Anderson frustrated at what might have been

CRICKET: Late fightback by England but they know much better needed in next innings

England were a “frustrated” team even after their late fightback on day three of the second Ashes Test.

Joe Root’s men conceded a mammoth 215-run lead when they were bowled out for 227 at the Adelaide Oval, despite a fine eighth-wicket stand of 66 between debutant Craig Overton and Chris Woakes.

They then produced a muchimproved display with the ball as Woakes and James Anderson took two wickets each in Australia’s 53 for four at stumps, after home captain Steve Smith spared the tourists the bother of following on under lights.

Even so, both Anderson and Woakes hinted the situation was still a case of what might have been if only they had bowled and batted better for the majority of the first innings.

“We’ve got some very frustrated play- ers in the dressing room,” Anderson said. “We didn’t feel like we batted particularly well.

“All we can do as bowlers is try our best, and that’s what we did tonight. We gave it absolutely everything.”

Woakes was at pains to stress no-one was playing the blame game in Root’s team.

“It’s obviously frustrating as a team, but not as bowlers v batters by any means,” he said. “We’re here to stick together as a team.

“We didn’t play as well as we’d have liked – we need to continue to apply ourselves for long periods at a time.

“We need to make sure that come the next innings, we get stuck into the battle.”

Woakes, and even more so Overton, were very honourable exceptions - faced with some fierce pace bowling from Mitchell Starc et al.

“I thought (Craig) batted beautifully on debut, going to the crease and getting plenty of verbals – as you’d expect – and plenty of short stuff,” Woakes added.

“I was pretty annoyed with the way I got out. I felt I probably left a few runs out there.

“(But) we fought back well – we’ve pushed Australia back tonight.

“We’re behind in the game, but we’ve fought back and shown some good character and put some pressure back on Australia.

“I think that’s really important,” he added.

Starc was equivocal in his endorsement of Smith’s decision not to enforce the follow-on, but points out Australia are still almost 270 runs to the good in pursuit of a 2-0 series lead.

Asked if the bowlers were consulted by the captain over whether to bat again, Starc said: “It was purely up to Smithy.

“There’s pros and cons to both decisions.”

Picture: Getty. James Anderson helped England make up some lost ground in the second Ashes Test.