A thrilling Ashes opener ended with Australia pipping England by two wickets as Pat Cummins stays ice-cool at Edgbaston; Ben Stokes' declaration up for debate, while there are also question marks over Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow; watch second Test live from from June 28
Thursday 22 June 2023 08:27, UK
Before we get to the drama, let's start with the declaration.
It was not the reason England lost the first Test.
They lost the first Test because of their fielding errors, possibly because they took the new ball, possibly because they did not take the new ball early enough and definitely because Australia were clinical and composed at the crunch, particularly Pat Cummins.
In fact, the day-one declaration helped cue up the gripping day-five finish we were treated to in Birmingham. Without it, and without the Bazball scoring rate, the rain that ended up being a nuisance may have been match-wrecking. The only things wrecked at the conclusion were people's emotions and Moeen Ali's spinning finger.
The Edgbaston opener gave an electrifying taste of what is to come over the next four Ashes Tests.
The hype was off the charts ahead of the game as Bazball prepared to meet the World Test champions. If there were any fears this Ashes would not live up to its billing they were quashed one ball in.
Cummins bowled wide. England's Zak Crawley played a rasping drive through the covers for four. The Hollies Stand erupted.
Stokes looked on open mouthed and dumbfounded. His expression was one mirrored by many later in the match when they saw the staggering fields he deployed.
It was a stunning start to a superb seesawing game that had just about everything. Every time you thought one team was in front, the other came surging back. England in aggressive fashion, Australia with a more cautious approach.
There were storylines everywhere you looked.
England, helped by a masterful Joe Root century, galloped to 393-8 declared from 78 overs on day one, not always by peppering the boundary but by being proactive and picking up the ones offered to them by Australia's defensive fields.
There were more singles than at a speed-dating night.
We then had Stokes' hotly-debated declaration and the latest duel between Stuart Broad and David Warner, one which Broad drew first blood in as he removed his rival for the 15th time in Tests.
Broad nicked off Marnus Labuschagne for a golden duck next ball with the out-swinger he had devised for that very batsman. The Hollies erupted again - as it did time after time all week.
Roaring when local boy Moeen come out to bat or took a wicket in his comeback Test. Bellowing when Root nailed reverse scoops to the boundary. Bouncing when James Anderson reverse swept Nathan Lyon for four from the first ball he faced.
Revelling in telling Lyon, via an expletive, that he was a less-good Moeen and yelling "cheerio" to Warner as he trudged off.
The noise from the Hollies then shook Edgbaston on the penultimate evening when Broad removed Labuschagne and Steve Smith in close proximity. It did again on the final evening when Stokes bowled the unflappable Usman Khawaja.
Emotion was never far away. Cummins hurling his bat after Australia's victory. Khawaja hurling his bat into the air after scoring his first overseas Ashes hundred. Ollie Robinson hurling some F-bombs towards Khawaja after bowling him for 141.
A fine and a demerit point - a punishment dished out to Moeen for applying spray to his wounded bowling hand without the umpires' consent - could be coming Robinson's way, as well as some Aussie verbals as the series progresses.
Robinson doubled down in a press conference even spicier than the blistering 22-ball spell Cummins and Scott Boland had delivered under leaden skies earlier the same day, saying he did not care how his send-off was perceived, remarking Ricky Ponting had done likewise before and insisting that his outburst added "theatre".
Whether you think Robinson went over the top or not, he certainly added another dollop of entertainment to a fabulous fixture.
On day five, that fixture was drowning in entertainment. The rain and mist eventually cleared but it remained hazy as to who would actually win the game.
At tea, it looked being Australia. At 227-8 it looked like being England.
If Stokes' tremendous effort at a one-handed catch had stuck, when Lyon was on two and 37 runs were required, it would have been 244-9 and surely England's match.
At 7.22pm, Australia had won it. That game-opening four Cummins had been crunched for by Crawley long forgotten by him as he secured the game-clinching four. Patball trumped Bazball on this occasion but it could so easily have been the other way around.
In all good stories the opening chapter provides more questions than answers. The Edgbaston Test was no exception.
Will Australia employ negative fields throughout the series? Should Jonny Bairstow, after arguably as many as five blemishes behind the stumps, be keeping wicket and if Ben Foakes did replace him who would England drop?
Is Moeen's Test return over already? If so, who comes in? Has Broad got Labuschagne's number? Will Stokes keep doing press conferences in a bucket hat? What happened to Darth Vader?
And, of course, was Stokes right to declare?
Roll on chapter two at Lord's.
Watch the second men's Ashes Test, from Lord's, live on Sky Sports Cricket from Wednesday June 28. Build-up begins at 10am ahead of the toss as 10.30am and then an 11am start.
