The Ashes: England on the brink in Brisbane

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This is the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Start staying round the wicket.

What has he got an edge on.

That he's driven at it but I.

Think the bat's on the ground and.

Oh, he's gone straight up here.

When.

He sees Niko there's a big spike.

And root has to go.

England's most likely man to be able.

To withstand this onslaught this evening has gone.

So after three days of this test match, Australia are closing in on victory with England 134 for six. Stokes and Jacks are at the crease and England losing six wickets under the lights in that final session after they made a good start to their second innings, 45 for no wicket in a small session just before the second break of the day. But after that Australia continued their dominance and they batted so well and so sensibly and so carefully in the first part of the day, taking their first inning score to 511. Mitchell start their leading scorer with 77 off 141 balls and he got really good support, well from everyone really because all the Australia players made it to double figure. Scott Boland 21 not out from 72 balls. He hung in there and he just extended Australia's first innings and it meant that when England came out to bat they were batting under lights. That was the plan. They executed it superbly and even Brendan Doggett in at number 11 hung around 413, Brian cast at 4 for 152, Ben Stokes 33 for 113. But England look like a beaten side. I've got Michael Vaugh with me. I've got Jonathan Agne with me. Glenn McGrath is here. First to you, Michael. I'll sum up that day. How did, how did you see it?

Australia have given England a, a lesson in how to play Test cricket and particularly pink ball. Test cricket. This morning with all the afternoon session when Australia went out to bat, it was very clear that we're just batting for time, just batting for real attritional time. Making sure that they took the game a little bit deeper. Mitchell Stark played great, ducked and weaved, kind of rotated the strike. Scott Boland comes out there and just blocks it. Knowing that they wanted to get to this stage of getting the pink ball with the twilight. And then into the last session. So brilliant from Australia. England's tactics weren't quite right, didn't quite get it right. When to bring the fielders in, when to kind of spread the field, the bat. And they've had some good balls. Ben Duckett got a beauty, one that kept low. Joe Root looked a little bit jaded, understandably. Harry Brook got a good ball. The two dismissals of Ollie Pope and Zach Crawley, I think as commentators and pundits and broadcasters, it's so easy to kind of be a pundit against him because you can just watch it and see it and you go, it's going to happen. You know, niece is going to bowl length just outside of ostomy, bowler's going to bowl length just outside of off stump starts. Just going to dangle the carrot and guess what they're going to try and do? They're going to try play big drives through the offside and both of them to fall to the same stroke, back to the same bowler in the space of not a great deal of time. And when you look to what Australia did with the bat in hand in the afternoon session and into that middle session, digging, digging, digging bat for time and that's exactly what that pair needed to do. Just back till the close of play, just give, look, they're a long way behind but just give yourself a glimmer tomorrow. You just never know. But this one way of playing and this ultra aggressive drive on the up at all costs when the ball's just doing a little bit, it doesn't work. It doesn't work consistently against the better sides. And Australia have given England an exhibition today of how to play the pink ball game.

Yeah, they suddenly went from 90 for 1 to 97 for 3. They're under so much pressure, Jonathan.

Well I, I think Michael was right first time before he corrected himself to pink ball. I think they give themselves a lesson how to play Test cricket, actually. You have to be flexible, you have to think, you have to have common sense, you have to change the way that you play session by session sometimes. And so I think, you know, pink ball or, or red ball, I think has got object lesson today and intelligent cricket.

You could throw in the white ball game at the minute actually with England in the last year because they haven't played sensible white ball Creek for a while.

I think they've just been given an object less in what they should be doing and it's just, yeah, it's just incredibly deflating, disappointing to sit and watch England making the same mistakes. And.

You'Re right, Michael, you could predict entirely how certain players are going to get out. That's what's disappointing. And that those players don't seem to be learning. And I was saying at breakfast today to whoever was gathered around, and I was probably boring to death about it, but the fact is that none of these players are being put under any pressure by anybody else in the squad. There is no culpability, there is no ramification. There's no question of anybody being dropped. Apart from Pope, who's got Bethel in the wings, he's not scoring any runs either. There's nobody else. There's nobody to put pressure on any of these players. So you just go out and bat as you want to play. I mean.

There should be, there should.

Be a system, there should be a selection in which these players being put under pressure. If you fail time and again doing the same thing, you're gone. Sorry, you have to. You, you dropped.

They haven't had quite the, the, the status of what they've had in the last two weeks, which has been, you know, a bit of humiliation. They humiliated in that second day in Perth and today and yesterday, you know, Australia have just dominated two days of cricket from England having a decent day on day one where we all got a bit excited. Within two days, Australia have gone, okay, we'll show you how to bat in Test match cricket and then we'll show you how to bowl. And we must remember that this England side and the players that you talk about, John, you know, they've been picked consistently because they've played the style of cricket, but they've never been in this situation where they've gone 2 nil down really badly in 2023. It was at the start of the journey. It was almost like a three hit a mulligan in 23 because it was just starting, it was fresh and everyone's excited now. We've seen it. And England have had four years to plan for this. This is what they've been planning for with their bowling attack, with their batting unit. They've stuck with certain players because they felt that in Australian conditions they were going to be able to get away with the way that they played. Well so far inside five days of Ashley's test match cricket here in Australia, I'm afraid it's not looking great for a few of the players and as Jonathan says, there's just no, there's no spare keeper. So, you know, Jamie Smith, I think, is a wonderful talent, but he's struggling. And I start to look at Ben Duckett, who looks scratchy, you know, he's starting to look a little bit edgy. At the top you've got Ollie Pope who is, is all over the place once again. And you know, you can't just keep dipping into Joe roots. Well, you can't keep saying, go on, Joe, go and get us another 100 because it's just not possible. And you know, look at Harry Brook today. I thought he tried today tried to play and then he gets a good ball. So that's fine. That happens in Test match cricket. But I really worry about the psychological damage that these last two days will not only have done for the batters, but in particular, the bowlers that have had so much time out there just didn't look like they were going to get wickets.

But can they keep going out and playing the same way, Michael?

No. They're going to get hammered.

Well, exactly. So.

Surely there has to be a rethink of the way that they go.

Well, if you look at. So Gerut's our greatest player, you know, you tell me, in the system, when they pick teams, which kind of player have they picked that you go, you know, that's a Joe Root style player. Most of the players that they pick, whether it's for the Lions or particularly in the England squad, they like dashes, they like players that can get on with it, you know, run towards the danger, put the bowler under pressure at all costs. In my time, I'm not saying that they want to go the ultra attritional ways. You know, putting the bowler under pressure is sometimes seeing the bowler off, you know, that's absorbing pressure. Not by hitting them to the boundary and dancing down and whacking over extra. I can only imagine what Glenn McGraw would have liked to bowl to this England side. Just Dangle the carrot, dangle the carrot. It's just not possible to play this style of cricket against quality ball. And let's just mention this Australian team have got over a thousand wickets not playing. This is their second string.

It is absolutely second string.

Glenn, is this an easy England side to outmaneuver?

I look at it from two different angles here. I agree with everything that's been said here. The style of play. I love seeing sports people go out and play without fear. But when you're trying to get rid of pressure, you've got to absorb and play under pressure. And there's got to be accountability. Accountability from team, from the support staff, the coaching staff, but accountability from yourself and from within the team. And that's where I think it's a little bit lacking. They go out, there's no negativity. So that firstly, I'm not a big fan of and sort of they need to adapt and adjust to the conditions. That was the first thing that's. You've mentioned that best opportunity to beat Australia, the first Test. All of a sudden you come here, three of the main bowlers aren't even bo. Oh, best opportunity. And yet they're so far behind. But what today, this Test showed is their inexperience in playing pink ball cricket day, night cricket, day one. In that last session, I think it was probably worked in Australia's favor that Joffre Archer didn't get out. You know, they got 60 runs, probably more than what Australia wanted. But it meant the Australian batsman didn't have to go out and bat a nasty half an hour session or more in those conditions could have easily lost two or three wickets. And all of a sudden Australia's under the pump. And today the intensity when England bowled, there was no intensity. Engine know Mitchell Starks batting, they've got guys back on the boundary. They didn't realize how important to get those last few wickets ear as early as possible. They had to knock them over before that first break. If they did that, then the pink ball gets older and you get into that night session which we saw tonight, it's softer, it's not doing as much, it's not quite as effective. So the intensity they showed to take those last, especially the last two wickets, was missing. So there, there's a lot of issues. You can keep saying, oh, this is the style we play. We're changing Test cricket. How good are we? But it'll come down to results on the board. And if England lose this Test match and they go two nil down, it's a long way back. This series could be quite finished. And then they're going to have to look at themselves. They're going to be some changes. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens from here.

How well did Australia bowl in that session? On the lights now, they bow well.

They came out even before that last session. It was. It looked a little bit easier, was coming on nicely. But that pink ball, you have to get the lacquer off it actually. Then it starts doing a little bit. But then when they came out after that final session, it's dark. It's just about hitting good areas. There's enough inconsistency in that. That pitch. We saw the way, you know, Duckett was unlucky, that one kept low. You know, Crawley and Pope, the way they got off those ball, just holding in the pitch. Yeah, just a little bit too pace. It's a little bit up and down. There's a little bit more movement than what we've seen this whole test under lights with the new ball. So Australia bowled well. They kept it simple. They bowled to a plan, they bowled to the conditions, and it's paid off for them.

Well, there used to be something called a Duncan day when England had had a bad day and Duncan Fletcher was the coach, so he was wheeled out. It's a Marcus day day. Marcus Trascotic.

A tres day.

Yeah, Tres day. Yeah. He's the England assistant coach and he's been speaking with Henri Moran.

How do you sum up the situation?

Yeah, not ideal, is it? You know, we're in a. In a bit of a predicament, really. We gotta find a way in the morning to come out strong and get a partnership going, obviously, hopefully, while the, you know, the sun's out and try and utilize as much as we can with the guys who are left in this in the shed. So, you know, get. Get up level with their total and then see what we can post to obviously just try and get ourselves in a position to try and win the game.

There was quite some bafflement from many about England's bowling tactics today. Can you talk us through the plans?

Well, the plans are simple, aren't they? I think whether we executed the plans in. In terms of what we wanted to do, probably not as much as we. We have done in other games and in other sessions or other series that we've played. So, you know, it's something that we can always improve on and obviously be better. You know, plans are very different compared to how you execute them. So if you don't if you don't hit the areas that you need to hit, then of course, obviously it makes it quite challenging.

That partnership between Scott Bollen and Mitchell Stark particularly was challenging. How does the team rise itself in that situation? Because it felt like the game and the deflation at that point was significant.

Yeah, that's tough. You know, when they get partnerships going, obviously you're in the heat and you. They're starting to get ahead of the game. Of course, that's really tough. The bowlers are getting tired. The ball's quite, quite soft at that point. It's tough. Yeah, that is challenging. Obviously, they played really well and put themselves in the position of strength, really, going into our second innings, and of course, something that we can try and emulate as much as we can do whenever we play against them or learn from what they tried to do. So a couple of their guys played well, they got good partnerships. We maybe didn't bowl quite as well as we needed to, and we're in the position we are.

You speak about learning, but it feels as though there's some familiar dismissals. Chasing wide deliveries, two court and bowls as well.

What do you put it down to?

I don't think really chasing many wide ones today. I think, you know, I thought they bowled well and we. We've nicked a couple of balls and it is what it is. But, you know, our. Our game is very much like we're trying to apply pressure to opposition. There's no doubt about that. And we do it well at times and other times, you know, when it comes off in the wrong way and it goes against us and of course it's challenging, but caught and bolts happen. I don't think there's another way you can say, right, that's part of bad play or bad sort of technique or what you're trying to do. I think it's just sometimes they do happen. We've had a couple in this game and one obviously in the last game, but we can always be better. We can always improve our style of play and be smarter at different times, different occasions, and we're always looking to do that.

This always felt as though this was going to be, if you like, the.

Project'S big test this tour.

We're barely five days in and there's problems. What do you put it down to?

Well, we've just not been good enough for long enough, probably in different areas. We need to be. We need to score more runs, we need to take more wickets, as simple as that. Be disciplined when we bowl, be Disciplined when we bat. All the different things that come along in different games of cricket. You know, the pitch at Perth was very different to what we had here. Took one very special innings from the opposition to, you know, to challenge and win the game that they did. And obviously here, you know, we thought we had a good total. Just probably didn't quite get things right going into it in the last couple of days.

And just finally, preparation has been a.

Word that has been discussed an awful lot. And a lot of practice in the.

Net, a lot of time facing pink.

Balls, if you like, in that situation is one thing, but it is another thing. Being out in the middle and the effort and the time and those hours upon hours of intense cricket out in the middle. Is that a worry that England haven't had that much of it coming into this series?

No, not at all. Not. Not for me. I think the way that it's done. Preparation nowadays is not done necessarily by playing three shield games as it would be here. Like going back in the years gone before, you know, tours are a lot more condensed. Cricket is a lot more condensed nowadays. It's the same when Australia come to England, it's the same when India go to England, it's when we go to opposition countries, we do exactly the same. So there's no real difference. It's just the way it is. Fair enough. We haven't played, obviously, the quality of cricket we wanted to, but it's not down to our preparation.

And what would you say to England fans who are understandably disappointed?

Listen, I think, you know, great support again, we really cherish, obviously, the support that they come with and obviously give us as much as they can. You know, we've been put on the back foot and we haven't quite managed to sort of be the way we needed to be. And we've done it well in different stages, but just probably not for long enough. So stick with it, keep enjoying it. Obviously, it's a great country and they, you know, love their cricket here. The atmosphere has been amazing. Hopefully we can sort of, you know, make it better and be better in the next couple of games or. And tomorrow.

Marcus, thanks for your time.

Really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Marcus Dric, the England assistant coach speaking to Henry, ran. Just something there that just picked up, just a small phrase. We thought we had a good score.

On the first day. Did you think that, Michael?

I thought it was okay. I thought it was decent. I heard that England thought they had a good score in Perth as well. To defend. Well, you've never got enough in Australia.

I sometimes listen to a lot of the kind of messaging from within the England camp and I'm baffled. I mean, clearly you've got to come out and be positive. Clearly you've got to come out and protect everything that's happened. There's no way in a million years that preparation's been right. There's no way in a million years that not playing games of cricket has been the right thing to prepare to play against this Australian side with the.

Pink, especially in the pink ball.

Especially with the pink ball. It's just, it just can't be right that you've got players that are playing their first ever pink ball game in an Ashes series when you 1 nil down away in Australia. That just can't be right. There's a lot of messaging from within the England camp of, of positivity. And, you know, I think that's the kind of vibe that they have around the group. They need a bit of realism, they need a little bit of sense that someone might just be able to say to them, look, everything that you're doing is not always right. It's not always right. I never knew that we got preparation right. I never knew that we'd pick the right team and I don't think they've got the selections wrong. But it's impossible. And I heard it before this game said our preparation is fine. It's perfect. No, it's not. It can't be perfect. You're absolutely getting hammered, you know, and you've got players who are out there who are looking completely shell shocked against the pink ball because they're playing against it for the first time, dropping catches because you haven't been out in the field facing the pink ball. So don't tell me that the preparation is spot on and perfect. It can't be because you're just about to go 2 nil down in an Ashes series. So I do get a bit worried that the messaging always has to be positive and it always has to be, we're right, we're right. None of us are always right.

Do you think that's just public facing though, that internally there is some criticism?

No, I think that's what they believe. I think they think they've got everything spot on and they're doing everything correctly. Look, if they're doing everything correctly, we're about to go two nil down in the space of pretty much three days of Ashley's cricket and two days in Perth. I think we've got big concerns.

Yeah, I mean, look, it's A horrible job to come out and try and defend the indefensible. But preparation and the question of preparation has become just like don't mention the war, isn't it? I mean it sort of lights a flare up as soon as preparations mentioned. They're clearly absolutely determined that they are not going to give an inch. As far as the debate about preparation is concerned. That was the most robust answer that he gave. Nothing wrong with that preparation. Well, the results, the results will speak for themselves. The other thing, by the way, he said, look, Kandry said, look, what's, what's been going wrong? Well, we haven't been scoring enough runs, we haven't been taking enough wickets. All he didn't mention there was, we've been dropping too many catches. I mean if he just, he would have the whole lot and that would be an accurate reflection on what's gone wrong.

And I totally get that you're not going to play three games and I certainly don't want them to play three games.

I don't think nobody's ever suggested playing.

Games, you know, booking the whacker the week before the first test in Perth like India did. You know, I think that's a mistake that England didn't book the whacker. Just if you can only have a game amongst yourselves, at least practice on a pitch that bounces know in between the first game and the second game. If you're not going to go to Canberra and play a two ball pink ball game because of the, the weather and the conditions, couldn't they have organized one here in Brisbane? So you play a two ball pink ball game in Brisbane conditions, I mean, is that not sensible?

The point about preparation also and, and the answers to it, if you ask me, is because the ramifications of admitting that they got it wrong is pretty serious for a number of that coaching staff. If they say, yep, we got it wrong and we're losing the Ashes and so on because we didn't prepare properly, we didn't do it properly, we didn't put the, the, the, the structure in place to prepare properly. They, they, they can't admit it. I mean the, the, the review will come afterwards and decisions will be made.

And also AG is you can't say, oh, India do this or Australia. It's about this toolbox that England have and I think they given this, this set of players the best opportunity and they've got all the talent and we've all said we think this is the best England side that's come to Australia with the right Tools to be successful, have they. They look themselves in the mirror and say to themselves, we've given this team the absolute best chance to be successful here in Australia in the first game in Perth and now the second game with the pink ball here in Brisbane, and they get a message back saying, yep, we've been spot on. I'd be wary if that's the answer.

Glenn, just from an Australian perspective. I mean, do you think that, you know, this Australian side have surprised you a bit than what they've been able to achieve in the. In the first two games? You know, they've. They've had players missing. England came here seemingly confident. You know, they've been. They have been winning series, they have been winning matches, they have been playing in this particular way. How do you think we assess that, you know, from Australia, what you expected from them?

Yeah, I think the biggest thing that surprised me is the way they've come out and batted from the. The first innings. They look timid, they look defensive. They were trying to surv with the bat. They weren't looking to put the intense, you know, put the pressure back on the. On the bowling attack. But the way they came out and batted in that second innings, the fact that Travis Head put his hand up and said, I want to open and I will take the first ball, and he was adamant that's what he wanted. I. I've heard that's what he wanted back when Steve Smith was promoted to opening. So this is what he wanted. And that intensity has changed from that moment. The, the scoring rates that the Australians have done or did in Perth and have done here, that surprised me because they haven't been scoring at that, at those rates previously. And whether that's because Travis Head's come at the top and it's had that sort of impact, positive impact on the rest of their batsman. They go out and they back themselves and. And play their shots more, bat positively, play to their strengths, wait for the, for the balls to play the shots, too. Fair enough. England bowlers have given them plenty of balls to, to play those shots, too. So the intensity of the batting and the positivity of their batting has surprised.

Me a little bit.

And, yeah, you know, there's been a lot of talk that this was England's best chance in Perth, and it was. And then again here it was, and they've been found wanting in bowtie. Yeah, the game's not over. You know, Australia went in to today's play six wickets down, and they batted nearly right the way through to te. So it can be done with the right, you know, attitude out there, right game plan, prepared to work hard. We'll see what happens tomorrow. You know, if England lose a couple of quick wickets, this could be over, could lose by an innings. But you've got to think this, you know, it's not over until that last wickets taken, that last run scored.

Yeah, true. You're still in the game with your five now, aren't you?

Well, still in the game, yeah. Yeah, but I, I'm adaptable. So if something happened and Australia lost the game, I could be adaptable and flexible and work my new, my new prediction. But at the moment, it's still a chance. And the funny, I don't know if it's a funny thing, but after Perth, walking around, all the English fans, everyone was coming up, oh, your prediction's going to be right. Oh, it's five now. It's five. And now at breakfast here, you know, tomorrow morning or after, it'll be exactly the same. I'll claim your prediction, 5 nil is.

Going to be right.

So it's. I don't know if it's just the English mentality or attitude, but, yeah, it's still, you know, Australia showed, you know what, how you have to apply yourself and this pitch will be different tomorrow morning to what it is now. They're going to have to work hard. The big, you know, you know, responsibility on Stokes, which, you know, there's no better man for it and Jax have to. Has to get it there and do it too. So it's. They've got a big battle in front of them tomorrow morning, but they have to show some fight if, you know, if they just, you know, lose these four wickets, go out with a whimper, then the series is done.

Now, Michael Nissa joined this Australian side for this Test match and he picked up two valuable wickets tonight, both caught and bold. And he's been speaking to Corbyn Middlemass and our colleagues on ABC Radio.

Michael, first of all, congratulations.

Yeah, thank you, thank you.

So you get two wickets. The first of them caught and bowled, Ollie Pope out and essentially up until stumps, England lost 5 for 44 from that particular stage. How did you do it?

Yeah, I know. We just seem to get wickets at the right time, especially at night time, things to move real fast and Starkey put on a show there and supported by Bowen, who bowled fantastically.

You bowled fantastically too. You were able to get two wickets, both caught and bowled. I think Rick Finlay did the stats for us during the night. You haven't got too many caught and bowleds, have you, in your career and yet you were able to pick up a couple there at test level as a way to get involved in the match.

Yeah, I dropped that first one and I was like, ah, bugger, I better catch the next do. But, yeah, I haven't got too many. But the way I was bowling, stumped to stump is I'm always in for a chance for a cordon bold. So I was looking for it.

And just. Just on that one, you mentioned the drop catch. You looked at your left hand a lot after that. Did you cop any injury as a result of it?

Yeah, my track record with broken fingers isn't great, so it's a little bit sore, but it'll be all right.

Wow. So is it broken?

No, it'll be all right.

No, it'll be all right.

Ness, what were the discussions at teammate?

Because obviously you and Starkey took the new ball for that little period before tee. They got off to a little bit of a fly. Was there an adjustment there or a.

Discussion in the change rooms?

Yeah, definitely. We probably went searching a bit too much, a bit full, tried to do a bit too much. We know if we just hold our length, they'll come at us and give us the chances. So after tee, we recouped and I think we did that well. We just held our length and went back to test cricket of being patient.

And is there enough on that length.

That you talk about for to just in that particularly last session, under lights, 100%. It seems to do nothing. Nothing. And all of a sudden you get enough balls in the right area, it seems to either jag or kick. We saw Bowen at the end there, just got the ball to talk and so does Starkey.

And then conversely, in the morning session.

Or the first session, sorry, two o'.

Clock, it seems to be a little bit slower.

Yeah, definitely. I think also we started with that softer ball. The harder ball seems to kick a little bit, but not as much as the night time. So you definitely have to capitalize on these night sessions.

The heat, obviously, during the day. So it felt like you guys did a great job of being able to avoid as much time out there as possible. And Mitchell Stark in particular, boy, did he. Didn't he bat well?

Yeah, that was the whole plan today was try to keep them there out as long as possible to get into that night session with the heart of ball. And he did a fantastic job on that patience. And then supported by Boland, who did, I think, underrated how well he Went. The role he played was fantastic.

Sorry, mate. And the batting wise, I mean, obviously you took him on a bit yesterday or last night. Was that a plan or just happened.

Like that just happened.

I know for myself, I got to look to be positive. Not reckless, but positive because that gets me in better positions for defense. I think Kez is a very. The same mold.

Yeah, you're both mad. More importantly, how are the twins?

Yeah, they're making me mad.

They too now.

And my eldest is four. He's in the crowd. He's wide awake still, so he's going to be a gremlin tomorrow morning. Lucky I don't have to deal with that.

Michael Nissa speaking after his two wickets to the ABC commentary team. Into the the team this match. Just picking up something he said there that we know that, you know, if our plans go a bit right, we just go back to the plan. We kind of just bowl at length and we know they'll come at us and give us an opportunity. It's so straightforward. They know it and it kind of sometimes feels as if England don't know it and they fall into the trap so easily. Andy Zaltzman is with me. Australia's innings was curious and they executed their plan perfectly today. And Michael NASA saying it there that they had that plan to. To back well into the afternoon. They executed it perfectly. But it was a curious Australian innings. Everyone made double figures. No one made more than 77 and yet they made 511. You know, they all, all say, you know, if you, if you get in, go big. Well, none of the Australian players did go big, but they collectively, they did, yes.

And you compare it with England's first innings, the number of failures. They had four ducks and I think three more scores under, under 20. Whereas Australia, looking down there, scores 33, 72, 65, 61, 45, 63, 23, 16, 77, 21 not out and 13. It's a unique scorecard in that there's never been a Test innings in which all 11 players have made at least 13. It's a bit of a niche stat. If Doggett had made 15, it would have been neater. But still, that. That shows quite how unusual. This is only the second time that a team has made 500 without someone scoring at least 80. And there were no hundred partnerships as well. Only the fourth innings in Test history in which a team scored five without a single hundred stand.

What else caught your eye today?

Well, from England's point of view, more disappointment with the bat. Ollie Pope, his 14th innings against Australia still waiting for his first fifty. Only two specialist batters in English history have ever started their Ashes career with more innings without reaching 50 at least once. Graham Gooch also took didn't score a 50 in his first 14 innings and the things picked up for him after that, although as his record wasn't as good as the rest of his career. But it's, it's becoming a significant problem for England. Jamie Smith's recent form 79 runs in his last eight innings. He'd averaged 58 in his first 21 before that brilliant start to his to his career. Zach Crawley yet more unconverted start since his 189 at Old Trafford made that the 14th time he's reached 40, only 100. That was against Zimbabwe and one other score over 80. So it's been the same problems keep recurring, the same sorts of shots and Mitchell Stark once again.

Having an incredible impact on this series. 77 with the bat to add to his six for 75. In the history of Ashes cricket, only three other players, all Australians, have had a first innings FIFA and a first innings score over 75 and the most recent of those was in 1963. So and he's added two more wickets to his tally. So he's now 18 for the series, the most in the first two Tests of an Ashes since Shane Warne had 20 after two Tests in the 199495 series. And yeah, if he picks up another couple he's going to be very near the top of the all time list. Most wickets in the first two tests of a of an Ashes. Two more will be the most by a seamer at this stage of an ashes since 1953.

Okay, thanks very much Andy. Plenty of ways to catch up with the action clips available to watch on the website with the full highlight show on iplayer every day from 5pm Join Alex Hartley, Michael Vaughan and Jason Gillespie for the TMS Ashes debrief on iplayer. Search Ashes on BBC Sounds for all our content will be back on air 3:45am for the 4th and likely the final day of this test match.

The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

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