By the time Mark Wood replaced Jofra Archer the only thing Steve Smith seemed to know for certain was that he wanted to be at the non-striker’s end
After freewheeling at increasing pace for 16 giddy months, the Ashes hypemobile had to run out of road. But instead of letting it come to a juddering halt, the 22 players somehow managed to conjure a fresh acceleration.
It is implausible for something as anticipated as this not to produce disappointment, as anyone who follows England knows far too well. Those memories will have flooded miserably back when Zak Crawley nicked the sixth ball of the day to slip. His wicket marked the start of not only the sudden whoosh of optimism leaking from the English balloon, but of a day of 19 wickets, bowling of impeccable quality (with exceptions) and absurd entertainment.
Brydon Carse described England as relentless and there are occasions when even the most weary of cynics has to acknowledge that there is something special about the mentality of a side that consistently refuses to see failure when they can instead glimpse opportunity.
There is a strong argument that Ben Stokes should have made a different choice at the toss and immediately unleashed his barrage of fast bowlers at Australia’s openers, an out-of-sorts Usman Khawaja approaching his 39th birthday and a 31-year-old debutant in Jake Weatherald.
