The power of glove...a rémedy for what ails Jonny with the bat?

HIS instant reaction told the story, shooting a look at his right glove to doublecheck the ball really was nestling there.

- ANDY DUNN

For a split-second, Jonny Bairstow looked more surprised than anyone inside Old Trafford that the snick from Mitch Marsh's destructive bat had landed in and stuck his gauntlet.

And, let's face it, everyone inside Old Trafford was gobsmacked.

At times during this opening day of the fourth Ashes Test, it looked as though Bairstow's gloves were made of Yorkshire steel.

He had not dropped any chances but had been making a lot of routine work look less than routine.

It was a wonder his fingers were intact by the time he took the wonder-catch that did for Marsh off the bowling of Chris Woakes. It will not be a dismissal that decides the Ashes but it could be one of THE decisive moments in this particular contest.

If Marsh had hung around for another hour or so, he could have pummelled England on to the ropes.