Lyon and Cummins complete crushing victory for Ashes lead
England were blown away for 146 on the final day at Edgbaston to leave them with a host of questions early in the series
England were blown away for 146 on the final day at Edgbaston to leave them with a host of questions early in the series
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Alan Gardner (@alanroderick)
3.40pm: That's a wrap, Australia tying a bow on this one long before things got tense. We've had a proper Test tussle here, although England's enthusiasm for the scrap deserted them towards the end. Steven Smith's twin peaks were too much for home side to attempt an ascent - and worse than that, they know he could turn the whole series into a mountain range, the sort of form he's in. Anyway, Gnasher is inking in the parchment for his report, and we'll have more reaction and analysis on the site soon. Thanks for pitching in, as ever. For now, it's goodbye from myself, Miller and Chandan - we'll be back for more at Lord's. Ta ra!
3.25pm: Here we go with the presentations. Plenty to sift through, starting with Joe Root "It does hurt, bitterly disappointing, I thought we played some good cricket but credit to Australia. [Smith?] Two brilliant innings, we have to keep working hard on trying to get him out. Hard losing Jimmy early on but these things happen. Group decision, he passed the fitness tests. It's disappointing but we've got to try and respond to that at Lord's. Not sure, have to wait on the scans. [Archer?] Have to see how he shapes up as well. We don't have to make any shotgun decisions in terms of selection, important we're clear on how we want to go. There was some high-class bowling, we were made to work hard but I think you look further back in the Test match for where we lost it. We didn't do it for long enough and didn't take our chance. [Break between Tests] Gives us a chance to get away, regroup, make sure this doesn't have a hangover effect."
Australia's Tim Paine: [Scale of comeback] "I wouldn't say surprised, thought we were up against it at on stage but we had the best player in the world at the crease. We were excellent the second innings, bat and ball. [Smith] Running out of things to say about him, probably the best Test match performance we've seen. Wadey I've seen up close at Tasmania for the last couple of years, he's in form and a really good place. [Lyon?] Always hard to come to a Test match on day five, with the pressure on your shoulders. But we put pressure on the other end as well, Nathan took the spoils but we shared it around. This morning, our bowling was sensational. [Atmosphere] Didn't matter where it was, we know the crowd's going to be against us. The guys handled themselves well, and stuck to their guns."
Steven Smith is Man of the Match: "Pretty special, great to be here in another Ashes series. Love playing in England, the atmosphere is amazing, boys turned up and played a really good game. We know how much of a world-class spinner Gazza is, but to go 1-0 up in the series is a a big boost. I'm just grateful to be back playing for Australia, doing what I love and contributing to wins. Been a special comeback and I'm over the moon to be standing here now and contributing to a win for Australia. [First hundred] It was pretty emotional, take a few deep breaths and take it in, realise what I'd done. Probably as special as my first hundred for Australia in 2013. Really pleased, hope I can keep contributing throughout the series. Been a long 18 month for me, friends and family got me through some difficult times and got me back where I am. Don't know if it's sunk in yet, been a hell of a week, enjoyed playing in the World Cup, and being here, it's the ultimate challenge. To have started as well as we have, and as well as a team, I just hope we can continue."
3.15pm: Edgbaston has been breached, Australia winning here for the first time since 2001 (which was also the last time they enjoyed Ashes success in England); and to do so from a position of 122 for 8 shortly before tea on the first day, well, that tells you plenty about how hard they came back in this match. They will take a 1-0 lead to Lord's, where the second Test begins in nine days' time, as well as plenty of confidence - Smiffy in superlative form on his comeback, 16 wickets for Cummins and Lyon, solid support from the likes of Wade, Head and Siddle. It's also the first time they have won in England having conceded a first-innings lead since 1981. Oddly, although they have plenty of problems, England didn't play that badly: they lost the toss, were hampered by the injury to Anderson, and failed to capitalise on two good positions in the first innings (remember, they were 282 for 4 in their reply). But it'll probably take a lot more than just giving Jofra Archer a debut to turn things around.
CR Woakes c Smith b Cummins 37 (67m 54b 7x4 0x6) SR: 68.51
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