England v Australia, Lord’s Test match of 2019 – Almanack report

At Lord’s, August 14–18, 2019. Drawn. Toss: Australia.

Test debut: JC Archer.

In the end it was a draw, as had seemed likely once the first day and most of the third were washed away. But in between, a pulsating match unfolded, and perhaps only the loss of ten overs on the final morning prevented England from squaring the series. The clouds had a silver lining: Jofra Archer confirmed his arrival as a genuine star with red ball as well as white. A month after clinching the World Cup with a super over, he now conjured several super-fast overs, usually over 90mph, occasionally touching 96. And, during a lightning fourth-day spell, he roused Lord’s to a frenzy, then reduced it to stunned silence when he slammed Steve Smith on the neck. Smith recovered, although delayed concussion kept him out of the second innings of this game, and all the next.

Archer had sat out the first Test after picking up a side strain in the World Cup. But now he replaced the injured James Anderson, and became England’s 693rd Test cricketer; he and 98 others – one in seven – had not been born in England. (Leach also returned, for the out-of-form Moeen Ali.) Archer’s Sussex team-mate and close friend Chris Jordan presented his cap, and he quickly became Root’s go-to man, so much so there were immediate fears about his workload.

It all looked so easy: the run-up more of a jog, a dozen relaxed strides, before the arm whirled over, the wrist snapped, and the batsman tried to get out of the way. The simplicity – and the searing pace – brought to mind Michael Holding, the last to bowl so fast with such apparent economy of effort. Twelve direct hits were recorded on Australian bodies or helmets, 11 inflicted by Archer. He finished with 5-91 from 44 overs, in the most stunning England debut since Kevin Pietersen in the 2005 Ashes.

After an anticlimactic first-day washout, things began in earnest on the sunny second. It was an emotional occasion: Lord’s had gone red for the charity foundation set up by the former England captain Andrew Strauss in memory of his wife, Ruth, who died of cancer late in 2018. Their young sons rang the bell at the start; the stumps, adverts and player numbers were all red, as were many of the spectators, even in the Pavilion – not that MCC members needed encouragement to pull on crimson chinos.

Paine, who had made his Test debut alongside Smith at Lord’s against Pakistan in 2010, decided to bowl, and was rewarded when Hazlewood – back in the side in place of James Pattinson – removed Roy for a duck, after a third speculative swish, then pinned Root in the fifth over of a high-quality spell. Burns flashed Siddle into the gully, but the ball hit Khawaja on the chest and went down. He survived another chance, to Paine, before being superbly taken one-handed by the diving Bancroft at short leg for 53, a good follow-up to his Edgbaston century. Just before that, Denly had become Hazlewood’s third wicket after a handy stand of 66, although the watching Geoff Boycott was frustrated: “Pretty little thirties don’t win Test matches.”

After suffering two drops, Siddle removed Buttler and, when Stokes missed a sweep against Lyon, it was 138-6. Bairstow and Woakes gritted the total past 200, before Woakes was caught behind off Cummins, two balls after being clanged on the helmet. Archer shrugged off several short-pitched deliveries as Cummins got his retaliation in first, and Bairstow was last out for 52, slogging Lyon to deep square. England’s 258 was at least something to play with.

Broad, who had failed to dismiss Warner in the previous two Ashes series, now got him for the third time in 29 balls, and once more from round the wicket, with a peach that seamed up the hill and flicked the bails. Bancroft and Khawaja survived to the close, before falling in successive overs on a grey third morning. Trapped by a nip-backer, Bancroft was Archer’s first Test victim. Broad soon had Head lbw with one hitting halfway up middle stump, although it had to be confirmed on review, as Aleem Dar – standing in his 128th Test, equalling Steve Bucknor’s record – imagined an inside edge. That was almost it for the day, as rain set in on the stroke of lunch. With five blank sessions out of nine, a draw seemed assured and, when Smith settled in next morning, it felt even more likely. Broad had suggested England could win if they knocked Australia over by lunch – but the only casualty of the opening session was Wade, well taken low at third slip.

And then Archer returned. Paine bat-padded to short leg in his first over after lunch, before Smith felt the heat. Old ball? Batsman well set? Bowler into his 24th over? Pitch on the sluggish side? Watch out. Smith was hit on the elbow, then smashed on his unprotected forearm. He stayed on, but looked hurried – not surprising since Archer, stirred by the arrival of Cummins, sent down an over which averaged more than 90mph. The crowd were lapping it up, and the noise was incredible – until everything went silent in the 77th over. Smith, on 80, crumpled to the floor. The TV cameras kept a respectful distance as he flopped, starfish-like, on to his back; eventually, replays showed the ball thumping into his neck close to the spot that had proved fatal for his former team-mate Phillip Hughes in 2014.

Smith was soon on his feet, and reluctantly escorted off by the team doctor for concussion tests, which he passed. He had been using a helmet without the neck-guards introduced after the Hughes tragedy, as he found them uncomfortable. It was a shock when he returned to the crease 40 minutes later, after Woakes got Siddle. Many felt he should not have been allowed to continue, although Cricket Australia pointed out that the correct protocols had been followed. Justin Langer, the coach, said the players were like his sons – but that he couldn’t prevent him from going out again. Smith apparently insisted: “I can’t get on the honours board if I’m not batting.”

But, mind probably scrambled, he didn’t quite make it. Even more skittish than usual, he heaved Woakes for four, then edged to third man for another. Finally, on 92, Smith padded up to a straight one, and seemed to start trudging off even before the finger was raised; he stopped, reviewed the decision… and kept walking. That ended his participation: next morning he woke with a headache, failed further concussion tests, and was withdrawn from the match. New regulations allowed a like-for-like replacement, so Marnus Labuschagne became Test cricket’s first full substitute.

By then England, leading by just eight, had made another stuttering start. Roy lasted into the fifth over this time, and was followed immediately by Root, who bagged his first golden duck, in his 153rd Test innings. It was Paine’s 100th dismissal, in his 23rd match; only Adam Gilchrist and Quinton de Kock had got there more quickly. Burns and Denly managed another fifty partnership, although they needed luck: Denly was dropped by Warner at slip, and nearly run out, while Burns would have gone had Paine reviewed Lyon’s lbw shout in his second over. Later, Buttler had a similar escape.

England were four down and a wobbly 104 ahead by the close, but enjoyed the abbreviated fifth morning: Stokes and Buttler reprised their World Cup final heroics, adding an unbroken 61 as thoughts of defeat receded. Buttler swatted to long leg soon after lunch, but Stokes surged on. He swung Lyon for two sixes in an over, not long after Bairstow had shown him how, and reached his seventh Test century. Stokes celebrated by smashing Siddle for four and six, before Root’s declaration set Australia 267 in 48 overs.

Could England do it? It was a job for Jofra. Warner edged low to fourth slip in Archer’s second over, and Khawaja nicked to the keeper in his next. In came Labuschagne, only to be smacked on the grille second ball by a wicked bouncer that knocked him down too. Luckily, the concussion substitute didn’t need a sub himself, and he settled in, showing the form that had already produced 1,114 Championship runs in ten matches for Glamorgan.

In front of an animated full house, Leach struck in the first over after tea, Bancroft playing across the line to one that kept low, but Labuschagne and Head – initially at sea against Leach – seemed to make things safe with a stand of 85. It looked a different game when Archer was not bowling, and England’s last chance had apparently disappeared when Roy, at second slip, shelled a straightforward catch off Stokes when Head had 22.

In the third over of the last hour, Labuschagne flicked firmly at Leach; the ball ballooned off Buttler’s left thigh at short leg to midwicket, where Root took a low catch that survived scrutiny by TV, much to the Australians’ chagrin. Wade soon gloved Leach to Buttler, and suddenly a result was back on. In roared Archer: Paine was hit, beaten, hit; he then ducked before jabbing to short leg, who shied at the stumps. In Archer’s next over, he connected with a pull, only to be acrobatically caught, one-handed, by Denly at square leg. Four wickets left, but only seven overs to go, and Head and Cummins clung on, despite a cluster of close catchers; Burns, at a very silly point, nearly clasped Cummins with 18 deliveries remaining, but the ball squirmed away.

And so, at 7.22, it ended in a draw, the first in England for 21 Tests, and only the second in the last 35. Stokes won the match award, but the man of the moment was already the most famous Archer in England since Robin Hood.

Player of the Match: BA Stokes
Attendance: 113,684

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.