England have Ashes momentum heading into fourth Test at Old Trafford
Tuesday 3 September 2019 10:04, UK
It is hard to avoid the comparisons between the ongoing Ashes and the series-for-the-ages in 2005.
Back then, and now, Australia won the opening Test handsomely. At Lord's in 2005 and at Edgbaston in 2019.
Back then, and now, a key seam bowler missed matches through injury. Glenn McGrath in 2005 and James Anderson in 2019.
Back then, and now, a Test newbie got England fans on the edge of their seats. Kevin Pietersen in 2005 and Jofra Archer in 2019.
Back then, and now, virtuoso performances from an all-rounder turned England's fortunes. Andrew Flintoff in 2005 and Ben Stokes in 2019.
And back then, and now, Australia came out on the wrong side of a nail-biting finish. At Edgbaston in 2005 and at Headingley in 2019.
Back then, Australia never really recovered, but what about now?
Tim Paine's men seemingly had eight fingers and one thumb on the urn more than once in Leeds.
When England had been razed for 67. When their opponents needed a record 359 for victory. When the hosts were nine wickets down with 73 runs required. When Stokes skewed towards Marcus Harris with 17 needed. When Nathan Lyon had the chance to run out Jack Leach with two needed.
But due to a combination of dropped catches, fielding blunders, erroneous reviewing and one utterly incredible knock - surely the best by an Englishman and arguably the best by anyone - the series is mind-bogglingly squared at 1-1 with two Tests to play.
There is no need for Australia to be too downbeat.
As holders they only require one win or two draws from the final couple of games to keep the urn.
Steve Smith, who averages 63.24 in his Test career and 126 in the series after scores of 144, 142 and 92, should return after being forced to miss the Headingley encounter with a late-onset concussion.
Marnus Labuschagne, Smith's concussion replacement at Lord's and actual replacement in Leeds, has three fifties in a row, leaves well, and looks a highly-competent Test batsman.
They can also call upon Mitchell Starc, fresh from taking seven wickets in the innings thrashing of Derbyshire.
The left-armer is unused in the Ashes so far with the tourists' other seamers - save for when Stokes got hold of them on a sun-baked afternoon in Leeds - impressing, but he may come in at Old Trafford, on what is expected to be the quickest pitch of the series.
Plus, Stokes' spellbinding innings, and battling half-centuries from Joe Root and Joe Denly, should not mask the fact England still have a pretty fragile-looking batting line-up. "Sixty-seven all out," the Aussies will be saying.
But you do wonder how a certain victory collapsing into an improbable defeat will affect the Australian players' psyche, particularly spinner Lyon and vanquished captain Tim Paine.
Josh Hazlewood spoke about leaving "scars" on England after he and his fellow pacemen had torpedoed them in 27.5 overs on day two of the Leeds Test, but any lacerations now are surely in the minds of the Aussies. And it might not be a quick patch-up job.
"It will test the mental toughness of the Australian side," said Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain shortly after commentating on that unbelievable, Stokes-manufactured finale.
Lyon, along with Stokes and Leach, was a central figure in a fraught final hour - including when the match-winner reverse-swept him for an ostentatious six - and then a frantic final few minutes.
With two needed, all he had to do was whip off the bails at the non-striker's end with Leach halfway down the track, but the ball squirmed from his grasp as the throw came in from backward point.
Then, with two still needed, he was left squirming on the ground as his appeal for Stokes lbw turned from anticipation to anguish, the bowler realising umpire Joel Wilson's not-out decision - a wrong decision, as it turned out - would stand with Australia having shredded their final review.
And, finally, Lyon sunk to the turf in despair as Stokes thrashed Pat Cummins through the covers for the Ashes-saving boundary. The realisation had dawned on him that he may have dropped the urn or, at the very least, Australia's best chance of keeping it.
Lyon has not lacked for confidence in the past and likes a big statement.
Before the previous Ashes he spoke about Australia "ending the careers" of England players and prior to the sides' clash in the World Cup semi-final this summer, he lumped all the pressure on Eoin Morgan's men, saying the tournament was theirs to lose.
This time, though, the pressure is on him. Because of the fumble. But also because of his diminishing returns with the ball since he spun England out at Edgbaston with 6-49. It is three wickets in two Tests at an average of 57.20, with Stokes, in particular, getting the measure of him.
Paine, perhaps encouragingly, maybe forcefully, has told his bowler not to feel sorry for himself after Leeds.
"[Lyon] is a really important player in our side and I said to him that if our players see him dealing with it really quickly and moving on then our younger players are going to do the same," said Paine.
"We then turn up to [the fourth Test] or our next training session in a much better frame of mind rather than have guys sulking or whatever you want to call it. It hurts, deal with it, move on."
And, boy, will it hurt for Paine, who was one catch, one successful run out, one good review from becoming the first Australia captain to leave England with the Ashes since Steve Waugh in 2001.
Paine has struggled to shake off the notion that he is just a stop-gap captain, however admirable a job he has done since succeeding Smith in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.
He is averaging 12 with the bat in the series and has scored one first-class hundred in his career. If he were not skipper, he would arguably not be in the side.
He did not even look like the captain at times during the Edgbaston Test, with Smith - who is not permitted to officially lead Australia again until 2020 - visibly setting fielding positions and playing a key role in tactics.
Paine may also now be questioning his own strategies following that 76-run stand between Stokes and Leach.
Why did he keep the field back and allow Stokes to take singles off the fourth or fifth balls of the over? Should he have urged his seamers to make Leach play more, with many of the 17 balls the tailender faced being bouncers? How much does his use of DRS haunt him?
One of the few pitched-up deliveries Cummins did send down to Leach led to the bungled review that meant DRS could not be used when Lyon trapped Stokes leg before. Australia losing their last review with Cummins' ball shown, as we all suspected, to have pitched outside leg stump.
"The one time where the review was there to be taken for the right reason and to win the Test match, we've run out of reviews because of stupidity earlier on," former Australia captain Allan Border told foxsports.com.au, with Paine's review success rate in the series standing at just 14 per cent.
"It's come back to bite us badly. Our use of the review system has been appalling, in this series in particular."
Of course, had the review system been in place in 2005 then the close finish at Edgbaston may have gone in their favour, with it later shown that Michael Kasprowicz's hand was off the bat when he gloved Steve Harmison down the leg side to England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones.
But it was not in place, Australia lost the game by two runs and the Ashes series had an entirely different outlook. They may have scraped a draw in the next Test at Old Trafford but they lost at Trent Bridge and were then unable to force a win at The Oval for a series draw.
Back then, Australia needed one victory from the final two Tests to retain the Ashes. Now, Australia need one victory from the final two Tests to retain the Ashes.
But all the momentum is with England. It could be 2005 all over again.
Watch day one of the fourth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports The Ashes and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Wednesday.
You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
