ENG VS AUS - 2nd Test, The Ashes, 2023

Two Tests. Two wins for the Aussies. Fine margins. One thing will be guaranteed for the remainder of the Ashes: There are going to be plenty of short balls bowled. Australia could be without Lyon (calf injury), and England might miss the services of Ollie Pope (shoulder injury). And for all that extra effort from the pacers, they will have just 3 days to recover as Headingley awaits to host the third and most-crucial Test of the Ashes from an England point of view. Home ground for Root, Brook and Bairstow but having won 2 already, Australia will feel more at home with the conditions. Bazball or Bumperball, it is gonna be entertaining for sure. Do remember to join us on Thursday to witness it all. Until then, this is Raju Peethala bidding goodbye alongside Ramakrishnan MS, Saurabh Shankar, Pradeep Krishnamurthy and our scoring pundit Harish V.

Test matches, boring or buzzing, tend to produce special moments and here are some we witnessed over the last five days

- Protesters invading the pitch inside first 10 minutes of the opening day
- Jonny Bairstow transporting one of those protesters on his shoulder out of the playing arena ala John Cena
- Steve Smith, who got substituted due to concussion (at Lord's in 2019 Ashes) scoring a splendid ton
- Joe Root getting out to a no-ball in the first innings, a massive roar soon as the no-ball was signalled
- Cummins out to a no-ball from Stokes, Australian supporters give it back
- Nathan Lyon, who might be out of the series due to calf strain, hobbling out to bat on day 4
- Mitch Starc taking a sliding catch at fine leg which turned out to be controversial
- Starc having a go at Duckett penultimate over of day 4
- Duckett replying something on the lines of "it is not my fault"
- Run-out attempt. Ball hitting Stokes bat. Exactly the same end (2019 WC final).
- Bairstow 2nd innings dismissal and the drama that followed.
- Broad to Carey: "That's all you'll ever be remembered for that (stumping)."
- A member inside the long room having a go at Khawaja during lunch on day 5
- Most number of short balls bowled in a Test match since the introduction of ball tracking
- Cam Green fast becoming one of the best in the cordon/gully.

Pat Cummins | Australia skipper: Another wonderful game, right down to the wire. Crowd seems to enjoy it. Stokesy gave us some nervous moments. A world class player like him, you start thinking the boundaries are too small. There wasn’t much in the surface as well. We tried to stay patient, have the field out and stuck with it. Happy to go 2-0 up. (On Bairstow wicket) I think Carey saw it a few balls previous, there was no pause, he catches it and throws it straight at the stumps. I thought it was totally fair play. That’s the rule, some people might disagree but just like the catch yesterday, the rule is there and that is the way I saw it. (On Nathan Lyon) These were perfect conditions for him on day 5, to win without him was a great win. I wasn’t too happy to see him walk out to bat but he was keen to get out there. He did amazing and those 15-20 runs were crucial. The way the batters played under lights on the first day was also amazing. (On whether Nathan Lyon is ruled out) I think so, but we have Todd Murphy who did an amazing job in India so he will be sticking around for us.

Ben Stokes | England skipper: (On his innings) Having experienced something similar, you are able to look back at it. Did take a lot out of Headingley but unfortunately not to be. Definitely felt we had a shout, but Australia changed their plans and that changed things for me. I had to take my risks to the longer side of the ground. Tough one to swallow, but it was a fantastic game. We are 2-0 down but we got 3 games to go. We have won 3-0 against Pakistan, 3-0 against NZ so we have the belief that we can do it. Quite some factors about that dismissal, I was looking at the umpires if they had called the over, they said no. At the end of the day, it is out. If the shoe was in the other foot, I’d probably have to think about this atmosphere and decide what to do. It has happened, it is out! When you win the toss and bowl, you want to restrict them under 300 and the first day the lads got criticism, but the number of times the ball missed the bat was frustrating. Great effort from the guys to keep bowling that way. The effort and energy everyone has put in can’t be faulted. In the end, we have lost the Test match but lots of positives to take. (On first innings approach) Reckless is an easy word to use, what me and Brendon have done is give guys complete clarity. We don’t ask them to play a certain way, but if they play a certain way they have the full backing of the dressing room. So the message out there is to play with clarity, I might play a bowler differently than someone else but when we are walking out there we have complete clarity. (On Josh Tongue) First game against Ireland I didn’t know him well, I knew him as a great prospect. He has been brilliant. Great find for us, incredible the way he took responsibility and bowled for us. Quick turnaround now and we are 2-0 down, but we can make it 3-2.

Steve Smith | Player of the Match: A bit of deja vu, he (Stokes) is an unbelievable player. He is a freak for what he can pull off in cricket - in different formats, on this ground, in this country, he has done some incredible things. He was targeting the short end, and the first shot that he tried the other end, he got out. (On the dropped catch) I didn’t pick it initially, quite difficult square of the wicket to pick the ball and eventually put it down. Difficult giving such guys a life, fortunately hit one up the chimney later on. (On first innings) I think it was important to get a decent total on the board, we were looking to bowl as well looking at the overheads. To be able to navigate that stage and put a decent total helped us out. Incredible game of cricket. (On the shot ball ploy) It was a bit two-paced with variable bounce, wasn’t easy and there wasn’t much on offer when you pitched the ball up. So it was one way to shut the scoring and both teams kept playing rash shots. (On Lyon batting) They play a dangerous brand and we never know what is safe. Nathan showed great courage and got us some valuable runs in the end.

The atmosphere was so brutal that the concerned authorities had to step in and investigate the matter. Here is a statement from the MCC: “After this morning’s play, emotions were running high, and words were unfortunately exchanged with some of the Australian team, by a small number of Members. We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian Team and will deal with any Member who has not maintained the standard we expect through our disciplinary processes. It was not necessary to eject anyone from the ground and I am pleased to say that there was no repeat of this as the players resumed the field for this afternoon."

And how did Australia get Stokes out? With England stealing momentum just before lunch, thanks to a fired-up Ben Stokes, it was inevitable that Australia were going to stick to the short ball strategy and hope for a mishit from the English skipper. On expected lines, Stokes mistimed one fourth ball after lunch and Steve Smith, of all people, dropped a relatively easy catch at deep backward square. At that particular moment, one could sense Australia feeling a tad fidgety with shades of Headingley running on the back of their minds. The crowd too got into the act and started cheering for every single run as if their life depended on it. And the boos, of course, never stopped for Australia. It was so wild that former England skipper Nasser Hussain, on comms, admitted that "I have never seen Lord's like this. Players getting booed in the long room. It was a hostile atmosphere." Stokes continued to take his chances and with under 90 runs to get, Australia's senior men got together to devise a plan and it, eventually, proved fruitful. The plan was to take it wide of off-stump and frustrate Stokes by drying out boundaries. They stuck to the plan and got Stokes to top-edge a slog. Hazlewood should have had him first over after lunch, but he, ultimately, had him in his first over after drinks.

So, how exactly did Stokes play today? He was quite cautious to start with and had good company in the form of Ben Duckett who eased the pressure of England skipper with timely boundaries and brisk singles. Eventually, Duckett got out to the short ball and Bairstow's stay was cut short by a smart bit of keeping by Carey who sensed an opportunity to stump the English keeper out, (read 51.6) perhaps opening up a slight room for 'spirit of cricket' debate in the process. The Lord's crowd didn't like it one bit and you could see some of the members in the long room almost getting physical with the Australian players. It was that violent. The Bairstow moment clearly riled up skipper Stokes and he went bang, bang bang and knocked off 50 runs in the last 5 overs before lunch. He took Cam Green for 24 in an over that included three successive maximums and also brought his hundred while at it.

16:12 local, 15:12 GMT, 20:42 IST: The Australians are being booed off the field. The rest of the Aussie squad rush out to the centre to celebrate the moment. Now the England players walk down the stairs to a grand reception from the long room. Nathan Lyon looks absolutely thrilled and how crucial was his contribution with the bat yesterday? With an injured calf, on one leg, he walked out to bat and added some vital runs for the last-wicket partnership and it did prove very handy for Australia who managed to escape the Stokes' scare. Australia dropped him first over after lunch and he nearly made them pay with a one-for-the-ages knock. The visitors, however, kept their calm and nipped out the key wicket soon after the drinks break and the last-wicket resistance just delayed the inevitable. In fairness, no team looked comfortable to survive against the short ball ploy. It was as if, you might connect a couple but there will be one that will eventually have your name on it. Phewf! What a Test match....

Starc to Josh Tongue, out Bowled!! The leg peg has been knocked over and so are the English hopes. Australia win by 43 runs and go 2-0 up in the series. Josh Tongue has been moving around quite a bit and exposing all three stumps in the process. Starc sensed an opportunity and fired a full one at the stumps, Tongue was nowhere near with his slashing blade and lost his furniture. Josh Tongue b Starc 19(26) [4s-1]

Starc to Josh Tongue, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Starc to Josh Tongue, 2 runs, makes room and slaps the short ball straight down the ground, Cummins gives chase from mid-on and keeps it down to two

Starc to Anderson, 1 run, short just outside off, Anderson opens the bat face and taps it past the outstretched left hand of silly point for a quick single

Australia not keen on taking the new ball yet...

Green to Anderson, leg byes, 1 run, short on the stumps, Anderson gets across and flicks it off the splice to the left of backward square

Green to Josh Tongue, 1 run, dug in short just outside off, Tongue hops and drops it into the off-side for a quick single

Green to Josh Tongue, no run, short and just outside off, Josh Tongue jumps across and drops his gloves at the last moment

Green to Josh Tongue, no run, short and miles down leg, Tongue gave himself too much room outside leg and couldn't get bat on the slog

Green to Josh Tongue, 2 runs, this time he pulls the short ball from outside leg and manages to get it wide of deep backward square leg for a double

Green to Josh Tongue, FOUR, Josh Tongue shuffles a long way across, expects the short ball and he's nailed the pull to the right of fine leg. Got it off the thick inside half but there is enough power behind it...