England and Australia currently meet in the 2023 Ashes opener at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Local skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. So far, the two teams have gone neck and neck and played some top-level cricket.
England batted amazingly well in the first innings and due to the sensational ton of Joe Root recorded a total of 393 runs on the board before captain Ben Stokes made a surprise statement and called his team. But after that, they played well on the morning of Day 2.
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The main architect behind England’s stunning start to Day 2 has been veteran Stuart Broad. The right-arm pacer bowled some exceptional lines and lengths and worried Australian batsmen. He took out David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne on two successive balls to shake up the opposition.
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Marnus Labuschagne’s wicket credit goes equally well to goalkeeper Jonny Bairstow. The keeper-batsman took an impressive diving catch and covered decent ground to grab a one-handed stunner to send the No. 1 ranked Test batsman back in a golden duck.
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After Jonny Bairstow took Marnus Labuschagne’s catch, Mark Taylor, who was commentating during the match, questioned whether Bairstow had broken his leg.or if he had just had six months of vacation’.
In particular, Jonny Bairstow missed a lot of cricket due to the freak injury he picked up ahead of the T20 World Cup.
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Ashes 2023: ‘We weren’t surprised’, Jonny Bairstow on England withdrawal
With less than half an hour to go until the stumps on Day 1, skipper Ben Stokes called his team back and made a bold statement. What was even more surprising was that England were about to cross the 400 run mark and Joe Root was still there in the middle batting 118 with the field flat. They wanted a chance in Australia’s opening matches for the remaining 20 minutes and bowled decently too, but were unable to take any wickets.
Jonny Bairstow spoke about the decision to retire, saying it came as no surprise to them. He explained:
“It was not a surprise for us. Everyone will know that a 20 minute slot for any starting pair is not very good and can be a bit annoying. It was a decision that Ben and Brendon [McCullum] made in conjunction with the bowlers. It’s a shot at nothing, isn’t it? You can walk away and there might be an amazing ball there, there might be a loose shot or whatever.”
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Also read: Ashes 2023: Ben Stokes changes on getting Wicket, Pat Cummins looking to stop runs – Michael Atherton touts difference between two teams’ lead as critical