“I’ve got no idea what will happen!” With glorious incredulity, and at times sheer delight, this sentence was uttered at every corner of Edgbaston during the tea break, as Australia contemplated their target.
Tantalisingly, a figure of 281 was one run less than Ricky Ponting’s team had required here in 2005, a match that set up the most thrilling Ashes encounter anyone has seen, and another that pitted a dominant Australia against a resurgent England.
Usman Khawaja, left, and Scott Boland leave the pitch at the end of play during day four of the first Ashes Test.Credit: AP
And it was a terrific paradox of a great Test match, which has seen so much of England’s new age play, that the undulations of the first four days culminated in a scenario of classical dimensions.
A chase in which there is no chance of the draw means runs must be scored and wickets taken, meaning that this five-match clash of cricketing outlooks will be brought to a thrilling conclusion. A great series beckons.
But for Australians, the scenario is also the cause of some anxiety, with good reason. In Ashes Tests, Australia have not chased more than 250 on these shores to win a match since Sir Donald Bradman and Arthur Morris masterminded the pursuit of 404 at Headingley in 1948.
Their failures against fourth innings targets that appear within reach, against the backdrop of raucous English crowds and inspired bowling spells, can be recalled by quoting a venue and a year: Headingley and Edgbaston, 1981; The Oval 1997; Edgbaston 2005; Durham 2013.
Stuart Broad on day four.Credit: Getty
The last of these is recent enough to have involved England’s champion in lengthening shadows in the here and now, Stuart Broad. A scientist with the ball, Broad is also a performer with a tremendous sense for the theatrical, and time and again has turned a useful spell into a matchwinner.
“It’s a really good score for Australia to try and chase and for us to defend, because you need a team to play a couple of shots to create chances, so there’s a carrot being dangled there,” Broad said.
“It’s almost the perfect number, 280, two teams really fancy their chances, and ultimately we’re here for entertainment aren’t we, and hopefully we’ll get a lot of that tomorrow.”
This time around, he was given an opening by Ollie Robinson, who found just enough lateral movement to take David Warner’s outside edge at the end of a staunch opening stand. Warner had, as in the first innings at the Oval against India, played sensibly and positively, but could not beat his age.
Marnus Labuschagne, so assured in England in 2019, is now mired in an unscheduled fishing expedition. Broad’s away swing, combined with the threat of moving the ball back, have Labuschagne playing at balls that he can only edge. Upon doing so again, Broad reacted as though he expected it, Labuschagne as though in a state of shock.
That cleared the way for Steve Smith, who was to be beaten by Broad in the fashion that Ponting was defeated by Andrew Flintoff in 2005, confounded by subtle movement and perfect line to offer another edge behind.
Broad spoke thoughtfully afterwards about how both Labuschagne and Smith create different problems for bowlers, compelling a different kind of response; after 10 years bowling to Smith and five to Labuschagne, Broad has a deep kitbag. Nevertheless, his excitement at getting Smith was obvious, as England’s supporters threatened to cause the stadium’s collapse with a wall of noise.
This precarious position partly undid the world-class work of Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon earlier in the day, turning England back from a blistering start led by Joe Root. Cummins has never bowled a better yorker than the one that screeched under Ollie Pope; Lyon was deceptive enough to have Root stumped for the first time in his career.
Pat Cummins celebrates the wicket of Ollie Pope.Credit: Getty
Cummins returned for a post-lunch spell that earned him the wicket of Ben Stokes, lbw from around the wicket, and for a time it looked like Australia would be chasing little more than 240. England’s tail, however, added impish runs for the second time in the match, 48 shared between their last three as against the one cobbled by Australia’s.
Those runs, handy at the time, looked priceless in the final half-hour, as Usman Khawaja and nightwatcher Scott Boland fought gamely to stumps, still 174 runs adrift of victory. A game of this quality deserves a worthy finish, and it is clear this is a series that has already captured public imagination in two countries.
A little over a year ago, England put the exclamation point on the start of their “Bazball” era by monstering a similar chase at Trent Bridge, responding to coach Brendon McCullum’s exhortations to attack the target.
But for Australia, the search for those runs will also be a quest to ward off the ghosts of chases past, just as surely as they were summoned with dramatic effect by an old and familiar foe in Broad.
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