Australia’s Day – Now England Must Dig In For At Least A Draw

Call me a pessimist, but it already looks like the only way England will survive in this Ashes series into Christmas is to hang on for a draw at the WACA.

Joe Root’s bowling attack has rarely posed a problem. It’s arguably the easiest unbeaten 92 Steve Smith – who looks ominously immovable – has ever made. He wasn’t even tested. Jimmy Anderson has no swing, Stuart Broad is still failing to fire and Moeen Ali is so far removed from the bowler he was in the summer. He’s got a wicket, but Chris Woakes has largely bowled too short.

Then you consider Craig Overton - the one bowler who performed, taking the wickets of the home openers to leave them 88-2 at tea – leaving the field of play with an injury, and it all adds up to Australia at the very least matching England’s first innings total of 403.

It has certainly been Australia’s day in Perth. Just as England could claim the bragging rights after day one. After Jonny Bairstow brilliantly joined overnight century maker Dawid Malan with a ton of his own, a familiar England collapse ensued. Whatever happened to this side being able to bat deep? I can’t recall the last time this tail wagged. In just 51 balls, England lost 6-35.

Given the platform Malan and Bairstow’s brilliant partnership had provided, how valuable it would have been for Ali, Woakes, Overton and Broad – sorry, not you Jimmy – to whack a few boundaries and really challenge the hosts with around 500 runs to recover.

They didn’t. So then you’re looking for them to come out and do some damage with the ball, their main purpose. They haven’t. It has all been so tame, and it’s allowing Australia to chip away comfortably at England’s lead – and they’re doing so with an impressive scoring rate, too.

Even with Usman Khawaja looking like a walking wicket – he was dropped on 0 by Overton and at 28 Root didn’t see one that flew straight past him – England couldn’t get him as he cautiously made his way to 50. The stubborn half-century of Khawaja was ended very quickly after he raised his bat when Woakes pinned him LBW – given out despite a review by Khawaja.

As Shaun Marsh, Man of the Match thanks to his century in Adelaide, came to the crease at 179-3 – 224 runs behind - you sensed a big moment in the series. Whereas you’d expect Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to wrestle the momentum for Australia with a scurry of wickets, the concern is this England bowling attack doesn’t have enough in these conditions to really put the pressure on. If Marsh could be got cheaply to expose the lower middle order, then perhaps England would be in business. Known as a nervous starter, Marsh was never uncomfortable from the minute he walked to the crease, because England weren’t making chances. The only one that came was courtesy of Marsh finding Mark Stoneman’s boot which offered a sharp catching chance which fell between a despairing Stoneman and Bairstow. It would have been a lucky one.

England could do with a lead of at least 100, ideally 150, to start their second innings with. With Australia on 203-3, trailing by 200, when day three begins it means England need to take seven wickets for just 50-100 runs. And it’ll probably need to include Smith otherwise they’ll stand little chance given his lower order partners will doubtless dig in and let him continue compiling the runs.

Unfortunately, you just can’t see this attack being able to take 17 wickets in this match. And if Australia get any kind of lead, you fear for Root’s men given their propensity to collapse.

It’s going to take a performance of Australia-like skittling. You just don’t fancy Broad, Woakes and Anderson have it in them on this pitch. That points to hoping to hold out for a draw. At least it’ll prevent a 5-0 whitewash, but it’ll mean only wins from the final two Tests will see England retain the urn. It seems a long way away.