Mitchell Marsh’s run-a-ball 118 was the cornerstone of Australia’s 263 on the opening day of the third Ashes Test at Headingley on Thursday. After the visitors fell either side of his scorching century, Marsh’s score was the only thing that kept the tourists in the game.
Mark Wood, a fast bowler for England, claimed five wickets for thirty-four runs as the home team supported the captain Ben Stokes’ choice to bowl first on the green-tinged field.
Then, Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins brought England’s score down to 22-2 when all-rounder Shaun Marsh, who was playing his first Test in nearly four years, had Zak Crawley (33) superbly caught at first slip by David Warner. This was the latest illustration of the tourists’ superior fielding ability.
On their Yorkshire home field, England were 68-3 with Joe Root not out for 19 and Jonny Bairstow one not out when play was called for the day. This was a deficit of 195 runs.
But it was also another day of wasted opportunities for England, as wicketkeeper Bairstow failed to hold a legside chance when Travis Head was on nine, and first slip Root dropped a routine catch off Chris Woakes when Marsh had reached just 12 runs.
It was an error that England could ill afford at this point in the five-match series when they were already down 2-0 to Australia in the series. Australia would have been 98-5 had it not been for Root’s mistake.
Marsh scored an outstanding hundred when he was batting with Head, and their combined total of 155 was the best stand of the innings. Head’s 39 was the second highest score of the innings.
Marsh was playing in his first Test match since Australia’s match against England at The Oval in 2019, which they won by 43 runs. Marsh was only picked after his teammate all-rounder Cameron Green was ruled out with a hamstring strain following Australia’s victory at Lord’s by 43 runs the previous week.
Marsh shared with the media that “there’s always times when you spend a bit of time away from the game where you think you might not get back,”
“It has been a lot of effort, and I opted to have ankle surgery and miss last summer in order to be on this tour knowing that I was going to be Greeny’s understudy. It has been really challenging. Extremely pleased to have made it back.”
However, from 240-4, Australia lost their final six wickets for only 23 runs as Durham fast Wood ripped through the tail in his first Test since playing abroad against Pakistan in December.
His wickets were extremely important for England, since they were one bowler short when Ollie Robinson was forced to leave the match with a back spasm just before dinner.
Wood told Sky Sports that it was a “great feeling” to capture five wickets. “It was a great feeling to take five wickets,” “This was the very first time in front of both of my parents, and I couldn’t be happier.”
He continued by saying, “We felt like we were just a couple of wickets away, but Mitch Marsh played fantastically well and was difficult to bowl at.”
Marsh hit the ball with force and sliced through England’s quicks before lofting Moeen Ali for six to bring his total to 99.
Marsh reached his century off 102 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes, thanks to a single off the spinner. His innings also included three sixes.
In 33 Tests, every one of his centuries came against England, bringing his total to three hundreds.
The wicket fell for the 31-year-old batsman after he inside-edged Woakes off his thigh to Crawley, who was fielding at second slip.
After Australia had reached 240-5 at tea, they quickly lost their composure and fell, with Root catching Head off Woakes and then Woakes dropping Alex Carey.
Wood, who is 33 years old, removed the fielders from the game by achieving a clean bowling against Mitchell Starc and getting Cummins leg before wicket for a duck off the second ball.
Wood finished off the innings by dismissing Todd Murphy, which resulted in the injury-prone paceman’s maiden five-wicket haul in England during his 29-Test career. Wood has had four five-wicket hauls overall in his career.
Jeers to cheers
A hangover from England’s contentious loss at Lord’s persisted, with supporters still aggrieved by the dismissal of Bairstow, who was given out stumped when he felt the ball was dead, in the second Test. Australia players were booed by spectators still outraged by the dismissal.
But the jeers changed into applause when Stuart Broad removed Warner for the 16th time in Tests with the sixth ball of the match, with the assistance of a brilliant slip catch by Crawley.
Wood then showed what England had been missing by bowling the normally resolute Usman Khawaja (13) with a 95 mph delivery that crushed the opener’s leg stump. This was Wood’s opportunity to show what England had been missing in his absence.
The senior bowler in an attack that did not include the rested James Anderson, Broad, took the catch that led to Steve Smith’s dismissal for 22 runs in his 100th Test match, which took place at Lord’s. Smith had just finished scoring a hundred there.