Historical woes hit Bazballers on Saturday of suffering

If England are to somehow extricate themselves from the hole in which they find themselves just five days into this Ashes campaign, they will need to overcome a series of worryingly familiar concerns that emerged across a Saturday of suffering at the Gabbatoir.

Slowly, and then more steadily, the echoes of England tours to have gone belly-up Down Under began to surface. The signs had been there on day two in Brisbane, when five catches were dropped and their pace attack – so menacing so briefly in Perth – fluffed their lines.

Those issues were compounded today in the face of a resolute Australian lower order. On a hot afternoon, the visitors' quicks seemed to wilt. Brydon Carse conceded 152 in 29 overs – the most expensive return by an England quick on these shores in 71 years. Jofra Archer, their lone paceman to operate at under four runs per over, bowled a five-over spell with the second new ball but was not seen again, even as the Australians added another 86 runs in 27 overs.

Ben Stokes' tactics were soon being questioned by commentators and media types alike: Why were England pitching so short with the second new ball? Why was Stokes opting to give Starc – a tailender – the single? Why didn't he experiment with the off-spin of Will Jacks earlier?

And then came what might well prove the coup de grâce. In another frenetic final session, England's Bazball boys folded to the tune of 6-80 on a tricky pitch in the face of persistent Australian pressure.

After play, England's media contingent had some difficult questions for the team's batting coach, Marcus Trescothick. The former opener has endured plenty of hard days in Australia, having been part of the England group that lost the Ashes in just 11 days back in 2002-03.

"Tough day, yeah – obviously not in a great position … it's been quite challenging," Trescothick said. "Watching what's going on … Australia getting ahead of the game and putting us under pressure, of course, that's never great sitting there and watching that."

Questions were asked about preparation, about batters forcing drives on the up that weren't necessarily there to be played. Trescothick was genial but remained staunch in his views.

He said no discussions were had with the batting group after the first Test about their risky habit of driving on the up ("there's no need to have a knee-jerk reaction from what was a tough pitch in Perth") despite England losing three crucial wickets in that fashion during their game-changing second-innings collapse.

He said the England brain trust is "very happy with the preparation" they had leading into the series.

And he said it was important the team continues with the strategy and planning they still believe will give them their best chance of delivering success on this tour.

"We're trying to play the way that we want to play," he said. "(We don't) always get it right, of course.

"I don't think you should be looking too much necessarily at what the guys are trying to do. We're trying to apply pressure. We're trying to put bowlers off their length, and we've done that really well in periods of time in the time that this team has been together.

"It's been tested so far (in Australia), and we'll keep working at trying to make that better."

Trescothick was pressed on whether England's current method – AKA Bazball – is in fact giving the team the best chance of winning in Australian conditions.

"I think you've got to have a style of play that you stick to, don't you?" he said. "Of course, you want to adapt and you want to be conditions-dependent on what that is.

"But we've built the (team the) way that we want to … and (we) trust the guys that we have … are good enough to do that.

"We've been put under pressure in various places in the last two games, and of course, that's been challenging. So we're always trying to respect the situation, respect the game, and learn and be better next time we get that chance."

Stokes will resume on four not out on Sunday, with allrounder Jacks for company, and four batters in the shed. No-one will be more aware than the England skipper of just how much is riding on his performance; he and head coach Brendon McCullum have been clear that, for this Bazball outfit, all roads have led to Australia.

It was only 16 days ago that Stokes was asked if this was the biggest series of the England players' lives.

"Definitely," he said. "Everyone in the world, everyone in Australia and England, knows how big this series is."

Now it is on him to save it.

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (second Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood