England captain Joe Root might be running out of patience as he said after the tourists’ 275-run defeat in the second Ashes Test that the team has to “learn fast” if it still harbours hopes of regaining the Ashes.
England have lost both the Ashes Tests so far — by nine wickets at The Gabba and by 275 runs at the Adelaide Oval — and stare at a whitewash as they prepare for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26.
There was brave resistance from Jos Buttler, who fended off 207 deliveries and stayed at the crease for more than four hours for his 26 on Day 5, but England were still unable to avoid a humiliating defeat.
“We need to learn, and we need to learn fast,” Root said, making his displeasure known. “The frustration within our dressing room is that we’ve not quite executed some basic things well enough for the second game in a row, and we need to respond very quickly. The disappointing thing about this week is that we made the same mistakes as last week.
“The most disappointing thing for me is the amount of no-balls we keep bowling, and the number of chances we missed again, after last week,” Root was quoted as saying by icc-cricket.com on Tuesday.
Having not won a Test in Australia since 2010/11, England must now win three on the trot to regain the urn. Much of the focus through both Tests so far has been on England’s selection choices, with bowling stalwarts James Anderson and Stuart Broad left out of The Gabba Test but recalled at the Adelaide Oval at the expense of spinner Jack Leach and Mark Wood.
However, rather than focusing on selection issues, Root turned his attention to what the team got wrong in the second Test.
“If you look at the first innings in particular, I thought we were a little bit short with the ball, we didn’t challenge them enough, we allowed them to leave and they left very well again. You’re looking at half a metre (in length) at times. And if you look at the number of times they played and missed and we beat the bat, it can be frustrating and you think you’re doing the right thing.
“We just have to be that little bit braver, get the ball up there and accept that every now and then we’re going to get driven. I expect them to (respond). We’ve got three games, three massive games with the Ashes on the line now and if that’s not motivation enough to go out there and put performances in, then I don’t know what is.”
