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They were whitewashed 5-0 in 2006-07, suffered a similar fate seven years later and last time out four years ago they were thrashed 4-0. That’s how the England team has had to endure humiliations in Ashes battles Down Under and the manner in which the current series is playing out one of the two results is again on the cards.
Australia are two up after two Tests and there are no indications that England can turn things around. Yes, they may put up a fight, may take the match to the fifth day, come up with some fine individual performances but the results of the remaining Tests seem a foregone conclusion plainly because of the disparity between the contestants.
So are the Aussies all that formidable or is the visiting side all that weak? A bit of both really. The home team is functioning like a well oiled machine and have tremendous bench strength, something driven home by the fact that they scored a thumping victory at Adelaide without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Both should be back for the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne making England’s bid for a comeback that much tougher. The only weak link appears to be opening bat Marcus Harris but Australia have enough firepower in their batting to cover up for his failures.
In David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith they have a top order batting line-up that is awe inspiring. The bowling is as strong. Mitchell Starc is at the peak of his powers as also Hazlewood and Cummins while Nathan Lyon is proving to be a handful with his accuracy, flight and turn.
And what do England have in response to all this? Not much can be said. Their predicament can be best summed up by the non-performance of Rory Burns. Which other team would persist with an opening batsman who averages under 31 after playing 31 Tests and getting only three hundreds? This kind of persistence with a batsman whose technique has been sadly exposed during the ongoing series forces the genuine cricket fan to ask the question – are there no other batsmen in England? His opening partner Haseeb Hameed is no better averaging under 30 after eight Tests with no hundred and a highest score of 82.
When a team has two opening batsmen who are repeatedly failing half the battle is already lost. Joe Root would appear to be carrying the world on his shoulders such is the enormous pressure on the England captain and the one classy batsman they have. He seems out of place in the company of the other batsmen around him playing one superb knock after another but all in vain. David Malan too has had his chances but has failed to grab them averaging just 30 after 19 Tests which is below par for a No 3 batsman.
Much the same can be said about Ollie Pope who has not lived up to his early promise and averages under 30 after 22 Tests with just one hundred. Much more is expected from Chris Woakes and Jos Butttler while the failure of Ben Stokes to come up with the kind of contributions in keeping with his larger than life image has also cost England dearly.
The bowling too has not covered itself with glory. The tactic of going in with an all out pace attack at Adelaide was always going to be one tinged with grave doubts but then again the team management probably didn’t have a choice after Jack Leach came up with a dismal performance at Brisbane. Chris Broad and James Anderson are in the evening of their careers and in any case they haven’t done well in Australia. Mark Wood, their fastest bowler, is the only one who looks like he could trouble the Aussie batting line-up and in a surprise move he was left out of the Adelaide Test.
So how does England attempt to turn things around? Well, for starters they might avoid the mistakes they have repeated in the first two Tests. Root touched upon this aspect when he said that the most disappointing thing about Adelaide is that ''we made the same mistakes we made at Brisbane.’’ Perhaps the time has come for drastic measures like an overhaul in the team composition. The team management could bring in Jonny Bairstow to bolster the middle order batting and also off spinner Dom Bess to bring some variety to a one dimensional attack. Dan Lawrence and Craig Overton could also be contenders for a place for Melbourne in the hope that they cannot fare any worse than some of the players are faring.
Only once before in Test history has a team come from 0-2 behind to win a Test series – Don Bradman’s Australian team against England in 1936-37. It is quaint to think of such legendary feats but for the current England side if they could halt the rampaging Aussies from sealing the series at Melbourne that itself would be something to write home about.
