England 2021-22 Ashes Tour

2nd Test Adelaide Day 3 Close
Aus 473-9 dec & 45-1 (17 overs)
Eng 236 (84 overs) Malan 80 Root 62 Stokes 34 Woakes 24 Starc 4-37 Lyon 3-58 Green 2-24

Australia chose to not enforce the follow-on, & opted to bat in what is considered to be most difficult conditions as the floodlights take effect. Given the 237 run lead, & a chance to rest their bowlers, it wasn't much of a risk. England hardly troubled the Australia batters, & it took a mix-up to claim the only success, as Warner was run out with both batsmen at the same end.
If this sounds familiar, then it is, England lost 8-86 after the extended first session went wicketless. From 150-2, including the wickets of the in batsmen, Malan & Root, they lost 4-19, after which Woakes, played a few shots, & Stokes hung in, when his wicket fell, any small chance of saving the follow-on was gone.
In the 3 completed England innings in this series, Root & Malan have added 300 runs in 2 partnerships. That leaves 380 runs for the other 28 partnerships at 13.57.

Wednesday ‘the pink ball tests are England best chance, Anderson loves this ground’
Thursday ‘no Cummins and Hazelwood great opportunity to level series’
Friday ‘ ohhh but if we bat well all isn’t lost’
Saturday ‘ maybe it’ll be better in 4 years time’

Jos Buttler is either dropping sitters or taking worldies .

Make your mind up old son

Any small glimmer of hope has gone with Root out in the final over of the day. England close on 82-4 & are 386 runs behind.
A bigger worry would be that Burns innings of 34 may well have saved his arse. The level of the trouble we are in is that Burns is England's 2nd highest run scorer this year, miles behind Root, but still 2nd best.

2nd Test Adelaide
AUS 473-9 dec & 230-9 dec (61 overs)Labuschagne 51 Head 51 Green 33 Root 2-27 Malan 2-33 Robinson 2-54
ENG 236 & 192 (113.1 overs) Woakes 44 Burns 34 Buttler 26 Richardson 5-42 Starc 2-43 Lyon 2-55
Australia won by 275 runs

At least some fight was shown on the final day, but too little, too late. This was a good wicket, which offered something for both pace & spin, & although run scoring was never easy, good players could construct an innings, it was no minefield on day 5, just the match situation that dictated the scoring.

On hearing Root interviews, I can see cracks appearing in the camp. He may well not be the best captain, but he's getting little support from his coach & players.
He clearly isn't switched on, & not wearing a protector before yesterdays play compounded a bad situation. Ironically England started the day well under Stokes, but Australia held all the cards & allowed enough time to remove 4 top order wickets before the close, which went a long way towards todays victory. Stokes is a great vice-captain, but isn't as tough as we first thought, & as an allrounder he has enough on his plate.
Root deserves to enjoy his best batting form without the pressure of leading this side. with so few players within the side worthy of a place, I would go with Livingstone. A risky call to give both a playing & captaincy debut, but we have nothing to lose, with a team sliding down the Test Rankings. Livingstone is more than a white-ball slogger. He averages close to 40 at First Class level & his bowling has improved no end. he a gun fielder & has the experience of captaincy, which he got at an early age & gave it up, but has matured now, at 28, he will never be more ready.
England tour the West Indies in the new year, which would be a good introduction, before a tough New Zealand series in England, & an improving South Africa.

Australia have added fast bowler Scott Boland to their squad or the Boing Day Test, as the medical team assess the fast bowling group. Starc looked to have tweaked his back while batting, & Hazlewood missed the last Test with a side strain.

Completely agree about Livingstone! He’s not only skilled enough to be a test batter but from his bowling alone you can tell the lad has a great cricketing brain! I recall South Africa giving an inexperienced player the captaincy and that couldn’t have turned out better for them, Graeme Smith! Livingstone at least deserves a chance to play.