For Australia to fight back and win the first Ashes Test as decisively as they did, one wonders what scars will be left on the England team.
What are they going to do for the rest of the series?
I don’t think anyone expected what happened on Saturday. When you look at the number of overs bowled to complete the game, it was Test cricket on fast forward.
England were on top at lunch on the second day, 105 ahead with nine wickets in hand. The field was still doing a lot. It seemed very difficult for Australia to get back into the game.
From then on, England’s shot selection was their great downfall. Scott Boland produced probably his worst performance in an Australia jersey in the first innings, then turned it around in the second to be the catalyst for the comeback.
The England batsmen were out trying to hit balls outside the off stump, up through the sheets.
Trying to score those pitches, with those shots, is the one thing you don’t do as a batsman in Australia.
It showed that England has not done its homework, is not able to adapt or is not willing to adapt.
There is a lot of talk about England’s method, its aggressive style. I witnessed it up close during the 2023 Ashes in the UK. Under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, they can be quite stubborn when it comes to following that method.
It is fine in slow and low tones. In the fast, bouncy fields of Australia, it’s a method fraught with danger. If England don’t reassess, they will struggle throughout the series.
As a bowler, I would always have felt in the match against this England team.
I relied on my accuracy, backtracking to hit the same point inside or outside off stump, with a bit of bounce and pinch.
Even if this England team did well, I would be licking my lips at the prospect of bowling, knowing that one mistake could bring three or four.
There are times when England can be a high quality team. They have good players. Good players have skill, but great players have the mental toughness and attitude to adapt sufficiently to the conditions.
They would have been shocked by the way things unfolded at the Perth stadium, devastated by the way they were defeated. Now we will see what they are made of. Even as a true blue Aussie, part of me wants to see them change, just to prove they can improve.
Much the same thing happened with his bowling. England’s attack was very good on the first night, but lost its way when they were attacked on the second night.
In Test cricket, every discipline requires a Plan B. Too often it seems like England have a method and nowhere to go if it doesn’t work.
