Lame old story
ROOT & CO SUFFER ANOTHER COLLAPSE
ON this Ashes tour it has all become so depressingly familiar.
When England bat first they post something the Aussies cruise past, and when England bowl first they concede a score that their batsmen can’t get anywhere near.
So for the fifth time out of five, England coughed up a huge firstinnings lead to the home side, this time 115 before it was extended to 152 by the close of day two.
Torture
No England batsman made more than Chris Woakes’ 36, and he was dropped twice including a simple chance at slip from his very first ball.
This was another day of pure torture for England fans, who might have hoped against all hope the batsmen might just post 300 first time round at least once this series.
But with just 188 on the board, that remains a pipe dream thanks to the relentless excellence of Pat Cummins and Mitchell
Starc, not to mention
England’s batters pressing the selfdestruct button.
Nothing highlighted that more than the direct hit run out that accounted for Rory Burns before he had got off the mark.
Zak Crawley pushed the ball into the off-side and set off, but Burns narrowly failed to beat Marnus Labuschagne’s throw.
The fact he did not get the dive out when it was so close was curious.
And it leaves his career hanging by a thread with a decent second-innings score now simply a must, and former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting was unimpressed with what he saw.
“There had to be more desperation there from Burns,” said Ponting. “He’s back into the side and fighting for his Test career and he’s not willing to put in a big dive to try and save his wicket.”
But Burns was not the only player to be criticised by the favourite son of Tasmania with an Ashes Test on his former home
England opener Rory Burns is run out for a duck ground for the first time. The rest of the England line-up failed to go on and make the most of the conditions they had wanted to bat in.
But somehow England found a way to lose four wickets for just 32 runs in a middle order collapse that left Woakes and debutant Sam Billings with a job to do at 110-6. And the dismissal of Ollie Pope for 14 (left), fiddling at the ball well outside off stump was enough to get Ponting riled again.
“That was poor batting,” he added. “That was just a nothing shot. Ollie Pope you can shake your head as much as you like, but that’s your mistake young man.”
At least Billings provided some energy in his 29 before being caught on the boundary hooking Cameron Green.
And when Australia came to bat again Stuart Broad could not hide his delight at dismissing David Warner for a second duck in the match thanks to a brilliant Pope catch at point.