Ollie Pope’s “chaotic” 10-ball stay at the crease set the tone for another England batting failure on day two of the third Ashes Test in Adelaide, says Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain.
Pope (3) was one of three England wickets to fall in the space of two-and-a-half overs prior to the lunch interval as, on a great batting track, the tourists slipped from 37-0 to 42-3.
Harry Brook made 45 and Ben Stokes is not out overnight on the same score – England 213-8, still trailing by 158 runs – as his side’s Ashes hopes are left “hanging by a thread”, according to Hussain.
“Pope’s short stay at the crease again looked frenetic,” Hussain said. “It’s not just his lack of runs and the way he’s getting out… it just sets a tone.
“What I want there from my number three is either to put pressure back on, like Ricky Ponting, Viv Richards, David Gower, or to be like Jonathan Trott and silence the moment, ease the dressing room and remind everyone it’s still a very good pitch.
“He strikes me as someone who doesn’t do that. He still looks a bit chaotic.
“From way outside off, he ends up chipping one to short midwicket and now you’re 41-2 on a flat one which you’re making to look like a bit of minefield.”
Ollie Pope was dismissed for three on day two in Adelaide as his wait for a first Ashes fifty continues
Nathan Lyon also added the wicket of Ben Duckett (29) in his opening over to move him past Glenn McGrath and into second among Australia’s all-time leading wicket-takers in Tests, his 564 second only Shane Warne’s 708.
Brook led a brief counter in the afternoon session, while Stokes’ dogged 151-ball stay at the crease, in which he suffered badly with cramp in the 40 degree heat, at least gives England some semblance of hope heading into the third morning – the captain and Jofra Archer (30no) sharing in an unbroken 45-run partnership through to stumps.
“It looks like the Ashes are slipping away after another difficult day,” Hussain added.
“Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes’ partnership right at the end of the day just shows how good a surface it is.
Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes shared in an unbroken 45-run partnership through to stumps on day two
“England’s top eight batters – with the exception of Stokes and probably Harry Brook – succumbed to the pressure of Australia’s relentless attack.
“Australia’s bowling has been outstanding and England couldn’t live with them.
“England can’t afford another bad day because their Ashes hopes are literally hanging by a thread. They’re going to need a miracle.”
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‘Defiant Stokes left to do it alone for England’
The man to provide that miracle will likely have to be the skipper, with Stokes having previous for pulling out a match-winning performance from nowhere, particularly against Australia.
“It was left to Stokes to be his defiant best,” Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton said of Stokes’ exhausting 151-ball stay at the crease so far.
“Defiant and defensive, as he had to be – more than four hours of sweat and toil.
England’s Ashes hopes likely lie with their captain Ben Stokes as he remains unbeaten going into day three
“I was looking at him during the last drinks break tonight and he was on one knee, taking water on board, towel on his head to try and cool him down.
“He got cramp because of the heat of the day, and he’s trying to do it alone with not much support from his side.”
But Atherton thinks it’s unlikely we see any Headingley-style heroics from Stokes similar to his match-winning 135 as England memorably chased a then-record 359 in that 2019 Test.
“England do seem to be better with a target to aim at,” Atherton added. “Whether that focuses the mind or whatever?
“But I think this Australian attack, in the end, is probably too good for that. Famous last words and all, but we’ve just seen what Nathan Lyon did on a second day pitch.
“If England have a brutal day in the field again, then you’re left really chasing the game on the fifth day.
“Today was the time to get ahead of the game on first innings, and it looks like they’re not going to be able to do that, which is probably going to cost them.
“Stokes arrived here in Australia saying he wanted to join the select band of Ashes winning captains in this country, but that’s looking increasingly further away.”
Trescothick: Pope not void of confidence
England batting coach Marcus Trescothick defended Pope despite his latest batting failure on day two in Adelaide, telling the BBC: “I don’t think it has got to that point where he is void of confidence.
“He didn’t get the runs he wanted to get and found it tough. It goes like that if you get a couple of low scores, the pressure comes on.
“He will still work hard overnight and come back tomorrow with a game plan and then try to put that into place.”
Discussing England’s latest batting failure further in the post-play press conference, Trescothick insisted the team had
not let Stokes down.
“I’m not sure ‘letting him down’ is the right terminology to use to be honest,” he said. “Everybody is trying 100 per cent and working as hard as they can.
“It’s not like anybody is going in to any game and not working as hard as anybody else. They just haven’t had the success they wanted at this stage – it’s not guaranteed or given that you’ll succeed in every series.”
Trescothick added on the England captain: “Ben has chosen to play in that fashion today and gone about it in a way he thought was right.
“It’s kind of what he does and it almost focuses him. He’s at his best when he’s in that frame of mind, when it’s really tricky and tough, when there are conditions or situations that other people don’t succeed in.
England captain Ben Stokes toiled in the extreme heat of Adelaide on Thursday
“He found it hard getting enough volume of carbohydrate and drink into him because he was sweating so quickly. He couldn’t drink as much as he wanted through feeling a bit ill.
“But he dug in, worked hard and batted out for a long period of time.”
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