Mark Butcher has questioned England’s response to the short-ball plan from Australia in the evening session on day two, after they lost three wickets for 34 runs before the end of play.
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Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Ashes Daily podcast, Butcher said: “People will be horrified and excited and baffled in equal measure by what they’ve seen today. It’s really difficult to come up with a coherent thought about what we’ve seen.
“(Zak) Crawley and (Ben) Duckett played brilliantly against the new ball. It wasn’t all-out attack but it certainly wasn’t taking a backward step and there was a lot of really fine batting against what is a class bowling attack. And then you find yourself in this strange position whereby, having lost just the one wicket, you’re 180-1, their champion spinner goes off and you think if they’re going to be in the game at all given how flat the pitch looked at the time, he was going to be the man that would make breakthroughs and get them. He walked off injured and England just go completely bananas.”
Nathan Lyon picked up an injury in the field yesterday (June 29), which was later revealed to be a significant calf strain. Although it has not been confirmed, it looks unlikely he will be able to bowl again in this match, with a decision being taken on his participation in the rest of the series after the game.
It was just before Lyon hobbled off the pitch that Australia began their short-ball barrage. Ollie Pope was the first to fall into the trap, caught by Steve Smith off Cameron Green. Root then gloved behind to Alex Carey three balls later but was given a reprieve after Green was seen to have over-stepped.
Duckett was then dismissed two runs short of a century, again by a short ball, before Root again played into the trap and was out for ten. It took Ben Stokes to bring some calm to proceedings. He was unbeaten on 17 off 57 balls by the close of play.
“If you keep giving top class bowling attacks your wickets like that when you’re a long way behind in the game then don’t be surprised if you come unstuck at the end of it,” said Butcher. “As it is, funnily enough Ben Stokes comes out and bats like a normal person and England are right back in the game again and in a terrific position starting tomorrow. And I think that’s the way to sum it up. It’s completely mad at times, and yet we’re in a really good position.
“The message has gone across Ben, the others are right with you. But they’re taking it to absolute extremes. There’s a comfort in this for the players because you kind of absolve yourself of any responsibility for doing anything daft. If there’s nothing extreme, if there’s no shot that’s too silly, if there’s no risk that isn’t worth taking then basically you’re telling yourself that I can do whatever the hell I like here and it’s no problem.
“The reality of sport and the reality of life is that that’s never the case. You can push things, you can go up against perceived norms and you can go beyond them. But there comes a point where there is a certain responsibility that comes back to you that says, okay am I using my skills, am I using the freedom that I’ve been given wisely or am I just flushing it down the toilet? It’s interesting, Ben will come out and play that way because he now feels responsible for the team. He’s responsible for the way that they’ve played, he’s told them that that’s okay and he now knows that he’s in real trouble.
“Now the key to this is going to be what happens tomorrow. If having weathered that storm they then come out and play good cricket and try to build themselves a really good lead with them without Lyon, then you think okay brilliant, we’ll forget everything that happened in the past. But if they come out tomorrow morning having got themselves back in it and then throw it all away again and give Australia the chance to go in with a lead second dig, with the pitch flat, don’t forget that England’s bowlers won’t have been off their feet for very long either.”
England lost Stokes to the second ball of the morning on day three. He got a leading edge off Mitchell Starc which carried to Green at third slip. Harry Brook was the next to fall to the short ball, however. Having reached fifty, he backed away in an attempt to flat-bat a ball from Starc straight down the ground. Instead, he was cramped for room and spliced it to Pat Cummins at deep cover.
England continued to lose wickets to attacking strokes, with Jonny Bairstow hitting to mid-on, Ollie Robinson dancing down and nicking behind off Travis Head, and Stuart Broad missing a sweep against the same bowler. They subsided for 325, 89 runs behind Australia.
