What an incredible day of cricket!
Leading into the final day of the women’s Ashes Test at Manaka Oval, the big question everyone was asking was: will we get a result?
With Australia at 2-12 early on day three, England had started to fight their way back into the game.
Then the rain came. Two sessions were lost to rain and many (including me) thought the possibility of a team winning this game was extremely unlikely.
But what a final two hours, and what a performance by both teams. For England to come so close to winning, and for Australia to fight their way back into the game when an England victory was looking likely, both teams gave it their absolute all.
I still need some time to catch my breath after one of the most incredible finishes to a Test match I have ever seen – even though it ended in a draw!.
Here are some talking points from the final day of the Test match.
Australia’s fantastic fielding
When Natalie Sciver and Heather Knight were at the crease, I was convinced that England were in the box seat to win this game. But When Knight departed for 48 and Sciver for 58, I wondered if Australia had a sniff.
That led to a rollercoaster final hour, with all the Aussie bowlers playing their part. In particular, Annabel Sutherland was a stand-out, taking three wickets in 10 minutes to dismiss Sciver, Sophia Dunkley and Katherine Brunt.
After the most dramatic hour you could wish to see, it boiled down to this: England needed 12 runs off the final over, Australia a solitary wicket. Number eleven Kate Cross was to face, while young gun Alana King had the ball in hand.
I held my breath for each delivery, but Cross managed to hang on.
Did anyone else find themselves yelling at Lanning to bring the field in that final over?
England continue to miss opportunities
There have been moments of brilliance for several English players during this Test match, including an unbeaten 168 for Heather Knight, five wickets for Katherine Brunt in the first innings and five catches for wicketkeeper Amy Jones.
So important was Knight for England, that I have no hesitation in declaring her player of the match.
But England also missed plenty of opportunities in the field too and this was again another feature of day four. Over 160 runs were added to Australia’s scores over both innings because of missed catches.
Unfortunately, Jones dropped Ellyse Perry on 30 just after drinks. It was a fairly straightforward chance and England’s first real opportunity to dismiss Perry.
In the 29th over, Perry was dropped again by Jones. Eventually Perry was dismissed on 41, but those missed chances still demonstrated a slight lack of focus from England in the field.
These extra runs may have cost them the win.
Meg Lanning of Australia leads her team off the field after the Women’s Ashes Test finished in a draw. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Bravo, Beth Mooney
One of my favourite moments of the day was seeing Mooney score her half-century. I’ve mentioned it several times throughout this Test match, but to see Mooney compete so emphatically and bat with such focus with a broken jaw is astounding to me.
Mooney continues to prove over and over again what a tough competitor she is. She is a player that also struggles with the heat, but rarely lets it impact her game.
One innings comes to mind immediately: when Mooney scored a 46-ball 65 to help the Brisbane Heat achieve their maiden WBBL championship in 2019.
Today’s innings showed again what a competitor she is; in an interview following her innings, the most she could say about any discomfort that her jaw caused her was that it was a bit ‘uncomfortable’.
But she wasn’t done just yet. Mooney took two crucial catches on the boundary to dismiss Jones and Dunkley, the latter particularly outstanding.
Did I mention that she had a broken jaw?
Let the women play
Midway through today, the conversation of pundits and commentators were all about when Lanning should make a ‘sporting declaration’ to give both teams an opportunity to win the match.
Some suggested a lead of 200 was enough. Others thought 300. In the end, Australia made the declaration at 216, requiring England to score 259 runs from 48 overs to win, requiring a record-breaking run-chase from England to achieve victory.
And England very nearly did it.
Had Australia lost this game, it would have raised questions as to whether Lanning declared too early.
But why should it be the responsibility of Lanning to make a sporting declaration in the interests of giving both teams an opportunity to win? The easy option for Lanning and the Australians would have been to bat on, play for a draw and not risk letting England back into the Ashes.
Given the impact rain also had on this game, it again prompts the question as to why women do not play five-day Tests.
The pitch that was prepared for this Test was top notch, while both teams came out with great intent. It seemed that both camps wanted to force the result, rather than play for a draw as has become the norm in Tests in recent years.
I find it deeply frustrating that we constantly talk about the tactics of each of the captains and what they can do to force a result. In the past, particularly in the Ashes Test played in Taunton in 2019, Lanning came under heavy criticism for not playing ‘attacking cricket’.
Some of that criticism may have been warranted. But I think it is extremely unfair that there is so much focus on the players and their tactics, in a format which they rarely play, when a solution is staring us right in the face.
Play a fifth day and take the responsibility of manufacturing a result out of the hands of these talented women.
And whilst we are talking about playing a fifth day, it would be great to see more women’s Tests. This contest was so gripping and I want to see more of it.
With this draw, Australia takes a 6– 4 lead in the Women’s Ashes series. It’s now time for the ODI portion of the tournament where there will be plenty of debate about what Australia’s best team looks like.
Rob
Guest
You have nailed it. Starc gets criticised for going for runs but he’s actually attacking the stumps making a batsman play more regularly IMO. Taking a wicket at under 50 in test cricket is high quality bowling. You have to create chances to get 20 wickets.
Hooter
Roar Rookie
Macca, with you 100% on this. The traditional techniques are much more apparent in the women's game.
liquorbox_
Roar Rookie
The question is why is it the most likely outcome? Is purely not enough time to bowl out an opposition twice or a lack of skill? Maybe the bowlers are just not good enough to take the 20 wickets required to win a game because of the over abundance of T20 and 50 over cricket. Test cricket is the best form of the game because to win you have to be good enough to get wickets, in shorter forms of the game you just have to be good enough to score quicker than your opponent. Our bowlers focus for most of the season is to slow run rates and if they take wickets then that is a bonus. Want more results then learn to bowl to take wickets and forget about run rates.
Rob
Guest
Quality fielding, bowling and pitch you get a result in 400 overs. England dropped some chances that they would have been disappointed not taking. Catches win matches. You don’t deserve to win if you drop them.
Simoc
Guest
Four days is plenty for men and woman. Rain was the problem here. The Poms lost it when Sciver and Dunkley were playing great but were only looking for boundaries though 2s were available all around the ground with fielders mostly all out. And they hit each ball to the scarce close in fielders. Then they panicked. The ABC Pommie female radio commentator spent an hour talking about herself in a massive fail. These contrived finishes don't excite me so much. I would have batted England out of the contest then skittle them inside a session. That is what a male captain would have done. You psyche them out first then blow them off the park.
astro
Roar Rookie
I'm not disagreeing, but at this point, I think its just about making Women's Test cricket more interesting by giving it the opportunity to end in a result...It must be a little demoralising as a player to go into a Test match, knowing a draw is by far the most likely outcome.
Rob
Guest
My wife and daughters are demons and regularly pants me. It’s not even a contest but I get seriously screwed by the SRS. I mean Qi, Xi, Sez ? I learn a new one with them almost every game. Oh and WTF isn’t allowed I’ve been told.
astro
Roar Rookie
Not sure what this has to do with tennis and equal pay, but draws become less exciting when they are the expectation...The stats around this are pretty damning and hard to argue. This is from a different article on this topic: "Currently, 64 percent of all women’s Test cricket ends in a draw. There has not been a result in a test match since 2015." Bottom line, draws are the most common outcome for Women's Test cricket, where as for Men's cricket, draws only account for a 25-30% of results. After a while, draws become pretty dull in terms of an outcome, especially if a result is only an extra day away...
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
I guess my point was regardless of this exciting draw.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Having watched womens cricket in all formats over the past couple of years I would have to say that I find it astounding that they play so little test cricket, to me it is the format that suits them best. To me there are a lot of technically proficient players who lack the "power" of the mens game which makes for attractive test cricket but very dull T20. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the medium paced bowlers get the ball to hoop around and some classical driving from the batswomen (much better than whatever it is Labuschagne calls a cover drive). The quality of the spin bowling seemed the only real weak point with few able to get the ball to turn and a tendency to bowl the "tight lines" that are favoured in the shorter format.
Macca
Roar Rookie
I would rather them have 1 more day and not need it than need it and not have it. It isn't as if there are huge crowds that need to be factored in.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
When it comes to Scrabble., my normally sweet 94 year old mum is like captains D G Bradman and D R Jardine all rolled into one ruthless entity. If only I'd inherited her scrabble killer instinct to take onto the cricket and footy field.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
This. Male Test cricketers from age 15 have played predominantly 2-day club games, then 4-day 2nd XI, Futures League, Sheffield Shield and Aus A games. It's an integrated formal pathway, with first-class (not List A) cricket the dominant format. In contrast female cricketers now play solely T20 and 50-over games. They don't need to bat, bowl and field for 5-6 hours, and sometimes on successive days. And Tests aren't the place to learn those skills. The issue isn't 5-day Tests, or even Test series. It's whether to make a strategic investment in long-format cricket. That will take time, money, ground availability and player interest. And prioritisation over WBBL, The Hundred and potentially also a Women's IPL. If such a strategy is adopted, then identify just 20-30 players from the WBBL with the right attributes and schedule some 2-day and 4-day NSW v The Rest, Aus v Aus A, tourists v Aus A, and Aus A v Ind A/Eng A/NZ A games.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Shrewd advice by Lanning to bowl wide until umpire says unacceptable. Followed immediately by a bouncer gave 3 dots that halted the momentum. Naive run out by the English batter helped. Should have taken the outside line of the track and put herself between wicketkeeper and the stumps. The defensive field with only a few overs left snatched a draw from the jaws of victory.
Rob
Guest
Mary I’ve experienced draws both on the rugby league and cricket field. They have been incredibly fun, exciting and memorable games. Some draws actually got us a start in a GF which we won. I’ve only found them boring in cricket when teams bat incredibly long and another has no chance. Also declarations are often made and they do so tactically. Meg was attempting to have enough time to get England out but she also possibly wanted to entice England to chase. This Test was made exciting by making the declaration IMO. 5 days why not 10? I’m not sure it makes more enjoyable. I played monopoly for about 12hours over 4 days with my wife and 11 year old daughter over Christmas. In the end I just started making offers to sell/ swap so the game could finish. It did I won but I seriously couldn’t care in the end. Not sure my wife or daughter really care to play again either???? . Found scrabble much more entertaining after that and even the teenager kids enjoyed playing? You do and play sport for enjoyment IMO. If only about winning or losing it’s hard work. Just my take.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
They had a series of dots when well ahead of run a ball, where they could have been looking for singles and two instead of boundaries. But got nothing instead. It's not unusual though with these tight finishes. In both the tied tests the chasing team seemed to have it in hand but lost the last 5 or so cheaply. Nothing will erase for me though triumph to tragedy of establishment Aus going form 3/305 to all out 310, chasing 380 against Pakistan.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
In all likelihood Australia would've lasted another 20 overs, got the lead over 300 and England would have batted for the draw on the last day, leading to boring cricket. You're wrong here Mary. 4 day matches are good enough for 1st class cricket so they're good enough for this level cricket.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
1st class matches are 4 days. Even with the rain this one was 1 over short of a result. They don't need another day. A 5th day would allow the game to meander, whereas they were forced to declare to try to force a result, making for more exciting cricket.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Rob, no surprise that I disagree with you on the 4 day point. :laughing: I don't think it was up to Meg Lanning to make a 'sporting declaration' so we could get a result. Realistically, Meg could have batted on through another session and potentially to the end of the day and the game would have been completely out of reach for England. So many women's Tests end in a draw and while they can be exciting, people use that as a point to criticise the women for not playing 'attacking cricket' and forcing a result.
Rob
Guest
3 sets for women in Tennis for same pay? If we play 5 and there’s no result should we play 6-7? The excitement of the draw was fantastic. Both teams frustrated but both teams loved the contest IMO. A fair result.