Of all the turning points and twists and turns that have led to England contemplating their greatest-ever Ashes escape, the impact of Mark Wood has been the biggest.
How England missed the extra pace and X-factor of Wood in their opening two defeats and how he has helped transform this Ashes with both ball and bat at Headingley and now here to leave his side within sight of an emphatic series-levelling triumph.
Wood was the difference in the England attack again on a third day of the fourth Test that left Australia on their knees and desperately hoping the weather will save them.
It will take rain of biblical proportions even by Manchester’s standards to get Australia off the hook now after they plunged to 113 for four, still 162 behind, after Jonny Bairstow had blasted England out of sight with a deluge, runs not rain, of his own.
The forecast is grim but England should need only a session or two at most over the next two days to wrap up an innings victory that would be among their best and most memorable over Australia in 146 years of intense rivalry.
Jonny Bairstow took Australia to the sword as England dominated day three of the fourth Test
Mark Wood took three wickets with the ball as England moved a step closer to levelling the series
Wood’s pace has been the difference in the last two Tests and has dragged England back into the series
And it would set up what would be one of the biggest Ashes clashes of all time at the Oval next week with all momentum and form in England’s favour.
It was Wood who made the breakthrough when Australia began their second innings 275 behind. With just his second ball he forced Usman Khawaja to edge through to Bairstow and take a second wasted review with him.
Surprisingly, Stokes took him off after just one over and it was Chris Woakes, quietly making almost as big an impression on this series as Wood since his introduction in Leeds, who got David Warner dragging on soon after.
It looked like Woakes had claimed the big wicket of Steve Smith when he appeared to edge to Joe Root, even though the former England captain was unsure whether he had taken it cleanly.
His honesty probably cost England as replays suggested Root had got his fingers under the ball but TV official Kumar Dharmasena gave Smith the benefit of flimsy doubt.
No matter. Wood came charging in again from the James Anderson End and Smith got the slightest of touches through to Bairstow as he tried to pull before Travis Head was undone yet again by the short-ball policy and extra pace of Wood.
The scalp of Smith was Wood’s 100th in his 30th Test of a career that has been so cruelly restricted, in red-ball cricket at least, by injury. He really would have been one of the fast bowling greats if had stayed fitter since his debut eight years ago.
England began the day not intending to bat on too long and would have been happy with a lead of 200 and Australia in again just before lunch.
Bairstow hit 10 fours and four sixes in an innings that reminded fans of his form last year
He missed out on a century only due to James Anderson getting out lbw in England’s final wicket
But such was the amount of time left in this Test, in theory at least, and the importance of Bairstow regaining both form and belligerence that Ben Stokes just let him carry on and enjoyed the fun.
What fun it was, too, as Bairstow returned to his big-hitting, exhilarating best with an unbeaten 99 off 81 balls and Australia’s battered morale took another turn for the worse.
England had made, by their standards, a relatively sedate start to the third day but still extended their lead by 122 in the morning session at just over five an over, with Australia so intent on slowing down play and waiting for rain that they bowled just 24 overs.
England may have gone harder had Stokes not been bowled for 51 by Cummins but Harry Brook went on to make, remarkably, his 10th half century in his first 18 Test innings before Bairstow took over with an onslaught reminiscent of his 2022 Bazball introduction.
How important Bairstow’s stunning day-one catch to send back Mitchell Marsh was. It brought his confidence flooding back after such a difficult start to this Ashes and empowered him to be at his bristling best with the bat.
Australia again had no answer as Bairstow smashed four sixes, one of them a huge blow over long on off Pat Cummins measured at 95 metres that drew gasps of admiration from Stokes in the dressing room.
At one stage Gilbert Jessop’s fabled fastest England Test century off 76 balls looked under threat as Bairstow marshalled the tail expertly to add 86 for the last two wickets.
When he cut Cummins for four to reach 98, a Bairstow century looked guaranteed. But his mistake was then in hitting Cameron Green to long off and running —thinking he could make two when he had to settle for one.
Next ball Jimmy Anderson was trapped lbw by Green to leave Bairstow as the seventh player in history and the third Englishman after Geoffrey Boycott and Alex Tudor to be stranded on 99 in a Test. For once, it really should not matter.
Harry Brook made his 10th half century in just his 18th Test match as he batted nicely again
Australia captain Pat Cummins was left scratching his head once again throughout Friday
England never doubted him, nor did they ever come close to turning back to Ben Foakes behind the stumps, but that didn’t stop Bairstow believing he had a point to prove here. How he proved it.
England had reached 592 in just 107.4 overs — with six of their top seven making scores of 50 or more — and left Australia battered, bruised and bullied like rarely before.
Not least their big three fast bowlers in Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who were smashed for 392 runs between them off 75 overs — even though Hazlewood had the small consolation of a five-wicket haul.
Now, both these sides will glance at the skies as soon as they wake up on Saturday morning to see if the most apocalyptic forecasts prove correct. Surely it cannot rain solidly for two days, can it, even in Manchester? It is Australia’s only remaining hope.
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