BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Jimmy Anderson is amazing… and it was great timing for the Aussies

England continued to curse their luck after losing both openers under dark skies in a 20-minute period that may have changed the course of the first Ashes Test.

Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley fell in successive overs on the third afternoon as they battled against very difficult batting conditions and an Australian attack looking to take its chance.

The pair had run off under thick, dark skies at Edgbaston after a 75-minute rain delay and did not survive a mini-session in which 22 balls were bowled, two runs scored and two wickets fell under the spotlight.

Mail Sport’s David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd takes you through the day’s action from Edgbaston.

ANDERSON IS AMAZING

Let me tell you a story. In 2002, a fresh-faced boy from Burnley made his debut for Lancashire, rattling at 90 mph, but he was everywhere.

No direction, no length, but pace. 1100 first class wickets later he is still bowling for England at 40. What a journey. What an adventure for a boy from Burnley.

WARWICKSHIRE ITS CLASS ACTS

I have to say Warwickshire are doing so well when it comes to setting up test matches. I entered the Chairman’s Lounge and was thrilled to see Dennis Amiss – a wonderful legend from Warwickshire and England who is now Club President. It’s great when a club recognizes the life of the players. It was also great to see Australian legend Jeff Thomson alongside his lifelong friend and former England striker Mick Harford. A battering ram from a striker and Thomson – a scourge of many a batter. What a deadly combination.

DIFFERENT SPIN STRATEGIES

Nathan Lyon knew what was coming and for most of England’s first innings he had a deep long-on and a deep long-off.

For 33 overs, Moeen Ali did not use those positions, encouraging the batsman to ground down and they did. He went for 147 runs and combined the two spinners shared figures of 62 overs, 296 runs and six wickets in the first innings.

But as this pitch deteriorates, England will desperately hope that Moeen is able to bowl in the second innings despite the troublesome blister on his spinning finger.

SOME MEMORABLE BATTLES

The 12th men on both teams worked overtime and ran on in their hi-viz jackets. It reminded me of Viggo Venn winning Britain’s Got Talent.

Of course, Britain’s Got Talent took over from Opportunity Knocks and who can forget the dude who won week after week, even though he never said a word or sang a word. He just came in in his underpants and moved his muscles around. The musical muscles! Tony Holland was his name.

GREAT TIMING FOR AUSSIES

Australia collapsed during that 20 minute period and it was a great time to bowl, after all the sunshine we’ve had. England would have been desperate not to come back last night. Even with their attitude of wanting to be aggressive, it was all about survival during that period and the openers failed to do that. It was gripping Test cricket.

Zak Crawley leaves the field after being sacked by Australia’s Scott Bolland

OUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE

During the rain break I polled 25 members of the press box and asked them what was the best band to come out of Birmingham? Some great candidates such as UB40, ELO, The Moody Blues and Musical Youth. But the winners? They were so good they called them twice… Duran Duran! They just won it by one vote ahead of Black Sabbath. I don’t know what Ozzy Osbourne would think about that!

SAFETY GETS SOAK

It absolutely came crashing down when the rain finally came and in that vast area of ​​the outfield there were four guards with plastic rain ponchos over them, but only two of them had umbrellas.

They were twiddling like Fred Astaire in “Singin’ in the Rain.” The instructions must have been, “Get out and get as wet as you can!” I couldn’t think of any other reason.