Well, look. If you were to run Australia‘s entire highlights reel from Day 1 of the Third Ashes Test at Edgbaston, this catch would roll and that would be about it.
It’s not simply because the catch itself isn’t absolutely bloody brilliant – it is, and then some. It’s just that overall Australia had a really, really shitty day.
With the ball swinging so much it might as well have been Cab Calloway, the English bowlers mercilessly ripped apart the Australian batting order, skittling the tourists for a measly 136 in just 36 overs – ensuring that this Ashes series remains the wildly see-sawing affair that is has been thus far.
That total could well have been much much worse were it not for opener Chris Rogers, who battled gamely to a score of 52 – often finding himself stuck at the non-strikers end watching wicket after wicket fall.
The English batting lineup might have fared much better – closing the day’s play 3 runs behind Australia’s mark with just 3 wickets down – but it was Adam Voges who somehow managed to steal the highlight of the day away from the opposition.
With spinner Nathan Lyon rolling his arm over, a half-track delivery to Alastair Cook that should have found the boundary line in less than a second, instead found its way into Voges’ clutches at short-leg.
“Catch” is probably a bit of a stretch to use here; more like “stuck,” or “embedded.” Either way, that’s out, and no one would be surprised if Voges had to duck up into the rooms to have his lungs re-inflated afterwards.
