Australia v England 3rd Test at Adelaide Oval

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

REPORTS  of Usman Khawaja’s departure from the Australian Test squad have proved to be premature as he hit 82 on the first day of the third Test and shared in partnerships of 91 and 59.

On Tuesday his Test obituary notes were written as he was seen batting the day before a Test and he never bats the day before a Test.  But during the warm-ups on Wednesday morning he was drafted into the team replacing an ill Steve Smith.

Usman Khawaja was soon in action as England got two wickets in the first 10 overs.  First to go was Jake Weatherald who top edged a pull off Jofra Archer and the ball looped  for stumper Jamie Smith to take an easy catch.  Earlier Weatherald had  driven Brydon Carse delightfully to the cover boundary. In the next over Travis  Head drove Carse and Zak Crawley  took a low one handed diving to his left and Usman Khawaja was back in Test action.

His  return to the team should have been brief, on  five he edged a drive off Josh Tongue but Harry  Brook at second slip put the chance down despite getting both hands to it.  He pulled Ben Stokes to the square leg boundary and swept Will Jacks the mid-wicket boundary.

Usman Khawaja glanced Tongue off his legs just beating the diving Ben Duckett on the fine leg boundary and he late cut the next ball to the point boundary.  

He top edged a pull off Stokes that ran to the third man boundary. Rocking  back to Stokes he  used his wrists  to  cut Stokes  to the point boundary and take him into the 80’s.  Could he make it  into three figures he deserved to but on 82 he top edged a sweep off Will Jacks and Tongue took a spectacular sprawling catch on the mid-wicket boundary.  His 82 came from 126 balls with 10 fours. 

Alex Carey said: “Usman Khawaja is a quality player and for him to come in at short notice shows that he is still hungry to win a series for us.”

With  Carey they added 91 in 23 overs but their partnership could have broken after they had added 48. He guided Tongue to point and set off for a single then stopped sending Carey back who had come 10 yards down the pitch.

Carey, the pantomime villain of the last Ashes series in England, came in on a hattrick after Australia had two wickets to the first two balls after lunch.  The first to go was Marnus Labuschagne. After adding 59 for the third wicket he pulled the first ball from Archer after lunch which died on him to Carse at mid-wicket.  Earlier on 12 Labuschagne tried to work Stokes to leg but missed the ball and was hit on his pads and England’s appeals  were turned down but they didn’t review it.  

Archer got on a hat-trick when  Cameron Green prodded at him and the ball found its way to Carse at mid-wicket.

Carey was his usual self, a throwback to the old fashioned wicket keepers diminutive and always busy at the crease.  He hit Carse and Tongue to the extra cover boundary in consecutive overs, the first he caressed Carse and the second he smacked Togue.  He  went down the pitch to Jacks and drove him to the extra cover boundary.

He lapped Jacks behind square for three to bring up his 50 from 75 balls.  On 52 he was beaten on the angle by Archer bowling around the wicket, hit on the pads but was  given not out.  England reviewed it and the replay showed it to be going over.  Without adding to his score he drove Archer but Carse at extra cover couldn’t take the catch.

On 56 he went down the pitch to Jacks glanced him off his for a couple to fine leg. He drilled the next ball  past a struggling Archer at mid-on on its way to the long-on boundary.  Carey wanted to pull the next ball into next week but he  didn’t get it away from his batting crease.

Josh Inglis, the Yorkshireman playing for Australia, slog/swept Jacks to the mid-wicket boundary.  With two wicket keepers batting together Carey and Inglis kept  the scoreboard moving with quick running and pull shots,  their  50 partnership came up in 12 overs before Inglis played on to Tongue.

England lost a review when they thought that Carey had underedged Tongue to Smith but the replay showed that he hadn’t.    Carey said: “I thought there was a bit of a feather on it when it passed the bat but snico didn’t show it and I am clearly not a walker.”

England’s interim bowling coach Dave Saker said: “The boys are confident that he hit it.  At that stage of the innings it was an important decision and I think  that technology should be better than that.”

A couple of balls later Carey took a couple of paces down the pitch and threw everything at Tongue and the ball flew past the slips to the third man boundary.

Carey drove  the off-spinner  Jacks off his legs and over the long-on boundary for the first six of  the match. He drove Carse off his back foot to the extra cover boundary.   Crawley was a couple of inches short when Carey lofted Carse just over him for a couple.

He drilled Stokes through the covers for three to bring up his first century against England and his third overall.  His century came from 135 balls with eight fours and a six.  He added another six before he got a outside edge to Jacks and Smith took a steepling catch.

Carey said: “It was a great feeling, getting a hundred on your home soil.  We were in a tricky situation after lunch but we still need a few more runs in the morning.  To lose a couple of wickets after lunch wasn’t ideal.”

He added: “ A series is never over till it’s over.”

Australia captain Pat Cummins turned Carse off his hips into Ollie Pope’s hands at short leg and was given out. Cummins reviewed it and the replay showed he had got an outside edge to it.

Mitchell Starc blasted Carse straight for a boundary but he was looking to hit it to mid-wicket. 

Saker added: “It was great to see our bowlers charging in all day.  We bowled well early on but we then started bowling short and it took us a while to get our lengths back.  We always try to hit the top of off stump but today I thought that we were good to keep running in because of the heat.  At the start of the day I would have taken the score today, it would be nice to knock them over quickly tomorrow because I think that the pitch will get easier to bat on.”

Australia brought in Cummins, Nathan Lyon as well as Usman Khawaja from the side that played at the  Gabba replacing Michael  Neser and  Brendan Doggett while England brought in Tongue for Gus Atkinson.

Before play started a minute’s silence was held in memory of those who were murdered at Sydney on Sunday.

Day 2

ENGLAND are on the verge of suffering the quickest defeat in an Ashes series the quickest defeat is 11 days if cricket  and so far this series has seen eight days.

Today they were rocked by two players returning to the Australian side as they slumped to 47 for three inside 10 overs and then 71 for four inside 17overs.

Captain  Pat Cummins playing his first Test match fir five months made the initial breakthrough and Nathan Lyon who was dropped after the first Test took two wickets.  After giving the Aussies hope of early wicket with both Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett playing and missing Cummins found the shoulder of Crawley’s bat and Alex Carey did the the rest.

After nine overs Lyon was brought into the attack and it took him three balls to get a wicket when Ollie Pope clipped him to Josh Inglis at short mid-wicket who took a diving catch.  Two balls later he turned one past Duckett’s bat and bowled him. England had lost three wickets in 15 balls.

Lyon said: “You alway try to bowl your best ball early on.  For me coming back in the team it was business as usual. I’ve been around this group for so long that I know my role in the team so I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this team.  Before I bowled I was very nervous.”

In the third over after lunch  Cummins got the prized wicket of Joe Root,  who  feathered him  to Carey. England were now 71 for four  and 101 from saving the follow-on.

Before he had scored Harry Brook could have been back in  the hutch in the next over when he edged Scott Boland and Carey took a low catch but neither umpire was sure that the catch was good and neither could the Television umpire Chris Gaffeny so  Brook survived.

On 20 he nearly played in to Boland.  Frustrated at getting bogged down Brook went down the pitch to Boland and square cut him for a six.  That was only the outrageous shot that Brook played in his innings.

Brook played his most responsible innings of this Ashes series and his second 50 of the series looked a certainty until the introduction of Cameron Green into the attack.  The blobde seamer celebrated being the most expensive player of the new IPL season when he pitched one on Brook’s off stump kissed his outside edge and  Carey took his third catch of the innings.  

Brook added 56 in 20 overs with his captain Ben Stokes, hitting 45 from 63 balls with two fours and a six.  That shows how responsible he was.

Jamie Smith got the mark by edging the mark by edging Green just wide off  Inglis  at gully and getting a four.  He flashed hard at Cummins and thge ball flew to the third man boundary.

He pulled Cummins to the square leg boundary for a six.  The Aussies thought they had him later in the over when he gloved Cummins to slip.  Again the umpires were unsure the ball had carried.  After countless replays the third umpire ruled that the ball had hit Smith’s helmet and then on to his glove so the ball was dead.

Finally Cummins got his man when Smith underedged him to Carey, again the umpires were unsure the ball had carried and reviewed it. The TV umpire Chris Gaffaney ruled that the ball had carried.

 Ben Stokes showed the grit and determination that he showed during the second innings at Brisbane and was prepared to play second fiddle to  Brook and Smith, but he did drive Cummins to the extra cover boundary.

England’s assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said: “It’s disappointing, we are behind the game again and in another 20 overs they’ve got the new ball but we’re still fighting and scraping away.  Australia have bowled well but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves.  The batters are frustrated.  Stokes scraped well but it’s up to everyone to put their hands up.

Stokes was cramping up for most of  the last session but he dug in and battled hard for a long period time.  I thought  Brook played a good innings and played in the tempo that he wanted to.”

Will Jacks drove Lyon to the extra cover boundary.  That was about it from Jacks he got an inside edge to Boland which rebounded from his pads to the standing up Carey who had to dive to his right.

Bryson Carse was bowled through  the gap between bat and pad with one that kept low by Boland.  Jofra Archer saved the follow-on although it would have been doubt that Australia would have enforced it when he sliced a over drive to the boundary.

With 25 minutes to the close Archer pulled Green but Marnus Labuschange spilled the change diving forward as he ran in from the square leg boundary. Stokes and Archer made it to the close 158 behind with two first innings wickets standing.

Lyon added: “It’s a good old fashioned Test pitch and the quick bowlers put the ball in the right areas. We got the rewards for their hard work in hard conditions.  We go again in the morning.  It’s still a good pitch but on the slow side.”

Day 3

TRAVIS Head became the second South Australian to hit a century in this Test following Alex Carey’s century in the first innings and it was fitting that the pair should be batting together when Head reached his century.

Head hit his second century of the series but he had a life  on 99.  After getting bogged down on 99  he cut Jofra Archer to Harry Brook at point but as he fell he dropped the chance.  Head reached his century in the next over when he smashed Joe  Root straight for a one bounce four. He embraced his fellow South Australian and kissed the pitch.

To keep England’s dreams of an Ashes series victory alive they wouldn’t have wanted to chase more than 350 so they needed quick wickets and they got one in the second  over.

The first two days were marked by umpire mistakes and today there was another one.   Aussie over Jake Weatherald was given out leg before by umpire Menon to a ball that pitched outside leg stump.

In the third over after lunch, with Marnus  Labuschagne on eight,  England went up for a catch behind off Brydon  Carse and was given not out.  England decided to review it and despite the replay showing a scratch the review was lost.

Labuschange edged one that left him from Josh  Tongue and  Brook at slip took a low and tumbling catch.  Umpire Memon was unmoved so England reviewed it and Labuschagne was given out after adding 45 with  Head.

Then we got another batting  exhibition from Head. He  cut Tongue to the third man boundary,  uppercut him  over stumper’s Jamie Smith’s head for another four and   beautifully drove Tongue on one knee to the cover boundary 

Head took a liking to the other bowlers: first he clipped Carse to the mid- wicket boundary and powered Carse off  his back foot to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his 50 off 72 balls with five fours.

In the next over from Will Jacks, Head  late cut him  fine to the third man boundary followed by a single to bring up the 50 partnership with Usman Khawaja in 19 overs. 

Carse was the unfortunate bowler who Head hooked over fine leg for a six which had Zak Crawley fielding on the boundary edge running around in circles.  Head took a couple of paces  down the pitch to Jacks and thrashed him to the long-on boundary.  And it was Jacks who he launched  for a straight six, his second six

Usman Khawaja delicately late cut Jacks for three.  In the first over after tea Usman Khawaja swept Jacks for consecutive fours.  The partnership was broken when Usman Khawaja top edged a cut off Jacks to Smith standing up.  With Head he  added 86  in 19 overs.

Green got off the pair by driving Jacks to the cover boundary but he didn’t hang around for long.  In the next  over he edged a drive of Tongue and Brook at at slip took a low catch diving forward

Carey was greeted by boos from the English fans. He square cut Tongue to the cover boundary. In his next over Carey drilled him to the cover boundary.  Carey’s innings was his typical one, always busy with the occasional boundary.

Head drilled Jacks to the cover boundary to bring up the hundred partnership with Carey in 25 overs.  By the end of the day their partnership had reached 122,  Head was unbeaten on 142, Carey had scored another 50 and Australia’s lead was 356.

Earlier England fans were given some hope of a victory when Jofra Archer hit his first Test 50, sharing in a ninth  wicket partnership of  106 with Ben Stokes and got England to 286, 85 behind Australia which was a lot closer than many of the crowd expected.

He  reached his 50 when he guided Pat Cummins to third man for a single and it  came from 97 balls with five fours and a six. Resuming on 213 for eight it took Australia 69 minutes to break the partnership between Archer and  Stokes when Stokes made  room to cut Michell Starc but it didn’t get as high as he expected and was bowled.  

Before then the only time that the pair looked in trouble was when Archer played  Green into the covers and Stokes set off for a single but was sent back. Luckily for Stokes the throw missed the stumps and England got an overthrow. Later in the over Archer glanced Green off his legs to the fine leg boundary.

With his  second delivery with the  new ball Starc got one to come back at Archer which  missed his off stump by a coat of varnish.

Stokes smeared Cummins to the mid-wicket boundary.  Cummins speared the next ball in at Stokes who hit an inside edge on it to the fine leg boundary to bring up the hundred partnership with Archer.

Tongue was hit on his pads by Starc and was given not out so Australia reviewed it and it was umpires call.  With Archer they added 12 in three overs until Archer edged a drive to  Labuschange at slip who took the catch in his midriff.

Day 3

FOR the first time in this series there will be play on the fifth day with Australia needing another four wickets while End]gland need another 228 to keep the series alive.

At 177 for three England looked odds on to take the game deep on the final day then they lost three wickets for 17 runs in six overs to Nathan Lyon.

When Lyon was brought back into the attack Harry Brook tried reverse sweeping him and was bowled. Lyon turned one past Ben Stokes’ bat  and bowled him, Stokes couldn’t believe it. Lyon drew top scorer Zak Crawley out of his crease to drive him and Alex Carey stumped him

Carey said: “I thought Lyon bowled really well, he hung in there and got those three wickets.   He brings his energy to the game and when he’s focusing on his best ball that’s when he is a better bowler.  The wicket of Brook was a great wicket for us.  I thought that all the England players played the reverse sweep well.”

Travis Head and  Carey added 40  to their overnight partnership taking it to 162 in 37  overs before  Head fell six short of hitting his best Test score when he pulled Josh Tongue hoping for a third six but he didn’t get enough power  into his shot to cross the boundary instead he found  Crawley in from the  square leg boundary who had his heart in his mouth as the nearly dropped yards away from him.  Head’s 170 came from 229 balls with 16 fours and two sixes.

Earlier Head cut Brydon  Carse  to third man boundary to bring up his 150 from 205 balls with two sixes and five fours.  Then he  clipped  Carse off his toes to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up the 150 partnership with  Carey and  he  thrashed the next ball to the cover boundary.

Five overs later Carey followed Head into the hutch when he gloved  Ben Stokes, bowling around the wicket, to  Brook at leg slip.  Carey hit six fours in his 72 which came from 128 balls.

England opened the bowling on the fourth morning with Stokes who didn’t bowl on Friday and was absent for that latter part of Friday afternoon. Josh Inglis was given out leg before to Stokes on three but Inglis reviewed it and the replay showed he had got an edge. He was soon back in the hutch when he edged at one from Tongue which pitched off stump and left him.

Pat Cummins edged a drive off Carse and Brook took the catch at first slip in front of his face.   Lyon tried to turn Carse  to leg but missed the ball and was leg before. Scott Boland fended off a short ball from Jofra Archer who raced through to take the  return catch in his follow through at silly mid-off.  Tongue finished with four for 70 and Carse three for 80.

Needing 435 to win in five sessions to keep the series alive England lost their first wicket in the second over when Ben  Duckett gave Marnus  Labuschange catching practice at second slip after he clipped the previous ball from Cummins to the square leg boundary.

With the clock ticking closer to lunch Crawley made sure it was going to be the last over before lunch by doing some gardening, then Cummins decided to tie his boot laces and Crawley saw someone moving in the crowd.

After drying the England runs up Australia got their second wicket when Ollie Pope pushed at Cummins and Labuschange at second slip took a brilliant one handed catch in his left hand. Carey added: “Labuschange is always doing something and always works hard on his fielding, that catch was a big catch for us.

On eight Joe Root edged Boland  a yard short off Usman Khawaja at first slip.  He swept Lyon  to the fine leg boundary and reversed swept the next ball to the third man boundary.  In the first over after tea Joe Root on 38 survived a leg before appeal from Head playing no shot.  Australia reviewed and the replay showed it to be missing by a quarter of an inch.

In the next over Root edged Cummins without moving his feet and Carey took the catch. It was the 13th time that Cummins has dismissed Root.  Carey said : “Cummins always bowls with great energy. When you see him bowl he still finds something even when the ball is old and he bowled really well with the new ball.”

After surviving a leg before appeal by Lyon, Crawley drove the next ball to the cover boundary.  

A short arm pull by Brook off Cummins went to the mid-wicket boundary.  He reversed swept Head to the third man boundary and a couple of balls later drilled him to the long-off boundary.  

Crawley said: “It was very disappointing, we are looking down the barrel. We had great players at the crease and we never give up.  We came here to win the Ashes but there is still plenty  to play for.

Today I tried to see ball,  hit ball and play the ball on its merits.  I didn’t change my technique.  I felt relaxed and that’s why I played so well.  I always look to get better. thought Australia bowled very well  today it was attritional cricket and I just think that Australia have been better than us.”

Day 5

AUSTRALIA retained the Ashes by beating England by 82 runs at Adelaide.

Scott Boland took the final wicket when last man Josh Tongue edged a block and Marnus Labuschagne at second slip  took his second catch of the afternoon session. 

Australian captain Pat Cummins said: “There were a few tense moments but we were able to scrap a victory but we got the victory.  The dressing room is a pretty happy one . To  win a series 3-0 gives me a huge satisfaction. It doesn’t get much better than that.  We move on to Melbourne and then Sydney but we will be going to Melbourne desperate to win it and then on to Sydney.This group of play is an amazing one, they just crack on with doing  their job.  They know how to win here.”

Play got underway on the final day  under cloudy, cold and miserable conditions,  it was more like Emirates  Old Trafford than an  Australia morning and after the second over the floodlights came on.

On 10, Jamie Smith pulled CameronGreen but the ball fell well short off Jake Weatherald on the square leg boundary.  In the next over he swept Nathan Lyon for a six over square leg. After putting three men on the legside Green bowled Smith a short ball which he pulled for a six

The umpires took the players off the field for rain after 40 minutes and returned 38 minutes later under bright sunshine.

But the Aussie hero on Saturday Lyon had to leave the action  when he pulled his hamstring stopping a boundary on the fine leg boundary after he was wrong footed and took no further part. in the match. He must now be in doubt for the rest of the series. Cummins said: “It doesn’t look great but he’s close to being irreplaceable.”

The Australian captain who hadn’t bowled since 3.54 on Saturday returned to action on Sunday at 11.49 with the new ball.  Smith powered him to the long-off boundary to bring up his 50 from 80 balls with five fours and two sixes.  He hit Mitchell Starc for two consecutive fours: the first through mid-wicket and the second to the extra cover boundary.  He drove  the next ball in the air and found Cummins at  mid-wicket.  With Will Jacks he added 91 in 29 overs, a partnership which kept England’s unlikely victory hopes  alive.

With two wickets needed Australia lost a review when Brydon Carse was hit on the pads by Starc. Jacks helped a short ball from Cummins on its way to the fine leg boundary to  bring up the England 300.

In the third over after lunch Carse tried to turn Cummins to leg and was given out but he reviewed straight away and the replay showed it to be missing.  After his reprieve he swept Travis Head for a six over square leg.

Carse got a fine tickle to Boland to the fine leg boundary to bring up the 50 partnership with Jacks and to take England’s target to below 100.  The partnership was broken in the next over when Starc angled one across Jacks who threw everything at it and   Labuschagne at first slip took another fantastic catch.  He dived low and to his left taking the ball from Carey’s hands.

Cummins added: “He’s just amazing, he always  wants to be involved in the game and he works hard at his fielding.”

England’ captain Ben Stokes said: “It’s  disappointing, knowing that we can’t achieve what we came out to do, but there are still two games left in the series and still a lot to play for.  For me it’s quite simple. We haven’t been able to execute our bowling and fielding on a more consistent basis.

Some individuals have probably learnt a lot about themselves.  435 is a big total  in the final innings but the pitch was still playing nicely and we thought if we got a couple of partnerships then we stood a chance.  We were close but not that close. I thought Smith identified the situation he was in and did what he had to do.  Last night he went out to get us into today.  Then today when the field came in close he went for the big hit.”

Not only was the Test good for Australia it was good for South Australia, the first day was watched by a record attendance at the Adelaide Oval of 56,298.   There were centuries for two South Australian  Cricketers Head and Carey and five catches for Carey.

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