Rattled England turn humiliation into fightback

Jimmy Anderson and Chris Woakes gleefully took the invitation to hoop the ball around under lights to leave Australia wobbling at 4-53 at stumps — with the skipper already back in the pavilion.

Smith was motivated by playing the long game and protecting his prized fast bowlers from becoming over-worked in a long series, but ex-greats said he missed a chance to go for the jugular.

With Peter Handscomb at the crease and Shaun Marsh to come, two sessions of good batting today will put England out of the match and give Smith a hand on the urn.

The flick of a light switch turned a bloodbath into a scintillating contest, and tensions ex- ploded when England accused Nathan Lyon of gamesmanship when the nightwatchman called for the physio in the dying moments — meaning there was no time for another over.

Lyon was struck near the groin, and his call for help was met with a swarm of English protests which continued as the players walked from the ground.

Sir Donald Bradman’s 1936-37 team is the only one in Ashes history to win from 2-0 down, and England doesn’t have The Don.

Anderson was far too good for Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja, but it was allrounder Woakes — who has battled so far this series — who came up with the two big plays when he removed David Warner and Smith.

Mitchell Starc refused to be drawn on Smith’s call to not enforce the follow-on when Australia was 215 runs ahead.

“It’s purely up to Smithy — that’s why he’s the captain. There are pros and cons to both decisions,” he said.

“We’ll look to build on our lead — it gives the bowlers a bit of extra time to freshen up and come out firing.

“We know night sessions are the toughest, but to be four down and still have a lead of 260 and still two night sessions to go, we’ve got some good cricket ahead of us.”

Lyon’s superman caught and bowled followed by Starc’s equally spectacular juggling grab summed up an Australian outfit that looked invincible at that stage.