Ashes

That was the innings that bridged the styles of traditional and attritional Tets cricket with the innovations that have come from the shortest form. What held them together was of course great talent and massive self-belief. A player with those attributes would always have been effective in any era of the game and in any format, but now he has shown that it need not matter if you have played 4 day cricket regularly to be able to perform with differing pitch and weather conditions, and against the vagaries of an ageing ball. In his ability to adapt to the needs of the situation right at the end of the game he has shown that really fit and motivated players can perform - and of course, there must be luck sometimes - against all odds. Doing this and attracting and entertaining massive crowds, who will now be convinced that Test cricket really is a wonderful and fulfilling event, he has without meaning too destroyed the case against innovation. For who can possibly doubt now that it doesn't matter if the game is called the Hundred, or T20, or a Test match, but when players of his calibre and adaptility perform at their finest then people will watch, and admire and be motivated to imitate them?

I love the idea of yesterday's Test cricket 'bridging' the various styles of the game. In Stokes' innings, he batted slowly and patiently to keep us into the game and then made front-page newspaper headlines with his more memorable effort at the end. Whether many will remember the more careful part of his innings in years to come is open to question. The match and his innings are being compared to Ian Botham's incredible effort at Headingley. I think it was a different type of performance, but I think it showed that Botham would have been a handful in T20 if it had existed in his day. I have to admit that I didn't like T20 when it first came on the scene, perhaps because it was so far removed from the type of cricket I loved so much. Things have moved on though. Test cricket may be less 'classy' (whatever that might mean), but it is more exciting, produces few dull draws and is showing some signs of 'bridging' as it matures. T20 has become far more tactical or, perhaps, I am taking the trouble to study the tactics. Targeting bowlers grew from T20 and I do think that in Test matches this summer, England are trying to knock Nathan Lyon down a peg or two by targeting him when conditions are right. I'm fascinated to see what happens to cricket over the coming years.

Good game in the making. Shame it's a bit of a dead rubber. I think they should introduce a new rule and it's best explained like this. If England win this game by 200 or more runs they win the Ashes. This game would be better for it anyway.