England rue wayward bowling and sloppy fielding as Australia seize control

Photo courtesy of Charlie Fisher

Any ex-cricketer (and most fans) will tell you there are two absolute fundamental pillars to success in a bowling innings:

1.Set the tone from ball one with consistent line and length in the corridor of uncertainty.

2.Take your chances and be alert in the field.

Of course, the game comes with other nuances and quirks, but ultimately it boils down to those two things. And to be frank, today England were not consistent from ball one and did not take their catches.

After a relentless bowling display first time around in Perth, where all England fans could clearly see the vision laid out by McCullum and Stokes for a battery of high pace, skilful bowlers, today in Brisbane looked a long way off that. Australia were gifted a flyer with short and wide bowling, scoring at a consistently high rate with ease. As Michael Vaughan said - the Bazballers were Bazballed. And yet, in an odd sort of way, had England taken their chances they could still have been in a decent position. There were periods of good bowling, but Australia deservedly ended the day on top.

Regarding the catching, it is incredibly frustrating. To win an away series in Australia, all three facets of your game have to be top drawer. You simply cannot afford to create 15 wicket chances per innings. This is why in advance of this test, I was keen for England to take part in the warm-up pink-ball game. Fielding drills in training will never replicate match pressure. They don’t recreate the feeling of uncertainty you get when you don’t know when the ball will come at you.

All that being said, we go again tomorrow. It sounds obvious, but early wickets will be crucial. The lead is already a very handy one for Australia, and England really cannot afford to give away too much more.