Third Ashes Test, Adelaide Oval (day four of five)
Australia 371: Carey 106; Archer 5-53 & 349: Head 170; Tongue 4-70
England 286: Stokes 83; Boland 3-45 & 207-6: Crawley 85; Cummins 3-24
Australia need four wickets to retain Ashes
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Scorecard
England are on the brink of an Ashes series defeat after Australia’s Nathan Lyon broke their resistance late on the fourth day of the third Test in Adelaide.
Off-spinner Lyon removed a reverse-sweeping Harry Brook, bowled Ben Stokes and, crucially, had Zak Crawley stumped to move the home side within touching distance of the urn.
Crawley compiled an impressive 85, but when he was seduced by a delirious Lyon, England were left 194-6 in pursuit of a notional target of 435.
Australia will return on Sunday needing four more wickets to go 3-0 up after three Tests, retain the Ashes after only 11 days of cricket and win a fourth consecutive home series against England.
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Lyon’s intervention – England lost three wickets for 17 runs in six overs – came after the tourists finally showed a willingness to adapt their Bazballing ways.
It was the recognition of the situation and a realisation that some players – Crawley included – are fighting for their futures and reputations.
After Stokes returned to bowling with seven overs from the start of play, the tourists took the last six Australia wickets for 38 runs to dismiss the hosts for 349 in their second innings.
Travis Head was eventually out for 170 and Alex Carey 72. Josh Tongue ended with 4-70 and Brydon Carse 3-80.
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A four-day finish felt probable when Ben Duckett was out in the first over of England’s chase and Ollie Pope is in huge danger of being dropped for the fourth Test after falling for 17.
Then came Crawley’s show of defiance, ended by the genius of Lyon.
Too little, too late
Is England’s approach on this fourth day in Adelaide a welcome epiphany that their previous over-aggression was misplaced, or a frustrating reveal they were always capable of playing in this fashion?
And, even when England were employing an orthodox method of Test batting, they eventually buckled to the relentless Australians.
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Duckett’s collapse in form is alarming – the opener has a highest score of 29 in this series.
Pope might feel unlucky to have fallen to Marnus Labuschagne’s breathtaking one-handed catch at second slip, but this was yet another failure against Australia.
Pope has played 16 Ashes innings and averages 17.62. Only one other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has played as many Ashes knocks in the top six and produced a lower average.
All of Crawley, Joe Root and Brook had successfully used the reverse-sweep against Lyon until Brook was bowled. Despite the logic of the stroke, it looked ugly and was made worse by what followed.
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As the total attendance for the Test went past 200,000 – a record for the Adelaide Oval – showman Lyon had the expectant crowd in the palm of his hand.
Jamie Smith and Will Jacks somehow survived until the close – a delay of the inevitable.
Creeping Crawley
Several England players are fighting to finish the series, let alone be part of the post-Ashes rebuild. Crawley, so often the subject of scrutiny at the top of the order, has put himself in the conversation to be part of England’s future.
At 31-2, the smart money was on an England capitulation, only for Crawley to produce the grittiest knock of his 62-Test career.
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The Kent man added 78 with Root, then 68 with Brook. He left well and defended solidly. The 102 balls he took to pass 50 was the second-slowest half-century of his Test career.
Pat Cummins wound up for a crucial spell after tea and had Root caught behind, the 13th time the Australia captain has dismissed the Yorkshireman in Test cricket – no other bowler has done so as often. Root screamed in frustration as he departed for 39.
Bar an attempted scoop at Scott Boland, Brook backed up his watchful 45 in the first innings with a careful 30 from 56 balls. Lyon struggled on a turning pitch until Brook’s gift and, for all the validity of the shot, the dismissal is sure to attract criticism.
It opened the door for the Australia spinner, and Crawley’s departure was the hammer blow.
