The Ashes 2023: England let Australia back in at Lord’s

England came close to wasting a superb fightback with some brainless batting late on the second day of the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord’s.

But Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett and Joe Root all gifted their wickets to Australia’s telegraphed short-ball plan, Duckett falling for 98 and missing out on a maiden Ashes hundred.

The three wickets fell for 34 runs before Harry Brook, who had several near misses in his 45, and captain Ben Stokes, with a calm 17 from 57 balls, took England to 278-4, 138 behind.

The carelessness of England’s batting was compounded by the fact key Australia spinner Nathan Lyon was off the field with a calf injury that will be assessed overnight.

Steve Smith earlier completed his 32nd Test hundred before being dismissed for 110 by Josh Tongue.

That was part of an Australia collapse of five wickets for 65 runs on Thursday morning, with Tongue and Ollie Robinson finishing with three wickets apiece.

England risk taking Bazball approach too far

This was so close to being a magnificent day for England – for more than two sessions they were every bit as good as they were lethargic on Wednesday.

As the pitch quickened up, the home bowlers found more zip. The catching was sharp and the batting, led by the increasingly dependable Duckett, was grinding Australia down.

Indeed, as the touring bowlers battled in vain to extract any movement from the ball, England’s only error came from Zak Crawley, who ran down the pitch and was stumped down the leg side off Lyon for a handsome 48.

Then came eight overs of madness that threatened to derail any chance England have of regaining the Ashes. Their success under Stokes has been built on an attacking style, but the reckless way they allowed Australia back in defied cricketing logic.

What made the collapse worse were the warnings England failed to heed. Duckett had been discomforted by the short ball and Root caught off a no-ball, yet England refused to temper their aggression.

At the end of a breathless, action-packed day the Test is deliciously poised, though that does little to shake off the feeling of what might have been.

Reckless England undo Duckett’s good work

Duckett has been a revelation since returning to Test cricket in December – his average of 53.58 is the fifth-highest of all men to have done the job in at least 10 matches for England.

He added 91 in less than 18 overs with Crawley and another 97 in just over 20 with Pope, who was able to bat at number three despite the shoulder injury he suffered in the field on day one.

Duckett cut, clipped and played drives with style, but when Australia went short with as many as six fielders on the boundary, he and Pope took leave of their senses.

Pope, standing baseball style, miscued Cameron Green on 42 and Root only survived gloving behind in the same over because Green overstepped.

Duckett, with a hundred at his mercy, top-edged Josh Hazlewood and, most incredibly for a player of his class, Root flapped at Mitchell Starc. All three wickets were to catches behind square on the leg side.

Even then Brook continued to take the bouncers on, somehow avoiding being bowled when he was outfoxed by a Green slower ball and was dropped at square leg by Marnus Labuschagne when he hooked Pat Cummins.

Stokes, so often England’s biggest aggressor, played the situation sensibly, and the skipper has the chance to guide his team to a lead on Friday.

Australia gifted way back in

From 339-5 overnight, Australia had the chance to dominate the match, only to surrender the initiative then have it presented back.

Smith’s hundred seemed inevitable from midway through day one. Unbeaten on 85 at the beginning of the day, he drove James Anderson for four to reach his 12th Ashes hundred – only the great Don Bradman has more.

By that point, Alex Carey had been lbw on review to Stuart Broad and Starc slashed Anderson behind. Tongue, though, was the pick of the bowlers and enticed Smith to a drive to fifth slip to dismiss him for the second time this summer – he had earlier done so for Worcestershire playing against Smith’s Sussex.

When Robinson mopped up the tail, it completed an overall slump of seven wickets for 100 runs and Australia’s malaise continued in the field.

Like the first Test, fielders were scattered to the boundary, Starc and Hazlewood went at more than six an over, the injury to Lyon could still prove to be a pivotal moment in the series.

The short-ball plan was hatched in desperation and England’s compliance in their own downfall beggared belief.