Live Report: England vs Australia, 1st Test, Edgbaston
Stumps
1st Test, Birmingham, June 16 - 20, 2023
, The Ashes
Day 1 - Australia trail by 379 runs.
11h ago
For the first time since West Imdies at Lord's in 2009, James Anderson does not take the new ball in an England home Test (on the occasions he's been playing, of course ... and you'll never guess who did take the new ball back then ...)
It's Ollie Robinson to apply the funk, for two tidy but unthreatening overs... except to himself, that is, after he loses his footing in delivery stride and comes close to wrenching his ankle.
But Australia see it off without undue alarm, and it's 14 for 0 at the close, still trailing by 379. I think the terms of engagement have been established today!
11h ago
First-day declarations ...Sampath has crunched the numbers, and a Baz-flavoured theme emerges
Fewest overs batted before declaring the 1st innings on day one:
44.5 PAK (130/9d) v ENG, Lord's, 1974 58.2 ENG (325/9d) v NZ, Mt Maunganui, 2023 76.0 SA (259/9d) v AUS, Adelaide, 2016 78.0 ENG (393/8d) v AUS, Birmingham, 2023 78.3 SA (309/9d) v ZIM, Gqeberha, 2017
... could it have been any other way? Three slips, a ring in the covers to cut off that push-drive. He wants to get off strike first-ball but Khawaja is having none of it. He tries again fourth-ball and Khawaja has to sprawl for his crease! Nerves everywhere! And eventually, off the final ball of a frantic over, he nails his drive to the cover boundary. Crumbs!
11h ago
England have declared!The maniacs! What's not to love? Twenty minutes to unleash on Australia with the new ball and a properly revved-up Hollies Stand. Root has a hack at the final over, from Nathan Lyon, connects with two sixes and a two, either side of a reverse-dab for four from Ollie Robinson, and trots off with an unbeaten 118 to his name, as Stokes - in his bucket-hat, natch - sticks up a hand and hauls them in. What frolics!
11h ago
The secret of Root's footwork11h ago
Root has his hundred!He's done it with a trademark dink off his pads, a loud shout of "yes!", a punch of the air and a standing ovation from an enraptured Edgbaston crowd. It's his 30th in Test cricket, his fourth against Australia, and his first in Ashes cricket since 2015... when, coincidentally, he had a pretty stellar series...
12h ago
Two stumpings on Day 1Sampath Bandarupalli has been digging into the data on stumpings, and tells me that this is the first time since 1934 that two batters have been out stumped on the opening day of an Ashes Test.
It's only happened once before on the first day of an Ashes series: when Percie Charlton, Kenny Burn and Arthur Shrewsbury were all caught short of their ground at Lord's in 1890.
12h ago
Was it the right call to leave Starc out?12h ago
Punch, counter-punchShiva Jayaraman: The century stand between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow that followed the wickets of Harry Brook and Ben Stokes was an example of a key feature of England’s batting in the Bazball era. Their attacking batting even when they have lost a wicket or two cheaply has often pushed oppositions on the backfoot and haven’t allowed the bowling teams to dominate.
England’s top order (first six wickets) has lost two successive wickets in an innings for 10 or fewer runs 33 times since June 2022, but they have counterattacked with a century stand on seven out of those 33 occasions. England have been able to put together a fifty-plus stand 15 times from these situations.
Their scoring rate of 4.8 runs after such setbacks in nearly a run more than the next-best team. No other team comes close to these numbers. New Zealand are the next best in such situations: they have put together 10 fifty-plus stand from an equal 33 instances, but their scoring rates lean more towards the attritional side, at 3.1 runs an over.
12h ago
Live and die by the swordMoeen charges down looking to swing Lyon back over his head - even with long-on and long-off on the rope and is stumped by a mile. That's the 10th time that Lyon has dismissed Moeen in Test cricket and his fourth of the innings.
12h ago
Moeen launches LyonMoeen Ali skips down the ground to swing Nathan Lyon over mid-on for four and Australia respond by pushing the fielder back to long-on. That means that on his return from the T20 world to Test cricket, Moeen is met with a T20 field: one slip, three men within 30 yards of the bat, and five boundary-riders.
The drop isn't costly! Bairstow skips down looking to launch Lyon down the ground but is done in the flight, and Carey whips the bails off. Lyon has unusual figures of 3 for 97 in 20.4 overs - which he would probably have taken at the start of the day.
12h ago
A life for BairstowBairstow is going hard at almost everything now, and his strike rate is just a shade under 100. He gets a thick outside edge looking to drive Hazlewood through cover, but the chance is put down by a sprawling Carey. England are reaping the rewards of their aggression, with Green the only slip catcher.
Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have brought up a 100-run stand in the blink of an eye. This is their 11th 100-run partnership in Test cricket - the fourth-most of any partnership for England.
Jonny Bairstow scampers back for two to bring up a breezy half-century in his first Test innings since his leg break last year, then nails Lyon for four, past short leg on the sweep. He takes Lyon for his second boundary of the over by skipping down to loft him over Cummins at mid-off - and would have a third but for Labuschagne wearing one on his foot at short leg, taking evasive action.
We're into the 58th over of the day but Pat Cummins has still only bowled 10 - four in his first spell, three in his second and three in his third. He's standing at mid-off as Nathan Lyon whirls away and will surely have another bowl tonight, but why has he not used himself more?
13h ago
Root brings out the reverse-scoopWhich side should be happier at tea?
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13h ago
Tea: England 240 for 5Andrew McGlashan at Edgbaston: We thought it might be, but it’s proving a little hard to make sense of all this at the moment. Five wickets by tea on the first day is good reward for Australia, but England are still motoring along.
When they removed Harry Brook and Ben Stokes in quick succession there was a big chance for them to take a firm grip on the game. Brook’s dismissal was bizarre although perhaps he could have been more aware to where the ball was going; still, there’s irony to Brook of all England’s Bazball batters falling effectively padding up.
The Stokes wicket, however, was worthy reward for Josh Hazlewood who has been excellent on his return. He tempted Stokes into the drive – although he probably didn’t much tempting – by keep the ball full outside off. But you only need to look at the economy rates of Australia’s attack to know that this hasn’t been a normal start to an Ashes.
14h ago
Root on the reverseJoe Root is given out lbw by Ahsan Raza, reverse-sweeping Nathan Lyon for the second ball in a row, but reviews within half a second of the finger going up and replays confirm that he got plenty of glove on it. As if to prove he's completely unfussed, Root then gets down to play exactly the same shot to the following ball - and whacks it for four.
Sampath Bandarupalli tells me that this is his fifth consecutive 50-plus score - the second such streak in his career after six in a row between 2014 and 2015.
9 Balls taken for England to slip from 175 for 3 to 176 for 5
All of the talk around Ben Stokes over the past four months has centred on his fitness to bowl, but it has perhaps been overlooked just how little he has batted in that time period, with two single-figure scores at the IPL his only innings since England's second Test in New Zealand back in February.
He made a skittish start, nearly dragging-on a reverse-sweep against Nathan Lyon when facing his third ball, and edged his eighth behind off Josh Hazlewood, who gave him a tough examination angling the ball across him.
15h ago
A bizarre dismissal'Brook b Lyon 32' doesn't even begin to tell the story. "Catch it!" is the cry as the ball loops up off Brook's thigh pad, having shouldered arms late to Nathan Lyon. Alex Carey loses sight of it and can't get underneath it, but Brook has no idea where the ball is. It lands on the back of his leg, and deflects into the stumps.
Hazlewood to Brook in the 37th over - the first maiden of the Ashes summer:
Australia's deep point has been either side of square today, starting some way behind square before moving towards a cover-point at times. Travis Head threw his hands up in confusion between deliveries when Brook back-cut Boland for four and then two, unclear as to exactly where he should have been.
Right on cue, Brook top-edged a shorter ball out towards him, again looking to cut. As it happened, Head was exactly in line with the shot - but couldn't pick it up out of the Hollies Stand, and spilled what turned out to be a difficult low chancing, tumbling forwards. A life for Brook on 24.
Harry Brook was in a punchy mood two days out from the first Test when discussing his approach against Nathan Lyon, and has taken him on after lunch as he said he would.
With the field spread on the leg side and minimal protection on the off, Brook shimmied outside leg stump to the eighth ball of his innings to loft Lyon inside-out over the covers - and would have picked up four more with an exquisite straight drive but for an excellent diving stop by Pat Cummins at mid-off.
16h ago
Lunch: England 124 for 3Australia have a third on the stroke of lunch, Zak Crawley falling caught behind off Scott Boland after a review shows that the ball brushed his glove. Here are the thoughts of Andrew McGlashan as the players head off for lunch:
Australia had talked about doing things a bit differently with their fields in this series (rather than massively changing their bowling plans) and they lived up to that on the opening morning. Deep backward point was out for the first ball, but that didn’t stop Zak Crawley driving powerfully through the covers.
It really was a strange sight to see what could be classed as very defensive fields: in the third over they had three men on the rope for Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon started with four boundary-riders. But this looks a very flat and quite slow pitch. We’ll need see Australia’s tactics for a longer period of time before making a proper judgement, but England have certainly been able to milk the bowling.
However, Scott Boland's strike with the final ball of the session was a huge moment and three wickets inside 27 could make the case for that being Australia's session.
Shiva Jayaraman: This is the third time since June 2022 that England haven't allowed a maiden to be bowled in the first session of a Test; previous instances - Rawalpindi, Mount Maunganui. No other instances from the other teams since then.
This is the 14th time that Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope have batted together in Test cricket, and the first time they've brought up a 50-run stand. Those partnerships read: 4, 13, 1, 10, 34, 11, 19, 29, 26, 22*, 2, 35, 16, 53*.
17h ago
The field spreads furtherMichael Vaughan suggested in the build-up to this series that England would try to play Scott Boland "like a spinner" and while he beat the bat in his first over, Boland has struggled to get the ball to move off the straight. He is the slowest seamer in Australia's attack, and the fact that Carey feels comfortable standing up to the stumps gives you another indication that this pitch is very slow.
Nathan Lyon comes on in the 10th over, with four boundary-riders: deep third, long leg, forward square leg and long-on. It will be fascinating to see how England play him in this series - and Ollie Pope gives an indication, reverse-sweeping his third ball out to the sweeper behind square on the off side.
Zak Crawley plays exactly the same short to his fourth ball, again picking up a single. Pat Cummins has been happy to spread the field in the early stages to maintain some control; those two shots would have cost eight runs with a more orthodox field. But Crawley then drills the final ball of the over through wide mid-off, and Lyon's first costs seven.
Sampath Bandarupalli tells me: Since 2001 - when we have full ball-by-ball data - this is just the third time a spinner has bowled within the first ten overs of an Ashes Test. All three times, it was Lyon bowling the 10th over - MCG 2013, Cardiff 2015 and Birmingham 2023.
Josh Hazlewood strikes early. If Duckett has shown one area of weakness since his recall to the England set-up nine months ago it is this: he is slightly cramped for room on the cut to a ball in the channel outside his off stump and feathers behind to Alex Carey.
Perhaps that is the value of the man at deep backward point? Duckett wasn't fully committed to the cut shot, and maybe the presence of the fielder on the rope meant that he was only looking to steer it for a single rather than to pick up a boundary.
Carey had to take that catch very low down, and the early signs are that the pitch only fits half of the "fast, flat" description that Ben Stokes asked for two months ago. Mike Atherton on Sky describes it as "a bit of a featherbed".
Australia have started the day with a deep backward point, as increasingly many teams are doing in the early stages of white-ball games. The idea seems to be to offer some protection - and in Josh Hazlewood's first over, Crawley cuts one out to the man there.
Ricky Ponting is commentating on Sky Sports, and says immediately that he's "not a huge fan of the deep backward point... Yes, the bad ball might get cut. But you’ve got to protect your good balls to build pressure," he says. "If the scoreboard continually ticks over, batsmen never feel under pressure at all."
As Ben Duckett tucks a boundary off his pads through square leg, another man goes out - from short midwicket to deep backward square leg - and there are now two slips, a gully and the boundary-riders (at point, fine leg and square leg) in the third over of the day.
18h ago
What a difference 18 months makes2021/22, First Test, The GabbaStarc to Burns, OUT: Knocks him over first ball! Full yorker which crashes into the base of leg stump. Burns is nowhere, falling over to the off side as he looks to clip off the pads. Angled into the left-hander from over the wicket, but this actually tailed away late and sharply to hit the base of leg stump. What a start from Starc!
2023, First Test, EdgbastonCummins to Crawley, FOUR runs: Thumped on the up through cover-point! What a shot! Decent length, a lot of width, he strides out and climbs into an amazing cover drive on the up!
Both teams are wearing black armbands in memory of Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar, the cricketers who lost their lives in Nottingham this week. There is a moment of silence before the anthems in their memory.
Andrew McGlashan: Everyone remembers how Mitchell Starc began the last Ashes (although did it count, if the series was void?). Well, he won’t get the chance this time having been the quick bowler to miss the cut. Pat Cummins was asked about the impact of that delivery yesterday.
“Particularly Starcy, leading into that series there was a little bit of conjecture on his spot," he said. "We all know how good he is and how well he was bowling, but just that pressure release of that first ball, taking a wicket, setting up the whole series.
"It was my first ball as captain so takes a little bit of the nerves off as well. It was just one of those iconic Ashes moments that every series seems to have a couple of. I know Harmison still probably cops grief for his first ball so if I’m bowling I might give it to someone else down the other end so I don’t create a memory.”
What will the first ball bring this time?
19h ago
England win toss and batEngland are batting. This is the first time that Ben Stokes has won the toss and chosen to bat in a home Test - though he did it twice in Pakistan in December 2022. "It looks a really good cricket wicket, so obviously a good toss to win. Now we're going to go out and put some runs on the board," Stokes says.
Australia have picked Hazlewood over Starc in their only change from the WTC final. That means a longer tail, with Pat Cummins due in at No. 8.
19h ago
Smith: I view crowd as 'white noise'Steven Smith got a hostile reception here four years ago as he returned to Test cricket after his Sandpapergate ban, and his arrival at the crease will doubtless be met by a few jeers today.
He told Sky that he won't be paying much attention to it: "I blank it out. I think I did it well last time we were here - white noise, I suppose they call it. I don't really recognise that anyone is there, if that makes sense. It enables me to go about my business."
19h ago
Stokes tells Edgbaston: You're part of it"As an England cricketer, there is always something very special about being part of an Ashes series and I know Australia feel exactly the same," Ben Stokes writes in his programme notes. "We are the lucky ones because we get to live these moments out in the middle, but if you're here at Edgbaston, reading this, you're part of it as well. We want to make this summer a memorable one for every one of you.
"Edgbaston is a wonderful venue and has one of the best atmospheres in the world game. It's a great place to play when you've got three lions on your shirt. When the opposition walk out onto the pitch, they won't need reminding that they're in our backyard."
While the rest of his squad kick a football around on the outfield, Ben Stokes is having a bowl on a practice pitch under the watchful eye of David Saker, England's fast-bowling coach. He has a heavily-strapped left knee and his fitness is a saga that has run for months, and will continue to over the next six-and-a-half week.
He declared himself fit yesterday - but we will find out over the next few days whether he is ready to play a full role as a genuine allrounder, or just enough to fill in when the main quicks are flagging.
19h ago
The Hollies breakfast19h ago
Who joins Cummins in Australia's pace attack?Australia have declined to follow England's lead in naming a team before the toss and there has been a great deal of speculation around which seamers will play alongside Pat Cummins (and the allrounder Cameron Green).
Scott Boland has marked his run-up, which suggests he will retain his spot and intriguingly, Mitchell Marsh - whose last Test was in 2019 - has also been spotted with the tape measure. Josh Hazlewood has just wandered out and marked his own run-up, which indicates he will be the third seamer.
Marsh would be a left-field inclusion and represent a change in balance to the side that played the World Test Championship final, barring an injury to Green. Alex Malcolm, our Australian assistant editor, suggests it might be a case of: "Bison being Bison. Would have done it deliberately to get a reaction."
Andrew McGlashan: If Starc doesn't play here, as appears likely, will be the first Test he has been left out (as opposed to being injured) since The Oval in the 2019 Ashes. He also missed the corresponding Test four years ago when Australia went with Peter Siddle and James Pattinson alongside Pat Cummins.
After months of build-up, the first Test of the 2023 Ashes is finally here. It's a beautiful sunny morning at Edgbaston, and the toss is 45 minutes away. Let's do it.
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