England v Australia, 2015

	Steven Finn starred for England in the third Test © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Tour and tournament reports : England v Australia, 2015 Matches: England v Australia at Birmingham Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of England and Ireland Teams: Australia | England

At Birmingham, July 29-31. England won by eight wickets. Toss: Australia.
Early on the third afternoon, Australia's dramatic downturn was embodied in a fateful lapse. England had made most of the running in a frenetic match, largely thanks to two outstanding bowling performances - first by Anderson, then by the returning Finn - but had been left with a potentially ticklish chase of 121.

With the score on 35, and one wicket already down, Bell - in full attacking mode - guided the ball into the hands of Clarke at second slip. It was a regulation offering. But it went to ground, continuing a wretched tour for Australia's captain. Although a second wicket did fall soon after, that was the crucial moment. It might have instilled doubt and uncertainty in England's batsmen. Bell, promoted to No. 3 for this Test, went on to his second half-century of the game, and was still there at the end when Root hit the winning boundary. It not only restored England's lead, but extended to seven their unprecedented sequence of results, which - beginning with the Grenada Test in April - now read: win, lose, win, lose, win, lose, win.

Throughout its eight sessions, this match was played at a fever pitch of excitement. Rarely, if ever, can a Test crowd in the UK have lent such fervent support. They were rewarded with an energetic, enterprising display from England, who put behind them their limp performance at Lord's ten days earlier. This was also the first time since Headingley in 1981 that they had won the Third Test in an Ashes series. That they did so was largely because of bowling conditions, which their attack adeptly exploited.

The anodyne surface at Lord's had been replaced by a pitch that had some grass left on, offered pace and bounce and, in the early stages at least, was accompanied by cloud cover, which also encouraged movement. If, considering all this, Clarke was tempted to bowl, then he resisted, perhaps for two reasons: he backed batsmen who had been in resplendent form in the previous Test, and was keen to avoid comparisons with 2005, when Ricky Ponting asked England to bat, only to see them plunder 407 on the first day.

England recalled Finn for his first Test in two years in place of Mark Wood, who rested a sore ankle, while Bairstow, not selected for 18 months, came in for Gary Ballance, which itself led to a reshuffled batting order. It all meant Stokes was the only member of the team born overseas (in New Zealand). And it was the first time in 140 Tests since April 2004 in Antigua that England had not featured a player born in southern Africa. It quickly became clear that questions would be asked quite unlike those at Cardiff and Lord's. Whether this was by accident or design, it seemed - for England at least - to make sense. These were traditional English conditions, in which their skilful swing and seam bowlers might prosper, and their batsmen might cope through familiarity and application.

Australia were exposed. The first ball of the match, from Anderson, jagged away to suggest something might be afoot; the second brought a close call, with Warner having to dive to make his ground; and the 14th produced the first wicket as Anderson pinned Warner. Finn's return could hardly have started more sweetly: with the last ball of his first over in Tests since the Ashes opener at Trent Bridge in July 2013, he found late away movement - and the man of the moment, Smith, edged to first slip. And he was soon producing a swinging yorker to knock over Clarke. After lunch, Anderson was at his most potent, moving the ball both ways at will, and persuading Australia to play when they might have been wiser to leave. Voges half- heartedly withdrew his bat, but too late, and Marsh essayed a needless drive: both were caught behind. Nevill then did ignore one - which was a mistake, since Anderson was bringing it back in. Johnson pushed at one going away and was held at gully. If it was defective batting - only Rogers passed 16, before Broad trapped him for 52 from round the wicket - it was also a faultless exhibition of swing bowling and seam control. Anderson finished with six for 47, his best figures in 26 Ashes Tests. When he went down with a side strain later in the match, it seemed England's chances for the rest of the summer might suffer accordingly.

The circumstances suggested a lead of 150 or so would make England difficult to beat. They were well on the way by the end of the first day, despite the early loss of Lyth, flashing outside off stump, and the later departure of Cook, the victim of a freak catch at short leg when his full-blooded pull somehow stuck in Voges' stomach. Then, with rain imminent and the close looming, Bell, who had been at his handsome best, had a rush of blood, miscuing as he tried to hit Lyon into the stratosphere.

The folly of this was compounded on the second morning: with England only six ahead, Johnson produced two brutal bouncers in quick succession to account for Bairstow - his 300th Test wicket - and Stokes, both blameless for offering catches behind with neither time nor room for evasive action. It seemed England's lead would be curtailed. For reasons he could not fully explain later, Johnson then tempered his use of the short ball, and England gradually revived. Root went on to a pleasant half-century, while a significant partnership formed between Ali and Broad, who enjoyed themselves hugely in the afternoon: Ali drove beautifully, Broad carved effectively. Their stand of 87 might have been the most important of the series, and England led by 145.

When Australia batted again, it was Finn's turn to demonstrate their fallibility against the moving ball. Only Warner - chancing his arm, and seemingly playing a different game from his colleagues - supplied much resistance, equalling Graham Yallop's record for the fastest Ashes fifty when he cover-drove his 35th ball for three. By the time he was sixth out at 111, Finn had run through the middle order, finding a rhythm and accuracy that had been elusive for much of the preceding two years.

He removed Smith, top-edging an ill-advised pull, and Clarke, wonderfully caught by a swooping Lyth at fourth slip - both for the second time in the match. When Voges edged his first ball to second slip, the Edgbaston crowd were at their most boisterous. For a few weeks in 2014, Finn's very career had seemed in doubt. Sent home from the ill-fated tour of Australia because his action had broken down, he had painstakingly rebuilt it from scratch. This was the reward for his labours. When Anderson returned to dismiss Warner, making a mess of a lazy flick-pull, it seemed Australia might plunge to their first two-day defeat since 1890. But Anderson left the arena shortly afterwards, and the lower order found some gumption.

On the third morning, which Australia began, in effect, on 23 for seven, Nevill and Starc made fighting half-centuries as English hearts started to beat a little faster. Nevill had been dropped down the leg side by Buttler off Broad on 35 the previous evening, and now seemed to have been caught on 53 in similar fashion off the same bowler - seeking his 300th Test wicket - only for umpire Gaffaney to rule him not out. Replays showed he had gloved the ball, but England had wasted both reviews.

Poor reviews were becoming a feature. Of 25 referrals in the series by the end of this Test, only one had been upheld, though whether that said more for the proficiency of the umpiring or the margins of error built into the system was a moot point. Finally, on 59, Nevill's third leg-side flick proved fatal, giving Finn a highly popular career-best. For the first time since Botham and Willis at Headingley in 1981, two England bowlers had claimed at least six in an innings in the same Ashes Test. Hazlewood fell to a stunning slip catch by Root, before Ali prised out the obdurate Starc.

Australia's last four wickets had added 154, setting England 121. Only once, in the Oval Test of 1882 that spawned the Ashes, had they been left fewer in the fourth innings and lost. But when Cook went early, bowled by a beauty from Starc that curved away, a rare silence hung over the ground. Bell unfurled five fours from his first nine balls to calm nerves and, after Clarke dropped him, Hazlewood trapped Lyth. There followed a steady and inexorable procession to victory. Bell took his foot off the gas a touch, Root was reassuring, and their unbroken stand of 73 finished amid a cacophony of pantomime jeers aimed at Johnson. England led 2-1, an advantage they had squandered only once in Ashes history, back in 1936-37. If ticket holders for the fourth day had reason to feel short- changed, the mood around English cricket was about getting the job done. Nottingham could not come soon enough.
Man of the Match: S. T. Finn. Attendance: 73,668.