On the list of most unlikely things to occur in this Ashes series, it ranked only slightly above Jonny Bairstow storming off Lord’s with a fully-grown pitch invader under his arm.
Here was Mitchell Marsh, brought in from the cold and thrown straight into the Headingley furnace, having himself an afternoon.
In an electric flurry of willow and bicep, Australia’s forgotten all-rounder forged his career’s masterpiece, dragged his side off the canvas and created an Ashes memory that will endure beyond this series.
It came from nowhere and ended just as abruptly, a fever dream in a day of cricket owned by brilliant bowling on a pitch at last worthy of the occasion.
England won the toss and bowled again, but with an added urgency lacking from the corresponding period at Lord’s. England struck early and often, and with Australia limping at 4-85 Marsh certainly seemed an unlikely saviour.
But right from the moment he strode to the middle, there was an aura about him.
He cut through the Australian anxiety that had gripped the morning session, his barrel chest arriving on the scene like a bouncer ready to sort out some trouble at the back bar.
It wasn’t the swagger of a cricketer who had been in Test exile for four years, but rather one who was totally confident in his own strengths and totally comfortable with whatever end result fell his way.
The score may have been dire, but Marsh was there to play some shots, come what may. What’s the worst they could do, drop him?
And that really is the difference at the moment between Marsh and the man he replaced, Cameron Green.
Green has all the tools Marsh boasts and then some, and somehow is a full five centimetres taller than him too. One day he might enter a cricket match with the confidence that can only come with knowing you could beat up every other person on the field, but that day hasn’t come yet.
Green has sometimes seemed to find himself torn between mindsets. Marsh, or at least this version of Marsh, does not have that problem. This innings was breathtaking as much for its completely unflinching conviction as its brute strength.
But it certainly helps when you can take that kind of mental freedom and put it inside a centre-half-forward’s frame.
Marsh played genuine, technically perfect cricket shots but with the most obscene power you could imagine. Cover drives that were hitting the fence before cameras could catch up, straight drives that nearly took bowlers’ fingers with them on the way to the rope.
A pull shot off the extreme heat of Mark Wood — more on him later — that recalled Andrew Flintoff and Brett Lee 12 years ago, two red stags bashing heads at full pace.
It was truly outrageous batting, and as he celebrated his 100th run Marsh seemed just as stunned as the rest of us. He probably never thought he’d play another Test, let alone make another Test ton, let alone make a Test ton like this.
The importance of the knock only grew as the day went on. In the time either side of Marsh’s innings, England’s rejigged fast-bowling unit completely dominated Australia batters.
At the forefront of that was Wood, and a Thursday morning spell that reinvigorated his team and changed the series.
Finally fit again, Wood injected some heavy metal into an otherwise smooth and melodic bowling attack. He touched 156 kilometres per hour in his first over, and you could see every bit of it.
This wasn’t just fast bowling that showed up on the radar. This was one-bounce into the sightscreen, shatter the stumpcam sort of pace. It rattled the Australians and it set Headingley alight.
But even more impressive than Wood’s speed was his control, and his ability to move the ball at that pace. Even when he returned late to wrap up the tail, he didn’t simply set out to intimidate but to outwit — the delivery that castled Mitchell Starc was just as good as the one that did Usman Khawaja.
In other words, Wood produced the bowling equivalent of Mitch Marsh’s innings.
The performances of both men ensured this was a day that would be remembered purely for the cricket, with the Lord’s circus largely left mercifully in London.
There were the expected boos and jeers for the Australians from the Leeds crowd, mostly directed at Pat Cummins and Alex Carey.
Perhaps the funniest part of this whole saga is that it’s now Carey, perhaps the most inoffensive member of the Australian team, that is public enemy number one. The second funniest part is that the Western Terrace chose to display their displeasure by waving their shoes at him.
They even had the chance to enjoy a bit of Bairstow pantomime as the England keeper made quite the show of ensuring his safety beyond his crease after his first few balls. Oh what a laugh we all had, what a riotous time indeed.
Bairstow was only out there thanks to one final twist in an enthralling day, as Cummins and Marsh combined for three English wickets to leave the game somewhere near even at the close of the first day’s play.
Australia arrived at Leeds bracing for an English response. It came as fast and furious as expected, but thanks to one of the great counterpunches in Ashes history, we still have a game on our hands at Headingley.