THE STORY FROM MANCHESTER: DAY 1 INSIGHT
By Phil Walker

After five days of Ashes cricket this summer, Chris Woakes had snaffled 10 top-end wickets and iced a run-chase under unimaginable pressure. It won’t just be cricket’s latest hordes of newbies – plumping up Sky’s viewing numbers by 45 per cent on the previous home series – wondering where he’s been all this time.
Nine of those wickets came against batters in Australia’s top seven. The tenth, coming with the new ball at the end of a taut first day, was the dangerous Alex Carey, caught playing for time, in keeping with Australia’s inch...