When play started on day four in Brisbane England were in as big a man-made hole as you could find outside Kimberley, South Africa. This post looks at their efforts to escape, makes suggestions for changes for Adelaide and provides player ratings for both sides.
THE REST OF THE ENGLAND INNINGS
England resumed on 134-6, 43 short of making Australia bat a second time. Many were probably not betting on the game being in progress even until the first interval, but in the event England did not lose a wicket in the whole session, Ben Stokes and Will Jacks knuckling down and batting sensibly, marking a welcome change of policy from England. The pair kept going after the interval, and it took a brilliant piece of fielding by Steve Smith to break the partnership, catching Jacks for 41 off Michael Neser. Stokes reached 50 before Neser also got him, with a good ball that produced an edge to Carey. Gus Atkinson’s dismissal was disappointing, taking on a hook shot with seven fielders stationed on the leg side. Unsurprisingly he picked one of them out. Carse and Archer added a few runs before Carse became Neser’s fifth victim of the innings, caught by Steve Smith who passed Rahul Dravid’s all time record for test catches as a fielder (Dravid’s overall tally is still ahead of Smith’s because he played a few matches as wicket keeper). England had reached 241, an advantage 20 runs less than had ever been successfully defended in a test match fourth innings (The Oval 1882, the match that led to the creation of The Ashes, when England were 77 all out to lose by seven runs), but rather better than had looked possible when wickets were being thrown away willy-nilly yesterday.
THE AUSTRALIAN CHASE
Gus Atkinson managed to account for Head and Labuschagne before the inevitable happened. Steve Smith played an explosive cameo at the death, recording 23 not out from nine balls to finish the job for Australia. Jofra Archer was the other bowler used by England, and while quick he was not terribly effective. He also got into a verbal tussle with Steve Smith, which given how the match had gone can only be considered to be as ill-judged as it was unappealing.
PLAYER RATINGS
Zak Crawley – 6. Two decent contributions, but two poor dismissals, and for a test match opener 76 and 44 cannot be considered stellar.
Ben Duckett – 2. Two poor scores, two chances dropped in the field but he was the only one of the six English batters dismissed yesterday to get a good ball rather than tossing his wicket away.
Ollie Pope – 3. A duck in the first innings, 26 in the second, both dismissals quite appalling, and the second triggered a batting collapse in which 90-1 (immediately before he was out) became 128-6.
Joe Root – 8.5. A magnificent undefeated century in the first innings seemed to have given England real hope, but he gets debited for being part of the collapse in the second innings.
Harry Brook – 3. He scored 31 in the first innings and 15 in the second, but both his dismissals were disgraceful.
Ben Stokes – 6. He was England’s best bowler in the first Australian innings and scored a gritty 50 in the second to salvage a measure of respectability after the collapse. On the debit side his captaincy did not merely fail to prevent the Australian first innings from getting away from England, it actually contributed to it doing so.
Jamie Smith – 3. Failed twice with the bat, and though he performed competently with the gauntlets he was quite clearly and obviously the second best keeper in this match.
Will Jacks – 5. Failed in the first innings, his bowling was of little relevance to England, but he battled hard in the second innings after many of those above him had thrown their wickets away.
Gus Atkinson – 4. Did not bowl well in the first dig, his second innings dismissal was a disgrace, even for someone who is primarily a bowler, but he did take two wickets in the final innings, and was good value for them.
Brydon Carse – 3. Emerged from a dire first innings bowling performance with a largely undeserved four-for. At one stage he was leaking runs at a rate that would have been unacceptable in T20 cricket, and though he was tighter later in the innings that is partly because the Aussies at that stage were playing for time, wanting the England second innings to begin under lights.
Jofra Archer 4. Although he was impressively quick in the final innings the best thing he achieved all match was his cameo with the bat in the first innings.
Travis Head – 4. Scores of 33 and 22 cannot be considered good work for an opener.
Jake Weatherald 6. He scored 89 runs for once out in the match (72 and 17*).
Marnus Labuschagne 5. One of many Aussies to score well in the first innings (65) but failed in the second.
Steve Smith 6. A match aggregate of 84 (61 and 23*) and some excellent fielding, but his spat with Archer in the closing stages reduces his score slightly.
Cameron Green 5. Scored 45 in the first innings, but was a bit part player with the ball.
Alex Carey 8. Batted very well for his 63, and was excellent with the gloves.
Josh Inglis 3. Selected as a specialist batter rather than a keeper, he managed 23 from number 7 before being bowled by Stokes.
Michael Neser 7. Five second innings scalps, and a solid bowling performance in the first dig as well.
Mitchell Starc 9. Eight wickets in the match, and the highest individual Australian score, 77. Given the extent to which his side bossed the match there was only one candidate for Player of the Match. He, along with the entire England batting line up for their poor play in both innings in Perth and for much of the second innings here, is the chief reason Australia head to Adelaide 2-0 up and in the box seat.
Scott Boland 7. Bowled better than his figures suggest.
Brendan Doggett 7. In statistical terms the least impressive of Australia’s specialist seamers, but he was asked on several occasions to pound the ball in short which is not the approach that won him his baggy green, and I have marked him generously in consequence.
SUGGESTED CHANGES
Ollie Pope has to go – he averages 18 against Australia, and his batting this match can only have been the product of a scrambled mind. In Adelaide extra bowling will be needed, so I would suggest that Stokes promote himself to number three. The other candidate for that slot is Jacob Bethell, but it is a big ask for a youngster to make his Ashes debut in that pivotal slot. I also cannot see how Carse can play in Adelaide, and would bring in Matthew Potts – a skilled fast-medium in support of outright quicks Archer and Atkinson, with Bashir in as spinner, and Jacks probably at six, possibly at seven with Smith moving up to six – England do not have an official reserve keeper on this tour, so he cannot be dropped. Thus my probable XI for Adelaide would be Z Crawley, BM Duckett, *BA Stokes, JE Root, HC Brook, WG Jacks, +J Smith, AAP Atkinson, M Potts, JC Archer, S Bashir. England have a huge mountain to climb – only one side has ever won a five match test series from 0-2 down, Australia in 1936-7, when Donald Bradman came up trumps in spectacular fashion, scoring 270 not out in the third match, 212 in the fourth and 169 in the fifth.
PHOTOGRAPHY
My usual sign off…
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