It's Not Just The Wickets That Are Crucial

Adam Collins discusses the anatomy of a wicketless spell on the back of Pat Cummins’ 10-over spell on Friday which could yet prove series-defining

The last three Ashes series in this country have been defined by a single spell. As it happens, all were sent down by the same bloke – Stuart

Broad. His trilogy included bags of five, five and eight in the rubber that decided the destination of the urn, at The Oval in 2009, Durham in 2013 and Trent Bridge the four years ago when he took a lazy 8-15... you may recall.

We’re conditioned to this, a flurry of wickets falling with an epic batting collapse making a memorable highlights reel. That’s how cricket is so often played in England, in fast forward with ball gazumping tentative tourists’ bats.

Certainly in recent times as far as Australia are concerned, the moving ball forever their poison; not winning here since 2001.

But this time around, it is different. At Manchester, a bowler put in a shift that didn’t claim a single scalp but might very well go down as the most important in the series. Tim Paine’s side arrived at Old Trafford knowing that rain was going to make it tough to get a result, the most likely scenario that they would head back to the capital next week for a third attempt to retain the Ashes, ever mindful of the prized opportunity they blow over the Pennines.

On Friday, a combination of the time taken out of the game and a sturdy partnership reinforced that likelihood. Rory Burns and Joe Root were both set and scoring steadily enough that their progress to stumps looked a better than decent chance, which would have meant the home side had lost just one wicket on the day. Despite what Steve Smith achieved earlier in the match, it would have been almost enough to already save the game.