England left baffled after three-day win
All presumptions before the Ashes series have been quashed after England's victory at Edgbaston in under three days
ESPNcricinfo staff
03-Aug-2015
Greg Baum, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, paints a descriptive picture of the unpredictability of the ongoing Ashes series so far, and how most presumed results cannot be expected in this series. Australia lost the third Test at Edgbaston within three days, and "the English were baffled to have won, by so much, and so soon".
Bafflement has become this series' factory setting. So many presumptions have been confounded. Australia would be too strong all round? Not so. Momentum matters? Patently not. Winning the toss guarantees victory? At Edgbaston, it didn't. It was not as if Michael Clarke made a maverick decision in batting first; Alastair Cook would have, too. Batting first guarantees victory? Again, Edgbaston explodes that theory.
All is not lost. There is frailty in both teams, which means that history might be defied yet. The loss of Jimmy Anderson, the best bowler on either side in these conditions, is a grievous blow for England. And unaccountably, England continue to offer Adam Lyth as a kind of parliamentary pair for Clarke. On such happenstance do series sometimes turn.