England ripped after senseless wickets spark Ashes frustration
England looked to be well and truly on top at Lord's before seven overs of madness appeared to set in.
England have fought their way back into the second Ashes Test at Lord's on day two, but their aggressive style has again been criticised by commentators. Courtesy of opening duo Ben Duckett (98) and Zak Crawley (48), the hosts got to stumps well-positioned at 4/278 - but they could have had more wickets in hand, had their aggressive batting not backfired on them somewhat.
Crawley fell short of his half-century and Duckett a century after carelessly throwing their wickets away, resulting in the Aussies claiming three wickets in seven overs at one point. Crawley was the first to go, dancing down the wicket against Nathan Lyon in an ill-advised attempt to slog the spinner, being stumped for his troubles.
TROUBLING: Nathan Lyon injury rocks Australia as grim Ashes reality sets in
'HAVE A DIG': Aussie icon's savage takedown of Ashes villain
Ollie Pope restored some order for England, but it would only be temporary. He departed in the 38th over off the bowling of Cam Green, but the home side still had the upper hand - especially considering Lyon had left the field with a suspected calf injury. Absent the dangerous spinner, England took the opportunity to go after Australia's pace attack.
However that soon backfired, with both Duckett and Joe Root (10) departing soon after attempting to loft shots over the field - the former caught by David Warner at fine leg, the latter by Steve Smith at square leg. All of a sudden, the dominant position that England had established looked to be at risk.
Things could have been worse, with Harry Brook (45 n/o) dropped by Marnus Labuschagne. Ben Stokes looked to have understood the situation England were in, playing a much more defensive game and not trying to capitalise on the tempting shorter deliveries offered up by Pat Cummins.
Enough damage had been done however, to leave the game hanging in the balance. Quick wickets for Australia on day three will be key, after England cleaned up Australia's tail by taking 5/77 to start day two.
However the likes of Michael Vaughan, David Gower and Nasser Hussain, all former England skippers, said the 'Bazball' style needed to be more about sensing when the right moment to go all out was. Vaughan was particularly critical of Crawley, after yet another promising start ultimately failed to deliver.
"Zak Crawley has just done what Zak Crawley does,” Vaughan said on commentary for the BBC. “He plays beautifully, you think ‘come on, it’s your day’, he gets to 48 and then he just gifts an easy wicket.
“That’s the problem with this England side – they don’t realise when they’re on top. They just carry on with this method. There’s no need for that dismissal.
“If you get a beauty on a pitch like this … then you say ‘well bowled’. But there’s not going to be many beauties bowled on this surface at the minute. Just play sensibly!”
England throw away huge advantage with second Test delicately placed
Gowers implored for 'Bazball' to 'become smarter', laying into batsmen who had otherwise established themselves at the crease for 'playing and missing it when they’re playing well', while Vaughan said England couldn't afford to 'mix stupidity and entertainment'. Hussain said England hadn't paid enough attention to the field placements of Australia during the period in which they started dropping wickets.
“At times the percentages weren’t in their favour,” Hussain said. “The pull and the hook shot – when there’s two men out – OK. But when there’s three men out then suddenly the percentages, the risk taking is not in your favour.”
Smith had joined an illustrious group of players earlier in the day after rewriting history with another Test century on day two. Smith became the quickest man in history to reach his 32nd Test ton - playing his 174th innings in his 99th Test - before being removed for 110 early on day two as England staged a stirring fightback.
Resuming on 85, Smith quickly notched his latest incredible milestone to help the Aussies reach 416 for their first innings, before England took the match to the visitors with the bat. Stokes' home side were 1-188 at one stage, but the three quick wickets in needless fashion undid much of their good work.
Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.
