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Opinion
England are all but down for the count and the Ashes series is all but gone with the pitiful sight of skipper Joe Root writhing in dire agony from a low blow in the final minutes of another crestfallen day for the tourists.
The English press pack is glumly resigned to head to Melbourne and Christmas with England’s tour in a state of disrepair after yet another chaotic and painful day in the Adelaide Test.
“There is no question what hurt Joe Root more. It was not the second blow to the groin of the day that left him writhing on the floor in agony, but the fine edge that was caught behind,” The Telegraph’s Nick Hoult solemnly declared.
“Root walked off, or waddled off, looking as if he had been riding a horse all day, knowing the second Test has slipped away along with his dream of winning the Ashes as England captain…. England’s batting is just not good enough.”
Former England opener David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, in the Daily Mail, winced on Root’s low blow: “The sight of Joe Root being hit twice where it most hurts brought tears to my eyes.
Joe Root gets hit on the box by Mitchell Starc. (Getty Images)
“Did I ever tell you the same thing happened to me in Perth in 1974? Switch Mitchell Starc for Jeff Thomson and you get the picture.
“Only I had a little pink box to save me rather than the protection they have today. I told the nurse – get rid of the pain but keep the swelling….”
The Daily Mail’s Paul Newman picked up on England’s growing number of issues as the one-sided nature of the series becomes more apparent.
“Batting that is not fit for purpose at the highest level, with the notable exception of Joe Root and latterly Dawid Malan, is the overwhelming reason why England were set to go two down after the second Test and with it squander any realistic hopes of lifting the urn,” he wrote.
“Yet it was the attack that was changed after the first Test defeat in Brisbane and attention will be soon be given to whether England can go into the third match in Melbourne without a spinner. Or whether they can possibly leave Mark Wood out again.
“The problem in this Ashes is that England simply do not look capable of putting any sort of scoreboard pressure on Australia, even when facing an attack lacking their two best seamers in Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. And with their other leading seamer in Mitchell Starc seemingly nursing a back injury.”
The BBC’s Matthew Henry said England had looked destined for defeat in the game since collapsing on day three but had Root survived the last over there would have been slim hopes that a draw could be salvaged.
“Root has singlehandedly fought to keep England’s floundering batting line-up afloat this year, scoring 1,630 runs in 2021 – a record for an England batter and more than 1,000 any of his team-mates have accumulated,” Henry observed.
“Without Root, England fans will have little faith a middle and lower order that has spent the year disintegrating repeatedly can save the game.”
The lack of a specialist spinner in the English attack was another sore point.
“Even at this early stage there have been many absurdities to England’s Ashes campaign, but the sight of Ollie Robinson, arguably their most reliable seam bowler to date, turning to off spin was rich with irony,” scorned Simon Wilde in The Times.
“England’s management team of Chris Silverwood and Joe Root had chosen to ignore the many clues that spin could play a prominent role in the game and went with an all-seam attack, homogeneous in its medium-pace. It was an awful selection.
“Damian Hough, the groundsman, predicted that the surface would help pace and spin, as the Adelaide Oval usually does, and that is what transpired.”
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain, writing in The Daily Mail, sought answers about the absence of specialist spinner Jack Leach on the ‘Bunsen burner’.
“The sight of Nathan Lyon gaining turn and bounce and bowling with drop and drift on day four raises a big question for England – if Jack Leach is not going to play at Adelaide on that pitch when will he?” Hussain queried.
“The ball was turning on day two and England chose to go into this match without a specialist spinner. The sight of Ollie Robinson bowling off-spin summed it all up. The first innings demonstrated the difference in attitude towards spin of these sides.”
Mike Atherton marvelled at the depth of firepower in Australia’s bowling attack to set up another crushing win in the series.
“With the second ball of the next but one over, the last of the day, Starc thundered in from round the wicket, bowled a full-length 87mph ball that drew Root forward and found enough movement to take the edge.
“As the ball settled into Alex Carey’s magnetic gloves, the reaction from Starc and the fielders told of the situation and the importance of the wicket. It was the last action of the day.
“What a blow it was, from a bowler who has impressed in a leading role given the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
“With the new boys, Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser, not overawed at all, Nathan Lyon enjoying the kind of conditions crying out for a spinner and Cameron Green a revelation as the fifth bowler, offering pace, bounce, movement and accuracy, Australia’s attack has been unrelenting.”
Wicketkeeper Alex Carey was singled out for his polished glovework behind the stumps in only his second Test match.
“It was a blessing in disguise for Australia when their captain Tim Paine was exposed and stood down,” opined The Telegraph’s Scyld Berry.
“Carey is aged 30 and, in a prime example of thorough succession-planning, had been fully prepared to take over as Australia’s keeper.
“Carey’s polished near-perfection contrasts with Jos Buttler’s veering from brilliance to butter fingers. Almost every Australian player except the opener Marcus Harris, and Cameron Green as a batsman, has outplayed his English counterpart, and Carey as comprehensively as anyone”.
“With one Test to play, they have so far amassed 49 noughts, within reach of the all-time record that an earlier incarnation of the team set in 1998.”
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