It was, depending on your view, either bold or stupid but Craig Overton at least made sure Joe Root’s gamble in becoming the first captain to bowl first at the Adelaide Oval in 25 years did not backfire on the opening day of the second Test.
There were two big surprises at the start of a Test that England simply cannot afford to lose if these Ashes are not going to become another tale of a thumping series defeat followed by rancorous recriminations.
The first came when Jake Ball was jettisoned by England after just one admittedly disappointing performance and replaced by a Somerset bowler in Overton asked to make his Test debut in the harshest of environments.
Craig Overton (centre) took his first Test wicket by dismissing Steve Smith for 40 in Adelaide
But Australia’s Smith will be the happier skipper at stumps on day one, with his side 209-4
England captain Joe Root made the bold call to put Australia in to bat after winning the toss
But that was nothing compared to the shock when Root called correctly for the second successive Test and said he would give first use of what is renowned as one of the best batting surfaces in the world to Australia.
It is not yet clear whether Root’s ‘attacking move’ will go down in Ashes history as inspired or whether it will be remembered as the day England’s inexperienced captain ‘did a Nasser’ and handed the initiative to the old enemy.
But, by the close of the type of cool, often damp day that blighted England’s first day-night Test at Edgbaston last summer, Australia had battled their way to 209 for four and had their noses in front in this pivotal contest.
There was no doubt Root was taking a risk in handing the pink ball to his big two beasts in Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad and asking them to bowl England back into a tour that has been showing signs of falling apart.
England have only decided to bowl first at Adelaide three previous times and each time they have lost. And Nasser Hussain’s decision to insert Australia in Brisbane in 2002 was one of England’s 13 defeats out of the 16 Tests in Australia where they have bucked conventional wisdom in not batting first.
But perhaps the statistic the England captain had taken most note of was the fact that the team bowling first in the only two previous day-night Tests at this magnificent stadium had both gone on to win.
It certainly looked as though Root had made a huge mistake when Anderson and Broad simply failed to locate the right line in the 14 overs that were possible before ‘tea’, pitching too short and failing to take a single Australian wicket.
The stroke of luck England desperately needed came when Cameron Bancroft, who had conducted one of the all-time most surreal Ashes media conferences in Brisbane was run out by a direct hit from Chris Woakes.
England claimed their first wicket when Cameron Bancroft was run out having made 10 runs
Woakes was responsible for running Bancroft out and he was celebrating again soon after
Seamer Woakes got rid of David Warner, who was caught by wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow
It was somehow appropriate that Bancroft ended up on the floor appearing to head-butt the ground after accusing Jonny Bairstow of a similar assault on him in a Perth bar when David Warner left his young opening partner high and dry.
The good fortune seemed to galvanise England and, after Woakes had Warner playing a loose shot and edging through to Bairstow, came the most compelling and hard fought passage of cricket.
There is no doubt England are privately aggrieved at what they consider to be the unacceptable sledging of Bairstow on the fourth day of the first Test and their mocking of the England keeper over the head-butt that never really was.
Now they threw everything at Australia captain Steve Smith, who England blame for leading what is alleged to have become personal abuse, with Broad and Anderson both told to cool their verbals by umpire Aleem Dar.
The best batsman in the world and the biggest difference between the teams at the Gabba was clearly rattled and never looked at his best in battling his way to 40 off 90 balls as England gained more out of the pitch as the lights took hold.
Usman Khawaja made his half-century, contributing 53 runs off 112 balls, including eight fours
Yet it was still a huge surprise when Smith, who could not be breached in Brisbane in reaching an unbeaten 141, was beaten by Overton via his pad and the zing bails sparkled in the Adelaide night time.
It was quite a first scalp for Overton, who had showed glimpses of the aggression that has got him into trouble in county cricket before he learned to channel the anger that has landed him in hot disciplinary water.
That came after Usman Khawaja had reached an uncertain half-century after being dropped by Mark Stoneman on 44 but had fallen to Anderson immediately after the ‘dinner’ break when conditions were at their most demanding.
Peter Handscomb, whose quirky technique makes Gary Ballance seem orthodox, never looked secure but somehow made it through to the close in company with Shaun Marsh as England struggled to take the wickets that Root’s decision at the toss had demanded.
They are still in this Test but they could and should have had more wickets than just the four and will need to strike quickly on Sunday if another Test and another Ashes series in Australia is not to slip away from them.