Ashes 2019: Business as usual as Steve Smith guides Australia to strong start against England

Australia 170-3 vs England: The visitors did exactly what they set out to do: restore sanity to the series after the madness of Leeds. For the hosts, by contrast, a sense of missed opportunity

To borrow a phrase from the political arena: nothing has changed. For all the turmoil and turbulence of the last few weeks, for all the changes in personnel, for all the dramatic lurches in momentum, day one in Manchester was a reminder that the fundamentals of this series remain largely intact. Both sides retain deep flaws in all areas. Australia remain favourites to retain the Ashes. And Englandstill have no idea how to dismiss Steve Smith.

On a day when gale-force winds whipped through Manchester, blowing debris onto the field and even dislodging the bails from their grooves, on a day when rain forced the players off several times, it was easy to get swept up in the general sense of havoc. Yet in the middle it was a tale of quiet consolidation, as Smith and Marnus Labuschagne continued where they had left off before Ben Stokes’s pyrotechnics in Leeds, building a century stand that justified Tim Paine’s decision to bat first on winning the toss.

Smith remains unbeaten on 60, bloodlessly winning his much-trailed duel with Jofra Archer, who in two erratic spells failed to match the ruthlessly high standards he set at Lord’s and Headingley. And Archer’s struggles were emblematic of England’s as a whole on a largely comfortable batting surface: true, easy-paced and offering little in the way of lateral movement. Once Australia had negotiated a tricky new-ball period in which Stuart Broad found some early swing, Smith and Labuschagne were able to score with few risks.

For the first time in the series, the absence of James Anderson felt like a genuine loss to this England attack. Broad charged in with customary vigour, and Jack Leach reliably tied up an end after a shaky start. But the change seamers Ben Stokes and Craig Overton failed to maintain the pressure, squandering a promising start in which Australia’s openers again succumbed cheaply.

You know David Warner is in shocking form when he somehow manages to inspire sympathy. His day lasted just two minutes, a second-ball duck to Broad, who claimed his wicket for the fifth time this series and the 10th time in all. Australia were 1-1 at that point, and with Labuschagne promoted to No 3, here was a prime opportunity for England, justifiably buzzing after their Headingley heroics, to squeeze the throttle.

Instead, there was a curious flatness to them in that first session. Archer, peculiarly, barely got above 80mph in his first few overs: presumably an attempt to find swing, but also a curious departure from the methods that had earned him such success so far in the series. Broad persevered, trapping the luckless Marcus Harris LBW with a big inswinger, which brought Smith to the crease. Finally, at 11.38am, with Smith on strike to Archer and the crowd roaring in anticipation, it felt like the fourth Test was finally about to begin.

At least the scent of the contest seemed to momentarily stir Archer: his pace ratcheted up a few notches, but his rhythm wasn’t quite there. Smith got himself in fairly comfortably, punishing the wide and straight deliveries, ducking safely under a volley of innocuous tennis-ball bouncers. Stokes, too, lacked consistency and control despite occasionally threatening with late swing, and as Australia got to lunch without further incident, their score of 98-2 had come at almost four an over.

Play would not resume until 4pm due to showers, and when it did, the teams emerged to strong gusts that seemed to unsettle the bowlers more than the batsmen. Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus were forced to abort play several times because of discarded litter blowing across the pitch, including at one point – and to general mirth – a beach ball, which rolled across the square in the direction of Smith, who paddled it with customary delicacy around the corner to square leg.

Craig Overton celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne (Getty)

Certainly Australia’s brisk progress seemed not to have been interrupted. Labuschagne, again displaying excellent judgment of line, hauled himself to a fourth consecutive fifty. Smith tucked into Broad with a couple of gorgeous on-drives, albeit only gorgeous within Smith’s own idiosyncratic idiom: a sort of cussedly ugly beauty, like a modern art installation featuring nothing but used contraceptives, a dead pheasant and the sound of a child screaming. His half-century was brought up with a cut off Stokes that ended with him sprawled awkwardly on the turf: prone, undignified and yet somehow triumphant.

Overton, winning his first Test cap for 18 months in preference to Chris Woakes and Sam Curran, produced a beautiful late inswinger to bowl Labuschagne for 67. But Smith and Travis Head pushed serenely on until more rain brought the day to an early close. In a way, Australia had done exactly what they set out to do: restore sanity to the series after the madness of Leeds. For England, by contrast, a sense of missed opportunity. They will begin day two in urgent need of wickets, and in particular a means of disabling the laser net of Smith: an achievement that would, weirdly, be their most logic-defying feat of the summer.