Australia has edged ahead in the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval despite a forgettable performance in the field on Thursday morning.
The tourists put down five chances, four of which were regulation, as England posted 283 after being asked to bat first in the Ashes finale. Mitchell Starc claimed four wickets, while Harry Brook top-scored with a scintillating 85.
Australia was 1-61 in response at stumps, with Usman Khawaja (26*) and Marnus Labuschagne (2*) unbeaten overnight.
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Australia spent four years lamenting their mistakes at The Oval in 2019.
Some of those mistakes were making the wrong selection calls, making the wrong decision at the toss, and then putting down early chances to make inroads as England’s batters settled in.
This time around, Cummins chose to bowl first after winning his first toss of the series – a call that Ben Stokes would have made too if the coin fell in his favour.
After the ball stopped swinging in the fourth over, England’s openers began to cash in as the opening spells fell flat.
Compounding the misfiring bowling down the leg side, much like in 2019, catches went down off both openers and a review got burnt early as Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley swung freely to a fifty-run stand inside the opening ten overs.
David Warner shelled a simple chance the first ball of Pat Cummins’ spell when Duckett slashed at a wide one that went straight through Warner’s fingers.
The next over, Steve Smith got a hand to a diving chance at second slip from the thick edge of Crawley, which also went down as the scoreboard began to tick.
Speaking on Sky Sports commentary, former England opener Mark Butcher described it as a “curious first hour” from the Australians.
“Australia have bowled poorly. Haven’t caught much better. The bowling has been poor,” former Australian captain Mark Taylor said on Sky Sports.
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Australia responded just after the drinks break by taking three quick wickets, but the visitors continued to let chances get away from them.
Alex Carey grassed a third chance to remove the dangerous Harry Brook when he was on 5, the second dropped catch off Pat Cummins in a superb opening spell.
For all the errors they made last time and for all the things that Australia said they didn’t want to repeat this time around, there was a horrible sense of deja vu for the tourists.
“Unfortunately, they started in a similar vein (to 2019) here,” Taylor continued.
Former Australian batter Michael Atherton added on Channel 9: “Australia certainly missed a trick with the new ball in the first half-hour, I reckon. We just didn’t quite get it right.”
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Harry Brook’s start to his Test career has set many tongues wagging.
Back at the ground where he made his Test debut last year, the 24-year-old Yorkshireman has made run scoring look as he became the quickest player to notch up 1000 Test runs in terms of balls faced.
His Ashes debut began with a pair of starts at Edgbaston before he received a bouncer barrage and a Pat Cummins magic ball at Lord’s.
Briefly shuffled up the order in the first innings at Headingley to no great effect before his 75 in his preferred spot in the middle order anchored the run chase to have a major hand in getting his side home.
On Thursday, Brook was given a life when he was put down by Alex Carey on just 5, and he made the Australians pay either side of the lunch break. His flurry before the interval saw him take Mitchell Starc for 16 runs in three deliveries, including a controlled hook shot that sailed into the crowd.
It was a frantic start to his innings in a display that former England opener Mark Butcher described as “coming out with your pants on fire.”
“You get away with one or two and then suddenly the timing comes. He is touched with genius,” Butcher said on Sky Sports.
“Harry Brook is going to come out and entertain you, albeit it comes with the risk that at some point he might play a bad one and give it away.
“But there won’t be any recriminations in the dressing room about getting out. They’ve decided to be aggressive; they want to push the game on – they think they might lose Monday to the rain – and so it all depends on scoring as fast as you can.
“You have to buckle up when watching England!”
He passed fifty shortly after the interval, his fourth half-century of the series and looked set to break through for another big score.
Former Australian batter Callum Ferguson was impressed with how Brook was able to play the conditions as he moved through his innings.
“I felt he was reading the bowlers and the play really well,” Ferguson said on Channel 9.
“He was able to capitalise on all the shots that he played.
“The understanding that the bowler would then try to adjust and come a bit straighter, then capitalise on that, I feel like he’s a player that’s really starting to mature right in front of our eyes.
“This is some seriously impressive stuff from the young man.”
KHAWAJA ACHIEVES 85-YEAR FIRST WITH ANTI-BAZBALL APPROACH
He only faced 75 deliveries on Thursday evening, but Usman Khawaja’s patient knock at The Oval could prove crucial in the coming days.
The Australian opener finished unbeaten on 26, surviving to stumps and ensuring the middle order wasn’t exposed to the swinging Dukes ball under dark skies.
Khawaja combined with David Warner for a 49-run partnership to put Australia in the preferred position at stumps, and the Queenslander looms as a crucial figure for the tourists on Friday morning.
The 36-year-old’s traditional approach to Test batting is a stark contrast to England’s Bazball philosophy — rather than looking to put pressure back on the bowlers, he simply waits for them to make a mistake.
He nudged into gaps, flicked off his pads and respected the good deliveries — the left-hander only whipped out the expansive drive when England’s seamers overpitched.
Khawaja is five runs away from becoming the leading run-scorer of the series, while he has also become the first Australian opener to face 1000 deliveries in a five-match Ashes series in England since 1938.
He remains a leading contender to earn Player of the Series honours.
“Classic old opener, Usman Khawaja,” former Australian opener Mark Taylor said on Sky Sports.
“He makes the bowler bowl at him, which is the old way of playing. These days, a lot of openers go after the ball. Duckett, Crawley and Warner all go after the ball, try and dominate the bowling.
“Khawaja is your old-fashioned type. Sits back, waits for you to bowl the ball that he wants
you to bowl.”
CUMMINS SILENCES DOUBTERS WITH EPIC SPELL
The Australian captain was under a bit of pressure following last week’s draw in Manchester.
Pat Cummins was far from his best at Old Trafford, leaking 5.60 runs per over and conceding the most runs in an innings in his Test career — his captaincy and tactics also came under the microscope following England’s brutal Bazball blitz.
However, the 30-year-old only needed one spell on Thursday morning to silence his doubters.
Cummins shifted momentum back in Australia’s favour after an underwhelming opening burst from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood at The Oval, producing one of his fastest Test spells on English soil.
The right-armer was relentless during his six-over spell before lunch, repeatedly beating both sides of the bat. His first delivery of the match found Ben Duckett’s outside edge, but David Warner put down a regulation chance at first slip.
However, Cummins snared the much-deserved breakthrough in his third over, with England opener Zak Crawley edging towards second slip, where Steve Smith swallowed the catch. He should have removed Harry Brook in his fifth over as well, but wicketkeeper Alex Carey dropped the simple chance.
The New South Welshman finished the spell with 1-21 from six overs — but numbers only tell part of the story. According to cricket statistician Andy Zaltzman, 66 per cent of Cummins’ deliveries in the morning session drew a false shot, the highest figure for a bowling spell in England since 2006.
Anyone who watched Thursday’s action at The Oval knew his final figures of 1-66 were incredibly unjust.
On Sky Sports commentary, England legend Michael Atherton suggested that Cummins should have opened the bowling, and former Australian batter Callum Ferguson agreed.
“I just wonder whether we could have looked at him with the new ball,” Ferguson said on Channel 9.
“When he came on, he made things happen. Hit a good hard length and really challenged that sort of fourth stump, fifth stump line.”
Former Australian international Mel Jones continued on Sky Sports: “Cummins has copped a little bit for his captaincy and the speeds he was bowling at in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
“But you have to think of his massive workload, with the World Test Championship (final) taking place before the Ashes also.
“That was his fastest first spell ever in England this morning. He is rested, rejuvenated and led the charge. He has done superbly well.”
Brook, who finished on 85, sang Cummins’ praises at stumps, telling Sky Sports: “Australia are so persistent in their lengths, particularly Pat Cummins.
“When he gets a bit off the pitch, he is tough to face. I felt like I got battered on the inner thigh pad all day.”
‘UTTERLY BRUTAL’ ASHES SCHEDULE TAKING ITS TOLL
The ECB shoved the marquee Ashes series into a six-week window before The Hundred, and the crammed schedule has taken its toll on the players.
Australian bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc elected to skip this year’s Indian Premier League to ensure they were rested before the arduous six-Test tour of England — a decision that paid dividends.
Cummins and Starc have collectively played 11 Tests between them this winter, and they will almost certainly finish the tour as Australia’s two leading wicket-takers. However, fatigue has started to take its toll.
Starc, who suffered a minor shoulder setback during last week’s Old Trafford Test, was under an injury cloud ahead of the series finale in London.
“He’s looking worse for wear and a little bit sore,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald told reporters earlier this week.
“All indications are that he’ll be right to go, but that’ll be assessed.”
Due to the three-day turnaround, Australia was expected to rotate at least one of their pace bowlers for the Ashes finale for workload management, but the Manchester rain gave Cummins and Starc an additional two days to recover.
Starc, as has so often been the case throughout his career, easily could have been sidelined for the fifth Ashes Test. He was coming off three consecutive matches, and national selectors have historically been reluctant to pick the left-armer for back-to-back Tests overseas.
However, Australia’s selection panel resisted the urge to prioritise freshness and recall Scott Boland or Michael Neser — and Starc repaid their faith on Thursday afternoon.
Starc, donning a heavily-strapped shoulder, bowled a handful of deliveries on the warm-up pitch at The Oval after the toss. According to Cricbuzz’s Bharat Sundaresan, who has been watching Australia’s training sessions like a hawk, claimed it was the first time he had bowled any sort of delivery since day three of the Old Trafford Test.
After the lunch break, Starc was seen grabbing at his shoulder while in the field, eventually running towards to sheds for medical attention. Thankfully for Australia, the New South Welshman returned a few overs later, taking the crucial wickets of Harry Brook and England captain Ben Stokes before tea.
He returned in the evening session to wrap up the tail, finishing with 4-82 from 14.4 overs, his best bowling figures in the fifth match of a Test series.
Meanwhile, England spinner Moeen Ali sustained a right groin injury in the afternoon session, with team medics sprinting onto the field after he pulled up lame running between the wickets. The 36-year-old didn’t join his teammates in the field when Australia’s innings got underway in the evening session.
Elsewhere, Cummins was seen receiving treatment on his wrist during the drinks break. When wicketkeeper Alex Carey put down a regulation catch earlier in the day, commentators speculated whether fatigue contributed to the blunder.
“The schedule has been utterly brutal for both sets of players,” former England opener Nick Knight said on Sky Sports.
“These games have come around so quickly, both sets of players have gone so hard, giving it their all.”
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