Third Ashes Test: Player ratings

AUSTRALIA 54/110

Chris Rogers 7/10

Batted doggedly to make sure Australia made three figures in their first innings. He showed great skill in leaving the ball and piercing the off-side with acute judgement in his first-innings knock of 52, but could not replicate the effort in the second innings.

David Warner 7/10

Warner's thrilling second-innings knock of 77 off 62 balls showed what could be done by the opener, after departing for two in the first innings, but it was a pity he came unstuck with a poorly judged wristy creation off the bowling of James Anderson.

Steve Smith 2/10

Steve Finn outsmarted him in the first innings with an excellent fifth-stump strategy that saw the top-ranked batsman depart for seven, while in the second innings Smith again fell victim to the resurgent paceman, this time for eight, with a horizontal shot that was....appalling!

Michael Clarke 2/10  

The captain looked like a golfer with the yips and batted without footwork, confidence or runs for his combined total of 13 runs. He also over-attacked at times in the field, meaning his bowlers could only build pressure spasmodically.

Adam Voges 2/10    

Voges may have topped the Sheffield Shield averages last season but sadly it doesn't look like the batsman can impose himself against more highly skilled bowling. His scores of 16 and 0 gave him a series tally of 73 runs from five knocks.

Mitchell Marsh 2/10     

Hundreds scored against mediocre county attacks boosted his confidence, but a lack of defence and judgement at Edgbaston - perhaps due to his inexperience - made for a negligible contribution with both bat and ball. 

Peter Nevill 7/10     

In just his second Test match, Nevill kept immaculately and faced more balls than any other batsman in his gritty and purposeful second innings of 59.

Mitchell Johnson 6/10  

Johnson produced two blasting bombs to get Australia going early on the second day but otherwise he struggled to influence the contest as significantly as he did at Lord's.

Mitchell Starc 6/10    

The paceman was more of a batting allrounder than a lethal fast bowler in this match, thanks to his second-innings 58. He can bowl a jaffa - as he did to get Cook out in the second innings - but he bled too many runs with his inaccuracy. A wicketkeeper's nightmare - buy Peter Nevill a drink please.

Josh Hazlewood 6/10   

Hazlewood took 3-74 including opener Adam Lyth in England's first innings but he couldn't keep up the pressure because his length was too often too short. Another bowler who suffered because Australia chased the game and lost patience.

Nathan Lyon 7/10      

Australia's offspinner bowled steadily and bagged three valuable first-innings wickets - Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Jos Buttler - with occasional sharp turn and persistence, but he needed 400 in the bank to have any second innings influence.

ENGLAND 68/110

Alastair Cook 6/10

Really unlucky to get out the way he did in the first innings, as Adam Voges’ tummy did all the hard work at short leg, while there was not a huge amount he could do about the beauty bowled by Mitchell Starc in the second. His captaincy was solid.

Adam Lyth 2/10

The more Test cricket Lyth plays the more uncomfortable he looks in the environment. He will be kicking himself for getting out driving first time round, but to just miss a straight innocuous ball on leg stump in chasing a low total was careless.

Ian Bell 7/10

Was batting so beautifully, he really should have turned his first innings fifty into a hundred, but was a little too gung-ho. That same gusto gave England's run chase the boost it needed and to be there at the end on his home ground must rate as one of his proudest moments.

Joe Root 8/10

Continues to contribute strongly, and after Australia's claim they would go pretty hard at him again, Root showed his class with runs and a calm influence on the run chase. His catch at third slip to get rid of Josh Hazlewood was an absolute stunner.

Jonny Bairstow 5/10

A middle-ground score because there was nothing he or anyone else could have done to survive the nastiest, most accurate bouncer Johnson could muster. He has had issues with short pitched bowling before, but this was not an example of it.

Ben Stokes 5/10

Sometimes it is just not your game. Unused as a bowler in the first innings and unused as a batter in the second. Stokes felt the force of another Johnson thunderbolt and was upset that he didn't manage to keep his hands down in fending to the keeper. He shouldn't be too hard on himself.

Jos Buttler 4/10

Really struggling with the bat at the moment, which is a concern for someone with his talent. He also made a poor decision by not reviewing his lbw. His keeping is tidy enough, but standing up to Moeen Ali when the ball was turning appeared to flummox him a fair bit.

Moeen Ali 7/10

A much happier appearance for him at his 'home' ground where his first-innings half century rescued what would have been a disastrous effort without his partnership with Stuart Broad. It was a seamers’ pitch and he was hardly required with the ball, but gave it a good rip to suggest he is finding a bit of rhythm.

Stuart Broad 7/10

Another consistent contribution from Broad who played his role as foil to Anderson and Finn perfectly. His runs alongside Moeen were invaluable too. It is funny how it works but his failure to take more than three wickets means that he gets to go to his home ground of Trent Bridge needing just the one to reach 300.

James Anderson 8/10

Back to his best on a pitch that encouraged him to swing and seam the ball in a way that only he can. He was truly exceptional in his repertoire of skills in the first innings and Australia must be relieved that a side injury will keep him out of the next match.

Steven Finn 9/10

Could not have done much more on his return to the side and earned a deserved man-of-the-match for one of the great Ashes bowling spell in recent memory. From where he was as a bowler on the last tour to this performance has been a long hard road, but he has earned his success. Quick, accurate and awkward, the perfect combination for a fast bowler.

Jim Maxwell is the voice of cricket on ABC Grandstand digital radio, calling more than 250 Australian Test matches and countless one-day internationals since joining the national broadcaster as a trainee in 1973.

Dean Wilson is the cricket correspondent for British newspaper the Daily Mirror and has been covering the England cricket team at home and abroad since 2002.

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