Just as Jonny Bairstow was speaking to the media at the end of a thrilling opening day of the Ashes series, he was interrupted by a voice over the speaker.
“Attention, please, attention, please. We request your patience with the refund system.”
Whatever was being returned, it certainly wasn’t the price of the ticket, which was worth every penny to an Edgbaston crowd. If this happens in the next five Tests, the 2023 Ashes series will be an instant classic.
England piled up 393-8 from five overs as Australia struggled to contain them, but nothing compared to Ben Stokes’ jaw-dropping declaration half an hour before the close. was not.
The most popular Ashes series in a day and a generation has started by living up to expectations. Where on earth do we go from here?
All the talk was about England and their efforts to fend off the Australian attack. How Australia could cope with England was an afterthought.
But Pat Cummins showed his hand before Zac Crowley hit four off the first ball of the series, a moment that will go down in Ashes history if England win (although no one watching the replay in 20 years (Would also wonder why Stokes, watching in the dressing room, was wearing a bucket hat).
A deep point fielder on the boundary off the very first ball of the day was a sign of things to come. Rarely less than three men, often four or five. If Cummins could do that, he would have a boundary rider at Balsall Heath and a sweeper at Spark Hill.
On the one hand, it was un-Australian. Not fighting fire with fire, but trying to avoid it by completing a thorough risk assessment. Pragmatism, on the other hand, can be seen as a sign of strength, having enough confidence in your team to adapt to the situation.
This meant that Travis Head and Nathan Lyon were chosen to spend the whole day on the fence, closer to the England fans than their own team-mates.
Harry Brock, Lyon’s head was cynical for passing up a difficult chance to be rudely compared to Moeen Ali of the Hollies Stand.
Edgbaston in both ears will fall asleep.
Was it successful? As always, these things only reveal themselves in the fullness of time.
However, here are the facts. England took 54 singles in the first session, the most in the history of Test cricket. Australia did not manage Madden until the 37th over of the day and bowled just one more.
The run-rate of 5.03 was England’s second-fastest in a 300-plus total against Australia, who were bowled out for just 407 on the first day at this ground in 2005. Even on a smooth-looking pitch, 393-8 is a healthy total. .
Perhaps a scheme devised in Brisbane did not bear fruit in Birmingham.
Mike Tyson famously said that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. The Aussie braced for the punch, but left himself open to being tickled in the stomach.
Joe Root knows a thing or two about Ashes plans after captaining England in the tri-series against Australia.
In 2017–18 he went down without Stokes due to the Bristol incident. In 2019, Root saw James Anderson out of the series after bowling just four overs.
Eighteen months ago, with England reeling from the Covid situation, they picked neither Anderson nor Stuart Broad on the Brisbane green, won the toss and batted, never to recover.
Now, freed from the shackles of leadership, Root notched up his first Ashes century since 2015 in virtuoso style.
This was no doubt helped by the passivity of the Australians, who forgot that Root had an excellent ODI career knocking the ball into the gap created by the fielders pushing the ball back towards the ropes. has made
When he arrived at the crease just before lunch, he was greeted with more interludes than a statesman could describe.
There was only one four in his first 30 runs, but he was all set to put England out of danger when they found themselves on 176-5. Even after that, Australia refused to field.
