28 July 2023 , 20:34
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Stuart Broad rattled the Aussies with a touch of gamesmanship as another Ashes battle erupted into great bails of fire.
England's most successful bowler against Australia – 151 wickets and rising – got under key batsman Marnus Labuschagne's skin by switching the the bails on his stumps to bring a change of luck after a barren 90 minutes of frustration before lunch.
From Mark Wood's very next ball, Joe Root held a brilliant one-handed catch at slip to end Labuschagne's painful go-slow as Australia reahed 295 all out, a slender 12-run lead, in the final Ashes Test. And in a controversial run-out incident, top scorer Steve Smith (71) escaped by the skin of his teeth when England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was adjudged to have dislodged a bail before collecting sub fielder George Ealham's throw.
On the ground where 141 years of Ashes rivalry was born by burning a set of bails, Broad revealed his ploy worked a treat. He explained: “I've heard, and I might have made this up, that it's an Aussie change-of-luck thing, and I think I've seen Nathan Lyon do it.
“But we had a few play-and-misses in the morning session, we needed to make a breakthrough and I thought I'd have a little change of the bails. It worked out pretty magically that Marnus nicked off next ball and Rooty took a great catch.
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“I randomly went and celebrated with Uzzy (non-striker Usman Khawaja) for some reason and he said, 'If you touch my bails, I'm flipping them straight back', so he gave me an immediate warning.”
Stuart Broad celebrates against Australia (Getty Images)Who has been England's standout performer in the Ashes? Share your suggestions on the comments below
Australia subsided from 91-1 to 185-7 before Pat Cummins and Todd Murphy's lower-order resistance edged them in front. Smith was on 44 when he was given the benefit of the doubt after a three-minute review of freeze-frames by TV umpire Nitin Menon.
England's Jimmy Anderson admitted: “It's hard to tell when you're 150 yards away from the big screen. It felt like one of those where Australia think it's not out and we thought it was out. We have to trust that the third umpire knows what he is doing and got the decision right.”
Law 29.1, which governs run-outs, states: “The wicket is broken when at least one bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or one of more stumps is removed from the ground.”
Bairstow's inadvertent disturbance of the bail means Menon was probably right to reprieve Smith, who dead-batted pre-match rumours that this might be his last Test appearance.
He insisted: “I'm not retiring. I've no idea where that's come from because I haven't said it to anyone. I'm not going anywhere yet.”