Shot In The Arm For The Red Ball

Days have passed since Ben Stokes pulled off cricket’s ultimate magic trick.

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You’re still baffled, right? I have not been able to fathom all the lunacy that happened in that last hour or so in Headingley even after watching those insane highlights on a loop ever since.

How did Stokes toy with Australia’s blue chip bowling attack – rated their best since the McGrath/Warne years – like he was in video game mode?

How did England’s last-wicket partnership score more than the entirety of the team’s first innings? How did Nathan Lyon not gather the ball in a relatively easy run out opportunity? How does Tim Paine keep wasting Australia’s precious reviews? How does Joel Wilson keep making howlers? How does cricket keep giving back to us spoilt fans in this summer for the ages?

Put simply, this is cricket’s golden age. It’s never been better. Although you probably won’t really feel this if you’re on Twitter and stuck in that depressing echo chamber. Even in the aftermath of the Headlingley Miracle 2.0, too many miserable people couldn’t help themselves and tried to spoil the party by focusing on contentious moments. It’s true that cricket can be an easy punching bag with its arcane rules – does anyone really trust the DRS?

But when you’ve just witnessed arguably the greatest Test match and maybe the best Test knock ever, why sulk? I’m Australian but, honestly, seeing Test cricket at its absolute gut-churning overrides eye-rolling jingoism.