After England’s target tail, attention is focused on Australia’s “three No. 11s.”

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Scott Boland was ejected as Australia's tail dropped badly

Ollie Robinson talked about Australia’s lower order as having “three No. 11s” after England successfully went through the tail on the third day at Edgbaston, making the lower order an immediate target for England.

Even though Pat Cummins, batting at No. 8, hit 38 runs, which was his highest total as captain and his highest since he scored 63 against India at the MCG in 2018, Australia’s final four wickets were lost for just 14 runs when Usman Khawaja was dismissed by a riled-up Robinson.

The No. 10, who was batting at least one slot higher than usual, was surrounded by Ben Stokes’ field when Nathan Lyon hooked to deep square leg and Scott Boland made a ridiculous point save. After a sharp fall in his batting average and with Josh Hazlewood as his last man, Cummins then swung into the deep end to conclude an inning that gave hope that he would contribute major runs in this series.

“It’s something we spoke about as a group,”

Robinson said.

“We said once we get past Cummins, we feel like they’ve got three No. 11s. It’s something that we can target through the series and try and wrap up their innings quite quickly and try and give us that momentum into our batting innings.”

Even though Australia has had a great two-year era in Test cricket, which included defeating India to win the World Test Championship, their tail has not been a trustworthy source of runs. 

Due to the absence of Mitchell Starc for this Test, it was severely weakened. Starc hit 41 in the second innings when batting at No. 8 against India last week; he had been moved above Cummins in the previous year. Overall, he has a 25.85 average compared to England and four of his ten half-centuries.

In addition, England chose to bowl at the lower order very differently than the Australians did on the opening day. They chose to attack them with the short ball, which was successful despite the slowness of the surface.

“I think it’s pitch dependent, really,”

Robinson said of the tactic.

“Obviously Pat Cummins is a really good player and I think we felt like bowling full to their tail would give them a chance to maybe score some more runs, so it’s a wicket ploy, but also it’s harder to score when it’s two-paced.”

Australia could change their plans if or when they encounter England’s lower order in the second innings, counter to Hazlewood’s claim that there was “nothing there” for the bouncer on the first day.

“I’m sure the strategy group will come up with a plan knowing what we know now with the wicket,”

Alex Carey said.

“Hopefully spin can play a big role for us tomorrow. Thought Gaz bowled outstandingly in the first innings and there’s probably a little bit more on offer for him now as well. It’s up to the attack, the leadership group, to come up with a plan to run through their tail hopefully.”

We’ll have to wait and see if the lower-order contributions matter in this game. After a fast-paced 20-minute session in between the downpour, during which they lost openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley in quick succession, England finished with a slim lead of 35.

Before England’s Baseball-inspired 378 for 3 against India last year, South Africa’s 283 for 5 in 2008 held the record for the biggest successful chase at Edgbaston.

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