New faces become heroes as Australia reach out and touch the urn as Michael Neser and Co rip through England.
New faces and heroes emerge with Australia’s one hand firmly on the Ashes.
Being ahead 2-0 in a home Ashes series is nothing new for Australia. For the past three times, it has been that way. After a fierce few minutes, they were back at 2-0 when a very angry Steven Smith pulled Gus Atkinson for a powerful six. This one, though, has been a bit different.
There was a reminder of some of what Australia was lacking in this match among the festivities around Smith’s incredible catch to remove Will Jacks, which ended England’s tardy fight on the fourth day. Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, two of the drinks carriers who were arguably overqualified, combined for 871 Test wickets.
Australia has had to be flexible since Cummins was ruled out of the series’ early stages. Their pace-bowling depth was put to the test when Hazlewood and Sean Abbott both went down. After three days of deliberation, they finally arrived to the Gabba and tapped Lyon on the shoulder, leaving him “absolutely filthy” at the last minute.
Halfway through the fourth day, teammates and supporters were applauding Michael Neser, the guy who took his position. The night before, he had opened the door with a pair of return catches before ending their tardy resistance to finish with 5 for 42.
Mitchell Starc, Australia’s No. 9, scored 77 after leading the bowling attack on the opening day, giving them the highest total score of 511. Starc has played one of the best leading roles in the first two games of this series when Smith needed it most, but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have dominated the way he did if Australia’s offence had been at full strength.
Throughout, Australia’s fielding was also crucial. In addition to Smith’s spectacular grab and one of Alex Carey’s best wicketkeeping performances, Josh Inglis removed Ben Stokes with a direct hit run out on the first day, while Marnus Labuschagne ended England’s first innings with a wonderful outfield catch.
They have defeated an England team that is considered to be their biggest opponent on these shores since 2010–11 by huge margins of ten and eight wickets. The bad state of England will be examined elsewhere in these pages. Although Australia has received some gifts, they have also taken advantage of the occasion.
Australia has the perfect bowling conditions thanks to the stand between Starc and Scott Boland. During the brief chase under lights, Atkinson and Jofra Archer briefly got the ball to whizz through, giving England a glimmer of what might have been. However, by that point, Australia had a firm grip on the Ashes once more, and the game was long gone.