Ashes 2019: England and Australia take series to Headingley where indecision is final

Like a Magic Eye drawing or one of those trick mirrors, Headingley is one of those places where the more you look, the less you see. A ground where Hobbs and Sutcliffe never made a Test century between them, but Sam Robson and Adam Lyth made one each. A so-called seamer’s paradise that also happens to be James Anderson’s least favourite English venue. A ground associated with 1981 and the most famous triumph in the history of English cricket, and yet statistically England’s least successful by far. And this week, a Test match in which England appear to have all the momentum, even as they dance on the brink of disaster.

After the thrilling draw at Lord’s, just a single victory from the last three Tests will see Australia retain the Ashes for the first time in 17 years. For all the hoopla and optimism generated by Jofra Archer’s sparkling debut, England’s margin for error is minuscule, and in order to convert their promise into product, they will need to negotiate Headingley’s traps and riptides with a caution and a clarity of purpose that has proved beyond them in the past.

The first myth of Headingley is that it is a place where swing and seam invariably prospers, where the clouds roll in and the batsmen roll out. Captains have been gamely falling for this one for decades, from David Gower on the first morning of the 1989 Ashes - where he bowled first and watched Australia run up 601 - to Alastair Cook in 2015, who put New Zealand in and stood stoically at slip as they cuffed 300 in two sessions.

If it ever was true, then it’s certainly not now. Since 2009, when the square was relaid and new drainage installed, Headingley has generally been a very decent place to bat. Pace bowlers can certainly find some help with the new ball, especially when it swings late, as it did during the Pakistan Test last year. The bounce is good, and carry to the slips not usually a problem. But by the same token, the trueness of the surface, the speed of the outfield and the tendency for bad balls to sit up for hitting make this one of the fastest-scoring grounds in world cricket. In the last decade, only the now-defunct Waca at Perth surpasses it in terms of scoring rate.

This would, in other words, be an absolute pasture for the likes of Steve Smith, but for one problem: he’s not playing. The announcement on Tuesday afternoon that the former Australia captain would miss the third Test with the concussion he suffered at Lord’s was seismic if not entirely surprising, and in his absence a batting line-up whose flaws had been conveniently concealed by Smith’s deific brilliance will now have no hiding place.

Marnus Labuschagne’s impressive rearguard at Lord’s, making a match-saving 59 in the face of Archer’s assault, has secured his spot as Smith’s replacement, but with Australia yet to muster an opening partnership of more than 13 in four attempts, and with question marks over virtually the entire top seven, England will fancy their chances of making decisive early inroads. Whether they succeed, however, depends entirely on their own ability to judge conditions, and locate the right length on a pitch where bowlers are all too easily seduced by the healthy carry and end up bowling far too short.

All eyes, then, on Stuart Broad, whose improvement this summer has stemmed from forcing himself to curb his natural instincts and bowl a fuller length, making the batsman play. Chris Woakes, who averages just 20 at Headingley in red-ball cricket, should fare well. And as for Archer, who turned heads (and occasionally struck them) at Lord’s, a gnomic lesson: while his short stuff attracted the most attention, he actually took most of his wickets by pitching the ball up.

And generally, the bowlers who succeed at Headingley are those with an immaculate command of length: Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Swann. This, by the way, brings us to another of Headingley’s myths: that it is a graveyard for spinners. In fact, in the last decade spinners have performed better at Headingley than at any of England’s other major home venues. Nathan Lyon looked more than satisfied on inspecting the pitch on Tuesday afternoon, and if the match goes beyond three days, Lyon and Jack Leach could play an increasing role.

Assuming Jason Roy passes his final concussion test on Thursday morning, he will be given one more chance to open. And so England are likely to go unchanged, albeit with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler switching places at No 5 and No 6. This feels instinctively right: after all, Headingley is the sort of place where England have often been tempted into tinkering in the past: think Mike Smith in 1997, Martin Bicknell in 2003, Darren Pattinson in 2008. Even Sam Curran’s selection last year felt like something of a localised shower at the time, one driven as much by Headingley’s heady musk as anything else.

And yet if there is one thing this ground’s recent history teaches us, it is that it is that Headingley is a ground that harshly punishes indecision. From Angelo Mathews to Shai Hope, from Pietersen to Botham, it is those with a sound, sure method, those who back themselves whatever the circumstances, who have most often flourished. Headingley favours the brave, and as England stride boldly into this must-win Test, it’s a lesson they’d do well to remember.