Two Tests for Cook, Broad and Moeen to rescue reputations
ALASTAIR COOK Tests 3 Runs 83 Ave 13.8
Has now gone 10 Test innings without a half-century — the longest drought of his career — since his monumental 243 against West Indies at Edgbaston. But he is not yet 33, and England need him to help Mark Stoneman bed in at the top of the order. A score in the last two Tests would ease concerns about Cook’s future, but a series average of 13.8 does not bode well: Australia’s fast bowlers have pushed him so far back that he’s being troubled by half-volleys. Time to draw on his famed reserves of mental strength.
MARK STONEMAN Tests 3 Runs 193 Ave 32.2 50s 2
Keeps tantalising with the thought that England have finally found the other opener they have sought since Andrew Strauss’s retirement five years ago. He has got to 27 six times in his 11 Test innings without passing 56, and Australia have roughed him up, especially from round the wicket. Also needs to discover a release shot against Nathan Lyon. Still, at least he’s inspiring cautious optimism.
JAMES VINCE Tests 3 Runs 182 Ave 30.3 50s 2
By veering between the sublime and the ridiculous, mixing dreamy cover-drives with harebrained nicks to slip, Vince has batted according to type. Who knows how his series might have turned out had he not chanced a single to Lyon in Brisbane when he was 17 short of a hundred on Ashes debut, but since then only his 55 in the second innings at Perth has suggested permanence. Playing for his future.
JOE ROOT Tests 3 Runs 176 Ave 29.3 50s 2
The captain’s series average tells the story: by failing to convert either of his fifties into something of Steve Smith proportions, Root has been dragged back into the pack. It is possible to be a Test side’s captain and major batsman, as Smith and Virat Kohli prove. But Root needs to give himself a chance: too many of his dismissals have shown a desire to run before he can walk.
DAWID MALAN Tests 3 Runs 302 Ave 50.3 50s 2 100s 1
The triumph of the tour. Only Smith has more runs in the series, and his tally of 194 at Perth was the most in a WACA Test by an England batsman. Has opened up his stance since his scratchy debut against South Africa in the summer, and is happy to take on the short stuff. Only against Lyon has he looked uncomfortable, but England seem to have unearthed their new No 5.
JONNY BAIRSTOW Tests 3 Runs 241 Ave 40.2 50s 0 100s MOEEN ALI 1
Superb century at Perth proved the folly of wasting him at No 7 in the first two Tests, and ended 18 months without a hundred. But he has to be on his guard: Mitchell Starc has removed him four times, and he has been bowled in each of his last three innings. Keeping remains high-class.
Tests 3 Runs 116 Ave 19.3 Wkts 3 Ave 105.3
An X-rated disaster. If the cut he sustained to his spinning finger in Brisbane has not helped, neither has his inability to work out when to attack fellow off-spinner Lyon, who has removed him five times. England may consider replacing him with Mason Crane – unthinkable at the start of
the series.
CHRIS WOAKES Tests 3 Runs 88 Ave 14.7 Wkts 7 Ave 51.6
Another letdown, if not in the Moeen class. Looked world class in Adelaide, but has otherwise struggled to disprove the theory that he relies on English conditions. His batting, too, has felt a place too high at No 8. Time to prove he can make the ball sing.
STUART BROAD Tests 3 Wkts 5 Ave 61.8 Runs 45 Ave 7.5
His lack of bite has been one of the three biggest disappointments of England’s series so far, along with Cook and Moeen. To his credit, he went at just 2.14 an over in the first two Tests, but at Perth — amid concerns over his left knee — he conceded the worst figures of his 112-match career. His batting is now of rabbit status. England will be praying this is a blip, not the beginning of the end.
JAMES ANDERSON Tests 3 Wkts 12 Ave 25.8
Almost alone among England’s coterie of seniors, Anderson has pulled his weight, delivering a masterclass of swing and seam with the pink ball at Adelaide, and cleverly exploiting Perth’s cracks on the fourth morning. He has also been England’s tightest bowler. If Melbourne or Sydney are cloudy, he could be in business again.
CRAIG OVERTON Tests 2 Wkts 6 Ave 37.7
A broken rib has cut short a promising debut series in which Overton chalked off Smith as his first Test wicket and got stuck in with the bat to kick-start England’s semi-recovery in Adelaide. An extra yard of pace would help.
JAKE BALL Tests 1 Wkts 1 Ave 115.0
Harshly dropped after Brisbane, where he expended energy bowling bouncers, as his captain instructed. Back in the equation as Overton is injured.
MASON CRANE
If England are serious about turning Hampshire’s 20-year-old leg-spinner into a Test bowler, they may as well have a look at him for the last two games. If nothing else, they are desperate for the variety he can provide.
TOM CURRAN
The 22-year-old is making a claim for a Boxing Day Test debut, and he seems to have the snarl to succeed. Whether he has the pace in Australia is another matter.
Lawrence Booth analyses the players who surrendered the Ashes and says the two remaining Tests could decide the futures of several stars in the squad