Typically, while the cricketing world is busy discussing the rights and wrongs of the Jonny Bairstow stumping in the second Test match at Lord’s, the really important cricketing aspect of Ben Stokes’s marvellous innings has receded into the background. It’s a great example of how little things so often overshadow the more important happenings. The England captain’s flamboyant innings almost took his team to an improbable victory, but that receded into the background as the Brit media unsurprisingly focussed on the Bairstow dismissal. This has been the usual diversionary tactic used by the overseas media for years where a small insignificant incident is made to cover up for a bigger failure of the team.

A ‘short’ in the arm

While the Australian attack was certainly taken by surprise at the approach of the England batters in the first Test match, they quickly regathered themselves and realised that this Bazball approach couldn’t succeed against their attack consistently. They also learnt that bowling short to the English batters was going to get them wickets rather than the pitched-up deliveries which the batters were prepared for.