Warner dares to dream of 'Agar' miracle

If Australia are to pull off a miracle in the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston their tail will need to scrap together a 150-run lead, according to opening batsman David Warner.

Recap & highlights: England close to Finn-ishing Australia off

Warner scored 77 in Australia’s second innings on a dramatic day two which saw 14 wickets fall, 316 scored and England arrive on the cusp of victory and a 2-1 series lead.

Australia currently hold a 23-run lead at 7-168, with second-Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill dropping anchor on 37 off 117 alongside Mitchell Starc on seven.

The third Test was on track to conclude inside two days when towering fast bowler Steven Finn gutted Australia’s middle order, capturing five wickets to reduce the tourists to 7-153 with a single-figure lead late in the evening session before the NSW Blues combo of Nevill and Starc batted safely through to stumps.

While it’s been seam and swing that’s troubled the Australians in Birmingham, off-spinner Nathan Lyon was the standout bowler for Michael Clarke’s men with 3-36 from 12 overs.

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David Warner and Nathan Lyon celebrate a wicket // Getty Images

Lyon claimed a wicket in each of his first three overs to become the first player since champion allrounder Keith Miller at the Adelaide Oval in 1955 to achieve the feat in Ashes contests.

Warner praised Lyon’s excellent performance in seamer-friendly conditions, and says the spinner and the rest of the tail will need to produce another 120 runs if Australia are to be a “realistic” chance of winning.

“Gazza (Lyon) bowled fantastically,” Warner said. “You probably wouldn't have seen a spinner come on at all this game, but it's handy, there is a bit of bounce and turn.

“Anything that we can get is a bonus.

“If I'm being realistic, you definitely need at least 150-plus.”

And while there’s life there’s hope.

Nevill has a first-class double-century; Starc has a Test 99 to his name; Josh Hazlewood has a Test average of 41.66; and Lyon has top-scored in a Test match.

But before the hand starts reaching for the nearest straw, Warner says his teammates can be inspired by a record-breaking knock when they last visited the British Isles that resurrected Australia’s first innings from the brink of despair to a healthy lead in one of the finest Ashes Tests of all-time.

"I think we need a bit of an Ashton Agar cameo from a couple of years back,” Warner said with his trademark grin hiding under a thick moustache.

Recap Ashton Agar's historic debut innings on day two of the first Ashes Test at Trent Bridge in 2013

“We've got to bat positively and have some intent, like we always talk about.

“Get as many runs as we can and then come out and try to put the ball in the right areas and get some wickets, get some momentum and a roll on.”

Agar scored 98 on Test debut batting at No.11 in the first Test of the 2013 Ashes series at Trent Bridge, and in partnership with Phillip Hughes, put on world-record 163 for the 10th wicket to take the visitors from a perilous 9-117 to a powerful 280 all-out and 65-run lead.

While Australia would go on to lose that match by 14 runs in a thrilling finish after lunch on the fifth day, former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy says it wouldn’t be the first time a team has come from the clouds to win an Ashes Test.

“It’s been done before,” a hopeful Healy told cricket.com.au.

“1981, Ian Botham got England from way behind to 150 in front and then Bob Willis came out and got 8-43.

“That’s what has to happen. We’re only going to have a smallish total.

“England are going to be batting on day three, not day five so the wicket is going to better than it was at Headingley in 1981. But let’s hang on to that optimism.”

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