- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
England won the third Test but they may as well have won the Ashes series judging by the reactions from some of the local media outlets following their three-wicket triumph at Headingley.
Former skipper Michael Vaughan in the UK Telegraph claimed “the impossible is still on” in reference to England’s hopes of a rare series victory after losing the first two Tests.
“They’re one-third of the way there — and they’ve got a template to win the last two Tests too.
“It is so difficult to win an Ashes series away from home and Australia were tantalisingly close. To pick themselves up from this psychological blow will be a huge challenge for Pat Cummins and his side.
“Mark Wood was a revelation at Headingley. He had the Aussies rattled — not just the tail, who he blew away, but also the top order. We saw that from the moment that he clean bowled Usman Khawaja for pace on the first day. What a brilliant performance on his return.”
Oliver Holt in the Daily Mail claimed England’s win was “the perfect sporting definition of poetic justice” after the controversial Lord’s Test win by Australia.
He took great delight in Alex Carey shelling a difficult catching chance in the final stages.
“Carey had played at Headingley like a man thoroughly discomforted by the reaction to his cynicism at Lord’s and unsettled by the way he was vilified by the spectators on the Western Terrace. He was even the subject of a false rumour, started by Sir Alastair Cook of all people, that he had gone for a haircut in Leeds and failed to pay for it.
“He had kept wicket well enough but he had looked like a rabbit in the headlights when he was batting. He wilted, in particular, in the face of the bowling of Wood. He wasn’t the only one, but in both innings, he looked like a man who wished he could be somewhere else.”
The victory, he believes, has England on the march to an improbable series win.
“The truth is that that momentum swing began the moment Carey ‘stumped’ Bairstow at Lord’s on the final day of the second Test when Bairstow believed, erroneously, that the ball was dead and wandered out of his crease.
“Australia might well have won that match without resorting to that kind of shoddy gamesmanship but Carey’s grim opportunism and Cummins’ failure to withdraw the appeal won a game but may yet have cost Australia a series.
“Their desperation to win at any cost has revitalised England.”
Former England captain Nasser Hussain in the same masthead said the series was on a knife’s edge again when Australia could have easily ended it at Headingley.
“The 2-1 scoreline is a pretty accurate reflection of how the series has gone. England have relinquished some massive opportunities and today Australia will be feeling the boot is on the other foot.
Chris Woakes celebrates with Mark Wood after hitting the winning runs. (Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images)
“Because when Mark Wood joined Ben Stokes at the crease on day two, the Australians were dominant, holding a 121-run advantage, and they missed their chance to seize the moment.
“They will leave Leeds asking: how did we lose? Just as England have done in the previous two matches. Equally, 3-0 would not have been a fair representation of events.
“Yes, Australia have lost three important tosses and had the worse of conditions, but it has been much tighter than that and this result sets it up beautifully going to Old Trafford.”
Over at The Times, Mike Atherton thinks every scoreline imaginable could be on the board after the first three cliffhangers.
“Has there been an Ashes series where the opening three games have been so closely fought? Either side, frankly, could have won or lost all three.
“Australia fought tigerishly to the end, of course, but had let England back into the game at vital moments and paid for it now.
“Of the excitement and tension and close finishes, there are echoes of 2005.”
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.