The Ben Stokes era added to the modern cricket language just before midday on the third day of the rain-interrupted match. A new term was created after Bazball, Bazbait, and Nighthawk: Brumbrella. It can be used to describe the ludicrous pitch Ollie Robinson and Ben Stokes set to terminate Usman Khawaja’s 321-ball resistance, which was originally intended to denote a big pitch cover to protect the ground.
Despite how odd the field seemed, it was justified by the methods. England managed to build a seven-run lead after Khawaja’s departure, but rainy spells slowed down their momentum, and they finished the day on 28 for 2 with a 35-run advantage.
The England captain has been fiddling with the field for sometime. At the 110th over, he and Broad conspired to pack the leg-side field for Cummins. There was a leg-gully, square leg, deepish wide mid-on, deep square leg and fine leg. A short-leg too was installed, before he moved the fielder to silly point and Stokes himself crouched at short leg. The design was to bowl short and into the body. A medium-pace body-line?
Robison was probing wide lines to both batsman from the other end. With a gully and three fielders grouped in the cover, he started the 111th over, to Khawaja, with the middle fielder being closer to him than the other two players on his sides. Khawaja stayed calm and in his impenetrable bubble. Robinson therefore packed the on-side in his subsequent over, with four men forming a human chain 15–20 paces from the bat, from short square leg to short mid-on.
Setting the trap
The goal of the situation seems to be to evaluate his capacity to remain unperturbed and unaffected despite the zaniness, rather than his technical competence or disposition. Maybe it was a skillfully constructed hoax. He could see the huge areas behind the point from the corner of his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to spoon any of these catches; they were only there as a prop. The actual strategy was to induce Khawaja, who only scored 15 runs in the morning, to do something foolish or against the wind. He was oiling his cuts and slashes, in case of slight width, as evidenced by the small movements of his body and bat. He judged the length of Robinson’s yorker a bit late this time, but somehow it didn’t matter.The field appeared to be designed to test his problem-solving skills more than his technical competence. He took on the leg-side to the off-side and pulled in the other two for the subsequent ball. It resembled a mirror image and gave the impression that Stokes and Robinson were two Impressionist painters who were working together.
Khawaja was agitated by this last action. He was unable to see through the trap or understand the premise. He appeared mesmerised. muddled thoughts come from muddled minds. He moved to his next ball practically before Robinson began his delivery stride by shimmying down the pitch. To drive inside-out, he opened the face of his bat and made some space for himself. However, Robinson’s ball, which was coming from behind the stumps, missed him.
Whatever the case, a crucial wicket was agreed upon. The pitch may have all been a gimmick or it may have been true cunning. When it first looked like Australia would eke out a lead, they could only muster 14 more runs. Broad bowling against Pat Cummins with a short-leg and ridiculous point provided more pages to Stokes’ fielding instruction book. Later, as Scott Boland was attempting to defend a short ball, the stupid point would catch him.
Thus, the stage was set for an exciting day, even though rain ruined the majority of it. however, between two downpours, amid smouldering sky. Australian pacemen inflamed tension. The opening pair for England scored 26 runs in 6.5 overs before to the first rainstorm. The atmosphere changed when they resumed under the gloomy, dark skies. In the ninth over, Boland’s second ball swung ferociously past Zak Crawley’s planned cover drive. He bent one back into his pads after retrieving a ball. The ball then followed suit. The English openers’ bodies and minds became stiff all of a sudden.
He defeated Duckett in the following over with a ball that held the line off the seam. A full, wide ball went off Duckett’s hard-handed edge to gully three balls later, where the towering Cameron Green caught a blinder. He then baited him into biting at that ball. Boland struck the next ball with inch-perfect line and length, buying just enough movement to brush over Crawley’s outside edge as he continued to complain about the poor lighting. Only eight more deliveries would be made throughout the day, but it is still unclear how England avoided greater harm. Boland twice hit Joe Root’s pads during that chaotic phase, and Pat Cummins unsuccessfully reviewed Root being caught behind. Then the rain started to pour heavily, and It would be cancelled for the day. Despite the day being brief, drama and disagreements were plenty. Brumbrellas and umbrellas all day long.
