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England are back in the hunt for the Ashes after winning a rollicking third Test by three wickets in the series’ latest thrilling finish – and for Australia, there is plenty to ponder.
The Aussies’ biggest contributor, Mitchell Marsh, was an eleventh-hour inclusion for Cameron Green and is no guarantee to be picked again at Old Trafford in a week’s time; the team’s nominal two best batters in Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne again failed to deliver when it mattered; and the problem of David Warner is now a mid-series nightmare that seems to have no decent solution.
For England, it was the two Ws – Chris Woakes and Mark Wood – who made the crucial difference with both ball and bat, the former’s steady accuracy and the latter’s pure speed giving the Australian batting line-up headaches in both innings before making crucial contributions to clinch a nervy run chase on the fourth afternoon.
Who shone and who stunk it up at Headingley? Here are The Roar’s player ratings for the third Ashes Test.
David Warner – 0.5
Important contributions in each of the first two Test had alleviated fears Warner would once again be a walking wicket this series: but they’re now well and truly back.
Falling to nemesis Stuart Broad for the 16th and 17th times – both times edging to slip in dismissals almost identical to many from his famously horrifying 2019 series – Warner managed just 4 and 1 to again put his spot in jeopardy, only avoiding a dreaded 0 thanks to some quality catching in the slips cordon.
The problem for Australia is that there is no adequate replacement for Warner in the squad: Marcus Harris has repeated Test failures to his name, including in 2019 as well, while the suggestion of opening with Travis Head to fit Cameron Green back into the middle order, as was done to good effect in India, has the risk of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Almost certain to make it to Old Trafford, and more likely than not to play the fifth Test even with two more failures, Warner nonetheless has his career on the line.
Usman Khawaja – 5.5
In a match where the run rate for both teams was rarely below four an over, Khawaja is one of the few throwbacks, steadily accumulating his runs and seeing off the new ball in both innings.
However, there would be no repeat of his Edgbaston heroics, beaten for pure pace by Wood on the first morning before edging Woakes behind at a crucial stage late on Day 2 to waste a patient 43.
With Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne not providing the usual flow of runs in the middle order, even more responsibility is falling on Khawaja’s shoulders: at Headingley, for the first time this series, he was incapable of making up for them.
Marnus Labuschagne – 3
Another Test, another pair of starts for Labuschagne – and Australia officially has problems with its usually steadfast first drop.
Edging Woakes to slip for 21 with the ball seaming around on the first morning was forgivable; what wasn’t, however, was the ill thought out slog-sweep off Moeen Ali in the second, holing out into the deep for 33 having been dropped just one ball earlier.
Not only did it spurn another chance to make a series-shaping score, and leave him with just one half-century in his last eight Tests, but totally changed the course of the match: from 1/68 with a lead nearing 100, Australia would lose three for 22 for the rest of the evening and never recover.
Steve Smith – 3
First, the positives: Smith’s five catches in the first innings set a new Ashes record for a non-wicketkeeper, with his diving effort to remove Stuart Broad on the square leg boundary an outstanding piece of fielding.
But it’s with the bat where Smith makes his bank, and in his 100th Test, the champion was, for the second time this series, unable to have any impact.
Managing just 22 before edging behind in the first innings – the sort of dismissal he avoided throughout the 2019 series in similar conditions – worse was to come in the second. On just 2, a rush of blood where he tried to whip Moeen Ali aggressively saw him chip the simplest of chances to mid-wicket, joining Labuschagne in gifting their wickets to the otherwise unthreatening spinner.
Australia didn’t pay for the star duo’s horror collective performance at Edgbaston. They did at Headingley.
Travis Head – 9
Regularly coming in at three for not many this series, Head’s exceptional Ashes has officially ratified his standing as one of world cricket’s premier batters.
Bombarded once again by short-pitched bowling, the South Australian showed admirable resilience and perseverance to guts out 39 on the first day, to provide the free-swinging Mitchell Marsh with a steady hand at the other end in a match-turning 155-run stand.
The second was even better: Head first played circumspectly to survive the carnage as England’s seamers ripped out the Aussie middle order, then helped add 95 for the last four wickets (and 54 for the last two) with some sensational hitting, bludgeoning six sixes in a priceless 77 that gave the Aussies a fighting chance.
Mitchell Marsh – 9.5
Australia would have lost this Test by significantly more had it not been for Marsh’s innings of a lifetime on the first day, after being called into the XI at the last minute for fellow sandgroper Cameron Green.
Striding in at 4/85, Marsh gave England a taste of their own medicine with a thrilling, brutal century, hitting 17 fours and four sixes with some of the cleanest ball-striking the Ashes have ever seen.
Remarkably, the Western Australian’s run-a-ball 118 gives him as many Ashes centuries (three) as a certain other famous all-rounder by the name of Ian Botham.
With the wicket of Zak Crawley in each innings, Marsh might have been unlucky to only bowl nine overs for the match, for he looked dangerous throughout with seam and swing.
The only fault out of his triumphant return was that there were no second-innings heroics, edging behind for 24 – ironically, while trying to leave the ball.
Alex Carey (wk) – 3
Immaculate with the gloves once again – though the task was made easier by the comparative lack of spin bowling to the first two Tests – Carey’s runs are starting to become a problem.
Scores of 8 and 5 makes it five successive innings this series without a meaningful score after his crucial 66 at Edgbaston – rattled and then dismissed by Wood’s pace in the first innings and chopping Woakes on in the second, the lack of his usual calming influence in the middle order was crucial in England’s mastery over the Aussie tail.
Carey is good enough to turn things around at Old Trafford and make another mark on the series – but will he?
Mitchell Starc – 9
The pick of Australia’s bowlers on the final day by a country mile, and better than his figures suggested in the first innings too, this was Starc’s best ever Test in England.
Overlooked for the first Test and expensive at times at Lord’s, a pacy track that had plenty of runs in it for the batters was perfect for the left-armer, with his fourth innings five-wicket haul almost singlehandedly keeping Australia in the contest.
Having played just once in 2019, Starc is now undroppable for the rest of the series, with his deadly swing, accurate change-ups and pace offering the Aussie attack a crucial point of difference, as it has been for his whole career.
Pat Cummins (c) – 6
A six-wicket haul in the first innings was, remarkably, just Cummins’ second five-for against England, and a fitting reward for some probing bowling with the new ball on the first evening and then a sizzling spell to start the second.
From there, though, things went wrong: the skipper’s batting came crashing down to earth as Wood’s pure pace did for him in both innings, while his captaincy again came under fire, particularly the at-times confusing tactics to continue bowling short to an England tail now expecting that and swinging accordingly.
Going at more than five an over in the run chase, with his only wicket Root strangled down the leg side, meant that when push came to shove, only Starc seemed capable of bowling England out.
Todd Murphy – 2.5
It has been more than 11 years since Australia last played a Test without a specialist spinner in the XI; but if the bouncy, spicy pitch on offer in Leeds is a sign of things to come for the rest of the series, selectors will be sorely tempted to jettison Murphy after an underwhelming Ashes debut.
Hardly any of it was the young Victorian’s fault: after a tidy pre-lunch spell on Day 2, he did the bulk of his bowling to a free-swinging Ben Stokes near the end of the innings, getting hit for five sixes before at last getting his revenge.
Woefully used by Cummins on the final day, he’d bowl just one over before lunch and one more thereafter, going for 13 and instantly pulled both times. The lack of trust his captain had in him as a wicket-taking option compared to Nathan Lyon in the first Test was stark.
With Green and Josh Hazlewood clamouring for limited spots in the team, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Murphy back to the fringes yet again, with Lyon’s absence now looking even more crucial than it already was.
Bonus points for hitting his first ball for four in both innings and looking a fair way off the bunny he was touted as before his debut in India.
Scott Boland – 1
The Scott Boland Test honeymoon is officially over.
Where once the Victorian’s metronomic line and length made him as fearsome a bowler as any in the Australian team, England’s aggressive hitters have turned him into cannon fodder in both Tests he’s featured in this series.
Headingley was even worse than Edgbaston: going wicketless across both innings, Boland was horrendous on the final day, leaking 49 precious runs in 11 wayward overs as he repeatedly bowled too straight at Harry Brook and Woakes in particular.
It was his replacing of Starc in the attack when England were six wickets down that allowed the aforementioned pair to set up their match-winning partnership – with Hazlewood certain to return and even Michael Neser an option, it’s hard to see the cult hero featuring again this series.
Mitchell Marsh celebrates with Travis Head after reaching his century. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Zak Crawley – 7
For a player whose place in the team has been derided for the better part of 12 months, Crawley has had a happy knack this series of delivering crucial contributions at the top of the order.
Knocks of 33 and 44 at Headingley were priceless, twice giving England the sort of strong start Warner’s woes meant Australia lacked. Crisply driving and deadly on anything short, he’ll be furious about failing to add a second half-century for the series to his name after a pair of quality starts.
In a difficult position, Crawley is making a far better shake of it than most, even his own supporters, would have predicted heading into the series.
Ben Duckett – 3.5
Throughout his first-class career, Duckett has shelved his Superman cape whenever he heads outside London.
So it has proved throughout this Ashes series, with the opener falling cheaply four times out of four at Edgbaston and Headingley, on either side of a 98 and 83 at Lord’s.
Here, his technical weaknesses were twice exposed: lured into another false stroke to Cummins and edging behind in the first innings before being trapped LBW by Starc walking a long way across his stumps and failing to play the line in the second.
Credit must go, however, to his positive start to England’s fourth innings run chase, in particular the 27 runs they made on a dangerous third evening, of which he contributed 18. The match might have ended very differently had he fallen as early as he did on the first evening.
Harry Brook – 8.5
Brook’s emergence as a star of the future on the summer tour of Pakistan has caused England untold headaches when it comes to their team balance; on Day 4 at Headingley, he proved himself worthy of it all.
Back in his customary No.5 batting spot after an ill-fated moonlight at No.3 replacing Ollie Pope in the first innings – who bats there at Old Trafford is now a total mystery – Brook batted with poise beyond his years to top-score with 75, shelving the ungainly slogs of Lord’s for conventional, sensational shot-making, particularly through the covers.
Despite having made four tons in Pakistan and New Zealand, this was probably the innings where Brook confirmed he will be a long-term mainstay in the England middle order. The only shame was that he fell before he could take the team to victory, though by the time he fell, he’d already got them close enough.
Joe Root – 2
As it was for Australia at Edgbaston, it is a tremendous credit to England that they were able to claim victory at Headingley despite very little input from their premier batter.
Managing just 12 and 21 in a second consecutive poor Test, with his second innings downfall to a strangle down leg side off Cummins particularly frustrating, it seems inevitable that Root has at least one more substantial innings in store this series – and if he does, Australia will have cause to fear letting the Ashes slip from their grasp.
Loses marks further for some truly abysmal slips catching; Root is lucky his twin drops of Marsh (on 12) and Carey on Day 1 didn’t cost England the Test and the series.
Jonny Bairstow (wk) – 1.5
England’s ill-fated ploy to hand Bairstow the gloves at the start of the series to enable a power-packed middle order to all fit into the team, with incumbent keeper Ben Foakes the one to make way, is now backfiring on two counts.
Not only is Bairstow’s wicketkeeping plumbing new depths, dropping three more catches at Headingley to again force England to take 10 wickets in spite of him, but the added pressure and strain is impacting his batting, with two more poor scores making it five in a row under 20 since his opening-day 78 at Edgbaston… before he’d kept wicket for the series.
The hosts will likely be too stubborn to recall Foakes and find another spot for Bairstow, especially with Brook excelling at No.5… they will, therefore, just have to hope it doesn’t come back to bite them.
Jonny Bairstow drops a catch. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Ben Stokes (c) – 9
Four years ago on this very ground, Ben Stokes wrote his name into Ashes folklore with one of the greatest innings of all time.
The 2023 edition wasn’t as spectacular, thrilling or match-winning, but in clubbing 80 to take England from peril at 7/142 to a more than respectable 237 was the innings that turned the Test their way.
As he was at Lord’s, Stokes plundered sixes and farmed the strike superbly with the tail, with the Australian attack again at a total loss on where to bowl to him.
As it turned out, the answer was down the leg side, with Stokes managing just 13 in the second innings run chase before edging a strangle off Starc to Carey.
Bonus points must be given for his exceptional captaincy, with his controlled use of Wood on Day 1 leaving him fresh to come on after the tea break and scythe through the Australian tail.
Moeen Ali – 6
But for a remarkable nine-ball stretch on the second evening, England’s spinner once again had negligible impact on the match with bat or ball.
Disdainfully smashed by Marsh and Head on Day 1, the veteran would look just as unthreatening for much of the second innings, while he’d manage just 21 and 5 batting first at seven, then in an unsuccessful promotion to No.3 to allow Brook to return to five.
But Moeen’s removal of Labuschagne and Smith in successive overs in Australia’s second innings was the most pivotal flashpoint of the entire Test. Just as he had done on a memorable Ashes debut in Cardiff in 2014, he was good enough to capitalise on the star pair’s desire to hit him out of the attack and place more pressure on the quicks to deliver.
With Labuschagne holing out to deep backward square and Smith giving catching practice to short mid-wicket – the latter Moeen’s 200th Test scalp – both dismissals were gifts. But having copped plenty of punishment in the Ashes in recent history, you can’t say the popular 36-year old didn’t deserve a bit of luck.
Chris Woakes – 9
Woakes’ first Test under Bazball, having last played on England’s disastrous tour of the West Indies in March 2022, could scarcely have gone better.
Brought in as almost a like-for-like bowling swap for James Anderson, the all-rounder’s canny seam bowling proved far more incisive than his veteran teammate across the first two Tests – albeit on a more helpful surface.
Nabbing the wickets of Labuschagne, Head and Marsh on a fine opening day – he deserved more but for Root shelling two simple chances at slip – Woakes had an even more telling hand under cloudy skies on the third evening, extracting surprising bounce out of the pitch to removing Marsh again, edging while trying to leave, and then Carey, chopping on via his gloves.
With three wickets in each innings – plus a priceless unbeaten 32 to steer England’s run chase home after coming in with 80 still to get – the forgotten 34-year old will be difficult to dislodge from the XI for the rest of the series.
Chris Woakes celebrates dismissing Alex Carey. (Photo by Stu Forster – ECB/ECB via Getty Images)
Mark Wood – 9.5
Oh, what England would do to turn back time and get the chance to pick Wood for the first two Tests.
Champing at the bit after first the conditions and then injury left him on the sidelines as the hosts went 2-0 down, Wood took one ball to change the complexion of the series.
Bowling one of the quickest spells ever seen by an Englishman to rattle Australia’s top order, the highlight comprehensively bowling Khawaja, Wood returned after tea to skittle the visitors’ tail, cleaning up Starc and Murphy, trapping Cummins plumb LBW and pinning Carey on the helmet before bouncing him out too, picking up a richly deserved five-wicket haul (his second in a row in Ashes innings he’s played in, after his lionhearted efforts in Hobart in January 2022).
He’d do likewise in the second, picking up Starc and Cummins again, but just as important as those scalps were his efforts on either side with the bat.
His six-laden eight-ball 24 on the second afternoon, coming in at 7/142, gave the England innings badly needed momentum and inspired Stokes to all but erase the deficit; then, on the final day, his cover drive for four off a menacing Starc will live long in Ashes folklore if the hosts go on to win the series.
The difference between the two teams.
Stuart Broad – 7
For all Anderson’s mountains of wickets, there is no doubt that his long-term bowling partner Broad is the superior of the two when it comes to Ashes contests alone.
Yet again impeccable with the ball, Broad resumed normal service against David Warner after failing to get him in both innings at Lord’s, finding the edge after just five and eight balls respectively.
He’d add Smith on the first morning to be the chief destroyer of Australia’s top order early, and it was he who snuffed out the threat of Head on 77 on the third evening with a slightly slower ball that he couldn’t quite dispatch into the stands.
Broad’s efforts will get lost behind the heroics of Wood and Woakes, but England’s attack leader has still been the bowler of the series to date.
Ollie Robinson – 1
Limping off with back spasms after just 11.2 overs on the first day, Robinson wouldn’t bowl again for the rest of the Test.
Having looked unthreatening up until then, and bowling at even lower paces than usual, Woakes and Wood’s recall meant they were more than able to cover for his absence.
Even if passed fit for the fourth Test, it seems likely that after three matches in a row, he is rested for one of Anderson or impressive youngster Josh Tongue.
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