‘I’ll give it a crack if I have to’: Lyon’s message as first Ashes Test earns classic Edgbaston comparison

If the eerie comparisons between the Edgbaston Ashes Test and the 2005 England-Australia epic on the same ground continue to the very end, Stuart Broad for one isn’t sure the nation’s health will be able to stand it.

He was just a fledgling teenage pro when that Test — still arguably the most dramatic ever played in England — was on.

“I was at mum’s actually, and I remember watching it, almost hiding behind the sofa, I found it so hard to watch, it was so tight,” he said.

Peeping from behind that couch, he saw England eke out the most extraordinary two-run win, as the home nation went ballistic watching Australia’s Michael Kasprowicz get caught behind down the legside off Steve Harmison, with umpire Billy Bowden’s crooked finger offering only doom.

And 18 years on, Broad, now the pace warrior charged with leading England’s final-day push for victory, is rather hoping Tuesday’s denouement will not prove quite so nerve-shredding.

“I’m quite conscious that I ought not build up too much hype about Edgbaston 2005 because I’m not sure we want that going to two runs again, do we?” he said.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t get as close as that. Hopefully, we get a few wickets early — because otherwise it won’t do much for the heart will it?”

Australia is chasing 281 after the most brilliant, attacking roller-coaster of a Test. In 2005, they ended up pursuing 282 after similarly dramatic, entertaining fluctuations.

England started this Test scoring at more than five an over with 407 runs being amassed in total on the first day after their late declaration — on the opening day in 2005, they scored … 407 runs.

Australia is in a superior position this time with seven wickets standing and 174 needed. In 2005, they had just two wickets left and 107 to win, only for the extraordinary resilience of Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Kasprowicz to almost edge them over an improbable line.

But if it does come down to a similar finale, Nathan Lyon is ready.

The veteran spinner said that, in England, Sky Sports seem to only have a couple of matches on replay — and that 2005 match is one of them.

So like Broad and his England teammates, who watched it on TV only this week during a rain break, he knows every twist in the drama, right through to that heart-rending, sporting conclusion when the victorious all-rounder Freddie Flintoff crouches down to offer his sympathy to the crestfallen Lee.

“Hopefully, this time it doesn’t go down to 10 or 11, and we don’t have to worry about me putting pads on,” Lyon said.

“Saying that, we’ll give it a go — and I’ll give it a crack if I have to.”

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