England, Headingley and another cricket victory for the ages

New York Times

8 hours ago

What is it about Headingley? What is it about the extraordinary ability of this otherwise ordinary ground to produce classic Test matches full of compelling sporting drama?
No cricket ground in the world has produced more examples of breathtaking and absorbing Tests than this historic venue in a quiet suburb of Leeds in the north of England.
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No other ground has provided a better advertisement for the unique and perennially under threat qualities of the five-day Test than the home of Yorkshire, England's biggest and proudest cricketing county.
Headingley did it again at the start of this defining run of 10 Tests against India and Australia for Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and their Bazball project when it threw up a game for the ages right up there with anything seen before. Even here.
Hyperbole? Well, there have been at least two 'Miracles of Headingley' and there is a case for placing England's five-wicket win over India up there with the Ian Botham and Bob Willis miracle of 1981 and the Stokes heroics of 2019, both against Australia.
For once Stokes was not at the centre of things. The England captain added 49 with Joe Root for the fifth wicket as tension gripped those who braved the cold and wet on a work day to see the denouement.
But he fell playing one reverse sweep too many, the risk on this occasion not bringing the return in what is the downside to the all-out attacking Bazball approach.
No matter. As the Test approached its 30th hour, under gloomy skies and with two rain delays taking the fifth day all the way to the scheduled distance, it was England, in the form of their best batter Root and the inexperienced Jamie Smith, who raced home.
It was all over in a hurry just before 6.30pm with 14 overs in hand and this, considering the strength of the opposition and the fact England were constantly playing catch up, was the best of all the Bazball victories.
'We have got some good memories at Headingley over the last few years and this is another to add to it,' said Stokes. 'It was an awesome Test to be part of. It went down to the last hour on day five and we chased a big total so it was a pretty special start to the series.'
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India were in control of the first Test for much of the five days, standing proud at 430 for three in their first innings and 333 for four in their second before collapsing twice and giving England a sniff.
No team in first-class history, let alone in Tests, has boasted five individual century makers in the same game and ended up losing. More than 16,000 matches.
Only three times in Test history has any side scored more than India's 835 runs in the match and lost. It has been the most sobering introduction to captaincy for the man who made a century on his first day in the job in Shubman Gill.
So, a century of brilliance and audacity from Ben Duckett, stroking and sweeping his way to a swashbuckling 149 off 170 balls, led England to their target of 371, the second largest successful chase in their Test history, and the Headingley hall of fame.
Only with Bazball in its infancy three years ago have England scored more to win any Test and that was when they galloped to 378 against India in the rearranged final game of the 2021 series at Edgbaston.
This was better because this was tougher. Of course it was. It was Headingley and Leeds has been providing unrivalled Test match drama since the Australian Invincibles of 1948 chased 404, with a century from the greatest of them all in Don Bradman.
There are almost too many great matches to mention. The original miracle of 1981 is still the one that stands out. This observer was a 15-year-old schoolboy and skipped a geography lesson to watch the last hour over the road from school at a friend's house.
Our teacher Mr McKenzie was furious when he found out. Not that we had missed his lesson but because we didn't tell him so he could come with us.
There was the two-day Test of 2000 when Andrew Caddick rushed Nasser Hussain's England to victory over West Indies.
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Then there was 2001 when Mark Butcher, at Headingley now as a commentator for Sky Sports in the UK, made 173 in adversity to defeat Australia.
It has not always gone England's way. Jimmy Anderson ended the Test in tears in 2014 after failing to hang on for a draw alongside century-maker Moeen Ali when Sri Lanka claimed their first series win in England.
Shai Hope scored two centuries in the match as West Indies chased 322 for victory in 2017, an early example of the modern Headingley when batting has become easier the more the game has gone on.
Nothing looked more impossible than England defeating Australia in 2019 when last batter Jack Leach joined Stokes with 73 still needed but the England captain, then a foot soldier, managed it. Leach recorded the most famous one not out in Test history.
It was Duckett's turn for the audacious yesterday when he reverse swept India's master spinner Ravindra Jadeja for six during his opening stand of 188 with Zak Crawley that set up the third Headingley miracle. Cue England celebrations afterwards and considerable soul searching for India.
So what makes Headingley so special? A brilliant cricket wicket that rewards quality strokeplay but gives a chance to any bowler worth his salt helps. As is the knowledgeable crowd and that irrepressible Western Terrace stand.
It makes the decision of the ECB not to award Headingley an Ashes Test in the next home series against Australia in 2027 inexcusable. Yes, Hampshire and the Utlilita Bowl deserves the chance to stage an Ashes Test but it should not be at the expense of this remarkable place.
And any move to reduce the length of Tests to four days, as is being widely called for, should be resisted. This drama could not have been contained in four days. Nor could most of the previous Headingley classics.
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A five-day contest that can end in a draw may be puzzling to many without an education in Test cricket — and England have taken the draw out of the equation in all but one of their matches under McCullum and Stokes, and that was ruined by Manchester rain in 2023 — but there is nothing like it.
Leave the best format in cricket alone — and leave Headingley to provide us with many more games like this.