 20 wickets to win a test and Smith didn’t get any of those. I agree there are some obvious issues with the top order and Langer must accept his share of responsibility for that. However, by the same token, the ongoing success of the bowling unit should also not be overlooked and if you are going to blame Langer for aspects of team performance which are below par then I would think it’s only fair that you give him credit for aspects of the teams performance that have been very good. We did win after all. Do you think Langer should be coach?
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Do you understand what choking is? Whilst it may be something you want to believe about Australian sport, based on previous comments, Australia thumped England in the Test. 150+ runs inside of 4 days available play, so on this occasion it unfortunately doesn't fit with your narrative.
Brendon
Roar Rookie
Do you understand what a draw is in test cricket?
JGK
Roar Guru
I'm obviously not on the inside but my sense is that Langer spent a lot of time and energy in bringing the Cape Town three back into the fold without causing any overt ructions within the team that have been together since Cape Town. So to the extent that that has freed up Smith at least to perform at his stratospheric levels in this series, then kudos to Langer. But the ongoing failure of the batting line up can't be overlooked.
Micko
Roar Rookie
120 points per test series, regardless of how many tests.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Most illuminating.
Mango Jack
Roar Guru
Definitely Broad over Archer, who had a brief, if spectacular, spell but didn't really do much afterwards. Broad, on the other hand, was excellent. Lyon at 11. This hasn't been his best series but he's delivered some crucial wickets and is still a level above Leach.
Mango Jack
Roar Guru
I read this morning how everything bad in England starts with 'B'. Brexit, Boris, bowling, batting ...:)
Marty
Roar Rookie
Apart from the fact that Smith was undoubtedly the main reason we won the Ashes with a performance that defies description, I couldn’t disagree with you more JGK. As I said I my first post effective management is about getting the most out of your bowling group taking into account all of the variables around injury, individual strengths and playing conditions, which Langer and his team have done to perfection in this series. Cummins – management isn’t just about resting blokes, it’s about getting your best players on the field ready to perform, of which resting forms a part. From what I saw Cummins was the best performed bowler across all conditions, and there were no injury concerns, so I would suggest that not resting him was not ‘no management’ but in fact effective management. Lyon – there’s no question that after the first test Lyon has not been as effective as we would have liked however this is a form issues, so unless you are seriously suggesting that we drop a guy who has just gone past DK in terms of test wickets taken, then there’s only so much that can be done from a management point of view. Let’s also remember that if it wasn’t for a questionable umpiring decision and poor use of reviews Lyon would be forever remembered as the hero who stopped Stokes and won us the Ashes. Pattinson – What they want from Pattinson is a) not to get injured and leave us a bowler down, and b) along with Siddle (who bowled beautifully when called upon) provide high quality, bang it into the pitch line and length bowling in conditions that suited them. This then allowed Langer and the selectors to keep Starc (who is an impact bowler these days, not line and length) in their back pocket so the first time the Poms saw him for the series was when he had the greatest opportunity to be most effective. But apart from that your absolutely right, the success of the bowling group ‘doesn’t reflect either way’ on Langer or the selectors. Just curious JGK, do you think that Langer contributed positively in any way to the team achieving something that hasn’t been done in 18 years?
Goalsonly
Roar Rookie
The Poms tried to boo and to scowl Now all they can do is to howl Cos when a plan crashes And off go the ashes You can only cry cry cry fowl
JamesH
Roar Guru
He struggled a bit earlier in the series with the way the Dukes ball swings after passing the bat but he seems to have rectified that in the last couple of tests. And his keeping to Lyon has been nothing short of excellent. Comfortably the best I've seen by an Australian keeper to a spinner in any format since Haddin retired (and perhaps even longer than that).
JGK
Roar Guru
Doesn't reflect either way. Cummins has played every match - no management there. Lyon has played every match and has gotten worse over the series. Hazlewood arguably should have played in Edgbaston and it's hard to see exactly what they want form Pattinson. As for the 3rd, yes we should have won that after rolling England for 67. But without Smith we would have lost the first two Tests.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
Root, would naturally say yes when offered the Captaincy, as the hierarchy looked at a bat who was a walk up start when he was chosen. History has shown that is not always the best option. You're right he has that ' don't lose style'. Anderson is gone, but Wood needs a look when fit and if Archer develops they have a base for an attack. Their top order is a problem with Bairstow batting too high.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Good point. If they are going really slow, it may be possible that the way to avoid a fine isn't to speed up, but to slow down even more to make sure they bowl less than 60 overs overall!
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I think people just need to temper their expectations of Archer a bit and remember how new to first class cricket, let alone test cricket, he is. Even for a bowler who can bowl 95mph, it's not actually possible to do that all the time. Hitting absolute top speed will be something he will do at occasions during a match, not maintaining all the time. He needs to be well managed by England and help him to work out how to maximise his ability bowling spell after spell, test after test in long series. He has all the ingredients to finish his career as one of the great fast bowlers, but even the greatest fast bowlers still weren't great in ever spell they ever bowled.
TheGeneral
Roar Rookie
Rowdy, But we have got Smith, and yes thank goodness for that. Yes we did not win the 3rd test, but according to you previously we should have won easily but for a combination of missed catches, bad DRS decisions, Paine's poor captaincy etc. and we were without Smith. We probably would not have won some tests in the 30's without Bradman. I am not a great reader but have heard about Hornes "Lucky Country". At my age it is probably too late to reeducate myself so will accept your premise of his ideas. And I would like to see more tests and 4 day cricket instead of the T20 rubbish. But the short form of cricket is mainly where the money comes from, except for tests against England and India.