It’s been a while since I played Test match cricket so to come here and get a five-for with my game back is a really nice feeling.
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Bell (65 not out) and Joe Root, with an unbeaten 38, anchored the chase after England were set to 121 to win on the third day at Edgbaston where a dominant performance banished memories of a heavy defeat at Lord’s. Finn was then on a hat-trick shortly after when he drew an edge out of Adam Voges first ball. We have got to stop this rot.
Left arm pacer became the second Australian bowler to scored 2000 runs along with three hundred Test wickets after Legendary Shane Warne.
The hosts managed to gain a first-innings lead of 145 despite losing Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes to a pair of thunderbolts from Mitchell Johnson in the second over of play in Birmingham, England.
England’s leading wicket-taker was forced off the field on Thursday evening in the third Test at Edgbaston and will miss out on a date at his favourite hunting ground, Trent Bridge, in the fourth.
“It’s another kick up the backside, there’s no doubt about it”, Australia captain Michael Clarke said.
“James Anderson has a tight side and will be assessed overnight and in the morning”.
“They are novices at playing the moving ball”, Boycott said on BBC Test Match Special. Johnson came on next and was turned away neatly by Root for four off his first ball that boundary may not have been wise as England was reduced to 142-5 with two quick wickets from Johnson.
The second innings didn’t go much better for Clarke-he was one of Finn’s five victims, caught in the slips for three as a ball that pitched on a good length squared him up.
The end of an eighth-wicket stand of 64 was a relief for England, but Starc (58) was intent on making them sweat a little more and completed his 50 too with a swat over long-on for six off Moeen Ali.
He said: “You always want to win the Test but when you get these kind of accolades it’s always enjoyable”.
Australia added a potentially crucial 21 more runs before Nevill finally perished for 59, again flicking down the leg side.
At one stage, with the wicket of Jos Buttler going to Nathan Lyon, and the wicket already taking considerable spin, the England lead, with seven wickets gone, had been only 54.
Johnson steamed in and directed a bouncer that was homing in on Bairstow’s throat, the startled batsman fending it off with glove to be caught behind.
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He’s taken six five-wicket hauls at the home of Nottinghamshire, including his Test best of 7-43 against New Zealand in 2008. England had resumed on 133 for three, a deficit of three runs, and the chance, with clearer skies, to establish a sizeable lead.
