In 2018 I went to every day of every test match and had THE best of Summers, I also followed the England v Australia series. When the Ashes were played in England in 2019 it coincided with the World Cup, I gave priority to that and had largely decided I didn’t want to be with a big crowd booing a certain 2 Australians, that wasn’t my thing at all. Covid pretty much put paid to watching any cricket live for a couple of years and in 2022 I decided I wanted to watch my county, Essex.
Having been to a day of every test at Lord’s for nearly 10 years I’m now priced out, I doubt I’ll watch England there again; but with the opener for The Ashes being at one of my favourite grounds; Edgbaston I couldn’t resist and bought myself tickets for the full game. I’d say Trent Bridge is my top international ground but Edgbaston isn’t far behind. I took my seat in the Scrivens Opticians Stand with no little excitement! I started the day with a couple from Kent as my neighbours but their view was quite blocked by a speaker of all things and so they moved. A lovely local called Andrew whose original view was even worse moved down a row and was really good company.
I’ll lay a couple of my cards on the table, I’ve been struggling with Zak Crawley’s place in the team and was furious to see Ben Foakes discarded when he really is one of the best keepers in the World. Both Crawley and Johnny Bairstow showed me and the rest of the crowd why they were included. Folklore has it that the first ball of an Ashes series sets a tone and Crawley faced the first ball today, he hit a quite beautiful shot from the bowling of Pat Cummins, for Four! Were we going to see Bazball on Day 1?? Josh Hazelwood, who hadn’t played any cricket due to injury, for far too long was also despatched for Four on the first ball of his, and the 2nd over of the day. A first in the Ashes!
I am a fan of Ben Duckett and was looking forward to watching him bat, sadly his stay was a short one, he was caught by Alex Clarey from the bowling of Hazelwood for just 12, a good start for Australia, England were 22 for 1. Ollie Pope, who is often the closest thing to Ian Bell since Ian Bell, was in next, he scored 31 from 44 balls with some lovely shots but was trapped LBW by Nathan Lyon who came into the match before an hour was played. The Umpire had said no, but the appeal proved him wrong. Watching the highlights back it would seem that Crawley should have been out on 40, as he’d nicked a ball to Carey, but no one appealed! England were 92 for 2.
Joe Root joined Crawley, to much noise from the Hollies Stand, and the pair batted well together with several more lovely shots from Crawley; he reached his 50 in 55 balls and had batted really well for it, it was his 9th Test 50. Crawley lost his wicket just before lunch, a ball from Scott Boland skimmed his gloves to go on to Carey, the Umpire again said No and was proved wrong. England went in to lunch on 124 for 3. That final wicket probably tipped things in favour of Australia in the first session.
Things started after lunch with 2 Yorkshire men at the crease, Harry Brook came in at 5, he’s an exciting player to watch, my first look at him was a match winning century for Yorkshire to beat my team Essex a couple of years ago. His stay was short and sweet, he scored 32 from 37 balls, hitting 4 Fours, one of which was on his 4th ball, one sent down by Nathan Lyon. Poor Travis Head spilled a catch from a Brook shot, it was a bad shot, he went way out to hit the ball, the drop was also a bad one, Head had the ball but dropped it as his arms hit the ground. Head was lucky he was on the opposite side to the Hollies especially as he them misfielded a ball which went for Four, the stick he got was gentle. He lifted his cap to the crowd when they cheered some ‘proper’ fielding, a nice move.
Brook’s dismissal was an odd one, he lifted his bat to a Lyon ball, nicking it, Carey went to catch it, everyone lost it and it bounced back on to the stumps. Random to say the least!
Ben Stokes came in and threw away an England review on his 8th ball, along with his wicket, he’d played a pretty terrible shot, to a Hazelwood ball. The nicked ball went to Carey, his 3rd catch in the game. 2 wickets in 8 balls and England were 176 for 5. In came Bairstow and Cummins threw away an Australia review, for a ball that was missing the wickets on the first ball Bairstow faced!
We were then treated to a partnership of 121 from the new Yorkshire pair, both players hitting some lovely shots and Bairstow out stripping Root. What was good to see for me, was Root playing as Root, rather than Root trying to play Bazball. Root was given out LBW to a Lyon ball, he reviewed immediately and was proven right as the ball had hit his glove.
It looked like both men would reach their century but Bairstow went for a big shot from a Lyon ball missing it completely, he was stumped, another one for Carey as Keeper. Bairstow had scored 78 from 78 balls, a straightforward strike rate of 100! An entertaining innings too! That final shot was a tad daft sadly.
Root did have moments of the B-Ball thing, hitting a mighty Six from the bowling of Boland just after tea, he reverse scooped it in the middle of his bat! An Amazing shot! Moeen Ali was next up and he was very well received by the crowd.
Nathan Lyon was fielding in front of the Hollies for a fair time, he too was a good sport, when they sang that he was just a sh*t Moeen Ali, a man whose now taken 491 wickets, very clearly isn’t a sh*t anyone!
Moeen went for it when he came in and played a couple of lovely shots, including a Six from the bowling of Cummins. His stay was a short lived one however as he too went for a daft shot to Lyon, Carey obliging with the stumping. A quick 18 from Moeen, Stuart Broad added 16 including 2 Fours,, before he was bowled by Cameron Green, he swiped at the ball, missed and was bowled!
Ollie Robinson was up next and he and Root kept running singles as Root was approaching his century! The worry was that Root would run out of partners but he made that 100 in 145 balls, his 30th in his test career, surpassing Don Bradman they’re telling me on the highlights.
On what would be the final over of the England innings Root hit 2 huge Sixes from Lyon’s bowling, after that over Stokes called his batters in and England declared on 393 for 8.
Australia had bowled just 78 overs, Lyon had bowled 29 of them and took 4 for 149. The field set for most of the day seemed more akin to that of a 50 over game, with 3/4 men out on the boundary, which felt odd. But a neighbour suggested that was Australia dictating the pace of the game. England took a lot of now, uncharacteristic singles.
Australia had to face a nervy 4 overs and much to the surprise of most of the crowd one Jimmy Anderson didn’t bowl any of therm, Broad And Robinson took the new ball. Day 2 will be interesting, Australia have in Steven Smith one of the, if not, the best batter in the World and another couple who’re more than capable!
365 Sporting Days 