England's Ashes headaches set to continue at the selection table

England are almost certain to change their line-up for the second Ashes Test after being thrashed at Brisbane, but their options are far from attractive.

The tourists fielded five bowlers in the opening Test yet only Stuart Broad and James Anderson had any impact, with seamers Chris Woakes and Jake Ball, and spinner Moeen Ali, all proving impotent.

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This comes as no surprise given Woakes and Moeen have awful Test bowling records outside England. Ball incredibly averages 114 with the ball from his four Tests.

The most obvious difference between the teams at Brisbane was in bowling depth. While all four of Australia’s bowlers made major contributions, England looked far less dangerous once Anderson or Broad left the attack.

Australia took note of this and in the second innings bunkered down during Anderson and Broad’s 10-over new ball spell. Cavalier opener David Warner shackled his attacking instincts during this danger period and crawled to 7 from 21 balls before returning to his normal approach once England’s vulnerable support bowlers appeared.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Woakes, so highly regarded in England, had a horror debut in Australia, taking 1-113 with his only wicket being tail ender Pat Cummins. Bowling at a gentle pace in the mid-130kmh range, without swing or sharp bounce, it is hard to see how Woakes will be successful at Perth, Melbourne or Sydney.

He should, however, be far more effective in the second Test at Adelaide, where the pitch is likely to similar to traditional English pitches – slow and moist – as it was for the first two day-night Tests at that ground.

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The bigger immediate concern for England is the complete ineffectiveness of Ball and the manner in which Moeen was massively outbowled by Lyon at the Gabba.

The problem for the tourists is that the alternatives in their squad offer nothing different or superior. Left arm quick George Garton would provide a point of difference. But when he was brought into the squad as injury cover, the English media suggested he was just there to give the batsmen net practice against a left armer.

I have not seen a single English pundit suggesting 20-year-old Garton is a decent chance to play at Adelaide. It’s easy to understand why – with just 23 first-class wickets to his name at an average of 36, Garton would be an extremely risky selection in a Test England must win to have a hope of retaining the Ashes.

The bowler far more likely to replace Ball is fellow beanpole Craig Overton. In England’s three warm-up games, the right armer took eight wickets at 28, hardly stats which demand selection given the extremely-weak batting line-ups he encountered.

More importantly, he would add no variety to an England attack which desperately requires it.

Overton is of a similar speed and approach to Stuart Broad, but obviously far less experienced and accomplished. At Brisbane, Australia’s attack had three things England’s did not – a left armer in Starc, a quality spinner in Lyon, and an express bowler who could intimidate the opposition in Cummins.

England have no decent left armer they can pick, no reasonable spin alternative to Moeen, and the only genuinely quick bowler they have, in Mark Wood, was recently injured and reportedly won’t be considered until the third Test.

Currently touring Australia with the England Lions, Wood will audition for the WACA Test during a three-day match against Queensland in Brisbane.

If he gets through that match then England surely will pick Wood at Perth to try to give their attack a better balance. England’s spin cupboard is bare, though. Moeen reportedly battled a finger complaint at Brisbane and has averaged 57 with the ball in his past five Tests against Australia.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Visiting Test spinners are flayed in Australia summer after summer. England’s only back-up slow bowler is 20-year-old Mason Crane. The leg spinner was hammered in England’s three warm-up matches, averaging 52 with the ball and conceding more than four runs per over.

If that’s how Crane was treated by batting line-ups filled with domestic second-XI cricketers, what kind of cruel punishment would be meted out by the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner?
Simply put, Crane is not a viable option for England.

This all sounds pretty grim, doesn’t it? England’s shallow bowling stocks are reminiscent of the batting dregs Australia had in Tests for quite some time.

The bright news for England, amid this gloom, is they might only need Anderson and Broad to win the Adelaide Test. Australia have collapsed time and again on seaming decks, and England have two of the world’s elite bowlers on such pitches.

England badly need to make the most of those expected favourable conditions, because once the series returns to flat decks at Perth, their one-dimensional bowling attack could be exposed once more.