At lunch Lord’s looked exactly as you picture it in the dark days of winter. The sun was out, the sky was blue and the bars were buzzing with happy chatter. You wouldn’t have guessed it, then, but there was a storm coming in.
Australia were 103 runs behind, had five wickets in hand, and Steve Smith and Tim Paine were in the thick of a 50-run partnership. It felt as if England had 60 minutes left to win the Test. Then the tempest came. In the next hour Steve Smith, the best Test batsman of his generation, and Jofra Archer, the fastest bowler England have had in longer even than that, fought a duel we will be talking about as long as they are playing Ashes cricket.
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