WAS THIS THE MAGIC MOMENT CLARKE DROPPED THE ASHES?
England wrap up win as Aussies hit trouble
THE chance was simple but one of the safest catchers in world cricket shelled it and allowed Ian Bell to lead England home gloriously in this classic Edgbaston Test. Has Michael Clarke dropped the Ashes? Well, he has certainly handed Alastair Cook a precious advantage in this compelling series.
Bell had just taken Mitchell Starc for three fours, two of them with a couple of the best shots you will ever see, in an over when Clarke completed what has been the most miserable of Tests for him with a terrible miss at second slip.
England were on 35 for one chasing what could have been a nerveshredding 121 when Clarke made a blunder that not only let Bell off the hook but ended any chance Australia had of pulling off a sensational win of their own here.
It leaves his side 2-1 down with two to play in what is becoming one of the great Ashes series and Clarke, desperately out of form, with an awful lot to ponder as he makes the short journey to Nottingham for the fourth Test on Thursday.
This was as straightforward a win as this topsy-turvy series was ever going to allow. England were never likely to simply turn up yesterday, take the three remaining Australian wickets and be celebrating a seismic victory by lunch.
It was not quite the dramatic conclusion that we had here 10 years ago but this truncated third Investec Test has provided so much in the way of the thrills and excitement that made the 2005 model arguably the greatest of all time.
Instead of an easy ride yesterday, Peter Nevill and Starc had England supporters twitching a little by extending an overnight lead of 23 into the sort of tricky chase that could have gone horribly wrong.
Not this time. Once Clarke had shelled Bell’s attempted dab to third man when he was on 20 it was pretty much all over bar the considerable shouting of a 25,000 crowd who have truly been England’s 12th player here.
By the time England had moved to within sight of the winning post just ahead of tea on this third day those spectators were loudly sing- ing ‘stand up if you’re 2-1 up’ and taunting Mitchell Johnson with the return of a once popular ditty that has not had too much of an airing in recent times.
Perhaps the most worrying sight for Australia was that of Johnson seemingly completely losing it as England closed in on victory, missing his run-up and then bowling what became his last ball of the match from fully 24 yards.
Clarke inexplicably had held his destroyer in chief back until England had 47 on the board and there was little Johnson could do other than react badly to the goading of the crowd by the time he finally entered a wilting attack.
So the pressure is very much back on Australia’s principal performers. It has been lifted emphatically off the shoulders of senior batsman Bell who started this match with his very England future in jeopardy.
Bell may not have been able to become the first Warwickshire man to score a Test hundred at Edgbaston but he turned his elevation to No 3 into a triumph with yesterday’s thrilling, unbeaten 65.
At times he was too frenetic and at times it looked as if he would give it away, as he did when set on 53 in the first innings, but this was Bell at his eye-catching best — 10 effortless fours easing off that classy bat of his.
Only when Bell was together with Joe Root did this match resemble a ‘proper’ Test, an unbeaten partnership of 73 coming at 3.47 runs an over rather than the turbo-charged speed of much of this unforgettable three days, taking England to the sweetest of eight-wicket wins.
What to make of this developing England team?
Their last seven Tests have now gone won, lost, won, lost, won, lost, won — world-record breaking inconsistency which leaves the remaining two Tests impossible to predict.
They will be delighted with a comeback that seemed highly unlikely after the humiliation at Lord’s — not least the decision to protect Mark Wood by gambling on giving Steven Finn his first Test cap in more than two years. Australia had added 64 more runs without further loss yesterday when Finn joined Jimmy Anderson in taking six wickets in an innings, the first time two English bowlers have done that in an Ashes Test since Headingley 1981.
With his breakthrough came pretty much the end of the Australian resistance.
This was a glorious return for Finn, deservedly man of the match for his eight wickets and now destined to take the new ball next week at Trent Bridge in the absence of the stricken Anderson.
How this game can change. Whether Adam Lyth will be given another chance to change his fortunes remains to be seen. He is under considerable pressure of his own now after falling for 12 here and extending a run without a halfcentury to six innings.
England’s selectors will consider Alex Hales for a Test debut on his home ground in place of Lyth when they meet today, with Durham’s Mark Stoneham another option. Whoever plays, the message from coach Trevor Bayliss will again be attack, attack, attack.
Only the absence of Anderson, who will definitely miss Trent Bridge with a side strain, can dampen England’s mood now and Derbyshire left armer Mark Footitt or Yorkshire’s Liam Plunkett have emerged alternatives to Wood. Durham’s Chris Rushworth is also being considered.
It is Australia who have all the worries. Clarke will be fighting for his own future in these last two Tests while Adam Voges could give way to Shaun Marsh in an attempt to improve a brittle middle order.
Three games gone, two to go and all to play for in an Ashes that is proving to be unmissable sporting theatre. The first two Tests lasted four days each and now this one did not even make it beyond day three on a pitch that England would love to see replicated at Trent Bridge.
The shortest dramas are so often the best.