At the ground where England have conjured up two record one-day international totals came a seven‑wicket defeat by Australia and a reminder of the task they face in bringing back those halcyon days. Travis Head’s unbeaten 154 was a jaw-dropping assault and this was a serious flex of the muscles from the reigning world champions overall given their problems during the buildup.
After all, Australia were supposedly depleted here. Pat Cummins is resting back at home and Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell were all ruled out on the morning of the match with the virus that has swept through their camp. But after a resourceful, spin-heavy 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 to spare 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 of 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.
“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 won by Brook, however. And what came afterwards was in many ways 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 probably have exploded. The hosts had reached 168 for one in the 25th over and, with the left-armer Ben Dwarshuis leaving the field just four overs into his ODI debut, it very much looked on. Instead, Mitch Marsh conjured up nine wickets from his spinners, of whom only Adam Zampa could claim to be truly frontline.
Zampa, playing his 100th ODI, pretty much embodied the turnaround, the leg-spinner’s first three overs taken for 27 and his last seven returning three for 22. The catalyst, though, 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 to open in ODIs at last with a typically impish innings that helped add 120 for the second wicket. Jacks was his wingman here, enjoying the absurdly short boundary that made Trent Bridge a field of dreams for England in 2016 and 2018, when they twice went beyond 400. 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, 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.
Given how Jacob Bethell had dealt with Zampa in last Friday’s T20i in Cardiff, a single might have been wiser from Livingstone here. Instead, his demise meant Bethell had to marshall the tail and, though he picked off four boundaries for a potentially precious 35 at the back end, the debutant was the first of two wickets in two balls as Head closed out the innings with his handy off-breaks.
There was a flicker of excitement for the sold-out crowd early in the run chase, Marsh pulling Matthew Potts to deep square leg. And as is sometimes the case with Head, the start to his innings was a touch streaky. Along with the one chance that Carse misjudged and then so nearly recovered, the left-hander survived some early fire from Jofra Archer during the fast bowler’s first outing in 50-over cricket for 18 months.
In between the jaffas, Archer struggled with his radar and once finally set, Head turned on the afterburners for a 92-ball century. Smith and Green both fell for 32 – the former needlessly booed to and from the crease – but an unbroken stand of 148 between Head and Labuschagne sealed Australia’s 13th straight ODI win. Even with a few faces missing, they are world champions for good reason.
