Ashes 2023: Khawaja's redemption act, Carey stumping Bairstow, Broad's farewell and more talking points from series

It’s safe to say that the just-concluded Ashes series lived up to the hype and expectations, producing some quality cricket, thrilling finishes and what not. And while it was worth the wait, the series did come with its fair share if controversies, both on and off the field.

On Sunday, a day after Stuart Broad announced he would retire from professional cricket, he received a Guard of Honour from the Australian players. And on Monday, England rounded off the pacer’s final day as a cricketer with a 49-run win on Day five of the fifth Test at The Oval.

Broad took the wickets of Todd Murphy and Alex Carey, finishing with figures of 2/62. The win helped England level the series 2-2, but Australia retained the Ashes on the basis of having won it in 2021-22.

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With the series done and dusted, let’s now take a look at some talking points that made the headlines:

Jonny Bairstow stumping

Controversy erupted on Day five of the second Test at Lord’s, when Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

England, looking to chase down 371, were restricted to 193/6 following Bairstow’s controversial dismissal.

The incident happened in last ball of the 52nd over, when Bairstow, batting on 10, ducked a short ball from pacer Cameron Green. Soon after ducking the ball, Bairstow casually walked off the crease thinking that it was a dead ball, but before he could react, wicketkeeper Alex Carey aimed a direct hit at the stumps on the strikers’ end, dismissing the batter.

The decision was then sent to the third umpire Marais Erasmus, who eventually gave the England batter out.

England fans at the stadium then turned hostile at Australia players in the aftermath of the controversy, booing the visiting players, venting their anger on the verdict.

Australia went onto win the match by 43 runs, but their players, including Usman Khawaja and David Warner, were subject to abuses at the Lord’s Long Room by some of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) members.

The MCC later apologised to Australia, and three members were handed suspensions.

Stuart Broad’s farewell

In what came as a shocking move, England pacer Stuart Broad announced retirement from professional cricket, midway through the fifth Test at The Oval.

During the series, Broad had added yet another feather to his cap, when he claimed his 600th Test wicket in the Old Trafford Test. By doing so, Broad joined longtime pace bowling partner James Anderson as the only two fast bowlers to have taken 600 or more wickets in Tests.

“It’s been a wonderful ride, a huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and the England badge as much as I have. And, I’m loving cricket as much as I ever have. It’s been such a wonderful series to be a part of, and I’ve always wanted to finish at the top. And this series just feels like it’s been one of the most enjoyable and entertaining I’ve been a part of,” Broad said on Sky Sports.

“I’ve been thinking about it (retirement) for a couple of weeks. England vs Australia has always been the pinnacle for me — I have loved the battles with Australia that have come my way and the team’s way, I have a love affair with Ashes and I think I wanted my last bat and bowl to be in Ashes cricket,” added Broad.

In his final innings as an England pacer, Broad finished with figures of 2/62, getting the wickets of Murphy and Carey.

Ball-change controversy

There was controversy yet again in the Ashes series, on Day four of the fifth Test on Sunday. During play on Sunday, Usman Khawaja had been hit by a Mark Wood bouncer, and following this, the umpires decided to replace the ball with a new one, claiming the ball had got out of shape.

While the new ball was said to be a like-for-like replacement, it seemed as though the ball was significantly newer and swung more, according to Ricky Ponting.

“The biggest concern I have is the big discrepancy in the condition of the ball that was chosen to replace. There’s no way in the world you can even look at those two balls there and say in any way are they comparable.

“If you are going to change the ball, you want to make sure that you get it right, so it is as close as you possibly can to the one that you’re changing it from. Now if you have a look in that box, there weren’t too many older-condition balls in there. There were some older ones that were picked up, the umpires looked at that and threw them back,” Ponting said on Sky Sports.

The former Australia captain called for the matter to be ‘investigated’.

The conditions were better for bowling this morning. But what I saw last night, that ball there, I’ll put my hand up and say I’ve got absolutely no doubt at all that that ball would not have done anywhere near as much as what that one did this morning. Double the amount of movement this morning from yesterday afternoon, seam movement and swing. I think it’s a huge blunder that needs to be investigated,” he said.

Usman Khawaja’s redemption act

If there was someone who was looking for redemption in Test cricket, it was Usman Khawaja. The last 12 months for Khawaja has been a resurrection of sorts for the veteran opener, and he capped off the Ashes series with one century and three fifties, ending as the top run-getter across the five Tests with 496 runs.

On most occasions throughout the series, Khawaja was more patient with his approach, taking time to settle down at the crease. Khawaja also played well against the challenging swinging conditions of the English pitches.

Khawaja, however, could have ended the Ashes series by emulating Sir Don Bradman’s feat. In the 1948 Ashes series, Bradman had scored 508 runs at the age of 39, and had Khawaja, 36, scored four more runs, he would have become the oldest since Bradman to have achieved the feat.

Zak Crawley rediscovers his form

Zak Crawley has had a tough few months in the Test cricket arena. Not long ago, Crawley, 25, received criticism on social media for his selection for the one-off Test against Ireland in May. Fast forward two months later, and Crawley has proved his doubters wrong with a stupendous performance with the bat in the Ashes, which is by many considered as the pinnacle of Test cricket.

Crawley finished the Ashes as the second-highest run-getter with 480 runs from nine innings. That surely is going to change the perspective of many of his doubters.

His knock of 189 in the drawn Old Trafford Test was a timely reminder of the danger he possesses. Go back to the first ball of this Ashes series, Crawley reintroduced himself, by smashing a boundary off Pat Cummins.

According to ESPNCricinfo, Crawley amassed 130 runs in the 171 balls he has faced Cummins this series. That is at a strike-rate of 76.02 and an average of 65.

Whereas against Starc, he was even more better, collecting 114 runs from 125 balls, at a strike-rate of 91.20.

Flashback Crawley’s Test statistics from 2021 July to 2022 July, he had managed just 525 runs from 11 matches at an average of 23.86. Numbers speak volumes in Crawley’s cricketing career, but the Crawley we saw in the Ashes was someone who was raring to give his best for the team with his fearless approach to batting.