Ashes: So ends a wonderful summer of cricket

So ends an absorbing and enjoyable Ashes series. If it won’t be remembered as one of the greatest or most gripping, this is because the margin of victory in three of the Tests was comfortable. Only Headingley gave us a nail-gripping finish, thanks to Ben Stokes’s extraordinary innings and Jack Leach’s defiance. That the series was played in the true spirit of cricket owes much to the good sense and good humour of the captains, Tim Paine and Joe Root. Paine’s task since taking over has been to restore Australia’s reputation for good sportsmanship; he has succeeded beyond expectation.

Steve Smith dominated the series. No one can now deny that he is a very great batsman. For much of the time England’s only hope of restricting Australia’s score was to take the other nine wickets cheaply. They didn’t make a bad job of doing so. Much has been made of Smith’s idiosyncratic style, with its twitches and twirls. Too much perhaps, for the truth is that Smith is true to the essential principles of batsmanship; he watches the ball, keeps his head still and plays the line. More than a hundred years ago the great Ranji told batsmen: “Play Back or Drive”. Few are good enough to obey the instruction. Smith does, more completely than anyone I can think of since Gary Sobers. Someone once remarked that he had never seen Bradman play a forward defensive shot – an exaggeration surely; but we haven’t seen many forward defensives from Smith. Some of his back-foot drives through extra cover were sublime.

If Smith’s presence and performance made it possible for Australia to retain The Ashes, the effect of Jimmy Anderson’s absence is incalculable. He had been in excellent form for Lancashire before his injury: 30 wickets at 9.37. This was admittedly in the Second Division, but certainly gave no sign of waning powers. He would surely have asked stiff questions of Smith.

Even without Anderson the pace bowling on both sides was very good indeed. Stuart Broad has rarely bowled better; no sign of waning powers there either. Jofra Archer was magnificent. Root turned to him time and again. Some thought he was over-bowled at times; his work-load would have seemed quite light to Fred Trueman, Brian Statham or Bob Willis. For Australia Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were just as magnificent, attacking bowlers who were also hard to score off. There were times when they were operating as a pair that it was hard to see where the next single was coming from. Cummins twice bowled Root with perfect deliveries: fast, dipping in late to pitch middle-and-leg, then cutting away to take the off-stump, well-nigh unplayable.

Ben Stokes’s hundred at Lord’s was very good, the one at Headingley out of this world. Perhaps Smith is the only other batsman now playing who could have won a Test from the position Stokes found himself in. He is probably the best all-rounder in the world now, but I suspect his future is as a batsman at 4 or 5, his bowling to be used as a partnership breaker.

England have made progress. Archer’s arrival is of course a blessing. Rory Burns looks as if he belongs in Test cricket. He has character and the right temperament, grit and the ability to score either side of the wicket. He is also a splendid close fielder. Jack Leach has established himself; I like his willingness to flight the ball enticingly. I trust, however, that Moeen Ali, a delightful cricketer, isn’t now permanently side-lined.  There will be Tests, overseas especially, when we need two spinners. Sam Curran in his only Test gave the lie to those who said he wasn’t quick enough to take good wickets. In the first innings at The Oval he gave Smith more trouble than any other bowler. His batting in the first innings was a bit frenetic, but one might remark that he had scarcely played any cricket since May.

Like most people I’ve been critical of the England selectors, Ed Smith and James Taylor. I think they’re due an apology. They got more right than wrong. I doubted whether Joe Denly was of Test match quality. He came good, despite the technical weakness when playing outside the off-stump which Ricky Ponting remarked on. I guess Ed Smith picked him because he recognized character there, and his innings at The Oval proved Smith right. Likewise Buttler, in the last Test anyway. Jonny Bairstow had a disappointing series with the bat though it was his attacking play before lunch on the last day at Headingley which changed the tempo of the match. On the other hand, he has now become a very good wicket-keeper as two delightful stumpings at The Oval showed. Like Matt Prior or Alan Knott and Godfrey Evans long ago he brings energy to the team in the field.

By his own high standards Joe Root had a disappointing series with the bat, though five scores between 50 and 80 is a good deal short of abject failure. There were times he looked exhausted and in need of a rest, but he remained cheerful and optimistic. I think he’s on the way to being a very good captain; this team is becoming his team now. If his handling of the bowling was open to criticism, it’s fair to remark that he had a more difficult job than Tim Paine, and not only because of the problem Steve Smith posed in every innings of the four Tests he played. Paine never, till The Oval, had more than four front-line bowlers, Root always five, and, paradoxical as it may seem, it’s easier for a captain to juggle four bowlers than five. Perhaps Chris Woakes was under-bowled, Sam Curran also on the last day at The Oval. Root showed courage in putting himself on to bowl there and taking two vital wickets. It was fitting that the series ended with the captain taking two very good catches, the second a blinder.

As for Australia they have happened on a very good Test batsman in Marnus Labuschagne, and only the hardest-hearted of us could fail to have some sympathy for David Warner, a tremendous batsman who was out-of-touch and completely unable to fathom Stuart Broad. Not since Denis Compton made a total of 53 in 8 innings in 1950-51 has a great batsman had such a miserable Ashes series as poor Warner.

A final note on the umpiring. Yes, mistakes were made. But it’s a devilishly difficult job, demanding hours of intense concentration. It was noticeable that the TV pundits, even with the advantage of seeing a full-speed replay before the third umpire called in the technology, very often got it wrong too – and how often the umpires on the field were shown to have made the right decision.

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