On the second morning of the third Ashes Test of 2015 at Edgbaston, after having bowled Australia out for a paltry 136 on the previous day, England, perched seemingly dominant at 133/3 on the previous evening, slumped to 190/7. A deficit of 54 (then) not withstanding, Australia were looking to blast their way back into the match. Their best bowlers of the morning, Johnson and Lyon, were bowling in tandem. Clarke, sensing an opening, was moving his fielders around — a third/fourth third man for Johnson; two slips for Lyon — in a bid to scuttle England with only a manageable deficit.

England’s Enviable Depth and Balance

Ali and Broad, both new to the crease, played and missed, slashed, edged for fours, ducked bouncers but never failed to latch on when scoring opportunities presented themselves. When Broad miscued a pull off Hazlewood and fell for 31 off 55 balls, the pair had added 87 runs. Ali fell a run later for 59 off 78 balls but England were already 278/8 and 142 ahead, clearly in a position where time and the runs were with them to force a victory. Not for the first time in this English summer, a solid batting contribution from the lower-middle order tilted a match in England’s favour.

The reason for this is hard to miss. Although Broad has been around for a long time and (although not consistently) contributing with the bat — with a Test-best of 169 — the emergence of Stokes and Ali has added an altogether new dimension to England’s batting and to the bowling as well. Add to this mix Joe Root, a batsman in prime form, and capable of occasionally chipping in with the ball, and it is evident why England have been a formidable Test side at home this summer.

The batting and bowling contributions of these four in the recent two-Test series against New Zealand and in the ongoing Ashes are tabulated below.

Tests vs New Zealand, 2015 Player Runs Wickets Root 183 1 Stokes 228 4 Ali 104 5 Broad 82 13 Total 597 23

Tests vs Australia, 2015* Player Runs Wickets Root 313 4 Stokes 181 2 Ali 190 9 Broad 99 12 Total 783 27 * First three Tests

Despite the sample space being limited to a series and a half, it does nevertheless throw up some interesting interpretations. Root and Broad have been excelling in their areas of specialization, batting and bowling respectively, but have also been making it count in their less stronger suits. Stokes and Ali will not qualify yet as genuine all-rounders but it is clear that the former is leaning towards the ‘batting all-rounder’ tag while ‘bowling all-rounder’ fits the latter best now.

England’s enviable depth and balance owes it a lot to the presence of Stokes and Ali in the team. It is no secret that teams with such depth have had an edge in Test cricket in recent years — in fact, one does not have to look further than the last Ashes in Australia, where Australia’s potent lower-order, led by Haddin’s streaky assaults, pulled Australia back from the brink on many occasions. Also, the fact that Stokes and Ali are all-rounders in different disciplines (pace, spin) augurs well for the team. Given that the duo, form and fitness permitting, have a lot of cricketing years ahead of them, one can expect them to be vital cogs in the fortunes of the new England team in the many seasons to come.