The Ashes - Australia's three No. 11s in spotlight after England target tail

Australia’s lower order was an immediate target for England with Ollie Robinson terming them as having “three No. 11s” after they successfully ran through the tail on the third day at Edgbaston.

Though Pat Cummins, batting at No. 8, contributed 38 – his highest score as captain and best since he made 63 against India at the MCG in 2018 – Australia’s last four wickets fell for 14 when Usman Khawaja was dismissed by a fired-up Robinson.

Nathan Lyon, batting at least one spot higher than he normally would, hooked to deep square leg and Scott Boland fended to silly point as Ben Stokes’ field surrounded the No. 10. With last man Josh Hazlewood for company, Cummins then swung into the deep to end an innings which suggested he could provide important runs in this series after a significant decline in his batting returns.

“It’s something we spoke about as a group,” Robinson said. “We said once we get past Cummins, we feel like they’ve got three No. 11s. It’s something that we can target through the series and try and wrap up their innings quite quick and try and give us that momentum into our batting innings.”

Although Australia have enjoyed a successful two years in Test cricket, culminating in their World Test Championship title against India, their tail has not been a productive source of runs. It was further weakened for this Test with Mitchell Starc’s omission. Starc batted at No. 8 against India last week – having been promoted above Cummins in the past year – where he made 41 in the second innings, and overall he has an average of 25.85 against England with four of his 10 half-centuries.

England also approached bowling at the lower order vastly differently to the Australians on the first day, opting to go at them with the short ball which proved effective despite the slowness of the surface.

“I think it’s pitch dependent, really,” Robinson said of the tactic. “Obviously Pat Cummins is a really good player and I think we felt like bowling full to their tail would give them a chance to maybe score some more runs, so it’s a wicket ploy, but also it’s harder to score when it’s two-paced.”

On the first day, Hazlewood had said there was “nothing there” for the bouncer, but Australia may reassess their plans if or when they reach England’s lower order in the second innings

“I’m sure the strategy group will come up with a plan knowing what we know now with the wicket,” Alex Carey said. “Hopefully spin can play a big role for us tomorrow. Thought Gaz bowled outstandingly in the first innings and there’s probably a little bit more on offer for him now as well. It’s up to the attack, the leadership group, to come up with a plan to run through their tail hopefully.”

Whether the lower-order contributions prove important in this game remains to be seen. England closed with a narrow lead of 35 after a high-octane 20-minute session between the rain in which they lost openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in quick succession.

The highest successful chase at Edgbaston is England’s Bazball-inspired 378 for 3 against India last year, but before that it was South Africa’s 283 for 5 in 2008.