Joe Root and Dawid Malan’s impressive resistance on day three at the Gabba had provided England with a route back into the First Ashes Test after a disastrous opening two days in Brisbane. But, as it so often has in the past for the English in Australia, things unravelled quickly thereafter. Malan was the first […] READ MORE
If by the end of the second say of this First Ashes Test, England looked well and truly out of the contest, then they ended day three at least on the ropes rather than the canvas. That was thanks to a superb partnership between Dawid Malan and Joe Root that was worth 159 runs (and […] READ MORE
On paper coming into the First Ashes Test, the Australian batting line-up looked notably stronger than their English counterparts. There were two major question marks, however, in the form of opener Marcus Harris and no.5 Travis Head, who had been chosen ahead of Usman Khawaja shortly before the match began. Harris was unable to do […] READ MORE
The truism that a league or a political election cannot be won in the first exchanges, but can be lost applies equally aptly to cricket (regardless of the form). And it is hard to imagine how England could have made a worse start to their attempt to regain the Ashes. It took Mitchell Starc just […] READ MORE