All the hope, all the expectation, all that nervous energy as to whether the Ashes would live up to the hype has been vindicated. Despite the result for English supporters, they will cherish the fact that football has been knocked off the back pages to allow Test cricket to claim its rightful place on summer’s landscape.
Test cricket here to stay? You betcha.
There wasn’t a ticket left to be had for the final day once Sunday’s rain effectively ensured that the contest would go the distance. To judge by the crowds everybody is still pretending to work from home only to sneak off to the cricket. The throaty full house, with the Hollies in particular playing its part, from teasing then rising to Travis Head, the outrider boundary fielder who took the crowd’s stick in good humour to roaring on Stuart Broad as he collared Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith on Monday evening, goes to show that Test cricket will always be dear to the heart in England. And elsewhere?
You can only hope that the scenes and tales from Edgbaston will keep the flame alive round the world. It’s pretty special stuff and lingers in the mind far longer than any T20 shoot-out. Fast food against gourmet 5-star grub? No contest. Even if there is room for both in every diet, we’re also delighted that this Test series is a five course banquet. That was some first course. The appetite is well and truly whetted.
England wicket keeper Jonny Bairstow. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Can England Continue with Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper?
To bastardise Oscar Wilde, one miss might be considered as a misfortune; to miss five looks like carelessness.’ Or a questionable selection. A jack-of-all-trades behind the stumps or a specialist gloveman – the question is age-old. Jack Russell or Alec Stewart was a recent iteration of that debate. These days it is Bairstow or Ben Foakes. Or it ought to be. Bairtow’s performance in this Test has not stilled that heated conversation. By even a conservative reckoning five chances went begging, a couple of them easy-peasy ones too.
The comparison with Alex Carey was stark: smooth, unruffled, confident is the Aussie, jerky and snatchy is the Englishman. Carey does as a ‘keeper should. He performs the basics well and so spreads confidence through the ranks. Bairstow does that through his batting, of course, and, for a large part, has been the mood-music of this new-age England with his crashing blade setting the tempo last year for so much of what was to come.
But the misses, oh the misses. The Cameron Green stumping that should have been. Criminal. Carey didn’t fluff his lines when it came to sweeping the bails off when Joe Root had a rush of blood and was stumped for the first time in his career. On such moments…
It is not as if Foakes is a rabbit batsman. Far from it. He averages 32 in his 20 Tests, almost 40 in first-class cricket. Barstow’s place appears secure. A key tenet of the Ben Stokes’ regime is loyalty – to the cause and to individuals. That’s fine. It has taken England a long way. But the scrutiny will not go away.
Is the Cultural Identity switch for real and forever?
Who are these free-wheelin’ dudes with sun on their faces, not a care in the world, having fun, spewing the occasional oath and who are the sensible lot, taking few chances, playing conservatively, getting the hump at the cursing, disrespectful mob and their larrikin ways? The first Test has given us a proper role reversal. England are behaving like Australians of stereotype right down to the foul-mouthed spray from Ollie Robinson, taking on the Merv Hughes Bad Boy persona, that was hurled at one of the nicest guys in the game, Usman Khawaja.
England’s Ollie Robinson celebrates after taking the wicket of Australia’s Usman Khawaja. (Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)
Of course it was daft and ill-directed but all those supposed offended Aussies (and quite a few English to be fair) clutching at their pearls should appreciate that a bit of needle is part of the show. The edge, the frisson, the barracking, is an essential part of the Ashes mythology. There is a line to be drawn somewhere, of course but this was not it. As for the difference in approach, well that has been striking but it is a sign of this particular era, no more than that. England are committed to Bazball because it is who Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are. It is their very DNA. Australia are playing conventional cricket because it suits their personnel – classic types, batters, ‘keeper, seamers and a proper spinner. It is a fabulous clash of styles. Neither side will change for this series. And, for that, we can be thankful.
Was the First Innings Declaration Foolish or Fantastic?
We can grumble and wonder and calculate all we like, bemoan the headstrong actions of the England skipper, add and subtract imagined runs but you can’t be half-pregnant with Bazball. You’ve either in it or you’re without it, committed with all its flaws and mis-steps, its unprecedented waving of the batsman into the pavilion with Root and even Robinson looking in fine fettle just to have a crack at the opposition, or you are a critic of such wanton actions.
What you can’t do is pick-and-choose, keep the good bits – the wacky field placings that lead to wickets, the reverse ramp shots of Joe Root – and do away with the bad bits, such as that declaration or even Bairstow’s selection as a wicketkeeper. It’s like Pep Guardiola football, playing out from the back, risky but rewarding as the little matter of the Treble illustrates. Keep declaring Ben.
And Can Moeen’s Finger recover?
England have run out of spinners. There was a killer stat plucked out by Nasser Hussain on Sky TV – 44 of the top 46 wicket takers in domestic cricket in England at the moment are seamers. The cupboard is bare should Moeen not be able to patch up his finger with seven layers of skin stripped back after huis marathon 33 overs ( 2 for 147) stint in the first innings. It may be that England will opt for four seamers plus Joe Root at Lord’s where spin is not usually a huge factor. But when you see the influence of Nathan Lyon in Aussie ranks – a quite superb shift with eight wickets for 229 – you realise that England have to get Moeen’s spinning finger dipped in urine a la Graeme Swann or whatever it takes to get it fit and proper for the rest of the series.
Onwards to Lord’s.
Mick Cleary, who was Daily Telegraph rugby correspondent ( 1997-2021), was also a sports feature writer for The Observer ( 1988-1997). Cleary has covered eight Rugby World Cups as well as seven Lions tours. He was written several books on those tournaments and tours as well as worked with Jeremy Guscott on his autobiography. Cleary has also had extensive experience of other sports including tennis at Wimbledon, cycling at the Tour de France and golf at The Open. Cricket, athletics , horse racing and F1 also feature on his CV.
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