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Opinion
Shell-shocked England must be lamenting their weak-kneed batting against a rampant Aussie pace blitz, which obliterated their Ashes aspirations.
They arrived in anticipation of a fiercely contested series but have been decimated by an intimidating Aussie outfit fired up and merciless in pursuit of retaining the hallowed grail between the world’s fiercest rivals.
There’s little to suggest that England can recover from their current situation unless they change half of the current squad and infuse a different mindset.
Unfortunately Joe Root being the skipper has to shoulder much of the responsibility for their shocking performance.
But he fought a lone battle with the bat while all around him fell like ninepins.
The British media and their relentlessly success-hungry fans are aghast at the pathetic contest so far and are baying for blood.
But the sting has been lost after the Aussies clinched a 3-0 lead, leaving the remaining games dead rubbers.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
For their part, Australia have established a close-knit combination with tremendous depth.
Scott Boland, Jhye Richardson and Michael Nesser came in as fill-ins and proved to be sensational in the opportunity they received.
Under new skipper Pat Cummins, they have a leader who leads by example, much like former skipper Steve Smith.
Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have terrorised the English batsmen with lethal pace and accuracy.
And they got little respite when Richardson, Nesser and Boland were introduced to the attack to cover injury.
England will return from this tour licking their wounds and planning retaliation.
But for the rest of the tour they will urgently need to find a counter to the tails-up Australian attack, which has been menacing on an all-round capacity in both pace and spin.
Flat and deflated, there is little to suggest they can overcome their punch-drunk mindset.
But cricket fans would be happy and hoping they can pick themselves up from the mat and make the next two games more competitive.
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