[clock ticking]
[Gerard Whateley] In terms of legacy,
this is a chance to write your name in history
as a great Test cricket team.
Enjoy it. Be confident.
Let's go, lads
There's no bigger rivals than India and England.
They're dangerous, dangerous teams.
[commentator] That's gone. Ooh that's hit him.
[crowd cheering]
If this doesn't go right,
everything gets called into question.
[Carey] Howzat!
[commentator] Jonny Bairstow's
walked out of his crease here. This could well be out.
[Renshaw] After that, it was carnage.
[crowd chanting]
It was ugly.
-A bloke kicked Bull! -We're at Lord's!
An act of unsporting treachery by Australia.
This became the most intense contest you would ever see.
-[crowd booing] -Oi.
[commentator] Players going at each other,
crowd going at players. Hostile atmosphere.
[commentator] This has become a war.
-[cricketer groaning] -[commentator] Oh, he's down.
Don't take a backwards step.
You give it as good as you get.
[Pat Cummins] This tour, I had two jobs.
It's always fantastic having families on tour.
[Usman Khawaja] That's why I love having kids.
She had no idea what's going on.
She's just happy to see Daddy.
I know he's my brother,
but I don't reckon I've met a better person in my life.
Hello.
I found it really, really special. A real Mum moment.
I'm so happy you're here.
[Cummins] I remember Mum saying to me,
"Go and take on the world.
Someone's going to go and do these wonderful things.
It might as well be you."
[commentator] That's nailed.
[commentator] Stand and deliver.
[fans cheering]
[Nathan Lyon] Conversation with Rooty this morning,
he goes, "We're in the entertainment business.
No more draws."
[commentator] Smashed through the offside,
the Ashes are alive.
This doesn't look good.
And the momentum of this series has shifted
and some frustration from Pat Cummins.
Oh, he's done him this time.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Ice in his veins.
[Harsha Bhogle] There are moments that you must win.
That is when you dominate the world.
[dogs barking]
[birds tweeting]
[Whateley] The Tour of England
is the tour for an Australian cricketer.
The World Test Championship.
A one-off game
to prove supremacy across a couple of years.
The Ashes, which has such a hold on the imagination.
Five Tests against the oldest enemy.
So to wedge the two together, same country, same timeline,
it was an opportunity like few teams have ever seen.
We're talking about being relentless.
[Cummins] This is the most settled group
of cricketers I've played with in my 12 years
of playing for Australia.
The bond's really tight, not just from things we do on the
cricket field, but to having seen our kids grow up together.
It's like one big family outside of the game.
Let's go, let's go.
It really felt like this sort of final frontier
for this whole group that's been together
for a long period of time.
[Head] What we've done over two years.
We've achieved what we wanted to achieve
and the feeling was just, yeah, now's our time.
Just wanted to start a first question
and throw it out to you guys.
What's gone well over the last two years?
Like thinking back on this journey to where we are now.
We've been borderline perfect
for the last two years, which never happens.
So when there's more pressure on,
there's more people watching,
we have setbacks.
It's just that doubling down on what's worked,
and trusting each other
and just doubling down on those plans
that we set earlier on.
Hm-mm.
[Labuschagne] We're a very, very good team.
None of us are probably going to play in a better team
than we are playing currently.
Like we shouldn't lose.
And I say this to people, I'm like,
"We shouldn't lose one game."
What's the next step up as we look forward?
I still think we've got a lot of work to do away from home.
We didn't win in Sri Lanka, we didn't win in India.
We didn't win here in 2019,
which I think was our last away tour before that.
So I think we've got a lot of strides to make
if we want to be a great team.
[Lyon] I said from early doors that I want to be a part of the
World Test Championship final.
[Mitchell Starc] When it first came up, I know myself included,
a few us were like, well where does it sit?
What is the relevance?
For us, Test cricket's the pinnacle.
Why is that going to make it any different?
I think that missing out on the first one,
built that desire.
There was a sense of,
we want to play this, we want to win it now.
[tense electronic music] [ball hitting bat]
[Peter Lalor] The Australians are very focused on this
World Test Championship final.
It's a relatively new concept.
A one-off game for the best Test team in the world
over a two year period.
And even better, they got to do it against India.
Both think they're the number one Test nation in the world.
Well here's a chance to work it out on neutral territory.
[tense electronic music continues]
[Whateley] When you narrow it down to one match of cricket
to determine it all, it is a proposition
that the players don't get to experience terribly much.
[Lyon] Pat was very clear on just making sure
that we enjoy this week, that we stayed present.
Yes, we've got the Ashes next week,
but we've got something very special to play for here.
[Cummins] When I think of our style,
I keep coming back to three words.
Calm,
relentless,
fun.
I think that's what we've doubled down on for two years.
It's worked for us.
Not only are we speaking about it, we're living it.
It's what the opposition are feeling
when they come up against us,
and I think it's a real force.
So, well done.
We've made the final, put everything into it.
Got nothing to lose, have fun, enjoy it.
[fans cheering]
[fans chanting]
The Oval, I have to say,
it felt like it was a home game for India.
[fans cheering]
[Bhogle] When India's playing, it doesn't matter
where you are playing, wherever India go, it's a home game.
[fans cheering]
We'd just come off a tour to India.
So we're pretty used to the crowds.
[crowd cheering]
[Green] Even though we were technically the home team,
we definitely weren't when you walked out.
[Ravi Shastri] The World Test Championship.
I think for both these teams, it's massive.
[fans cheering] [tense electronic music]
[commentator] All set for the
second World Test Championship final.
[commentator] India winning the toss,
deciding to field first.
[Whateley] India's four series wins in a row over Australia,
creates a rare level of dominance,
and that empowered India.
[fans chanting]
[Shastri] This rivalry between India and Australia
has gone bigger and bigger.
India play Australia.
It's not Australians or Indians watching.
The entire cricketing world is watching
because they know there's some spice there.
You give it as good as you get.
[tense electronic music continues]
[crowd groaning]
It didn't go Australia's way at the start.
[commentator] That's out.
And India have drawn first blood.
[Mitchell] Wickets falling early.
It is the worst possible way to start.
[commentator] David Warner, it's a big wicket.
[ball hitting stumps]
Oh what a ball from Mohammed Shami.
[fans cheering]
[commentator] That's really going to cost Australia here,
and it's 76 for 3.
[velcro fastening]
[Head] Going into the World Test Championship final.
I felt a little bit underdone.
[commentator] Travis Head, just under a bit of pressure.
[commentator] Fresh off his honeymoon as well in Europe.
Hasn't played a lot of cricket.
I wouldn't have touched a bat for two months.
This is something I've never ever done before.
[fans chanting]
[funky music playing]
[people clapping]
[Head] We had a wedding on the 15th of April,
and then shot out to Sorrento, Rome, Nice,
and did our honeymoon.
I thought it was really important that we're able
to enjoy a honeymoon, enjoy our wedding,
and I sort of worry about the rest of it when I needed to.
Not pick up a bat for seven, eight weeks,
which I very rarely do.
The boys started training
and I sort of started to get a little bit nervous about
what I had and hadn't done.
We were able to land and and get out to Formby.
[instinct chatter]
How are ya, mate? Good to see ya.
Yeah, enjoy the nice things about England,
the golf and the Guinness.
[Head] 72 holes and we've had 176 Guinnesses so...
[golf ball thwacking]
[all] Yeah.
Yes, Heady. Heady, come on!
[Head] But in the back of my mind
I was a little bit nervous.
[fans clapping]
[commentator] They're just going in for the kill here.
You add one or two to this scoreboard here for India
and Australia are in trouble.
[crowd groaning]
[Head] Yeah, I may have gone in a little bit rusty,
just trying to find that rhythm,
which comes with not a heap of training.
[crowd groaning]
[commentator] Australia just under a bit of pressure,
they need a counter punch.
[Head] I say I've got a lot of backyard cricket about me.
They present an opportunity to score, I'm going to take it.
[commentator] And again, and that's four more.
Brilliant batting.
He's someone who can score very quickly.
So India has to be a little careful here.
[Carey] The harder the conditions
or the more trouble that we're in
is probably when he puts his hand up and changes the game.
[commentator] Oh, he's hit that so hard.
Travis Head is in a hurry here.
[commentator] 50 for Head, against the run of play.
52 off 60.
[Smith] Heady was scoring so fast
and put so much pressure on the bowler.
I'm in awe of what he can do.
[commentator] He's into the nineties in a flash.
It's 212 for 3.
[Head] I was just having a really good time
up until probably when they started bouncing in about 90.
[crowd groans]
[commentator] Well there's a different way
of troubling the batter.
[commentator] So we're going to see
some really aggressive fast bowling.
Just playing with his ego, playing with the fact
that he's sitting on a milestone figure here.
[commentator] Well, not in control,
but it takes him closer.
[commentator] No one wants to be on 99.
[Head] There's a lot better players
that play for Australia than me.
I've been in a very, very lucky position
to play the amount of Test cricket
and to be with this team is hugely humbling
and just amazing to be a part of.
[triumphant orchestral music] [crowd cheering]
[commentator] Gets this one away.
[players clapping]
[commentator] Test century in the ultimate test
for Australia's most attacking batter.
Travis has done it in just 106 balls
and it's his first hundred away from home,
first ever against India as well.
[players clapping]
[Lalor] This is the World Test Championship final.
If you can stand up on this stage,
you stood up when the whole world is watching.
Travis Head did that.
[commentator] A really exceptional performance here.
He's amassing some sort of legacy for himself,
Travis Head.
Every dog has their day, don't they?
[players clapping]
[Carey] It leaves us a little bit speechless when he comes
and makes those innings and scores hundreds
and you sort of just scratch your head
and look at each other and just go,
how amazing is this bloke.
[Lyon] Probably believes now the value
that he offers Australian cricket team.
[Harris] I've got you a pressy.
[Head] Has that got ice in it?
You don't need ice in Guinness, mate.
No protein shakes or any of that carry on.
Enjoyed a nice pint of Guinness and just sort of sat there
and realised what had sort of transpired
through the whole day.
Nice.
Our honeymoon and our trip of a lifetime
and spend time with the girls has a huge part
in what I've been able to achieve
over the last six or seven months,
and thank God I got some runs.
[laughing]
[fans cheering]
[commentator] Australia, bowled out for 469.
So it's set up nicely from Australia's point of view.
The moment that they took the score beyond 300,
to me, that was the turning point,
and if Australia had started well,
they would've known that they can now win it.
And I thought they started very well.
[ball hitting stumps]
[commentator] Bowled him. [fans cheering]
[ball hitting stumps] [fans cheering]
[commentator] Oh another one.
Cameron Green is overjoyed, Australia are overjoyed.
[Bhogle] India lost four wickets fairly quickly.
It was going to be uphill for India from there.
[commentator] And a big, big blow for India.
[commentator] So India is still behind,
but the deficit 173.
[Whateley] At halfway Australia has a lead of 173 runs.
And this is precisely how they love to play their cricket,
get a lead and prosecute it.
[commentator] And that's what the great players do.
They tell the opposition,
come bowl at me, I'm here, I'm taking you on.
[Whateley] All the way
they drive the lead to well beyond 400.
[PA speaker] Welcome to the Oval, for day four...
[Cummins] So a huge opportunity ahead of us.
World Test Championship there to be won.
Go get it, be disciplined, relentless,
go get it today, good luck. [players clapping]
[commentator] And so 444 is the target now for India.
And what would be an extraordinary record breaking
effort if they can do it.
These are the kind of stages where legends are made.
[Cummins] It felt like the pitch was getting flatter and flatter.
So by day four and five when they were all,
kind of batting on it, it still felt like,
you know, we've got a bowl well here.
If one of their guys really shows up here, you know,
they could chase us down.
[commentator] Virat Kohli has come out to the middle.
[commentator] He's been a killer against Australia.
[fans chanting]
Virat Kohli has been the centrepiece
of the modern rivalry between India and Australia.
And the question was, would he create history for India?
[commentator] Cummins to Kohli, mouthwatering stuff really.
And he gets it through mid-wicket.
First boundary for Kohli, hundred up for India.
[Lyon] He's super-competitive and he doesn't give you an inch.
There's no one else that comes close to him.
[commentator] Ah, that's brilliant batting.
15 in just 17 deliveries.
Kohli looking to be positive.
[Shastri] When he comes out to bat,
Virat makes people around the globe,
even the opposition stand up and look.
They might not like it but they'll watch.
[commentator] Oh it's full and it's beautifully played.
[fans cheering]
There are a few better sights in the game than
Kohli hitting that full.
[Bhogle] Kohli would've realised when he went out to bat
that it was a mountain to climb.
But he's climbed mountains before.
[fans cheering]
[commentator] And now down the ground.
Exquisite.
Virat Kohli has looked in awesome form.
[fans chanting]
And so it will be, 164 for 3.
So Australia 280 ahead,
they're still in the driver's seat.
But India have shown a bit of a fight here.
[commentator] It's time for day five...
[crowd cheering]
[Boland] Going into that last day, we still sort of thought
that if they got on a roll
that Kohli could still pull off that chase.
[Bhogle] Because Virat Kohli has been
such a great Test Match player,
you never think you won a game until Virat Kohli is out,
especially Australia.
Alright lads, we're in position,
it might take all day, that's okay,
we'll stick at it, enjoy it.
World Test Championship final, be confident!
Let's go and drink some winner's piss this arvo.
Okay!
[commentator] Virat Kohli, he batted really well yesterday.
Looked to be in the zone.
It's a big day for both sides.
Whoever wins today, it'll be the first team
to have their hands on all three ICC trophies.
[ball hitting bat] [fans cheering]
Good start.
They're batting quite well, they've got some nice rhythm.
The wicket sort of feels like it's lost a bit of it's zip.
Oh jeez like, this could go down to the wire.
[commentator] There's another one of those singles.
That's way, way too easy.
If they just come out and go through the motions
and pitch it up and hope that something's going to happen,
well guess what?
That's bringing India into the game.
I think when you look at people chasing totals,
Virat's up there with the best if not the best.
[commentator] Edged!
Taken! [fans cheering]
Steve Smith has pulled off a beauty
and it's Virat Kohli. [fans cheering]
[Smith] It's great to take the hangers.
I've taken a couple in my time.
I feel like when you pull off something special,
it sort of lifts everyone around you as well.
Your energy levels go up
and you know you can sometimes get on a roll after that.
[commentator] And another one, Scott Boland on fire.
Two in the over.
[Matthew Renshaw] We started getting wickets
and it's amazing how quickly that all happened.
[commentator] Edged and gone.
[commentator] Four wickets left for Australia to get.
[cricketers shouting]
[commentator] Very close, yeah, plum.
[Lyon] This is the one I wanted to win.
The whole atmosphere there was pretty special.
[fans cheering]
[commentator] That's in the air and taken.
Australia, win the World Test Championship.
It's a comprehensive win, they win by 210 runs.
-We got it in four. -How good, lads.
Ripper! So good.
[Cummins] The last couple of years we have
played some awesome cricket.
So that was so satisfying, winning that.
[PA speaker] Congratulations to the winners
of the ICC World Test Championship final 2023,
Australia! [fans cheering]
[Lyon] We've had an amazing two years of Test cricket.
We should be extremely proud of what we've been able to achieve
as a group, at home and away from home.
So I really want to make sure we enjoy tonight.
But when we come to the Ashes, we'll deal with that.
So please, at the count of three, we'll sing this loud
and proud and make sure we enjoy this one.
1, 2, 3.
♪ Underneath the Southern Cross I stand ♪
♪ A sprig of wattle In my hand ♪
♪ A native of my Native land ♪
♪ Australia, You fucking beauty ♪
[ducks quacking]
[Becky] Should we go this way?
[Cummins] Albs.
Should we go and hide somewhere?
[Becky] Whenever we're in a park,
he goes straight to a bush or a tree.
He wants to be in the bush.
[Cummins] Albie? Where's Albie?
Albie?
[Becky] Where is he?
-[Cummins] Where is he? -[Becky] Albie?
Playing in front of big crowds, like that's not real world,
whereas this is real life so.
For all those moments that you know you're going
to think about for a long time, it's, yeah,
they're just memories.
Whereas, you know, this is your whole life.
[Becky] Oh my gosh.
A lot of these things I don't think I would've
thought about, even a few years ago,
until I've become a father myself,
and you start thinking back to your childhood
and, okay, what shaped me as a person?
What did they do that really had a big influence?
Mum and Dad, always really positive.
Five kids.
I remember Mum saying to me,
"Be a good person, don't get too big for your boots,
but go out and grab whatever you want to go and grab."
The last Test before the UK tour was about, what,
three or four months earlier in India.
Where I left that tour early, to go back and see Mum,
who was in palliative care.
[TV reporter] Australian men's cricket captain Pat Cummins,
has decided to miss the third Test against India,
to be with his mother, who is ill, and in palliative care.
I was a shell of a person I think in India.
My mind was just with Mum and my family.
I was so thankful that I was home for about two weeks,
and they were like, two weeks I will remember forever.
I don't think I'd ever... I'd regret it so much,
if I wasn't home for those couple of weeks.
I was exactly where I needed to be, yeah.
[TV reporter] In some very sad news,
Cricket Australia confirmed the passing
of Pat Cummins' mother, Maria, overnight.
The Australian men's team wore black armbands
as a mark of respect.
It's hard, I think it will always be hard,
but being surrounded by family,
it kind of makes it easier than it could be.
-[Becky] There's the geese. -[Cummins] 1, 2, 3.
[Cummins] I reckon I got even more clarity
on what's important to me, in life.
So I remember going to England, I was like,
I'm going to make sure we have a great tour.
In terms of, I want to have lots of fun,
and I want to spend loads of times with these lads
that I love, and we're going to make this a tour to remember.
[Whateley] Is there another sport where you could win
your World Championship,
and then step into a bigger contest a week later?
That's what the Ashes did represent.
The Ashes, right since I was growing up, was big.
This one in particular, seems like it's just got
a little bit more on it,
and the whole cricketing world stops for a month, to kind of
put their attention on this series, and lucky that we're
in the middle of it.
Careers are defined by your performances in the Ashes
and they're particularly defined by performances away,
where it's so damned hard to win.
[Gideon Haigh] Australia had not been able to win the Ashes
in England since 2001.
They're at home.
[Lalor] English pitches, English media,
English crowds, it's all against you.
You sort of get your head around about being abused
for 25 days of cricket in England.
[Josh Hazlewood] The crowd, the public, the travel,
the actual playing, the training,
all that combined, it's probably, you know,
just as much mentally fatiguing as it is physical.
[Cummins] In a way, Ashes, that defines your career,
it defines you as a captain, whether you like it or not.
If this doesn't go right,
everything gets called into question.
[Smith] What are you doing, you weird cat?
What am I doing?
I'm trying to just clear my kit up from my original spot.
The Bull's thrown my kit out.
[Smith] Where are you sitting?
In the, next to the bin mate.
[Smith] Probably where you belong.
[Khawaja] Leading up to that first Ashes Test Match,
my head was just running.
I've had so many tough times in England.
[Khawaja] I played that first game
in the World Test Championship.
I got a duck first thing.
[commentator] That's gone!
[commentator] Khawaja goes for a duck.
[Khawaja] It didn't really bother me.
I'm like, it's just a duck. You get ducks, fine.
It doesn't bother me.
The next morning of that game,
after I'd gotten out, the TV was just up there
and I looked up and before I faced a ball
in the World Test Championship...
"Usman Khawaja, average in England, 19."
[commentator] His record in England is not great.
He'd want to build on that.
It kind of rattled me a little bit.
I played two Ashes in England,
being dropped both times in the series.
[commentator] Yes Khawaja's uncertainty proven
with that dismissal.
The old feelings of, oh crap, 2013 I got dropped.
I know how bad I felt after I got dropped.
Last time after Headingley, we lost the unlosable game
and then I got dropped after that too.
The next six months were pretty tough work.
Everywhere I go in England, I just got bad memories,
because I've been to like the same grounds,
similar hotels, similar areas.
So leading up to that first Ashes Test Match in Edgbaston,
I can't shake this.
This is, I have the worst memories here.
The worst feelings and I'm like,
I haven't felt like this for a long time.
-Oh. -Nice show, Starcy.
That went.
[Khawaja] Ah shit, is this going to happen again?
Am I just going to miss out in England again?
[Mitchell] The Aussies are coming up against
a very different England team
to what they've encountered in the most recent Ashes series.
This was an England side, as transformed
as any sporting team we've ever seen.
From a downtrodden, conservative team
to the most ultra aggressive Test cricket sides
the game had known.
[Lalor] They changed captain, they changed coach.
So in comes Brendon 'Baz' McCullum,
and Ben Stokes is appointed captain
and they've got this new way, it's just all-out attack.
-[commentator] Hello! -[commentator] Oh wow!
[commentator] Jonny Bairstow, fourth hundred in five innings.
[Jonathan Agnew] Brendon McCullum used to play this way,
very positive always.
His nickname is Baz. Bazball!
[commentator] Hammering it away.
The Stokes-McCullum partnership has arrived.
[Lalor] Bazball's a great concept,
but you need the right leader,
and who better than Ben Stokes?
[Agnew] He doesn't take a backwards step.
He has no fear.
And from a cricketing perspective, he's a genius.
[Whateley] The previous England way had won one out of 17 Tests.
Bazball won 11 out of 13.
[Haigh] They'd blown New Zealand away.
They'd blown India away, they'd blown Pakistan away.
They'd blown South Africa away.
England had played the best Test cricket
of anyone in the world for the year proceeding.
[Agnew] What Brendon McCullum has done
is created from nowhere,
a team that really believes that they could beat anybody.
[man] It's all good, thanks.
[Dene Hills] Yep, alright gents, we'll get into it.
As much as all the actions been going on,
the way they've been doing things,
that's just trying to script some myth
about the way they're playing, so to speak.
They want to go at five or six an over.
We want them to go at less than four an over.
So the only thing it really changes
is how we can cut off those boundaries.
And how can we keep building pressure.
Data was big, especially initially
because you're basically playing a team
that you'd never played before.
The boundaries are the big ones I think,
that's what we talked about.
Stop these boundaries
and we can still take wickets the same way.
We do not care about ones as a coaching staff,
and I know that looks different maybe on the field
and sometimes you feel like you're under pressure
when they turn a strike over.
That's not the game plan
that they're currently playing.
They're just boundaries.
It looks quite different to whatever's, you know,
been done in the past, but that's what we committed to.
[Di Venuto] What I do want to talk about is play at our pace.
Don't get caught up in it.
Don't get caught up trying to score a 7, 8, 9.
We actually at times do that naturally.
So let's just do our thing.
Two brands colliding.
I feel like if you play on skill
that will give you the best chance to come out on top.
What England are trying to do
is force the opposition to panic.
Put all our egos aside.
If we get them to play our brand of cricket,
they're not good enough to compete against us.
[team chattering]
[Frank Dimasi] There's going to be a lot of white noise,
as you know, and you guys are pretty good
at sort of deflecting all that sort of stuff.
But white noise and abuse are two different things.
So if you get abused
and you know what abuse is, don't react to it.
Don’t play up to the crowd or whoever’s directing it to you.
Just go straight to the central umpires.
Tell them where it's coming from.
They've got cameras on every seat at the stadium.
So if it really is giving you the shits, go that avenue.
I just wanted to say, I mean quickly, you know,
going into this series,
there's talk about legacies
and how we're going to remember this series.
For me, the journey just continues.
Keep telling our story.
It's our team.
We control these next six weeks.
It's not the media,
it's not the fans, it's not the opposition.
We control these next six weeks
and we can make them the best six weeks of our life.
[crowd boos]
[man] Don’t forget your Kleenex, Steve! No crying!
We take Australia to Edgbaston for a reason,
for the first Test.
-We got this for Warner. -Yeah.
[Agnew] You are going to get beaten up by the crowd.
[men yelling]
[Agnew] The noise, the expectation,
people have been building up for this for months.
[commentator] Morning everyone,
welcome to the most eagerly anticipated Ashes
for a generation.
A revitalised resurgent England against Pat Cummins',
World Test Champions, Australia.
[commentator] All the talking's done.
Two very, very good cricket teams about to go head-to-head.
How will Bazball stand up?
[crowd chanting]
[commentator] Oh, what a start that is from Crawley.
A real statement.
The first ball crunched through extra cover for four.
Geez, wow.
I was like, "Oh, this could be a long day."
[commentator] Well there's the first question answered.
[Agnew] If anything really illustrated Bazball,
that was it.
That was the message, we're after you.
We know you've been a bit sniffy about it, Australia,
but take a piece of that.
[commentator] More cheers from the Hollies.
From virtually the instant they got on the field,
you got a feeling that we were in for a head-to-head,
almost ideological struggle.
[Bhogle] The idea that against Australia, you could go out
and say, "I'll bat like a millionaire
with 10 bucks in my pocket.
This is how I'm going to play, man."
Boom, boom, boom.
[commentator] Attack, attack, attack.
The impact over the last 12 months from England,
very clear on these opening stages.
The feeling is that Australia have been a bit spooked here.
It doesn't feel like they don't feel content
with just blocking, blocking and getting the odd single.
It's like if they do that for two balls,
oh, I've got to do something.
Yeah, that's what it feels like.
That conversation with Rooty this morning, that will do me.
What one?
I was out there, and I said,
"Oh, well, this is a fucking good day for it today.
Like the sun's out", and he looked at me
and he goes,
"We're in the entertainment business. No more draws",
and then walked off. [giggles]
Okay, okay, mate.
[commentator] Tea time, 240 for 5.
This session, absolutely vital.
[commentator] That's been very easy
for the England batters
and the pressure is on Australia.
[Lalor] Bazball comes at you hard and fast.
I think at times, understandably,
the Australians just got overwhelmed.
[commentator] Danger signs here for Australia.
It was kind of an eye-opening experience
for our attack I think.
[commentator] That's a fabulous hundred.
But when the opposition is going like that
and playing some different shots
and moving their feet down the wicket
and those kind of things, it's easy as a bowler to forget
what makes you the bowler that you are.
[commentator] Down he goes, down the ground.
It's another six.
The declaration has been made, 393 for 8.
I didn't mind it.
Stokes is a gambler.
[commentator] With half an hour of the day's play left,
Ben Stokes fancies a crack at Australia tonight.
Can we get Warner or Khawaja
or both out in the next 25 minutes?
That was the gamble Stokes took.
[crowd chanting]
[commentator] He gets though again. Again confusion.
Warner wanted to get off the mark.
[commentator] Nerves, nervous energy there.
[Khawaja] I batted that night on the first day,
I got through it, I still felt horrible that night.
My wife, Rachel, she's half English.
She went to her family.
I'm talking to Rachel on the phone, I'm like,
"Everywhere I go in England, I just got bad memories."
[man] Broady’s gonna get ya!
[coach] Conditions may change,
so I may swing around a little bit more today.
So it's about adapting
and playing to what's in front of you.
Partnerships are our key individual methods.
Playing at our pace.
[Khawaja] Even walking out
to having a hit that day before in the morning.
I'm walking out and I have all these Poms like spray me.
"You can't bat, you can't score runs in England."
[crowd chanting]
It was just adding to it all.
This was always going to be the toughest Test of my career.
[commentator] Day one lived up to its billing.
What will day two bring?
All of Edgbaston will be behind him here.
There'll be a roar as he runs in.
[crowd cheers]
[commentator] Got him!
A huge Edgbaston roar.
[commentator] It's that man against Stuart Broad
the 15th time that he's got David Warner
in Test Match cricket.
Edgbaston was loud, it was freaking loud.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Broad winding the Hollies up
to fever pitch.
Oh, he's got him! Bairstow!
[commentator] Back-to-back wickets,
a huge moment in this game.
29 for 2.
[Renshaw] I was running drinks
and I've never remembered a cricket game being that loud.
That's the first time I've ever seen Uz go,
"Wow, like I need to calm myself down."
[commentator] So far, Ben Stokes would be delighted
with what he's seen.
So far, his tactics are certainly winning the day.
That's the bottom line.
[commentator] It's very straight, he's given him!
[crowd roaring]
[Khawaja] And I'm like, "Jesus, that crowd is up!"
[crowd chanting]
[Khawaja] And my heart's just like, "boof, boof, boof, boof."
[commentator] I mean Usman Khawaja obviously,
his record in England, as of yet, isn't great.
[commentator] Oh, that was nearly right through him.
[commentator] And his team needs something
because they're 67 for 3.
[Khawaja] I think the emotion built up,
the bad memories I've had playing Ashes cricket.
The tough times.
Yeah, it was tough.
Actually, Rachel,
she actually wrote me something that was,
I should be able to find it.
It really helped me.
Gimme a second.
16th of June.
Sorry guys, gimme a second.
[interviewer] Where were you when you
received this message?
I was in my hotel room actually, I was in Birmingham so...
[interviewer] You happy to read it?
Yep.
Yeah okay, I found it.
There you go.
She said, "Good luck today.
Remember, whatever happens, we are always proud of you.
Just stay positive and trust in God's plan.
Whatever happens in this series is meant to be.
Just like the ones before,
try and enjoy the ride."
[commentator] Oh, great shot, great shot.
[commentator] I love seeing Khawaja show
this sort of intent.
[Khawaja] "Remember that you have achieved
so many great things in your career.
You don't need to prove yourself to anyone.
Whatever happens here is a bonus.
We have said that since the start,
since your comeback in Sydney."
Yeah...
That's pretty good.
[commentator] And the pressure is being pushed back
onto England here by Head and Khawaja.
[commentator] He's played well, Khawaja.
Been very measured in his approach.
Likes to sort of stay within his bubble.
Never seems to get too flustered with anything,
any situation in the game.
[Khawaja] I don't really open up to anyone other than Rach.
She's the only one I really open up to.
[commentator] Great shot, he moves to 96.
And that's why I need her,
'cause she knows that she just...
She knows what to say,
she knows what to say at the right times.
It's funny how things can work out.
Yeah!
[crowd cheering] [uplifting music]
[commentator] And the celebrations
tells you everything.
15th Test Match hundred.
The first in England.
You can see what that 100 means to him.
[commentator] Brilliant innings well played, well deserved.
[Khawaja] Sometimes you have joy,
that was pure competitive spirit,
like that was my competitive side coming out.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Australia have fought back,
built a partnership
on the back of that man, Usman Khawaja.
Uz, Rachel's here.
Do you want to say hello?
[Khawaja] To have Rachel there,
I mean I needed her, without her,
I don't think I would've
ever gotten back into
my Uzzy state of cricket, the way I play.
Daddy!
[Khawaja] That's why I love having kids,
I love having young kids too.
She had no idea what's going on in the Test,
she just saw Daddy, she was just happy to see Daddy.
[Aisha] Daddy's here.
-We go holiday, Dad! -We’re on a holiday.
[Khawaja] So I hadn't seen them for about a week and a half.
And then I said, "Okay Aish, I have to go.
Daddy has to go now."
She just started crying like, "No."
Will you say goodbye to Dadda now?
We're going to go home.
[Aisha crying]
[man] He did a great job, didn't he?
You want to come with Dadda for a little bit?
Come inside with Dadda for a minute.
Come on, darling.
Want to come with Dadda upstairs? Yeah?
I'll just take her.
I'll take her upstairs.
[Khawaja] Honestly, that memory when people ask me
about that Test Match, that's the first memory that pops up.
[journalist] Who's answering the questions?
Bating in England on this tour
compared to the other ones you've come on,
how different does it feel for you this time?
[Khawaja] For me it was just about enjoying it.
You know, my wife's been awesome to me,
she's been my rock throughout my career.
Whether I got a 100 or not,
I would've enjoyed this Test Match,
I would've enjoyed this whole series.
It is always nice when you get a 100 though.
More and more I appreciate, you know
how much of a team Rach and I are.
She likes to bring it up.
Pre-Rach, zero Test hundreds,
post-Rach, 15 Test hundreds.
[laughing]
You okay?
[commentator] ...play will start at 2:15.
[Whateley] The first Ashes Tests, the margins were so fine.
Day five starts with Australia needing a further 174 runs
with seven wickets in hand.
[Cummins] To win the first Test in Ashes is huge,
'cause it not only means you're up 1-nil,
but it gives you belief that you can win.
[commentator] This game deserves an epic finale, doesn't it?
Australia need 174 more to go 1-nil up,
England needs seven wickets.
[commentator] Usman Khawaja,
the rare feat of batting on every day of this Test Match.
[commentator] Yeah, he's been excellent,
and you'd imagine today for Australia
holds the key to this run chase.
[Shastri] England were always ahead of the game.
Right through the Test Match
England had their nose ahead, nose ahead,
nose ahead all the time.
Even on that final day...
..England were ahead.
[commentator] The bowlers have been very disciplined
and that's when the pressure starts to build.
[commentator] Got him! [crowd cheering]
Squared him up, he's got him!
Big wicket for England.
During a run chase
the emotions go up and down all the time.
[commentator] And everyone stands for Usman Khawaja,
half century.
[Hazlewood] You get in a partnership
and I guess the talk in the sheds goes up a level.
Everyone is calm, relaxed, talking away
and then lose a wicket
and everything goes quiet again for 20 minutes.
[ominous music] [crowd cheers]
[commentator] Oh, he's got him!
Indecision from Green.
Australia six down.
[commentator] And now the pendulum swings towards England.
[Hazlewood] I reckon at one stage
we lost a couple of wickets and I thought,
we're a few more down than what we need to be here.
[commentator] Khawaja's the main man here.
I think he needs to be not out if Australia's going to win.
He needs to bat long, deep into the day.
[Khawaja] All I was thinking
is give the guys in the last hour
of the last session an opportunity to win this game.
How do I get to that point?
[commentator] 78 runs required.
Usman Khawaja, he's setting himself out here
to bat till we get to Lord's.
[Khawaja] Keep grinding and just keep chipping away,
that's the only chance we have to winning this game.
[commentator] Ben Stokes, the leader, he wants Australia.
[commentator] He's made for big moments,
isn't he, Ben Stokes?
Got him! [crowd cheering]
Cometh the man, cometh the hour!
Ben Stokes, you beauty for England!
Is that the game for England?
Khawaja gone for 65.
[Agnew] From that point on,
you felt, there's probably only one winner here...
It's England.
[commentator] The pendulum has shifted
firmly England's way.
Listening to this crowd,
they know that it's on the brink.
A famous victory in that first Test
of such an important series.
[ominous music]
[Cummins] I hate watching.
I love being out there in the middle.
If it doesn't come off, at least it's on me.
That's why I love Ashes series, there's nowhere to hide.
[commentator] And just imagine the emotions
of the players out there listening to this crowd.
[Lyon] I was extremely nervous.
Ball in hand I'm expected to win games of cricket.
[commentator] As Carey goes in the air
and he's taken this one!
[crowd cheering]
[Labuschagne exclaiming]
[Lyon] I'm not expected to do that with the bat.
The Australian public probably don't think you can do it.
Partly, you think you can't do it.
[commentator] England need two wickets,
Australia 54 more runs.
[commentator] I'm not sure if he's ever batted
in a more pressure situation,
Nathan Lyon, in his entire career.
[interviewer] Be honest here, 54 runs to go.
Uh-hmm.
Gaz goes out to meet Patty, did you think they could do it?
Nah.
Yeah, nah.
Nah, we're gone.
Yeah, no chance.
Absolutely no chance.
[crowd chanting]
If you're not going to get fifty runs...
...block them out.
Sorry?
If you're not going to get fifty runs.
Yeah.
[Boland] I was so tense getting towards the end of the game.
Like we were talking about, should we go for the draw?
Should we go for the win?
[Marsh] I ran a drink out to Patty when Gazza walked out
and I sort of said to him, "Mate!"
I was kind of taking the piss,
but I said it in a serious manner,
I was like, "Mate, you and Gazza get 50 run partnerships
all the time."
[Cummins] And I was like, "Yeah, it's true actually."
So I said the same to Gaz,
I was like, "Mate, just another 50 run partnership,
let's do it."
And Patty was like, "Yeah, no, we do, we do." [chuckles]
And I walked off and I was like, "Nah, you don't."
[Boland] Mitch Marsh ran a drink out
and just sort of asked Pat what his plans were.
[commentator] Australia still going for this.
[Boland] He's like, "No, we're going to go for this.
We're going to win.
No, we're not shutting up shop."
He said, "We're going to win it."
[commentator] The final hour signal.
[commentator] The last hour has been taken.
[commentator] How will he play it, the Australian Captain?
Up and over and nailed it for six.
[crowd cheering]
He's going after it.
Just watch the ball, watch the ball.
Fear of failure is always there,
but it doesn't serve a good purpose.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Up and over again.
Aggression from the Australian skipper, six more.
37 needed.
We needed to score runs to win
and I felt like it was in my area there,
I'm going to take it on.
[commentator] Well, that's it as far as I'm concerned,
they're definitely going for it.
[Lyon] That helped me a lot just get in the game
and give it a go.
Come on, Gary.
[commentator] He's had a go at it,
there's a man out there.
Oh, what a grab!
Oh, he's not...
He had it for so long in his hand.
[commentator] Hearts will be racing out there in the middle.
This could not get any more intense.
This entire series will come down to little moments.
[commentator] New ball is taken.
After five long days, it comes down to this.
[Cummins] The difference between
an old ball and a new ball is like chalk and cheese.
I mean like with the new ball, the ball just pings off.
[commentator] Broad's loose,
one of the great new ball bowlers.
[commentator] And up they come again,
he's got them going again, Stuart Broad.
Take a deep breath, Nathan Lyon.
[commentator] Yeah, that's the bounce with the new ball.
Come on, Gary.
[Lyon] I was pretty nervous when the new ball got taken,
but then, in part of me,
I was like, well if they pitch it up, have a go at it
because every chance you could hit it for four.
[cricketer] Get through, get through!
[crowd cheering]
[Head] Settle, son.
[Agnew] They just chipped away, chipped away.
And of course then the pressure reverts
onto the bowling side.
Every chance becomes crucial.
[commentator] So he nails it past that man at extra cover.
Crawley does well, no he doesn't.
[crowd cheering]
Yes!
[commentator] Little things in Ashes series
can become big things really quickly.
Under 20 now required for Australia.
-Is that in the teens? -Yeah, 17.
[commentator] There's a huge meeting now
from the bowlers and the Captain.
[Labuschagne] You could see them going,
"Oh geez, are we happy with this plan?
Are we happy with what we're doing?"
They changed the plan.
[commentator] Broad,
desperately looking for this ninth wicket.
Oh, what a shot that is!
[crowd cheering]
Where has he pulled that one out of, Nathan Lyon.
We're down to single figures, Australia seven more to win.
When we got to single figures, didn't enjoy it at all.
[commentator] Takes the single, puts Cummins on strike.
I couldn't really watch
but I couldn't really take my eyes off the game either.
[commentator] Oh, once again, he takes it right off middle.
[commentator] Australia, five away.
It can go any way. You go bang, bang,
yeah, all of a sudden it's like, it's over.
[commentator] It's just past Pope and he gets a single.
[Lyon] Then we needed three to win
and I just remember standing there just going,
"Fuck, please don't let me face another ball.
Don't let me face another ball."
[ominous music]
[Smith] The hardest thing to do is just hit the winning runs.
[commentator] Ooh, brilliant from Pope.
[commentator] England are up and about,
they're looking for any little half chance they can get.
[Cummins] I've always been taught as a kid,
there's going to be a match winner here.
There's going to be someone that takes the game on.
Might as well be you.
[sombre music]
[commentator] He's taken the edge.
There'll be one.
Two! Two! Pat, come on!
[commentator] Cummins will come back for two...
Oh, he's knocked it over the boundary edge
and Australia are home!
[crowd cheering] [uplifting music]
[commentator] Ice in his veins, Pat Cummins has led his team
to a famous victory here at Edgbaston.
72 they needed when he came to the crease
and he has got his team over the line.
[commentator] Well, what an end to a Test Match!
What a game of cricket!
[Cummins] I don't think it gets better than that.
Hit the winning runs, big partnership at the end
to start off an Ashes series.
With the whole of England and Australia watching.
Yeah, I can't think of another Test Match
that's given me as much joy as that last day.
[commentator] And look what it means to him Pat Cummins,
the partnership 55 unbroken.
[commentator] And when it mattered,
Pat Cummins had the answer.
[joyous chattering]
[man] How was that?
[man] Yes!
For Patty to sort of make his mark on the Ashes series
over there as Captain was amazing
and it really set the tone for the whole series.
Boys, you get 50-run partnerships all the time.
I said it straight to Gaz.
I was like, come on, just one more.
I later found out
we'd never scored a 50-run partnership
in Test Matches. [chuckles]
Just proud of him, I guess.
The way he's handled himself through everything.
It's been a tough few months for him obviously,
leading into that tour and to have Pete there at the end
in the sheds after the game was pretty special.
[sombre music]
I'm so happy you're here.
Yeah.
[Cummins] A lot of emotion kind of just...
I think came out of both of us.
He was there in the same seats in 2019 with Mum.
Both just spoke about Mum and she was watching over us.
Pat and Pete embracing
and especially after the year that they've had,
losing Patty's mum.
I know, it was pretty amazing to see that.
[exclaiming and laughing]
How good.
For him to be there in that moment, um...
Yeah, that was a special moment.
[crowd] Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Jonny Bairstow's walked out of his crease.
This could well be out.
[man] It’s an absolute disgrace!
[commentator] I've never seen Lord's like this.
[upbeat music]