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Brook had moved a long way across the stumps and, luckily for him, it ended up taking the inside edge of the bat and rolled away harmlessly for him to take a single. (AP Photo)
England haven’t been able to get their hands on the Ashes for over a decade and the way things went on Day 4 of the third Test, it looks like that wait isn’t going to end any time soon. England finished the day tottering on 207/6, still needing 228 runs to pull off a miracle win and keep the Ashes alive and Harry Brook’s approach somewhat encapsulated their rather perplexing compulsion to burst into attack despite being so far behind in the Test.
Brook had said before the match that he will be pocketing some of his more aggressive strokes and seemed to be doing that pretty well for much of his innings. That is until he suddenly attempted a lofted paddle shot and fell off balance against a full delivery on the stumps from pacer Scott Boland. Brook had moved a long way across the stumps and, luckily for him, it ended up taking the inside edge of the bat and rolled away harmlessly for him to take a single. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting summed it all up in the commentary box for Channel 7.
“That’s the worst batting I have ever seen,” said Ponting. “Let’s have a look at this, he goes all the way across, this is a yorker. They are trying to hang on, get themselves back in the game. He is defended every ball, been so watchful. And then something like that happens. That is absolutely thumping into the base of middle stump. Imagine walking back into the dressing room in front of your mates in a must-win Ashes Test match having got out like that.”
Brook was batting on seven off 29 balls at the time. His partnership with Zak Crawley was pretty much the last time when an unlikely chase looked even remotely possible for England. However, that stand ended on 68 off 110, when Brook went for a big premeditated reverse slog sweep against Nathan Lyon. The ball spun right into him, he missed it entirely and it crashed into his leg stump. Bizarrely, Brook hung around looking at the umpire, seemingly not realising that he had been bowled and it was not a stumping.
England had largely abandoned the Bazzball doctrine of aggressive batting on Day 4 but, Brook’s dismissal triggered a mini collapse that has left them staring at a third consecutive defeat in the series. Lyon snaffled England captain Ben Stokes four overs later and then dismissed Crawley on 85 off 151 balls in the over he bowled after that.
English (US) ·