Ashes 2019: As rain soaks second Test, all roads lead back to Steve Smith

Despite an impressive morning session from England, this Test lies in the hands of the weather and one man

For any cricket enthusiast, an essential piece of kit over the last decade has been a reliable rain app. Once the work of television weather readers, now any casual fan or player worth their whites can make their way around a radar. International combatants are no different.

Waking up this morning, before so much as checking their notifications, Australia’s batsmen would have seen on their phone screen the red fury motoring across the map towards London from the west. All forecasts read the same: play beyond lunch was highly improbable. That made the cricket calculus equally problematic: the visitors had time only to survive, not prosper.

There is a familiar beauty in this practice on the final day or just before stumps, but it’s less commonly required when the morning bell has just sounded. It was bound to be tough with Stuart Broad starting from Jimmy Anderson’s preferred Nursery End and Jofra Archer following from the Pavilion. For Australia, Cameron Bancroft - surely only a double-failure away from losing his spot - and Usman Khawaja, the second-most important asset after Steve Smith with David Warner having lost his way the previous evening. Nothing about the impending downpour diminished the enthusiasm of the Lord’s faithful, ready to get their fill.

Within minutes, Broad found Khawaja’s edge – oooh - and Archer nearly took Bancroft’s head off – aaaah. The floodlights were turned on to their fullest, the heavy clouds a dark reminder of what was en route. A short leg was in for Bancroft - a leg-slip too - to make a rare five-four onside field. Joe Root and co would have been surely telling him all about. Common wisdom says bouncers are clock slower on the radar but the debutant sent down one at 91mph. He thumped into the thigh pad repeatedly; the West Australian’s technique under as fierce an interrogation as he has experienced so far in his disjointed career.

Down the other end, Khawaja played with the soft hands of experience to Broad, controlling a hook shot to the Gubby Allen corner well enough that Chris Woakes was on next. The Australian stylist deflected the Lord’s specialist for four to begin, punched him past point for another then cut with a Goweresque wave of the wand to make it three boundaries in the over. With 28 runs added in six overs, the pressure was transferring. The hosts – with all the upside on a day destined to pan out like this – was at risk of blowing it.

But Archer wasn’t having that. To combat his considerable jag off the seam, Bancroft kept overcompensating with a high-risk shuffle across the stumps. Eventually, an off-cutter pinned him down and there was nothing the DRS could do about it. Sure, he made it to 66 deliveries, which is not for nothing, but Marcus Harris’ figure now looms large. Two balls later, Khawaja pushed a Woakes delivery that he needn’t of with the rain now in the air, undoing his careful work to that point.

The ball between the dismissals, from Archer to Smith, was clocked at 94mph as it sailed into the gloves of Bairstow. However well Travis Head looked at Edgbaston, this was different gravy for the number five. Beaten twice in a row with four waiting slips, the bouncer followed at 94mph again – also too good for Bairstow.

Jofra Archer celebrates taking the wicket of Cameron Bancroft (Getty) (Getty Images)

After the brisk start, the next six overs brought one run and the wickets of both incumbents. The vice-captain was off the mark despite nearly chopping Woakes on, adding four through point, but was skittish at best. The only person surprised by Stuart Broad trapping him in front was Aleem Dar, who gave it not out on the field, only for technology to show it crashing into middle stump halfway up.

Then there was Smith. During the week, it was put to me by a former teammate of his that batting three doesn’t bother him when he’s asked. Indeed, when in that position he relaxed when an opener nicks off early as it means he gets to bat for longer. Yes, this was far from a preferable time to be starting an innings but for this bloke, the higher the degree of difficulty the more fun he seems to have out there. Cue a series of ostentatious light-sabre leaves and deft nudges behind square.

Matthew Wade will partner Steve Smith in the morning (Getty)

Matthew Wade was saved from the same fate as Head – given out despite Ben Stokes having pitched well outside leg stump – but he was at peace occupying the crease for 23 deliveries without scoring when, at two minutes before lunch, the rain stopped - and ended - play. As he said when selected for this squad, learning to re-tool at Bellerive Oval for Tasmania over the last two years has taught him how to bat with far greater patience. It’s been a long time coming across his three iterations in this side, but he is, at last, looking an established player.

But, as usual, all roads lead back to Smith. Yes, England collected three Australian wickets in 24.1 overs, giving up just 50 runs along the way. They won the morning, if perhaps a little less emphatically than might have been the case had this been the 2013 or 2015 Ashes tours when Michael Clarke’s sides made an artform of capitulating when conditions didn’t suit. Yet other numbers on the board don’t matter an awful lot while he is in the middle. How many balls – or hours, or sessions – he bats this weekend could alone determine this Test. Rinse and repeat.