England in total control after Edgbaston epic
England on top but could lose Anderson to injury
HAV E we really witnessed two of the most extraordinary and, frankly, ridiculous days of Test cricket leaving England on the brink of one of their most famous of all victories over Australia? It appears we have.
There have already been enough twists and turns in this gripping Ashes to last a lifetime but whatever happens at Trent Bridge and The Oval, surely nothing will surpass two never-to-be forgotten days at Edgbaston — marred only by the side injury to Jimmy Anderson which could rule him out for the rest of the series.
Yesterday ended with England, humiliated by 405 runs at Lord’s, hurtling towards what at one stage looked like victory in the first Ashes Test completed in two days since 1921 and the first in England since Nasser Hussain’s team hurried home against West Indies at Headingley in 2000.
Instead, Australia will begin what will surely be the last day of this remarkable match just 23 ahead with three wickets in hand but with England’s push f or a notable triumph coming at what might prove to be a considerable cost.
Everything was going England’s way when David Warner, who had scored a rapid 77 of his side’s 111 to that point, became the sixth Australian to fall with 34 runs still needed to avoid an innings defeat.
Yet the wind was momentarily taken out of England’s sails when Anderson pulled up in the middle of an over with the injury that now threatens his continued participation.
That would be a significant blow, particularly as next week’s fourth Test is at Trent Bridge — where he is king — but for now England should not let it spoil what has been the most thrilling of performances.
‘For Jimmy to walk off halfway through an over, it can’t be too good,’ said Steven Finn, whose inspired spell took England to the verge of a 2-1 lead. ‘If he was to miss out, it would be a big loss.’
If Anderson (right) was England’s bowling hero in Australia’s first innings here, Finn stole the show in their second.
Deemed unselectable by the end of the last Ashes, he has rebuilt his career to the point where he has been near unplayable in this third Test.
Finn blew Australia away as they followed their 136 all out in 36.4 overs with another substandard display of batting to crash to 168 f or seven by the close.
Where once Finn could barely get the ball down the other end, now he was taking five prime Australian wickets.
This was a nother day that had everything, right from the second over when Mitchell Johnson produced a devastating six balls of worldclass fast bowling that appeared to bounce his side back into this game.
Jonny Bairstow could do nothing with the first ball he received from Johnson, a brutal bouncer that he gloved behind. Two balls later Johnson repeated the trick, this time to Ben Stokes, and suddenly England were five down while only six runs ahead. It took an eighthwicket stand of 87 off 117 balls between Moeen Al i and Stuart Broad to take them somewhere near the lead they wanted to reach and one that should prove decisive unless Australia pull off a miracle today.
Moeen took three fours in an over off Johnson during a spell that cost the Australian figurehead 27 runs in three overs. When Engl an d wer e dismissed f or 281 they had a sizeable yet not match-winning lead of 145, but any hopes Australia had of seizing back the initiative were brought to a halt by Finn.
Broad made the crucial early breakthrough by dismissing Rogers to claim his 299th Test wicket but Finn forced Steve Smith into a horrible stroke and then sent back Michael Clarke and Adam Voges with successive balls.
Only Warner stood between England and a two-day triumph as he raced to his 50 off 35 balls to equal Graeme Yallop’s record for Australia’s fastest Ashes half-century.
And when Anderson was forced off they looked deflated until Johnson became Finn’s fifth victim.
England thought it was almost all over then but, with Peter Nevill and Mitchell Starc hanging on to the close, it isn’t quite yet. It would take a turnaround of Headingley 1981 proportions to stop England heading to Nottingham 2-1 up. Test cricket? Bloody hell.
“For Jimmy to walk off, it can’t be too good”