Ashes 2019 | Day 4 Talking Points - Travis Head's Alex Carey impression and Australia's delayed declaration
Resuming Day 4 on 124/3, the Aussie batting led by Steve Smith turned the match around against all odds, setting England a gruesome target of 398. The English opening pair of Jason Roy and Rory Burns came through stumps unscathed but will have a daunting task to save the match on Day 5.
England run out of ideas to dismiss Steve Smith
It doesn't happen often that a team completely gives up taking your wicket with your team is two down for not-so-many and still trailing by a hefty margin. Unless of course, you’re Steve Smith. That’s right, coming into bat with Australia reeling at 27/2, still trailing by 63 runs, the task in hand looked like a daunting one for Smith himself, despite him coming on the back of a first-innings hundred. But the 30-year-old proved that no task was indeed a daunting one for him, as he ended Day 3 on 46* - unbeaten, unbent, unbowed and unbroken.
Such was the impact made by Smith, that right from ball one on Day 4, the English bowlers looked clueless - short of ideas and plans, and in all sense, almost gave up hope of getting him out. First up, Moeen Ali started the day’s proceedings on a pitch that was deteriorating at the rate of knots. Smith, who at no point in this match looked in trouble against the offie, handled him with ease, even dealing with the balls that kept low effortlessly.Â
Then came the pace duo of Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad, who bowled at least a zillion deliveries in and around off-stump, close to the corridor of uncertainty. But once again, Smith was up to the task, letting a majority of the balls go, showing his opponents that it’s always a bad idea to challenge him to a game of “who’s more patient?”. After negating the premiere bowlers, Smith feasted on the bowling of Ben Stokes, Joe Denly and Joe Root, and at one stage, it almost looked like “retired hurt” was the only way he was going to walk back to the pavilion.Â
He did finally succumb to Woakes after playing a very loose shot against the second new ball, but by then, the damage was already done, and one can assure that come Lord’s in the second Test, England will walk in with the same ol' blank, puzzled mindset when they get to bowl to Smith.Â
Travis Head does his best Alex Carey impression
Exactly a couple of months back at the World Cup, in games against West Indies in the group stage and England in the semi-final, the Aussies found themselves in a spot of bother, losing their top order for nothing, with Smith being the lone warrior helplessly trying to stabilize a sinking ship. In both the occasions, his cry for help was answered by a certain Alex Carey, who, despite not going big, ensured that he provided his partner the support he needed to get his side out of trouble.Â
Fast forward two months, Smith found himself in the very same situation again, but this time in white clothing, in conditions even more alien for batting, and this time around, his call for help was again answered by a South Australian, but this time in the form of Travis Head. The duo found themselves batting at 35-3 in the first innings and 75-3 in the second innings, under extreme pressure in both occasions. To go along with his 35 in the first innings, Head complimented it with a 51 in the second, and while he did not make his start count on both occasions, he ensured that he gave his partner at the other end some much-needed support - just like his compatriot Carey.
Steadying the sinking ship has become a feature of Head’s batting in Test Cricket, and the southpaw has come up with the goods every time his team has pleaded him to do so. The scoreboard has read 75, 35, 28, 37 and 82 in each of the last five Test innings, and in these circumstances, the 25-year-old has a century, three fifties and a 35 - which is world-class by any standard. Right now, he might be replicating his good mate Carey, but without a shadow of doubt, Head’s ultimate goal would be to fill the Mike Hussey shaped void in the Test Team, and the Australian indeed has all the talent and composure in the world to do so.Â
Australia leave heads scratching with delayed declaration
Starting the day with just a 34-run lead and seven wickets in hand, Australia had their work cut-out, despite having Mr.Invincible Smith out there in the middle. And from reeling at 75-3 at one point, still trailing by 15 runs, they managed to turn it around, going all the way to 330-4 at one stage, thanks to Smith, Head and Matthew Wade.Â
And the runs came at a healthy rate too. Australia scored their runs at an unbelievable run rate of 4.34, and finally set England a target of 398, after declaring at 487/7. But this prompts one to ask the question - could the declaration have come earlier? Was there a need to set such a big target? Yes, Australia did indeed score at a healthy rate and the pitch is still good for batting, but with the surface deteriorating ever-so-quickly and with them having a deadly ammo in the form of Nathan Lyon, perhaps, they could have declared earlier, giving their bowlers a good 15-20 overs to have a crack at the English openers.
On the contrary, an argument can also be made that by setting a target of 398, the Aussies have ensured that only one team can win the match from here, while also giving their bowlers full-fledged freedom to attack for the entirety of Day 5. But then again, evidence from their own innings proved that 90 overs might not be enough to bowl out the batting team. Only time will tell if this is a masterstroke or a blunder, but a certain former Australian skipper going by the name of Michael Clarke would have never done this, we can assure you that.  Â