The Ashes: ‘Time for England to play like adults in third Test in Adelaide’
Bar Stokes, Joe Root and Jofra Archer, every England player in Australia was either rescued, made his debut or dragged out of the wilderness by the Bazball regime.
Therefore, all they know is this culture. Good vibes, running towards danger, golf courses. McCullum has regularly said that these players should have the time of their lives representing England, which is a fair point. Enjoying Test cricket is great, but so is winning.
Stokes suggested that some of the troubles in England were due to the players who had just started touring Australia not being able to cope with the difficulties of playing in that country. Is this another problem this administration could have foreseen?
Remember the Australian team was getting old, creaky and over the top. Looking back (there’s that word again) they look like cunning veterans.
England had made a number of changes to their squad 18 months ago with this tour in mind.
The selection of Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Bashir at the time was justified not only by their performance but also by their collective temperament, which seemed like quiet steel. Neither Atkinson nor Bashir are now in Adelaide’s starting XI and Smith needs to find something somehow after his dismal display in Brisbane.
Two years ago England were 2-0 down at home in the Ashes. They prepared for this series with a golf trip to Scotland; One wonders whether they will change this decision if given the chance.
As England gathered for the third Test at Headingley, Stokes, irritated by Jonny Bairstow’s stunner at Lord’s, addressed his team with a word that could not be printed on the BBC. It worked. England fought back and would have won the Ashes had it not been raining in Manchester.
The England team at the time was full of battle-hardened soldiers willing to fight in the trenches of the Ashes. Bairstow, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood. None of these men are currently in Australia.
It wasn’t so long ago that England were happy to go to war with India in the summer. There were flashpoints at Lord’s and Old Trafford and Stokes’ men looked like the better side with fire in their bellies.
Did they think they could bully India and then faint in Australia?
There is a nagging suspicion that the current team has left too much to current and past captains Stokes and Root. Adelaide means a lot to both men. Root played club cricket here, Stokes made his Test debut in this city.
Does the rest of the squad wonder why these two legendary names in English cricket have found it so difficult to find success in Australia?
