England Fightback Comes Too Late

Early this morning UK time England lost the test match in Adelaide by 82 runs and with it both The Ashes and the series. Australia are now 3-0 up with two matches left to play.

DAY FOUR

England had their best period of the test match when they took the last six Australian wickets for 38 runs. Unfortunately that still left them needing 435 to win, more than has ever been successfully chased in a test match before. By the close they had lost six of their second wickets and such hope as they still retained rested with Jamie Smith and Will Jacks.

DAY FIVE

Jamie Smith made 60, but his dismissal was a poor one. Jacks found further support from Brydon Carse, as England extended the match into the afternoon session of the final day. Jacks was eventually dismissed for 47 having held out for almost three hours. This was a particularly impressive effort since he is by nature a stroke maker but put that aside in the interests of the team. Thereafter the end was not long delayed.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MELBOURNE

There is no way Ollie Pope can retain his place for the fourth test match in Melbourne. It is also clear that England need a spinner, not a batter cosplaying as a front line spinner (I do not blame Jacks for the embarrassing results of this bowling figures wise, I blame England for trying to have him play a role he does not play even in domestic cricket). Jacks bats high in the order for Surrey, and with England having a vacancy at number three there is an obvious solution there – Jacks moves up and plays as the batter he is, Pope goes out, Bashir comes in. Also for Melbourne I want Matthew Potts in for Brydon Carse, who did get some wickets here but also bowled a lot of dross. While the series is over there is a huge difference between 5-0 and 4-1 or 3-2, and England should be looking to restore some pride in these final matches. In 1950-1 Freddie Brown’s side had a horror time for much of their tour, with a lot of ill luck along the way, but they never lost heart, and in the final test match they saved some face with a victory, England’s first over Australia since before WWII, and in England in 1953 Len Hutton’s England regained The Ashes, which had been in Aussie hands for almost 19 years at the time.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…