Green looked uncomfortable against Wood but was beaten on the crease by Chris Woakes, lbw due to umpire’s call. And Marsh’s second excellent contribution of the series was ended by an edge into Jonny Bairstow’s despairingly outstretched right glove.
Stokes’ great contribution to the England captaincy in the field has not been his bowling, as many may have expected from an all-rounder in his class. It has instead been his commitment to keep pressuring batters even after they have made a start.
As discussed by Mark Taylor in commentary, it had become something of a pattern in recent years for Test match teams to drop back into defensive fields and “dry” bowling wide of the stumps in the event of a partnership.
Often this has allowed progress from 50 to 100, whether for a partnership or an individual score, to be made more or less with a steady stream of singles and twos, with precious few fielders lying in wait for a catch.
“England have done a really good job at when someone’s getting in trying to not give them continuous strike and continuous ball,” Labuschagne said. “Today when Trav and I were starting out there they had six-three leg side field and Stuart [Broad] was bowling innies and trying to get me trapped on the leg side.
Loading
“When someone is bowling like that you’re not going to score very freely unless he misses on the off side. So that’s just a tactic to slow down, make you take balls and create an opportunity.”
In the gap between the Leeds and Manchester Tests, several of Australia’s players have spoken of how they “never feel in” when batting in England. That’s because the Dukes ball does a little more, weather conditions are changeable and pitches more capricious than their equivalents in Australia.
But in this series that sensation has been created as much by Stokes’ sense of invention as it has by conditions themselves. Tellingly, his willingness to keep up that pressure appears to be having a cumulative effect.
As Pat Cummins stated before this game, Australia’s move to a more level team environment in the wake of Justin Langer was geared towards a more even performance across the balance of a series.
Once, Australian teams had won Test series like Kieran Perkins used to dominate the 1500m in swimming – charging out of the blocks to leave everyone else fighting for silver. Under Cummins, the approach has been more akin to that of Ian Thorpe, with a steady and unrelenting tempo that does not let up when opponents start to tire.
Alex Carey was the last of seven Australian batters to get out after getting established.Credit: Reuters
In Pakistan last year and India earlier this year, some of the team’s best moments arrived after the mid-point of the series. In Lahore, Indore and Ahmedabad, the Australians summoned fine displays when earlier teams had wilted.
But at Old Trafford, despite more than a week’s break, Australia’s batting bore the mental fatigue of constantly being asked questions over a long series. Things were very different four years ago on this ground, when England more or less ran out of ideas against Smith as he cruised away to 211 and 82 that effectively sealed the Ashes.
Loading
This time, the day felt much more like that of so many in 2005, when every member of Australia’s vaunted top six averaged between 43 and 27. As if to further underline the point, a stand of 39 between Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc was ended by the second new ball in the final 10 minutes of the day.
That 2005 encounter, of course, ended in narrow English victory. There is a long way to go at Old Trafford, but Stokes’ proactive captaincy has given them a chance.
Watch every ball of the 2023 Ashes series live and exclusive on Channel 9 and 9Now.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
