2019 Ashes series

The first morning of the Ashes saw Stuart Broad take the wickets of both openers, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who (along with Steve Smith) were returning to the Test format for the first time since their suspension for a ball-tampering incident in 2018. Warner was the first gone, leg before wicket in the fourth over, while Bancroft was caught behind just four overs later. Despite the early breakthrough, all was not tidy for England as James Anderson, recovering from an injury, bowled only four overs in the session, and while he came back onto the field, it was reported at the lunch interval that he was suffering from tightness in his right calf, and he left the field for a scan in the afternoon.[28] Usman Khawaja was given out after drinks thanks to a review, caught by Bairstow off a thin edge. Despite this setback, Steve Smith and Travis Head managed to hold on until lunch, leaving Australia 83/3 at the break.[29][30]

The first hour after lunch saw the fall of four wickets, due to good efforts by Broad and Woakes, with Head the first to go, leg before wicket to Woakes after a not out decision was referred to the third umpire, the fourth-wicket partnership having stood for 64 runs. Matthew Wade was the next man in, but he was soon dismissed in similar fashion. Tim Paine was caught at deep square leg after a "horror shot", and James Pattinson fell two balls later for a duck, leaving Australia 112/7 at the end of the 40th over. Pat Cummins fell shortly thereafter with the total at 122, but Australia scampered through to tea at 154/8, Smith unbeaten on 66.[29][30]

The final session's start was delayed by 20 minutes because of the weather. Peter Siddle and Smith then shared an 88-run partnership, before Siddle was dismissed six runs short of a half-century. Smith then managed to keep the strike for the better part of a dozen overs, reaching a century in the process as the fielders were spread out on the boundary, but he was dismissed with the first over of the new ball, having reached 144 runs on his return to Test cricket, lifting Australia to a respectable 284 all out after being 122/8, with Nathan Lyon unbeaten on 12.[29][31]

This left England's openers two overs to navigate before the close of play, which they batted out to a score of 10 without loss.[30]

The morning of the second day saw the wicket of Jason Roy fall, caught behind in the slips off a delivery from Pattinson. Joe Root and Rory Burns managed to play out the rest of the session without loss, despite a scare after drinks, as Root was beaten by a ball that hit his off stump but failed to dislodge the bails; he was initially given out after the ball was caught behind, but a review showed the only contact was with the stump. This left England on 71/1 at the break, wearing down Australia's bowlers but getting little return for their troubles in terms of runs.[32]

After lunch, both English batsmen piled on the runs on a pitch that was becoming more batsman-friendly.[29][32] Root was then given out leg before wicket to Siddle, but the review this time showed he made contact, and the on-field decision was overturned. Burns soon reached a half-century, Root following suit shortly afterwards. He was finally out caught and bowled to Siddle before tea, having stood for a 132-run third-wicket partnership. The new man in, Joe Denly, stuck around until the end of the session, England reaching 170/2 with Burns 18 runs away from a maiden Test century.[32]

The evening session saw the umpires decide to replace the ball after the 60th over. The replacement ball saw off Denly and Buttler, England now 194/4.[29] A few overs later, Burns reached his century, becoming the first English opener to score a hundred in the first Test of an Ashes series since Graham Gooch in 1993.[29] Burns and Ben Stokes survived the remainder of the extended final session, building a 73-run partnership, as Travis Head and Matthew Wade were brought in to bowl a few overs before the new ball, which claimed no victims by the close of play; England were 267/4, trailing Australia by 17 runs.[32]

As play resumed on the third morning, England caught up to Australia's total, Stokes reaching a half-century before edging to the wicket-keeper on the next ball he faced from Cummins, the fifth wicket having stood for 88 runs. Shortly after drinks, Nathan Lyon was the next man to strike for Australia, taking Burns' wicket and dismissing Moeen Ali for a duck in the same over. Bairstow was out to Siddle in the next over, Australia having taken three wickets in the space of 11 balls. Woakes and Broad survived the half-hour left until lunch to put England on 328/8, the game in the balance as Australia had limited their first-innings deficit to only 44 runs at that point.[29][33]

During the break, there was good news for England, as it was confirmed that Anderson, injured on the first day, would be able to bat, and had bowled in the nets during the interval. Broad and Woakes built a 65-run partnership, surviving until drinks, after which Broad was caught on a short delivery from Cummins. Anderson came in to bat, but made just three runs, England all out for 374 (a lead of 90), leading to an early tea interval.[33] Concerns over Anderson's fitness were again apparent as he "wasn't moving well between the wickets",[29] and when the teams returned to the field for the final session, he was absent.[33]

With 44 overs scheduled, the evening session began with the early wicket of Warner, after a review saw him caught behind off Broad in the third over; his aggregate total of 10 runs for the match was his third-lowest in Tests when batting twice. Ali was the next to strike, removing Bancroft and almost getting Khawaja in the same over, only for the latter to be dropped by Jos Buttler at second slip.[29] Khawaja was finally out off Ben Stokes' second ball, having stood for a 48-run third-wicket partnership with Smith, who again looked in top form despite being struck by a bouncer later on, which prompted the intervention of team doctors in light of new concussion protocols. Bad light stopped play just after 6 p.m., 31 overs having been bowled, with Australia 124/3 at the close, leading by 34 runs with Smith unbeaten on 46 and Travis Head also contributing 21 runs to the total.[29][33]

The following morning saw a good session for Australia as Smith and Head put up a century partnership before drinks, Smith already with a half-century. England's potential chase became more and more uncomfortable throughout the session, despite a few scares for the batsmen.[34] Head fell just before lunch, having put up a half-century of his own in the 130-run fourth-wicket stand. England's bowling attack, lacking Anderson, who was out of it for the remainder of the match,[35] did not pick up another wicket by the interval and Australia were in a strong position at 231/4, having extended their lead to 141 runs, and Smith two runs short of a second century in the match.[29]

The afternoon session began with Smith reaching his century, becoming only the fifth Australian to get two in an Ashes Test. With the 80th over approaching, Wade managed his own half-century as England was "out of options", with Root, Denly and Ali having spells that resulted in a few close calls, and a leg before wicket appeal against Smith that was deemed not out after an England review. In the first over of the new ball, Wade was given out, but his successful review saw the decision overturned. Australia finally lost a wicket in the next over as Smith was caught for 142, becoming only the fourth batsmen to score more than 140 in both innings of a Test.[29][34] The fifth wicket having stood for 126 runs, skipper Tim Paine was the man in for the few overs left until tea, by which point Australia were 356/5, giving them a comfortable lead of 266.[29]

The evening session saw Wade get a century of his own, the Australian lead now extended to over 300 runs. Paine was found not out after an England review for leg before wicket, but the sixth-wicket partnership, having stood for 76 runs, was broken in the next over as Wade was caught at deep backward square. Paine was bowled by Ali an over later, offering hints of a collapse, but Pattinson and Cummins, both unbeaten, then added 78 runs before the Australian side declared on 487/7, leaving England a target of 398.[34]

With seven overs left in the day, England's openers were brought out to bat, safely going through them for 13 runs. Although their chances of winning were slim, a draw was still feasible.[34]

The final morning saw Burns become only the fourth England batsmen to bat on all five days of a Test, but this accolade meant little when he was dismissed early, caught by Lyon at gully off Cummins' bowling. Joe Root was then given out leg before wicket twice, but the decision was overturned on review both times, marking yet further poor umpiring decisions in the match.[29][36][37] Root then stood with Roy until drinks, but the partnership was ended at 41 runs after the latter was bowled playing a rash shot at a delivery from Lyon. Denly was in and out before lunch, the review not saving him this time, as Lyon struck again and had him caught at short leg. Buttler came in and survived an lbw review by Australia, but Root was dismissed by Lyon 10 minutes before lunch, England 85/4 at the break, after a session that was deemed to be "Australia's morning",[37] thanks mostly to Lyon's contribution.[29]

The afternoon was again fruitful for Australia, as Buttler was bowled by Cummins in the first over after the interval. Bairstow was next to fall, gloving the ball behind to become Cummins' 100th Test wicket after an unsuccessful review. Lyon struck with the next ball, removing Stokes for his 350th Test wicket,[29] becoming the fourth Australian to reach that landmark, joining Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee as England were in the midst of a collapse.[38] Chris Woakes managed to slow Australia's progress until after drinks, striking boundaries and surviving a review for lbw, but Ali was then dismissed for Lyon's fifth wicket of the innings, falling to the Australian spinner for the ninth time in 11 innings. Broad was then out for a golden duck, England now 136/9, giving Lyon the chance to win the match with a hat-trick ball against Anderson; the English batsman survived the delivery,[37] and Woakes was dropped by Smith at second slip a few overs later on a ball that rolled on to the boundary, as dark clouds loomed over the ground; however, Smith made amends two overs later, catching Woakes off the bowling of Cummins to end the match before tea, Australia coming back from 122/8 in their first innings to win by 251 runs and take a 1–0 Ashes lead. It was their first Test win at Edgbaston since 2001.[37][38]

Steve Smith was named man of the match after scoring a century in each innings.[38]

After the match, it was confirmed that, because of his calf injury, James Anderson would be ruled out of the second Test, and would also be likely to miss the third Test.[39] Any further participation in the series was also uncertain, with Jofra Archer expected to replace him.[40] England captain Joe Root nevertheless refused to blame anybody, saying that Anderson had passed all fitness tests before the match and that his selection had been unanimous. England's pace bowling options remained limited for further Tests, however, as potential replacement Olly Stone was also injured in training.[41] Despite troubling performances by other members of the side, including Buttler, Bairstow and Ali, Root did not wish to make any "shotgun decisions" and noted that, despite the team's inconsistency, England were far from being out of contention.[42] England's prioritisation of white-ball cricket was also put in a bad light after disappointing performances by players more accustomed to One Day Internationals than Tests.[43]

Australian skipper Tim Paine noted that Anderson's exclusion had deprived England of one of the world's best bowlers, and that his side's confidence grew as a result.[42] However, he also warned against becoming complacent, making parallels with Australia's performance in preceding tours against India, South Africa and Pakistan, where they "[jumped] the gun with an emphatic win only to surrender a high-profile series".[44] In the meantime, Australia played a three-day tour match against Worcestershire, which, as a result of rain washing out most of the final day, was drawn.[45]

Criticism was directed at umpires Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson, who had 10 of their decisions overturned over the course of the game, with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting suggesting that the ICC's requirements of neutral umpires should be waived in the future, to reduce umpire workload and fatigue. Root, however, noted that players and umpires, both under pressure to perform, make mistakes, and that over-criticism and blame games should be avoided.[46] The idea, which had already surfaced before, had also been opposed by the umpires themselves, who "[were] happier to accept criticism of their decision-making on a basis of skills, conditions, eyesight – just about anything so long as they are not regarded as biased towards one side".[47]

The first day of the second Test was washed out because of intermittent rain that prevented the ground from drying and the toss from taking place, leaving four extended days, weather permitting, to complete the match.[50]

Play began on the second day with England's openers sent in to bat in the morning session. Australia struck in the second over, Jason Roy out for a three-ball duck, caught by Paine off Hazlewood's bowling, the latter returning to the Test side after not being selected for Edgbaston. Joe Root then came in, but he was trapped leg before wicket by Hazlewood, leaving England at 26/2. Denly, the new man in, was hit by a bouncer in the next over, leading to an early drinks break. Nevertheless, he and Rory Burns survived until lunch, contributing a 50-run partnership to rebuild England's innings after the early wickets. This left the home team at 76/2 at the interval.[51][52]

The second session saw Denly caught behind by Tim Paine off Hazlewood, before Burns reached a half-century. His wicket fell shortly thereafter, however, thanks to a splendid catch by Bancroft at short leg, off the bowling of Cummins. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were the next to fall, leaving England on 138/6 with less than an hour to go until tea. Australia reviewed for lbw against Bairstow a few overs before the interval, but this turned out to be a poor decision and the England batsmen did not lose any more wickets before the break, by which point they were 201/6.[51]

The extended evening session, with 37 overs scheduled over two-and-a-half hours, first saw Woakes caught behind on a ball that grazed his glove, the review confirming the on-field decision. England's remaining wickets then fell quickly, with Archer and Broad the next victims. Bairstow reached the 50-run milestone, but he was soon gone, England all out for 258.[51]

This left England's bowlers a theoretical 18 overs in just under an hour before the close. Warner fell first in the fifth over, for his third single-digit score of the series; however, Bancroft and Khawaja survived eight more overs before play was brought to a close with Australia on 30/1.[51]

The third morning saw 24.1 overs of play, the second wicket pushing the score to 60 before Bancroft was leg before wicket to Archer. Khawaja edged behind off Woakes in the next over, and Head did not last long as he was lbw to Broad, Australia 71/4. Stokes then thought he had Wade trapped for another lbw, but the on-field decision was overturned and Australia lost no further wickets before rain brought an early lunch, the total now 80/4.[53] The weather remained inclement throughout the afternoon and the evening, and no further play was possible.[53]

Play resumed on the fourth day with Smith and Wade at the crease. Wade was caught at slip off a delivery by Broad shortly before drinks, but Paine survived with Smith until lunch, the latter reaching a half-century to bring Australia's total to 155/5 at the break, England failing to make any further breakthroughs despite a few close calls.[54]

The sixth-wicket partnership was broken after the interval as Paine edged the ball to Buttler off Archer. Smith was then hit on the arm by a short delivery from Archer a few overs later, but was given the green light to continue after examination by team doctors. A review for lbw against Cummins was soon struck down as Archer continued to put pressure on the Australian batsmen, including hitting Smith directly in the neck with a bouncer; the batsman fell to the ground briefly, but had to retire hurt, though he was able to walk off the field unassisted after a chat with the team doctor. The new man in, Siddle, lasted only a few overs, failing to reach a double-digit score, at which point Smith was brought back in; however, he was soon out leg before wicket to Woakes after an unsuccessful review. Australia's tailenders were out before tea, giving them a total of 250, trailing by eight runs with England's second innings to begin after the interval.[54]

Cummins struck early by removing Roy and then getting Root for a golden duck, but Denly survived the hat-trick ball. This led to a 55-run fourth-wicket partnership, which ended with Denly caught and bowled by Siddle. Burns fell next, but Buttler survived until late in the session, when rain stopped play for the day with England on 96/4.[54]

The final day was again affected by rain as the start was delayed until just after noon. As the players came back on the field, there was confirmation that Steve Smith, struck by a bouncer the previous day, would not come back to the match. He was substituted by Marnus Labuschagne,[55][56] who became the first concussion substitute in Test cricket after the ICC's decision to allow such replacements.[57] Smith was later ruled out of the third Test at Headingley.[58]

England's fifth wicket stood for the remainder of the morning session as Ben Stokes reached a half-century, unbeaten on 51 at the interval with England at 157/4. Buttler was caught by Hazlewood off Cummins soon after lunch, but Bairstow played on with Stokes until the latter reached a century, at which point England declared on 258/5. This left Australia a target of 267 runs to win off a scheduled 50 overs, albeit leaving England with an outside chance to bowl their opposition out.[55] England made an early breakthrough, Archer removing both Warner and Khawaja inside the first six overs, before Leach trapped Bancroft lbw with the final ball of the 14th over; however, Labuschagne and Head proved obstinate at the crease, putting on 85 runs for the fourth wicket before Labuschagne was caught by a diving Root at midwicket for 59 at the end of the 36th over. Labuschagne also went onto become the first concussion substitute to score a test fifty during the process. Wade was next to go seven balls later, out for one, before Denly produced a diving catch to remove Paine for four off the bowling of Archer, Australia now 149/6. Nevertheless, Head continued to stick around at the other end, farming the strike from Cummins and managing 42 runs to help Australia see out the final eight overs.

Ben Stokes was named man of the match after scoring a century in the second innings.[55]

Rain delayed the toss in the morning and play started shortly after noon with lunch delayed to 1:30 p.m. Only four overs could be completed before rain again interrupted play after the wicket of Harris, Australia 12/1. Lunch was taken early, but rain did not allow for resumption of play until 2 p.m. Khawaja was then caught after England referred the decision to the video umpire, but only 9.5 overs were possible before rain again prevented continuation. A few more overs were possible before bad light stopped play, with Australia on 54/2 at the early tea interval.[62]

The evening session was unaffected by rain, and Australia's third wicket stood for 111 runs before Warner, having previously successfully overturned an on-field decision, was caught off Archer. After this, Australia, on 136/3, collapsed to 179 all out by the close. Archer claimed five more victims to end the innings with figures of 6/45 in his second Test match.[62]

The second day was played in sunny conditions, but this did not prevent England from having an appalling performance with the bat, with Denly the only batsman to reach double digits, scoring 12 after surviving an lbw review. England were 54/6 at the interval, with the Ashes "hanging by a thread".[63]

The England debacle continued after lunch, with Woakes out on the first ball of the afternoon session, the final three wickets then falling in quick succession as the home side was all out for 67, with Hazlewood picking up a five-wicket haul for the visitors.[63]

The dismal batting performance of both teams, the previous 18 wickets having fallen for 110 runs, appeared to continue into the second Australia innings as Warner was lbw for a duck in the second over. Harris and Khawaja added 26 runs to the total, surviving a review for lbw, before Harris was bowled by Leach. Khawaja was soon caught by Roy at second slip off Woakes, and Australia were 82/3 at tea.[63]

After the interval, the fourth wicket stood for 46 runs before losing Head with the total at 97/4, only for Wade and Labuschagne to build a 66-run partnership after surviving multiple reviews. Wade and Paine were given out shortly before stumps, as Labuschagne reached a half-century to put Australia on 171/6, a lead of 283.[63]

The third day was played in similar sunny conditions to the second. Labuschagne and Pattinson returned to the crease, with the former resuming on 53 not out. Their partnership eventually reached 51 before Pattinson was caught behind by Root off Archer's bowling. Cummins came in to join Labuschagne but his innings was short-lived, as he made just six runs before being caught in the slips by Burns off Stokes. Shortly after, Labuschagne was run out by Denly and finished on 80 runs, with Australia at 237/9 and leading by 349 runs. The final wicket fell half an hour before lunch as Lyon was bowled out by Archer and Australia finished with a lead of 358, setting what would be England's highest ever run chase in Test cricket.

England's second innings began shortly before lunch and openers Burns and Roy saw out the opening overs to go in 11/0 at the break. Shortly after play resumed, England lost both their opening batsmen in quick succession. Burns fell first, caught behind off Hazlewood before Roy was bowled by Cummins. Root and Denly came to the crease at 15/2 with just under two sessions until the close of play. The pair built a solid partnership and moved to 140/2 with both reaching half-centuries before Denly was given out caught behind off Hazlewood. Stokes was the next batsman in and was able to see out the rest of the day with Root. England finished on 156/3, requiring 203 more runs for victory.[64]

The fourth day of the Test started poorly for England. The first 25 balls were dots and the new ball was due to be available to Australia in another four overs. Root eventually opened the scoring for the day before being caught behind by Warner off Lyon's bowling, having made 77 runs. This wicket took Lyon to 356 in Test cricket and saw him go third in Australia's list of all-time highest Test wicket-takers.[65] Bairstow joined Stokes at the crease with the score 159/4 and the partnership made 79 runs before lunch to bring England to 238/4, needing 121 more runs to win. At this stage, it seemed as though if Stokes and Bairstow could continue batting as sensibly as they had, then victory was a very real possibility.

However, soon after play resumed, England suffered a string of quick wickets. Bairstow was the first to fall, caught behind by Labuschagne off Hazlewood for 36. Buttler was in next but made only 1 before confusion between him and Stokes left him well short of his crease when Head hit the stumps to run him out. Similarly, Woakes came in next and added just one run before driving a ball from Hazlewood straight to Wade. At this point, England were 261/7 and needed 98 more runs to win. Archer came to the crease and added 15 to the score with a few boundaries before picking out Head at deep midwicket off Lyon. Broad survived just one ball before being given out lbw, which was confirmed after his review, and England had just one wicket remaining with 73 more runs needed for victory. Since the lunch interval, they had lost 5 wickets for just 48 runs.

Jack Leach was the final man in for England with the score at 286/9 and their game plan soon became apparent. Stokes took the brunt of the Australian attack, never allowing Leach to face more than the final couple of balls of any over so that Stokes could keep the strike. Stokes started well, hitting Lyon for a six in the first over of the partnership. He then made a few runs from the next over from Pattinson before hitting Lyon for two sixes in the next over, the second a reverse sweep, finishing the over with England at 310/9. Two overs later, he hit Cummins for another six before pulling Hazlewood for four to reach his century. He then hit two more sixes from Hazlewood's bowling – making 16 from just three balls – and moved England to 338/9. Stokes was then dropped by Harris, although it was a tough catch to take, before hitting consecutive fours off Cummins to move the score to 350/9. Leach then had to face the final two balls of Cummins' over and an lbw shout off the final ball was reviewed by Australia after umpire Chris Gaffaney gave it not out; the ball was found to have pitched outside leg, confirming umpire Gaffaney's decision, and the review was lost, crucially. Lyon continued the attack and was smacked down the ground for six more by Stokes. England needed just two runs to win and one run to tie. Two balls later, Lyon fumbled what would have been a certain run-out with Leach well out of his crease before hitting Stokes on the pad to huge cries for lbw. Umpire Joel Wilson gave it not out and Australia had no reviews left; had the decision been reviewed, it would have been given out.[66] This was the final ball of the over so Stokes was unable to rotate the strike and Leach potentially had to face a full over from Cummins. He scored a single from the third ball of the over to ensure England could not lose the game and gave Stokes the strike with England needing just one run to win. Stokes promptly cut the next ball from Cummins through the covers for four to give England the most unlikely victory imaginable, completing their highest ever run chase in Tests.[67]