But what do I know? I am just a has-been who did four England tours of Australia, winning two Ashes series and drawing the other two.
This lot aren’t even afraid of getting dropped, which is why we see the same old failings, particularly in the batting.
Every England cricket supporter must be asking what the hell goes on in Harry Brook’s head? That first innings waft at a wide ball without moving his feet was a shocker. I couldn’t reach it with my Mum’s sweeping brush.
Here is a guy with talent from heaven who thrills and excites us with breathtaking, outrageous and inventive strokeplay, but at the same time keeps frustrating with brainless, irresponsible strokes.
It’s as if it is all too easy, and he can’t be bothered with the ordinary and is only interested in the spectacular. Harry bats like a baseball batter looking for a home run every ball and seems oblivious to who the bowler is or the state of the match. He is only keen to deliver his brand of dashing strokes.
So far, in tight situations, Harry has let the team down by not getting England home for a win, and when a match is in the balance, he somehow doesn’t read that the moment calls for a little restraint.
Harry Brook’s cavalier attitude can hurt him at times.Credit: Getty Images
Every great team needs one maverick who can make magic, but it has to help you win. So far, in tough moments, Harry hasn’t helped England win; in fact, he has given his wicket away. You get the feeling he is batting with a disregard for the team situation.
So far, the penny has not dropped; maybe it never will. I hope not because it would be sad to watch a guy with once-in-a-lifetime talent fail to grasp that the object of using that special talent is to win.
Ollie Pope, in the first innings, never gave himself a chance to get in. Third ball against a world-class fast bowler, he was trying to cut a ball too close to his body and played on.
On a pair in the second innings, with England in trouble and having to bat carefully to get out of jail, he tried to drive on the up to a good length ball and was caught and bowled. On the up! Can you believe it!
‘Harry [Brook] bats like a baseball batter looking for a home run every ball.’
He just cannot, or will not, alter his batting to play to the situation and appears incapable of batting time, and just waiting for the bad balls. You need to value your wicket dearly. Too many times Ollie gives it away. Occasionally, he has played some splendid innings, but there are too many self-inflicted failures. He never learns, and he never fails to disappoint.
Well played Zak Crawley. In both innings, I could see he was making a big effort to defend better, keeping his bat closer to his pad and letting the ball come to him. The problem for him and all the England batsmen is that for three years under coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes, everyone has been encouraged to the point of insisting that the batsman attack so that it is ingrained in them all.
Finally, congratulations to Joe Root on his maiden Test century in Australia. A super controlled innings, but second innings, probably out of tiredness even he succumbed to a half-hearted off-drive to a ball he could have left.
I thought our first innings bowling was rubbish. Far too short with more than 250 runs scored in the third man and fine leg area. There were the usual thick edges that luckily went down and wide of the slip cordon, but all the Aussie batsmen were pulling, hooking and uppercutting balls over the slips or belting it off the back foot through square cover. When England pitched it up, they bowled easy half volleys.
Joe Root finally has an Australian hundred.Credit: AP
Why were we not bowling in the corridor of uncertainty, searching for wickets around the fourth and fifth stump on a fuller length to create pressure? That is our strength, not bombarding the batsmen with short stuff.
I thought Brydon Carse was trying to knock a hole in the middle of the pitch. The Aussies knew what was coming and set themselves to smack it. Aussies love you to bowl short at them. Why have they not worked that out? Surely, we are better than that. But no. What are all those back-room coaches doing, and the lads with the iPads that give the team statistics? It was so obvious. We should have bowled line and length like Scott Boland.
After his first two spells in the first innings, Jofra Archer lost his menace. His pace went down and the zip and snap of his wrist was not the same. I’m not sure if he is just out of puff or short of proper first class cricket. I suspect in racing terms, he is short of a gallop or two.
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Since he has got over his injury problems, England have wrapped him in cotton wool, trying to make sure he is available for the Ashes and preferring to play him in only one-day matches.
One-day cricket is no substitute for Test cricket where a fast bowler has to come back for a number of spells and has to field a great many hours more. Match fitness is vital.
Will Jacks took an amazing one-handed catch to get rid of the dangerous Steve Smith, and in the second innings, he made a gutsy 41. But if he is a Test match cricketer… no disrespect intended, but he is a hit-and-giggle batsman in T20, and my Mum could play his bowling with my proverbial stick of rhubarb. There is no oomph or variation.
In that energy-sapping heat, when the ball got soft and old, a proper spinner was required to save flogging the quicks. England had three fast bowlers and Stokes to bowl seam. What they required was a quality spinner, and for me, England made a mistake in selection.
Telegraph, London
