Bail switches and ball changes: Six takeaways from England’s series-levelling win at the Kia Oval | Ashes 2023

Australia might return home with the urn still in their possession, but many of them will have lost a chance to tick an outright series win in England off their career bucket list. England meanwhile have entertained as ever, but lapses early on mean they failed to regain the Ashes.

For the final time from this series, here are the takeaways from the fifth Ashes Test at the Kia Oval.

Broad revels in his own chaos for one last show

There was never going to be any other ending. From the moment Stuart Broad walked straight over to the Sky cameras, still in his pads, after day three and announced he was done, the finale was predestined. For a while, it looked like Steve Smith and Travis Head were intent on disrupting that course, but not quite enough to put Broad’s script writers off some of their finest work. It wasn’t enough to take the final wicket of the greatest Ashes series in a generation. It wasn’t enough to hit his last ball in Test cricket for six with James Anderson at the other end. He had to give the crowd what they wanted, as he has done all his career. One last bit of captivating magic.

The crowd had half forgotten about his bail trick from day two. They were too wrapped up in willing for England to take those final wickets. But when he swapped Todd Murphy’s bails around, it was the last bit of on-field showmanship that embodied his career. When they realised what was transpiring, the crowd rose to the man who’s acted as their conductor for 16 years. But only Broad himself knows the punchline. He wheeled away with aeroplane arms outstretched and eyes wide the very next ball after Murphy fell hook, line and sinker. The final wicket was a formality, and of course, it was Alex Carey. The man Broad had told at Lord’s that he would be remembered for one singular act in his career is forever etched into his final performance.

Australia’s quicks run out of answers

Australia’s quicks have taken a pasting from England for a lot of this series. All of them finish the series with economy rates of more than four, and their plan of sitting back to let England make their own mistakes was far less effective as the series wore on. In England’s second innings at the Kia Oval, they looked completely without answers. Sticking to that plan without acknowledgment that England’s approach had subtly changed meant they were unable to take the wickets they needed before England had put the game out of reach. Mitchell Starc cleaned up at the end but the damage was done. As possibly the best Test match fast-bowling attack in the world leave England having not found a way to effectively counteract them with the bat, where does that leave the rest?

Ball change sparks one last controversy

It wouldn’t have been the end without one last controversy frenzy. Although this one might have more substance than some of the others. When Mark Wood hit Usman Khawaja on the helmet at the end of day four, understandably the ball came off as the loser. Another was chosen from the box of replacements and 11 more deliveries played out without incident and the day drew to a close. It wasn’t until the next morning when England’s bowlers, who had looked as unlikely to take a wicket the day before as they have all series, started beating that bat immediately that eyebrows were raised. At that point, the ball was 38 overs old, well past the point where the lacquer would have come off. As side by sides of the previous ball and it’s replacement were shown, it became clear one was significantly shinier.

There is no blame on either side for this. England did not select those balls, neither did Australia. It was the umpires who made the decision to change it, and while England had been attempting to get it changed all innings, that’s a tactic both sides have used throughout the series. No doubt that ball helped England make crucial breakthroughs in the morning, but Australia still came close to winning the game. When Smith and Head came in, batting looked just as easy as the day before. The spells which Chris Woakes, Broad and Moeen Ali produced after the rain delay, had little to do with that particular ball.

When will Anderson embrace a fairytale finale?

Anderson has now watched his two most synonymous teammates bow out in fairytale fashion on the same ground. So few get the chance to go out on their own terms, and even fewer get the chance to end their careers with outstanding individual performances. It’s hard to think of someone who England fans would want that ending for more. Yet, at the end of this series, it feels like that moment could be slipping away. The Kia Oval Test was Anderson’s first win in Ashes match since 2015. He took 1-120 to round out just five wickets in the series. That’s less than Joe Root and the same as Josh Tongue who played one Test. His average was 85.40. Most worryingly, on the final day at the Kia Oval, it was Woakes who was trusted to get England over the line above Anderson.

Everyone has a bad series, but when you’re 41, those come with more meaning. Anderson has reiterated that he has no plans to retire, but bowing out in an Ashes win, a series-levelling victory, alongside you chief new-ball partner arm-in-arm as you walk off the field, was that the moment? It’s worth saying, Anderson doesn’t much care for sentimentality, naturally shy next to an extrovert in Broad. But, after inevitably picking up a couple of wickets against India in six months time, a much reduced summer awaits. And what if he goes without wickets then too? Unusually for Anderson, he leaves the summer with questions marks hanging over him rather than platitudes.

Warner bows out of the pantomime

For one glorious session on day four, Warner looked to be achieving a ten-year impossibility. As he crashed the ball around and looked as steady as he’s ever been against an England attack on home turf, whispers started to circulate of a long-awaited century in his final innings in England. Warner has given the crowds in England so much entertainment simply by being himself. From punching Joe Root in a Walkabout bar Birmingham in 2013, to falling to Stuart Broad for the 17th time in 2023. While a century would undoubtedly have finally driven the crowd to their feet in grudging respect, it wasn’t to be. Nevertheless, he was given a standing ovation as he left the field. It’s hard to argue, for the place he occupied in Australia’s history, that he doesn’t deserve it.

Murphy survives baptism of fire

Murphy had the toughest job of anyone in this series. In to replace Nathan Lyon after 100 Test matches on the bounce having played four Tests in as favourable spinning conditions as possible in India beforehand, he could have been excused for succumbing to the pressure. At Headingley, Cummins didn’t trust him. He was pumped by Ben Stokes, despite having had him dropped two balls in a row, and he was only given two overs in the second innings. Dropped for Manchester, the Kia Oval felt like an important game for him. Six overs in the first innings produced two wickets and he took four in the second when the seamers looked out of it for most of the innings.

Almost more impressive was his competence with the bat. After four wickets in three overs, he looked more than assured when he was tasked with seeing off the remaining hundred runs to win. For half and hour, it looked like he might actually do it. Broad had other plans and it wasn’t to be. But surviving that audition puts him one step closer to being Lyon’s eventual successor.