There was a time when England players threw around phrases like “the more the better”, such was their confidence in the chase. But tasked with knocking off a world-record 435 runs to stop Australia winning this Ashes series at the earliest opportunity, one suspects similar words were not uttered on Saturday.
Instead, having picked up six cheap wickets first thing to set up this unlikely five-session challenge, it was first about seeing where they could get to by stumps. The upshot was 206 for six from 63 overs which, while progress of sorts on this malfunctioning tour, means Australia will go into the final day of this third Test within touching distance of an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Still, Pat Cummins and his men seem like a patient bunch. They probably never so much as peeled back a corner of wrapping paper before Christmas Day growing up. Operating on a flat, sun-baked surface at Adelaide Oval this quality certainly paid dividends, as three wickets apiece for Cummins and Nathan Lyon clinically shut down any English thoughts of a miracle.
Believe it or not, they had been semi-percolating. In the 48th over England had patiently chiselled their way to 177 for three and, save for Cummins and his remarkable ability to conjure something out of nothing, very little was happening in the middle. Zak Crawley was in the zone and Harry Brook was 30 runs into his work, only mildly unsettled by Alex Carey’s presence up at the stumps.
But then it happened, Brook dropping down to reverse sweep Lyon, meeting fresh air, and hearing his fizzing off-break clatter into leg stump. It triggered a collapse of three for 17 in six overs, Lyon soon bowling Ben Stokes neck and crop for five, then finally drawing a mistake from Crawley as he pushed forward and was beaten for a stumping that Carey happily completed.
If nothing else, Crawley’s controlled 85 from 151 balls ensured that this Ashes series would not be lost in the space of 10 days. As it is, England will have to settle for the ignominy of 11, which will see them share the post-war record with Nasser Hussain’s teams of 2001 and 2002-03.
While Crawley was getting his head down, his two top-three colleagues sat in the pavilion and stewed on what continue to be downtrodden tours. At this stage, as much as it would be a Hail Mary in itself given his lack of a first-class century, Jacob Bethell will surely enter the equation for Boxing Day.
A longstanding (and previously successful) alliance with Crawley means Ben Duckett, highest score of 29 so far, is unlikely to make way. But the pre-series chatter about his desire to feel bat on ball being perilous in this part of the world has proved sounder than some of the, ahem, predicted scorelines.
After England finally discovered the equation – Travis Head holing out on 170, Alex Carey denied a second century in the match by Stokes on 72 – it took just two balls for Cummins to profit this exact same way. A loosener was whipped for four by Duckett but then came a sixth stump fizzer from around the wicket that, courtesy of a meek angled poke, flew to second slip.
Ollie Pope, who fell after lunch, could consider himself more unlucky in one regard. Marnus Labuschagne’s second catch in the cordon was a jaw-dropper, diving low to his left and, to underline its freakishness, drawing coos from Mark Waugh on commentary. And yet the edge Cummins drew here felt inevitable also, a score of 17 in line with Pope’s Ashes average.
For the fourth time in the series it meant Root striding out inside the first 10 overs but, from 31 for two, resistance formed. The initial duel with Cummins was survived, Lyon first spell was met with authority, and for just shy of 20 overs, taking England through to tea on 106 for two, Adelaide Oval was quiet.
Enter Cummins after the break, ensuring Root’s lucky escape on 38 – padding up to the twirly spin of Head and surviving the review on umpire’s call – made no difference. It was a familiar dismissal, Cummins inducing a poke behind through a tight fourth-stump line that had Root punching his bat in disgust.
For Stokes, later on, the reaction was simply a nod of the head towards Lyon. Like the notion of “more runs the better” when it comes to fourth-innings run chases, his stated aim of becoming one of the “lucky few” England captains to win an Ashes series in Australia has not aged particularly well.
