At the ground where England conjured up two record one-day international totals in the past came a seven-wicket defeat to Australia and a reminder of the task they face in bringing back those halcyon days. Travis Head’s career-best unbeaten 154 was a jaw-dropping assault and, overall, this was a serious flex of the muscles from the world champions given their issues during the buildup.
Australia were supposedly depleted here, Pat Cummins resting back at home and Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell all ruled out on the morning of the match with the virus that has swept through their camp. But after a resourceful bowling performance that restricted England to a sub-par 315 all out, Head and Marnus Labuschagne, 77 not out, polished off the target under lights with six overs remaining to claim a 1-0 lead in this five-match series.
It made for a pretty chastening start to life as stand-in England captain for Harry Brook, who was one of three victims to the part-time spin of Labuschagne and then had no answers to the flashing blade of Head during the run chase. One chance came and went – Brydon Carse, out of position in the deep, nearly pulled off a remarkable diving catch when Head had six – but thereafter it was another masterclass from the opener who sealed that World Cup win in Ahmedabad last November and remains in utterly red-hot form against the white ball.
“Head is a serious player,” said Marcus Trescothick, England’s interim white-ball head coach before Brendon McCullum takes over in January. “Losing is never easy but we did some really good things just not for the longer periods. The pitch got better so the toss was probably a big factor in what happened.”
That toss was in fact won by Brook. Although plenty did go back to England’s innings and what was an opportunity squandered. While Phil Salt fell early, Ben Duckett, 95, and Will Jacks, 62, had built a platform from which the England of old would likely have exploded. They had reached 168 for one in the 25th over and with the left-armer Ben Dwarshuis leaving the field only four overs into his ODI debut, it looked on. Instead, the captain, Mitch Marsh, conjured nine wickets from his spinners, of whom only Adam Zampa could claim to be truly frontline.
Zampa, playing his 100th ODI, embodied the turnaround, the leg-spinner’s first three overs taken for 27 and his last seven returning three for 22. Although the catalyst was the more unlikely Labuschagne, who persuaded Duckett and Brook to chip back return catches in the middle overs with a couple of low-slung leg-breaks and finished with a career‑best three for 39 from six. Going by the celebrations, his teammates will probably never hear the end of it.
Duckett’s demise was pretty galling, the left-hander having seized his chance finally to open in ODIs with a typically impish innings that helped add 120 for the second wicket. Jacks was his wingman here, enjoying the absurdly short boundary that has made Trent Bridge a field of dreams for England in the past. But after the No 3 failed to get enough elevation when attempting to drive Zampa, and Steve Smith held on smartly at short cover, things began to fall away.
Marsh played it well here, recognising the struggle his seamers were having and instead trusting his array of slow-bowling options. Burgeoning partnerships were repeatedly cut down before they could fully develop through a mixture of clinical out-cricket and some ill-calculated heaves. Jamie Smith might have expected a first encounter with Starc or Hazlewood but instead holed out to Matt Short’s off-spin, while Liam Livingstone, form man during the T20s, tried to take on Zampa at the start of a new spell but picked out Cameron Green on the rope.
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Given how Jacob Bethell had dealt with Zampa in Cardiff last weekend, a single might have been wiser from Livingstone here. Instead, it meant Bethell having to marshall the tail and, though he picked off four boundaries for a potentially precious 35 at the back end, the ODI debutant was the first of two wickets in two balls as Head closed out the innings with his handy off-breaks.
As is sometimes the case with Head, the start to his innings was a touch streaky. Along with the one early chance that Carse misjudged and so nearly recovered, the left‑hander survived some early fire from Jofra Archer in his first ODI for 18 months. But in between some jaffas, Archer struggled with his radar and, once finally set, Head turned on the afterburners for a 92-ball century – his sixth in ODI cricket and one that sealed his side’s 13th straight win. Even with a few faces missing, Australia are world champions for good reason.
