Where has this been, England? Too late for the Ashes now

8 hours ago 2

Brisbane: Oh how they tried. Ben Stokes, not unexpectedly, and Will Jacks very much surprisingly, defied Australia for more than three hours of hard-nosed and gloriously orthodox Test cricket at the Gabba.

This was anything but Bazball, more like Cook or Goochball, and the change of pace offered an enriching period of watching and contemplation for 27,888 spectators.

Ben Stokes in the moments after his dismissal.

Why had England waited until the game was almost gone to try to respect the conditions and match situation? Was it really that hard to do if Stokes and Jacks could do it here? And would Australia already be 2-0 up in this Ashes series if England had deigned to be even a little more sensible?

Certainly those questions had to have run through the anguished mind of Stokes when he and Jacks finally fell after such grand resistance. And they only got louder amid the futility of Jofra Archer trying to verbal Steve Smith with only a handful of runs left to get. Too late, mate.

Steve Smith exchanges words with Jofra Archer.

Smith’s men had maintained pressure all day, giving away very little in the way of width, so that when the breakthroughs finally came to the persistent Michael Neser, the England lead was still pitifully small.

Neser, a rare softly spoken Queenslander, had hit the “good areas” as consistently and well as anyone, holding up his end of the bargain after coming into the team in place of an anguished Nathan Lyon.

There were certainly plenty of hours in which Lyon could ponder how he might have broken through: he has an excellent record against Stokes in particular. As selection chair George Bailey said in the first session of the match, he is fine to quibble.

But it was also just reward for 35-year-old Neser when Jacks finally offered a thick edge, which flashed past Alex Carey up to the stumps and was wonderfully pouched to his left by a diving Steve Smith. After coming up with the catch, Smith did what amounted to a victory lap, for he knew that one break would lead to the collapse of the battered English shield wall.

So it was that in Neser’s next over, Stokes got a thinner edge, and this time it was Carey’s turn to take a sublime catch. Before the series, Stokes had summed up his tendency to come through in tight or emotional moments because he is “desperate to win”. That desperation was reflected in the seconds after his dismissal, tossing his bat in the air and then punching his helmet with a glove. Up to that moment, Stokes still believed in a miracle.

Those two wickets and those two moments also summed up much of why Australia are so far in the ascendant in this series.

England dropped five catches in the first innings, and Australia had just claimed two half-chances. Test match pedigree is about concentration as much as anything else. Stokes and Jacks showed plenty of it on day four, but Australia have had it on every day of the series so far.

Neser concurred when he spoke modestly but emotionally at the change of innings.

“Consistency,” he said when asked what was the key to his five-for. “I know this pitch can go flat for a while, so I just kept trying to hit the top of off. That wouldn’t have been possible without Kez and what Steve did was special.

“I love the Gabba, the fans here, this is my home. But the Ashes are so eventful and to get a five-for, this is special. A moment I’ll never forget.”

Stokes and Jacks walked out to the middle with clear memories of the previous day in their minds. Not the last session in which six wickets fell under lights, but the first two where only four arrived.

Will Jacks did his best for the visitors.

Partly because of his fierier youthful days and partly because he is very much a team-focused batsman, Stokes’ record does scant justice to his ability. When Stokes puts his mind to it, he is the soundest batting technician in England, if not the world, judging the location of his off stump with rare precision and covering up in defence with a supremely straight bat.

Stuart Broad, observing Stokes on SEN Radio, termed him: “Determined, steely, almost keen to show everyone else how to do it.” By showing his willingness to stay with the captain, Jacks gave a strong audition for a more prominent role in the batting order. Unquestionably, he looks more organised and calm than the fretful Ollie Pope.

No chances were offered in the first session, and the closest instance came when Scott Boland got one to jump and Stokes just managed to clear Cameron Green off glove or bat handle. Jacks flicked his first boundary of a highly patient innings in the first over after the tea break, and with Stokes he looked increasingly comfortable.

Still, the Australians kept calm and carried on. Stokes had struggled with signs of cramp and fatigue at regular intervals, was also struck a painful blow on the box by Neser, and it was only ever going to take one mistake. Boland had spoken with total assurance on the third evening about the likelihood of taking wickets, and this partnership did not shake it.

When Jacks edged in Smith’s vicinity, the Australians looked towards the wide slip with reasonable expectation that even a catch this difficult would be taken. England, meanwhile, are back in the familiar territory of hoping for the extraordinary. To regain the Ashes from 0-2 down in Australia should be beyond even Stokes.

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