Ashes 2023: Endless bouncers, Glenn McGrath's anger & Rehan Ahmed's dive

England clinging on after bizarre day

By Jonty Colman
BBC Sport

England's chances of winning the second men's Ashes Test at Lord's are hanging by a thread.

On an extraordinary day of Test cricket, Australia were bowled out for 279 before tea, setting England a Lord's record target of 371.

A flurry of wickets in the evening session reduced England to 45-4 before they ended day four on 114-4, needing 257 more runs to level the series.

There was also further disappointment for England in the women's Ashes as a four-wicket win for Australia in the opening T20 saw them open up a 6-0 lead in the multi-format series.

Stat of the day - England's record short balls

In a day dominated by England bowling more than 50 overs of short balls, the hosts created two unusual pieces of Test match history.

As per CricViz's data, in the morning session, their average bowling length of 9.71m from the batter was the shortest length of any session in Test cricket since those records began in 2006.

England then smashed that record in the afternoon session, bowling an average length of 11.05m.

Considering a cricket pitch is just 20.12m long, a whole session averaging 11.05m will take some beating.

Essential day four reading

Quote of the day - 'That is a disgrace'

Starc catch overturned - but was TV umpire right?

"I'm sorry, that is the biggest load of rubbish I've ever seen. He's got that under control, the ball is under control. I'm sorry, I've seen everything this game has to offer, if that is not out, then every other catch that has ever been taken should not be out. That is a disgrace. I'm sorry, that is a disgrace. I've seen everything now. I cannot believe that. That is ridiculous. If that ball is not under control, that is ridiculous."

Former Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath was left perplexed in the closing minutes of the day when the tourists thought they had dismissed Ben Duckett for 50.

Mitchell Starc caught Duckett's attempted ramp shot off Cameron Green on the boundary, but as he slid after making the catch, he scraped the ball along the turf before stopping.

Duckett was virtually off the field when the decision went to the third umpire.

Starc shrugged off boos from the crowd when the replays were first shown at Lord's, raising his finger to signal it was out, but his smiles soon faded when Duckett was adjudged not out.

Australia legend McGrath, commentating on Test Match Special, labelled the decision a disgrace, arguing with any notion that the right decision was made.

Video of the day - 'Who has put those stumps together?'

Wyatt survives an early scare as the ball hits the stumps but the bails don't come off

It only took seven balls of the opening women's T20 for 20,000 people inside Edgbaston and thousands more at home to be utterly confused.

Australia quick Darcie Brown beat the drive of Danni Wyatt, with the ball crashing into off stump.

The bails bounced into the air but then landed back perfectly in the groove as Wyatt survived. Australia were appealing for caught behind initially before eventually figuring out what happened.

BBC commentators Henry Moeran, Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Alex Blackwell were utterly perplexed by the incident and how unlucky Brown was.

Innings of the day - Mooney guides Australia to victory

Australia opener Beth Mooney hit an unbeaten 61 to guide Australia to a victory that leaves them on the verge of retaining of the Ashes.

The left-hander showed touch and power in a beautifully paced innings as the tourists won off the penultimate ball.

She was the only left-hander to bat for Australia on Saturday, but it allowed them to maintain a right and left-hand combination throughout the innings, resulting in England struggling with their line at times.

It came on the day that BBC Sport published a feature about the "huge gap" in England's squad (they have no left-handers in their 16-player group), with just 0.95% of balls being faced by left-handers in T20s since April 2016.

Read more: 'It's a huge gap' - where are England's left-handers?

Image of the day - Stunning sub fielding

MATTHEW CHILDS

England substitute fielder Rehan Ahmed with a sensational piece of fielding on day four at Lord's

In the absolute chaos that ensued when the hobbling Nathan Lyon came out to bat, there was some sensational fielding from England's teenage substitute Rehan Ahmed to save five potentially crucial runs.

Starc looked to have hit Stuart Broad for six, with the ball in the air over the boundary rope by a few feet, only for Ahmed to dive, stretch an arm out, catch it and throw it back inside the rope before he landed.

Lyon managed to hobble a single, putting himself through the pain barrier to get there.

And finally...

'Not again' - Cummins survives after Stokes no ball

There have been nine days of cricket so far in the 2023 Ashes series and for the third day out of those nine, there was a no-ball wicket.

At Edgbaston, Broad thought he had got Usman Khawaja out, only to discover he had overstepped his mark, and on day two at Lord's Root was reprieved after Green erred.

On day four, England captain Ben Stokes put his side 2-1 up in the no-ball wicket tally when he thought he had removed opposite number Pat Cummins, only for umpire Ahsan Raza to stick out his arm.

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