Ashes: Australia forced to retreat after Stokes onslaught

Three Tests in and has the series produced a bad day yet? Certainly not today at Headingley, somehow only Day Two of a Test progressing towards a result at thrilling speed.

By close it seemed a thousand lifetimes ago that Joe Root had edged the second ball of the day to first slip, then Australia appeared comfortable favourites, by stumps England had perhaps edged marginally ahead.

The first part of the day served as a quasi captains duel, Pat Cummins – with some assistance from Mitchell Starc – taking England’s flimsy looking batting lineup apart and with it the hosts seemingly to the brink of Ashes ignominy.

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England though have a captain of their own, the man to drag them back into things once again – Ben Stokes. At lunch, Australia had a lead of 121 with only three England wickets remaining, it would prove to be the last time they were on the front foot in the day.

For a glorious eight balls Mark Wood launched a brief campaign to displace Stokes as the team’s finest Durham all rounder, his cameo with the bat may have lasted less than two overs but he managed to smash three sixes in that time, with a four and a two thrown in for good measure – like AB de Villiers if he could also bowl over 90mph.

Cumbrian six-hitting hour was not over though. This was Headingley after all and Stokes soon rediscovered his 2019 muscle memory. Australian brains were scrambling with every swish of his bat, on 45 he was dropped twice in two balls, errors that would go on to be heavily punished.

Todd Murphy bore the brunt, his entry into Ashes cricket so far consisting of having to face down Wood missiles on Day 1 and then a Stokes hitting barrage on Day 2. Five times Stokes took him for six over the rope, by the time his attempt at a sixth was caught at long on, England’s captain had made 80, the deficit reduced to just 26.

It was such a savage assault on Australian senses that perhaps it can serve as some sort of explanation for the way the tourists played out the remainder of the day, a retreat into their shells that surrendered yet more ground to England by the close.

Australia were after all 2-0 up in the series, with a first innings lead, albeit a little more slender than it might have been, and facing up to an England bowling attack down a bowler in Ollie Robinson and containing Wood, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali, all short on any serious recent red ball workloads.

If there was ever a time to finish off England this was it and yet Australia were curiously meek in the final session, letting Moeen Ali settle in at one end as the home side rotated their remaining seamers at the other.

But Australia didn’t just let Moeen tie up an end, they gifted him two vital wickets as well, Marnus Labuschagne and then Steve Smith gone in consecutive overs from the Howard Stand End, England’s hopes rising rapidly.

They would add Usman Khawaja by the close, as Australia’s go slow with the bat saw them finish four wickets down with a lead of just 142.

It leaves the game, as seemingly every evening in this series does, fascinatingly poised. Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh are unlikely to bat with quite the same reticence for aggression shown by their teammates up the order and have already shown once in this game the havoc they can wreak. They are however almost Australia’s last line of defence and their best chance of posting a total formidable enough for a team that likes to chase.

Perhaps then only the forecast rain can threaten the thrills that, like every other day so far in this series, tomorrow promises.