Mitchell Starc’s double blow and ball at dusk propels Australia into the light | Geoff Lemon

If you really squinted – perhaps with the help of a 36-hour plane trip or a handful of 1970s anti-anxiety medication – there was a time when you could have argued that England had pulled off a tactical masterstroke. When the looming threat of the day was Mitchell Starc bowling at dusk around 6pm Brisbane time, it might have been smart to let him bat in the hot sun for four hours first and strip him down so your openers could smash him.

It may have been a calculation Starc also considered when wondering whether to throw the bat or continue grinding out runs. Ultimately, he appreciated more that each of them contributed to Australia’s lead. The team’s main bowling weapon strengthened his series contribution with 77 runs off 141 balls, 22 runs below his highest score and three deliveries below his longest. Scott Boland similarly produced his second-longest innings, with an unbeaten 21 from 72 balls, a partnership that England carried weakly.

In a world where Test cricket is moving faster and faster, it’s interesting how the latest tweak to the day-night format is creating an incentive for old tactics to make a comeback. The defensive vigil has always been key to the game, just as the England setup seems to think that scoring quickly is all anyone cares about. It turns out that while crowds can be exceptionally large, they can also be more intelligent than you might think. For those watching from a field, there is always appreciation for a tactically smart delay.

That’s what Starc achieved, rising at the fall of Michael Neser’s wicket early in the first session, and batting deep in the second, taking Australia from 383 for seven to 491 for nine. The real point, more than the lead that ended at 177 when the final pair crossed 500, was beating the time. What was important for Australia was to bowl a new ball at dusk. Where late innings batting can sometimes feel rudderless, this need provided a very clear direction, something to play for, with every pass over Australia representing a small victory.

Hence the steady and sensible accumulation, with Starc leading the strike for much of the 75-run stand with Boland, only occasionally expressing himself with a boundary whip when the offer was too tempting. England’s defensive approach, spreading the field while on strike as if Boland were the only batsman to dismiss, allowed him to play as he pleased.

Once the penalty was done, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett started fearlessly in the twilight, hitting 48 from 46 balls in a frantic opening passage. But for Australia, the trade-off was worth it. Even if Starc’s fatigue was a factor in his wicketless burst – having batted in his first over in the three previous innings of this series – his batting had left a huge cushion for less spectacular bowling options such as Neser, straight and skiddy bowling and waiting for an error.

Even for those who make no claim to coaching cricket, it is a fundamental point of batting that a straight drive should go into the ground as quickly as possible. That so many English versions have done the opposite in this match, with some of Crawley in the first innings before Pope and Duckett ahead of him in the second, says something about their approach.

Driving up on a fast pitch in Perth sent miscues flying towards the cordon, while slower bounce here led to similar shots being lifted straight. Crawley’s several strokes just past a bowler and Duckett’s dropped catch were warning enough, but Pope and Crawley nevertheless remained in the lemming loop until they fell in the same manner.

England survived Starc, but still surrendered their position at 97 for three. At that moment he came back. After a rest there was pace and there was width outside the stump. With less than an hour to go there was an English player who had to ignore it, but he made a drive. The culprit was Joe Root, the center of the story of the drought crisis and of England’s first-innings resistance, underscoring their plight.

Starc added Jamie Smith in the same fashion soon after, after Boland picked off Harry Brook, having previously bowled Duckett. On a day when England had hoped the pair would hurt them in just one discipline, the pain returned in the other. Like his canted seam, Starc can go either way.