Forget about ‘Bazball’, bad Ashes prep and DRS. England simply aren’t good enough |
Adelaide: Forget about the DRS dramas. Forget all the arguments about Ashes preparation, too.
Definitely forget “Bazball”, a term that currently looks as though it will have a similar lifespan to that of disco. And forget about the notion that a 40-degree day and the flattest pitch of the series would offer the way back to a miracle.
All that needs to be remembered about day two at a scorching Adelaide Oval is how it provided definitive evidence that this England team are simply not good enough to properly compete with an Australian side of bona fide Test match quality.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins is back, and how.Credit: Getty Images
There had been plenty of big statements from England in the build-up. After defeat at the Gabba, Ben Stokes put the blowtorch on his troops for the first time in four years, saying that neither Australia nor his dressing room were places for “weak men”.
Brendon McCullum followed up in Adelaide by backing in his players and their approach as providing a “massive chance” if they played their best. Stokes rounded off the rhetorical assault by saying his men could win if they showed sufficient “dog” in the looming fight. It was a storm of strong words, but it has proven to count for next to nothing.
It is true that Jofra Archer bowled terrifically well........