England show fight to finally avoid defeat…

By Joe Man

It may have taken until the fourth test, but England finally showed that they were up for the fight.
This test was full of fine cricket from both sides, with some excellent batting performances.

Don’t get me wrong, Australia should have won this game easily, but they were too cautious with their second innings declaration. It was a surprise how long they batted for in their second innings, when they knew rain would be a factor on day five. I think they may have got side tracked by the incredible batting of Usman Khawaja, who was doing a tremendous job filling in for the team. As he made his second hundred of the game, time was slipping away and, in all honesty, they should have already been bowling.
Khawaja’s performance was extraordinary, but this is of no real surprise.
His journey as an Australian player has been a bizarre one. He is probably one of the best players in the world to watch. He is an incredibly stylish batsman, who evokes memories of some of the great West Indian batsmen.
Khawaja should have been in the team for years, but doesn’t fit the Australian mould. About three years ago he gave his opinion on coach Justin Langer being too aggressive and uptight towards the players and it didn’t go well. He has been out of the team since.
His average is about as good as it gets in Aussie’s shield cricket, but it took injuries and Covid for him to get a look in. It’s going to be fascinating to see if they now drop him. Travis Head will return for sure, so the question will be do they drop Marcus Harris and open with Khawaja.
I am a huge fan of Khawaja, both as a cricketer but also his attitude for the game. His educating voice on equality features on some very funny podcasts. It’s a shame Australian cricket doesn’t respect this kind of individual.

England, on the other hand, will be very happy that finally some players found some runs. The first innings was the same old story until Johnny Bairstow and Ben Stokes came to the crease at 36/4. Once again the top order had collapsed and Joe Root was this time gone for a duck. It seemed the visitors were in for the worst but the fightback began. Stokes finally looked to be getting his touch back as a batsmen and began to counter attack the perilous Australian bowling. It seemed he started to drag Bairstow with him and got him into some rhythm. The two players held off a battering from the Aussie pace bowlers and the Australian crowd. There was a stand-off between two members of the crowd and the batsmen as they went off for tea, with Stokes pausing to stare for over a minute, with Bairstow sending abuse back.
All this, plus a horrible blow to the thumb, fired Bairstow up to a wonderful century and the first for any English batsman for the series.
Zac Crawley’s innings in the second knock was also a class effort. He looks like a truly fine player and has to be kept in the team. He scores quickly and puts pressure back on the bowlers. Between Crawley and Khawaja, some beautiful drives were played and it was a pleasure to witness.
England’s batting line up is very much in question, however, for the final test. Jos Butler is out and going home with a nasty broken finger. He has looked suspect all series and won’t be missed. Bairstow and Stokes will also be assessed and I doubt very much that the latter will play. He was clearly in a lot of pain with every shot due to a side strain picked up bowling. Sam Billings has been added to the squad and will almost certainly take the gloves in place of Butler. Ollie Pope will come in if one of the others goes down. Stokes will definitely not bowl in the fifth test, leaving the English selection with a problem.

The fifth and final test is being played as a day-night game in Hobart, Tasmania. It’s the most likely pitch to mirror English conditions. Therefore, Anderson, Broad, Woakes and Overton could be a handful.
The Aussies will be even more determined to win the fifth test after the draw.
Josh Hazlewood will be missing again through injury. It’s easy to forget that Hazlewood would have been a nightmare for the English batsmen. His absence has been masked by the talent of the replacements who have come in. Firstly, Richardson and Nesser, then the revelation that has been Scott Boland. Australia have a wealth of bowlers to choose from, and will be comfortable with whatever line up they choose.
For England, they need to throw everything at trying to win the last game. The tour will feel so much better if they can achieve victory in Hobart! I’m going to go out on a limb and predict an English victory!