The penetrable display of spinner Nathan Lyon and Australia’s dominance with the bat in Adelaide have led former England captain Nasser Hussain to question the non-selection of tweaker Jack Leach.
Hussain’s criticism comes as England, possibly hamstrung by the decision to not play a specialist spinner and opting for four quicks, stumble toward day five in a ruinous position, reeling at 4-82 and needing 468 to win.
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“The sight of Nathan Lyon gaining turn and bounce and bowling with drop and drift on day four of the second Test raises a big question for England – if Jack leach is not going to play at Adelaide on that pitch, when will he?” Hussain wrote for the Daily Mail.
“It is one thing leaving Leach out in England where the Dukes ball moves all day long and four seamers can do all the bowling. It is quite another to do it in Adelaide on that sort of dry, turning surface in 38-degree heat.
“The sight of (seamer) Ollie Robinson bowling off spin summed it all up.”
Leach was axed after being destroyed by Australia in the opening Ashes Test, in which he recorded the horrible figures of 1-102 from just 13 overs at the Gabba.
That prompted the selectors to cut Leach from the XI and play pacemen James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Robinson.
The unquestionable selection of fast-bowling all-rounder Ben Stokes meant the tourists took to the Adelaide Test with five quicks.
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England’s only spin in Adelaide came from captain Joe Root, first drop Dawid Malan and, in what made for ridiculous scenes, Robinson’s experimentation with off breaks.
“England clearly do not rate Leach and believe Root can do just as good a job with the ball,” Hussain added.
While the non-selection of Leach is polarising, what cannot be debated is England are in a disastrous position in Adelaide.
The Poms will slip to two-nil down in the series if they don’t survive the three sessions of day five.
Chasing 468 to win is a near-impossible task given no Test side in history has chased a higher total than 418 in a successful fourth-innings pursuit.
The slimmest of hopes for either a win or a draw was just about extinguished when fast bowler Mitchell Starc removed Root on the final ball of the fourth day, drawing a thin edge that flew to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
“Even the most optimistic England fan would see this as a tall order,” wrote Sky Sports’ David Ruse of the away side’s victory chances.
“Without Root, England fans will have little faith a middle and lower order that has spent the year disintegrating repeatedly can save the game.”
An assessment from BBC analyst Jonathan Agnew put England’s Ashes campaign into grim perspective.
“This actually began as one of England’s better days,” Agnew said.
“If Joe Root had still been there at the close, they would have said it was one of their better days of the series.”
An England defeat is certain to attract further scolding out of the United Kingdom.
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