Ashes 2013: Talking points from Day 3 of Lord’s Test
Joe Root became the youngest Englishman to score a century at Lord’s in an Ashes Test © Getty Images
By Prakash Govindasreenivasan
After a topsy-turvy day of cricket on Friday which saw as many as 16 wickets fall, England came out on Saturday and showed why they were dubbed as favourites even before the tournament began.
Here are some of the talking points from the third day’s play at Lord’s.
England domination
The third day’s play had everything that most English experts have been talking about for months ahead of the first leg of the back-to-back Ashes series. It was the day England stamped their authority and showed why they were widely tipped to blank their opposition.
The day belonged through and through to the home side as they piled on the misery for Australia by taking their lead past 500 runs.
With overcast conditions and an overnight score of 31 for three, fans flocked to the stadium hoping to see an exciting day’s play and a possible fight back from the Aussies. But nothing of that sort happened as England consolidated through a splendid effort from Joe Root and took each session by the scruff of its neck.
While most of the former England players praised England’s sheer dominance through commentary, Michael Vaughan went one step ahead and tweeted this just before close of play.
I think a few Aussie players might hope to get stuck a lift shortly…. #Ashes
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 20, 2013
Joe Root’s entry into Lord’s honour board
The last time 22-year-old Joe Root made it to the headlines was when Australia’s David Warner planted a fist across the former’s face in bar brawl. While Warner has not taken the field ever since, Root found himself opening the batting alongside skipper Alastair Cook. After failing to impress at Trent Bridge and in the first innings at Lord’s, Root showcased his class by making it to the prestigious Lord’s honour board with a Test century at the venue. With this, he became the youngest England batsman to score a ton in an Ashes Test at Lord’s. The previous best was by KS Duleepsinhji in 1930 at the age of 25.
Root was lucky to be dropped when he was only on eight and made the most of the opportunity to slam his second Test hundred. He finished the day unbeaten on 178, as England’s lead stretched to 566.
For all the talk of the fierce competition between Nick Compton and Joe Root for a spot in the England side and Compton feeling hard done by for being overlooked, the latter proved it that country always comes first. When Root reached triple figures, this is what Compton had to say on twitter:
Well played @joeroot05 great effort and well deserved pal #rise #Ashes
— Nick Compton (@thecompdog) July 20, 2013
Ian Bell and the Third Umpire howler
Yet another day in the Ashes, yet another umpiring howler. This time it came via third umpire Tony Hill. Bell tried to guide one past the gully fielder early on in his innings but Steven Smith took a good low catch. The on-field umpire referred it to third umpire Hill who, to most people’s disbelief, ruled it in favour of England in spite of replays suggesting that Smith had just about managed to get his hands underneath the ball. Bell survived and Australia’s miserable day on the field continued. Bell was on three when this umpiring howler allowed him to stay on. He made it count by adding 71 more runs.
Steven Smith again?
Before the start of this Test series, Steven Smith had just four Test wickets to his name. A couple of innings later, he has doubled that figure. On a day when nothing was going Australia’s way, Smith came in and dismissed Ian Bell to give Michael Clarke something to cheer about. It came off an extremely poor delivery but Australia wouldn’t care and take it with both arms wide open after enduring a tough time throughout the day.
Will England declare after Root gets to his double ton in the first session on Day Four? Or will they play out the entire session and give their bowlers five sessions to knock the Australian batsmen out of the game? Eitherway, Australia have a mountain to climb if they wish to eke out a miraculous draw.
Click here to read all the talking points of Ashes 2013
(Prakash Govindasreenivasan is reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @PrakashG_89)