SWING AND APRAYER
Another dire day with the bat, but with the ball moving wildly under lights, Anderson and Woakes give England hope
ENGLAND finally landed a blow on Australia in Adelaide that was more than just hollow words and empty sledges.
The visiting bowlers took four Aussie wickets in a session as they “pushed back” against a dominant home team under lights with the ball moving like it does on a wet Wednesday at Headingley.
Unsurprisingly, James
Anderson was at the forefront, but Chris
Woakes was there alongside him probing and unsettling the Aussie batsmen.
Yet for all their hard work it all felt too little, too late.
Against the backdrop of a record day-three crowd of 43,088, England’s bowlers were fired up – angry even – after their disappointing first-innings total.
They used the conditions beautifully, unlike the batsmen who had been so pitiful while scoring only 227 all out, achieved mainly by Craig Overton’s 41 not out and 36 from Woakes.
So even though England’s bowlers have set about making up for their lacklustre first-day performance, they are not magicians who can pull another 150 runs out of their hat.
The batsmen have let the side down just as badly and when both sides of the game are dysfunctional, a four-wicket burst barely registers.
“We’ve got some frustrated players in the dressing room,” admitted Anderson.
“We should have got more runs. We didn’t feel we batted well, but all we can do as bowlers is try our best and we’ve given it everything.”
There can be no doubting the sweat and toil of the England bowlers, but the batsmen have not hung tough when that was the bare minimum required.
Joe Root and Alastair Cook in particular must feel the weight of responsibility on their shoulders as the two senior men. Yet taking their wicket is as easy as a threepiece puzzle at the moment.
“We could have had a better day with the bat,” agreed Woakes. “We have played a few loose shots.
“We have to bat for longer periods and make the bowlers come back and bowl three, four or five spells. It’s frustrating as a team, but not as bowlers v batters.
“When you build a partnership and work as a pair it gets easier. When you first go to the crease it is tough, but it is Ashes cricket. You expect it to be tough.
“We fought back well, we’ve pushed Australia back and we can take some positive stuff from that.”
There were more words exchanged between Root and Peter Handscomb as they left the field with temperatures running far higher between them than in the cool air above the ground.
It was an evening of high drama, which is what day/night Test cricket was supposed to be about. The only problem is that England may have left it too late to come to the party. ALEX HALES is free to play for England again after being told he has no case to answer over his involvement in a Bristol brawl last summer.
It means that Hales (right) can be picked in the England squad for the one-dayers against Australia that follows the Ashes from January 14.
Ben Stokes will also be named in that squad, but with an asterisk next to his name because he could yet be charged for his part in the same incident at 2.35am after leaving a nightclub.
Stokes remains suspended pending the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision. Only then will the ECB begin its own disciplinary process.