New bully on the block, England, stunned ex-don Aussies in Ashes series

Australia had already extended their hold over the tiny urn after the rain-affected draw in the fourth Test in Manchester 10 days back, but it wasn’t until the final session of play that the outcome of the Ashes series was decided.

A stirring fightback spearheaded by Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali, and fittingly finished off by Stuart Broad in his last international appearance, muscled England to a 49-run win at The Oval on Monday, allowing the hosts to come away with a share of the spoils after the series ended all square at 2-2.

The result, which mirrored the previous showdown in England in 2019, ensured that Australia’s wait for a first series win in England since 2001 continues. It will also be seen as a vindication of ‘Bazball’, England’s preferred style of play in Test cricket since the coming together at the start of the 2022 season of captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.

Despite dominating much of the early exchanges, the hosts found themselves 0-2 down heading into the third Test at Headingley. That was a reality check; even though England claimed ‘moral victory’ despite going down by two wickets in the first Test at Edgbaston, the record books showed otherwise.

For all their grandstanding and the ridicule of Australia’s cricket as ‘boring’, it was Pat Cummins’ men who had clinched the moments that mattered.

Triumph from 0-2 down

Only once in Test history has a side come from 0-2 down to secure a series triumph. That honour belongs to Sir Don Bradman’s Australian side of 1936-37.

It also testifies to the enormity of the task; to their credit, England made a spirited push and might yet have emulated the Australian side of nearly 90 years back had rain not washed out the entire final day’s play at Old Trafford.

England will look back and rue some of their selection calls in the early part of the series when they overlooked both Woakes and Mark Wood for the first two Tests.

Also read: Anderson doesn’t want to retire after Ashes, says he has a lot more to give

This pair played the most influential roles in the English revival, Woakes walking away with the England Player of the Series award for his all-round displays which netted 19 wickets and 79 runs, made with a flourish late in the order.

Wood, whose express pace was sorely missed in the first two-fifths of the series, backed up 83 runs with 14 wickets, repeatedly touching 90 mph and forcing Australia to hop on even the most docile surfaces that are a must for ‘Bazball’, which revolves around brutal ball-striking, to flourish.

Compelling viewing

Victory didn’t come easily to either side — the margins were two wickets, 43 runs, three wickets and 49 runs — which made for compelling viewing, even if the cricket wasn’t necessarily consistently out of the top drawer.

Some of the tactics from both sides were questionable, including the generous use of the short ball in the second Test and bizarre reactions to that mode of attack.

The compulsion to win the battle of the egos and play the pull stroke, come what may, lured England to their doom at Lord’s in much the same manner as in 2014 when, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s urgings, Ishant Sharma unleashed a bumper barrage from round the stumps in the fourth innings and picked up a seven-wicket haul that drove India’s charge towards victory.

Also read: Ashes 2023: Warner laughs off talks of imminent Test retirement

It was little short of hilarious to hear the words ‘played in excellent spirit’ at the post-series on-field presentation ceremony. All hell broke loose in the second Test at Lord’s when Alex Carey under-armed a lob that broke the stumps with a dozy Jonny Bairstow leaving the safety of his crease when the ball was not yet ‘dead’.

By law and spirit, Bairstow was well and truly out — stumped off a paceman, no less! — but England chose to embrace affront when there was no case for that emotion. Their crass behaviour resonated with their fans, many members populating the famous Long Room at Lord’s crossing all barriers of the acceptable and launching foul-mouthed tirades at Australia’s cricketers, resulting in three members being suspended.

Right selection

It’s likely that England used the Bairstow dismissal to fire themselves up. More significantly, they made the right selection calls after the Lord’s defeat, forcing Australia to change their tactics and opt for the conservative, which is against their natural grain.

For far too long, Australia have been the cricketing bullies, battering teams into submission with their aggression and bravado. It must have been humbling for them to be at the receiving end of England’s punishing avatar best exemplified by Zak Crawley, whose 480 runs came at a staggering strike-rate of 88.72.

By contrast, Usman Khawaja, the highest run-scorer across teams with 496, scored 39.27 runs per every 100 balls faced. Australia showed that they are adept at finding many ways to skin a cat, and while a series win in Old Blighty might have continued to remain elusive, they can take pride in the fact that they almost held their own, particularly after losing ace offie Nathan Lyon to injury midway through the second Test.

England had to brace for life without left-arm spinner Jack Leach, injured during the first Test. That meant a recall out of the blue for Moeen, retired from the longer format for nearly a year.

Moeen responded with crucial wickets and weighty runs, walking off The Oval on Monday evening arm-in-arm with Broad, the exceptional 37-year-old who snaffled 604 wickets in 167 Tests and ended his glorious career by hammering the final nail in the Aussie coffin with the scalp of Todd Murphy.

Cult hero

Outrageously gifted but often bratty and flirting with what constitutes acceptable behaviour, the son of former England captain and ICC match referee Chris Broad will go down in history as the second-best English pacer, and that only because he has had to operate in the shadow of the timeless Jimmy Anderson, now 41.

Broad became something of a cult hero with his distinctive headband and his propensity to get on a roll, often picking up four and five wickets in a single spell. England will miss him as they go forward — their next big Test assignment is a five-match series in India early next year — but Broad has earned the right to put his feet up and watch from the sidelines.

As for the Ashes, hey, the hype was matched by high-octane action, 2-2 perhaps no more than what both sides deserved.