The Ashes: Broad steals Freddie’s script

England 332 & 58/3, Australia 160 (Katich 50, Broad 5/37, Swann 4/38)

The stage was set for England’s all-rounder to take centre-stage, to win the Ashes with one final, devastating display before bowing out of Test cricket.  That was Andrew Flintoff’s script for the Oval.

Today, Stuart Broad stole that script, crossed out Freddie’s name and wrote his own.

Considering that most people had Broad left out of the team after the first three tests, we should give a big thumbs up to the selectors for not following our panicky media over the precipice.

Broad scored some runs at Edgbaston and then took 6-for at Headingley followed by another half-century, so his performance has been on an upward spiral.  Today, he took it to the next level.  It could be the making of him as a Test bowler.  He is now second only to Hilfenhaus in average in this series (27.82 compared to 26.42) so far and is England’s leading wicket taker with 17.

No doubt, there will be plenty of Aussie squealing about the state of the pitch.  “It’s been doctored”, they will say, conveniently forgetting the facts that they chose to omit their only front-line spinner, and that they lost the toss.  Here’s a quote from the Sydney Morning Herald:

Broad’s 5-19 in 47 deliveries had The Oval crowd in delirium but Australia will privately question the preparation of the wicket, which has been slammed by certain observers as ”overbaked” after breaking up on the first day. It worsened markedly on Friday amid claims the groundsman, Bill Gordon, who has tended the pitch since 1974, overworked it to ensure a result.

The heart bleeds.  Funny how flat, lifeless wickets are only a bad thing when your team isn’t losing.  Of course, if Australia had finished the job at Cardiff, the Ashes would already have been retained.

Australia may have had the far-stronger batting lineup in this series, and England’s bowling has looked ordinary at times, but ultimately they have batted poorly often enough to give England a great chance of taking the series this weekend.

Without Pietersen, England’s batting relies almost indecently on Andrew Strauss, yet the more responsibility he has the better he seems to play.

Neither team is great, but the cricket has been enthralling.  Shame about the umpiring though (more on that in an upcoming post).

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