Adelaide [Australia], December 21 (ANI): After his side retained the Ashes urn with a win over England at Adelaide, Australian skipper Pat Cummins praised the performances of key players, calling for statues to be built in honour of batter Travis Head and wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey, saying that “they deserve it”. He also had some words of praise for batter Marnus Labuschagne, who was sensational while fielding at the slips throughout the match.
The hometown heroes Head and Carey might as well get their statues built in future at their home turf of Adelaide Oval, as the duo produced two masterclass centuries which ultimately helped in putting England in a record run-chase of 435 runs to win the do-or-die Test, and a valiant Three Lions unit fell short by 82 runs, with Labuschagne, as his captain said, “manufacturing” some wickets with four brilliant catches during the defence of a record total.
Speaking on Head-Carey heroics and Marnus’s fielding, Cummins said that the batting duo deserves their own statues and hilariously suggested that a returning Steve Smith and Marnus would have to fight over taking the second slip fielders during the Melbourne Test, with both being exceptional catchers at that position.
“I think Steve and him (Marnus) might have a fight over who gets the second slip back next week. On a tough pitch like this in Adelaide, there was not a lot on offer. Taking 20 wickets was always going to be hard. Marnus manufactured a few with his fielding. Travis Head and Alex Carey. Do not know where their statues are going to go soon, but they deserve it. It is a wonderful place to play Test cricket. Packed crowds all five days. So many people travel in for this one Test every year. Seeing two homegrown heroes was awesome,” he said.
The skipper also said that while it was not easy to get a win this time around, the match was nonetheless exciting and opened up on his comeback trail to international cricket before the Ashes. He also spoke about the depth of his squad, with Smith stepping in as captain for the first two Tests and Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser and Scott Boland taking their opportunities and making them count in this series.
“A fair bit of patience initially, and then the last couple of months have been a bit of a grind. Just giving myself every chance. It’s all worth it when you get days like this, packed crowd and retaining the Ashes. I think that is when this group is at its best. You can’t really rush things here in Australia. You can will it to happen, but it does not really work that way. It’s a good old-fashioned grind a lot of the time. I loved the toil from all the guys today. It got a little bit closer than I would have liked, but I’m pretty happy. First of all, you need more than just 11 players in a series – five Tests, and even three Tests in, we have shown that. We have used 14 or 15 players,” he said.
“Steve was great stepping in (for first two Tests). Nothing ever happens perfectly, there is always something thrown up. Over the last few years, this group has shown it can just crack on. I missed the first couple of games, Steve stepped straight in, and it was seamless. Nate Lyon is doing his hamstring with a couple of hours left today, the boys just go, “Okay, that has happened. What is next?” That is a big reason for our success over the last few years. Incredible,” he added.
After Australia won the toss, they opted to bat first. But the relentless pace of Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse put them in a soup at 94/4. It was Usman Khawaja’s veteran instincts and signature cuts and sweeps during his 126-ball 82, consisting of 10 fours, which slowly brought back the momentum to the Aussies, with Alex Carey also firing at the other end. Carey brought up his maiden Ashes ton, scoring 106 in 143 balls, with eight fours and a six. A half-century run stand between Mitchell Starc (54 in 75 balls, with eight fours) and Scott Boland (14*) troubled England just when they wanted to bundle Aussies for below 300. Aussies scored 371 in 91.2 overs.
Archer (5/53) delivered a brilliant fifer for England, with Josh Tongue and Will Jacks getting a couple each.
Later, Nathan Lyon (2/70) and skipper Pat Cummins (3/70) kept England away from forming big partnerships, reducing them to 168/8 by getting wickets just when England looked to find an escape. However, a century stand between skipper Ben Stokes (83 in 198 balls, with eight fours) and a resolute Archer (51 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six) powered England to 286, with their trail at 85 runs. Boland played a big role in wiping off the tail-end with three wickets.
In their second innings, England did have an upper hand over Australia at one point, having them at 149/4. However, hometown heroes Travis Head (170 in 219 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes) and Carey (72 in 128 balls, with six fours) revelled amid loud cheers from the crowd, outbatting England one delivery at a time. While England was better with the ball on day four and wiped them out for 349 runs, a record run-chase of 435 runs awaited England.
Tongue (4/80) and Carse (3/80) were amongst the top bowlers for England.
England’s run-chase was one featuring promise and brain fades in equal measures. After a first ball boundary, Ben Duckett (4) lost his wicket while Ollie Pope (17) continued to find slip fielders. With England reduced to 31/2, Joe Root (39 in 63 balls, with five fours) and Harry Brook put on a 78-run stand, giving their team some normalcy. Root continued to be a “nicking machine”, falling to Cummins for the second time in the match and for the 13th time overall in Tests.
Crawley, who looked uncharacteristically patient, carried England’s hopes forward with Brook untill a brain-fade reverse sweep from Brook ended his stay at 56 balls and triggered a mini-collapse from 177/3 to 194/6. Jamie Smith (60 in 83 balls, with seven fours) and Will Jacks put on a 91-run stand, making England fans believe and dare to dream untill the adrenaline of counter-attacking Starc got the best of Jamie. Jacks (47 in 137 balls, with three fours) put on a half-century stand with Carse (39* in 64 balls, with four boundaries and a six) to keep England’s heart beating, but after Jacks was gone, there was no coming back as Australia bundled out England for 352 runs.
Cummins (3/48), Starc (3/62) and Lyon (3/77) shone with the ball, denying England another shot at an Ashes series win in Australia since 2010/11 and keeping them winless in Aussie land since that glorious moment. Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead and Carey was given the ‘Player of the Match’ honours for his knocks of 106 and 72. (ANI)
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