Headingley stirs as England seek another Ashes miracle

Recovered yet? Didn't think so.

As the Ashes' latest war of words rages, a cricket match is about to break out and England have reached the point of no return.

The noise ever since Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey spotted Jonny Bairstow dozily walking out of his crease and under-armed the ball onto his stumps has only added to the sense of occasion.

The boos may have stopped filling the air at Lord's but in the days since, England have been branded "cry babies" with Australia accused of "tarnishing cricket forever".

Of course, neither are true.

At his pre-match news conference on Wednesday, increasingly terse Australia captain Pat Cummins fielded question after question about events at Lord's.

"Do you regret it? No. Would you do it again? Yes."

At one stage Australia's media manager stepped in to move the conversation along, doing so to little effect.

"Have you thought in the last few days that had you withdrawn the appeal it might have been a positive step for the game?" Cummins was earlier asked.

"I don't think that is the aim of playing cricket," was Cummins' short reply. These Australians are not for turning.

And that leaves Headingley and its Western Terrace, already a place part sports stand, part beer garden - primed to play its role in 2023's Ashes soap opera.

The hype is such you half expect to see England coach Brendon McCullum leading the fist pumps in front of his Yellow Wall at the end of day one, or see a hooded man with a baseball cap and megaphone chanting "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, cheat, cheat, cheat".

Extra security has been brought in by the hosts, given the fear of things taking a more sinister turn. The Australians have asked for an extra eye to be put on their families after the dispiriting and unnecessary abuse in the Long Room at Lord's.

Yorkshire's Joe Root, who knows these parts and its locals better than most, made the clearest call for sense.

"Support England," he said. "It doesn't need to go beyond that, it should never go beyond that."

If this is to be the start of England's unprecedented turnaround - remember they have never come from 2-0 down to win the Ashes before - then Headingley is the ideal place to start.

This is ground where the terraced streets outside its walls contain street art depicting miracles past - 'Stokes 135*, 'Leach 1*' and 'Botham 149*, Willis 8-43' splashed in paint.

It is just less than four years since Stokes' Headingley Ashes epic.

There will likely be 10 survivors on the field this week - five Australians and five English. The two men who now lead as captain were those who played out that Test's final act.

"I've seen it about 1,000 times in the last four years," Cummins said.

"I've just walked through the changing room and the first thing you think of is 2019, which was a tough Test match but also a fantastic Test match. So, mixed emotions I think.

"I remember at the time thinking, 'if I hang it outside off there might be a chance to nick it'."

Instead, Stokes cut away, cut away for four, and England's Ashes hopes were kept alive for the trip across the Pennines.

"I find myself speaking about it a lot every time I come here because it always gets asked but yeah we've had some some pretty special memories here as a team," Stokes said.

England need those memories to spark a revival and for a repeat to come off this week, Stokes has to hope his scrambling selections pay off.

A team including four specialist batters, a wicketkeeper at number six and three all-rounders looks more like an England XI from the Trevor Bayliss era, rather than Brendon McCullum's.

After 16 months away, having been injured and then overlooked, is Chris Woakes still the dependable cricketer - the Mum's choice to be your best man - he once was?

Meanwhile, Harry Brook flirted with the greats in his first 10 Tests but has since looked closer to a mortal. He is yet to capitalise on three starts in the series and has now been asked to bat at number three, a position he has not filled even for his county since 2018.

They will hope Australia's measured yet relentless push towards this series has been unsettled.

Roy Hodgson was a year into his tenure as England manager and Brexit three in the distance when Nathan Lyon last missed a Test. His torn calf means the bespectacled Todd Murphy, with just four Tests behind him, takes his place for the remainder of the series.

England, the series and an era of English men's cricket need things to fall the hosts' way this week.

Lose the Ashes at the earliest opportunity and, despite the stunning highs, much of what Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have brought to English cricket will be called into question.

More broadly, this summer was billed as a biggest for a generation - a chance to bring more eyeballs onto the game - but an Australia win here would see it fall flat by the second week of July.

And let's be honest, no matter the stresses, the frustrations or the growing list of life admin pushed to one side, we all want a few more weeks of this.

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