The Three Lions have started off their Ashes campaign in the worst possible manner.
There’s not a lot that is going well for the Englishmen. Being 2-0 down after the first two Tests of an all-important Ashes series is the last place they would have wanted to be. But their resolve in the middle in both the Test so far has put them in a situation, from where fighting back would be paramount. Ben Stokes & Co. went down to the Australians in Brisbane by eight wickets.
If we closely look at the all the moments in the Test match, there has been a pattern where in England have not been able to capitalise on the important moments. The pressure-moments are all won by the hosts, which have left Brendon McCullum and the management with a lot of questions to ponder on. The Englishmen came Down Under with a full-throttle bowling attack, but lost Mark Wood for the second Test due to injury.
That being said, the climb for Ben Stokes and his men is expected to only get steeper from here, with the potential return of Australia captain and fast bowler Pat Cummins in the third Test at Adelaide. Cummins coming back into the side would for sure bolster the pace attack of the Australians, which already looks in great shape. With Michael Neser bagging a five-wicket haul, Brendan Doggett would ideally be the bowler to miss the third Test in Adelaide for Pat Cummins.
However, in the visitors’ camp, there would be a downpour of questions to be answered. Additionally, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum both spoke about the match after their humiliating defeat. And due to some reason, their answers contradicted each other. The Three Lions will need to pull up their socks ahead of the Adelaide Test, which they cannot afford to lose at any cost.
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One of the first things that the management would want the players to do is to stick together in this difficult time. Head coach Brendon McCullum spoke about England’s way ahead in the series and what they would need to do in terms of their preparations for the next three Tests. However, he expressed that the team was over-prepared walking into this Test match in Brisbane.
On the other hand, skipper Ben Stokes reflected on the mentality of the players in the side, and also suggested that the team needs to think mentally hard to churn out results. However, Ben Stokes stressed on the fact that the results in both the Tests were not reflective of the skills that the players possess. The English side has not been able to put the Australians under pressure in crucial moments of the game, which has come back to bite them.
“We’ll have some conversations that I’ll keep to the dressing room. Lots of communication, we see what Australia are looking to throw at us. It’s a constant theme at the moment, when it’s a pressure moment, Australia are outdoing us. Australia isn’t a place for weak men, and we’re not weak”, said England skipper Ben Stokes after the humiliating defeat in Brisbane.
Apart from Joe Root’s century in the first innings o the Test, the Three Lions did not have anything positive going for them. To add to that, their bowling in the first innings was very wayward, which did not let them limit the amount of runs that were bring scored by the hosts. The Englishmen will have to dig deep into their resources and find a way to bounce back and put pressure on the Australians.
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