When will England learn? That’s the question of the hour. Ahead of the Ashes, some of the former England cricketers claimed that the Ben Stokes-led side can finally end the drought, registering their first Test win in Australia since 2011 and may even win the series. However, in the first Test in Perth, they looked clueless and lacklustre, as Australia registered a comfortable win against a England that knew nothing but Bazballing around.
Ahead of the second Test, when England were criticised for their performance and strategy, Stokes commented that they had not been up to the mark, but they are not arrogant and will try to get better with the bat. They planned accordingly and added Will Jacks to the batting unit but in a surprising, rather shocking move, he was added in place of Mark Wood. The pacer was ruled out of the pink-ball Gabba Test, and either Matthew Potts or Josh Tongue was expected to replace him, but England instead decided to play a bowler short.
That definitely bit them hard in the second Test. After posting 334 runs in the first innings, the England players were in a very jolly mood, but by the end of Day 2, the smile was gone. Australia produced a dominant show with the bat, with Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith scoring a half-century each.
What happened on Day 3
Day 3 is often regarded as the moving day and England were expected to script some sort of comeback, but Australia only strengthened their grip. Alex Carey completed his half-century and after his departure, Mitchell Starc kept the scoreboard ticking. Playing with only three specialist pacers and Stokes, England's bowlers were tired and Australia took advantage of that. Starc ended up scoring 77 runs, as Australia made 511 runs, taking a lead of 177 runs.
One would surely expect England to be furious with the second innings and be determined to answer the Australians with the bat, but no! They didn’t change their approach, once again, Bazballing and it wasn’t too difficult for the Aussies to pick wickets. England ended the day on 134/6, still trailing by 43 runs.
Stokes and Jacks were batting in the middle to end Day 3 and unless they produced a miraculous performance, Australia are in all likelihood to extend their lead to 2-0.