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Brook has disappointed. Early in his career, he played devastating innings reminiscent of a young Sachin Tendulkar. His minimal movement at the crease allowed him to use the delivery’s angle to his advantage. There were few deliveries he could not attack.
Ill advisedly, he has adopted the back-and-across trigger movement used by most England batters, leaving him flat-footed with his body weight tending backwards.
Antarctic explorers standing, (from left) Lawrence Oates, Robert Falcon Scott, Edgar Evans and seated (from left) Henry Bowers, Edward Adrian Wilson in 1912.Credit: Reuters/Henry Bowers
This makes him vulnerable to good balls around off stump and reduces his scoring options. To reclaim his form, he needs to ditch the pre-ball movements and return to the simpler process of yore.
Smith too, shares the flawed back-and-across movement, taking him to a flat-footed position from which it is hard to attack or defend.
If he adopted a simpler, more dynamic stance, he could be a tremendous player. Interestingly, Archer, with his minimal movement at the crease before the bowler releases the ball, has the most efficient method of the English batters.
Brook and Smith have struggled in Australian conditions against some of the most incisive bowling that they have encountered at this level.
To be fair to them, Australia’s attack has been top shelf. Mitchell Starc, in particular, is proving to be the Peter Pan of fast bowling. Though 35, he has never bowled better.
Australia’s paceman Mitchell Starc was the difference between both team’s attacks.Credit: Getty Images
The difference between the two attacks couldn’t be more divergent. Australia has bowled like misers, England like millionaires. It has been the lack of sustained pressure that has allowed Australia to flourish.
Archer has had moments of inspired bowling, but Mark Wood was always a risk due to his litany of fitness issues. Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson proved unable to provide penetration. Josh Tongue has consistently bowled the right line and length, with the odd ball bouncing disconcertingly.
England’s game plan was flawed from the outset. Their initial strategy was clear: overwhelm the hosts with a sustained pace assault, then capitalise with aggressive, cavalier batting.
They do not have four, three or even two pacemen who bowl disciplined lines and lengths. The batsmen could have bailed them out if they hadn’t been so destructively self-indulgent.
The key match-ups in the series highlight the differences. Travis Head has been a revelation at the top of the order. He has been the outstanding batter in the series. None of the England top order has been able to impose themselves.
Zak Crawley finally showed signs in Brisbane and Adelaide that, with discretion, he can be a successful long-term opener for England and possibly a future captain.
Ben Duckett, who threatened to be the dasher at the top, has been found out by excellent bowling on bouncy pitches. Unless he is prepared to leave the dangerous deliveries around off stump, he will continue to struggle in Australia.
Marnus Labuschagne fought his way back into this Australian team by the weight of runs in domestic cricket and has had the better of Ollie Pope, who has often looked like a novice.
Ollie Pope has struggled for runs on tour.Credit: Getty Images
Pope’s career average of 17.62 against Australia and 27.08 against India says it all. Pope’s defensive technique and temperament have shown up under the constant pressure of quality bowling.
Joe Root and Steve Smith, we know, are titans of the game. Neither has dominated this series. Root, despite making his first Test century in this country, has often looked skittish at the crease.
His defensive technique of opening the face of the bat has brought him undone too often. Joe must have nightmares of Pat Cummins running up to bowl.
Stokes has been the best all-rounder in the series, but his personal efforts have failed to lift his team. His captaincy has been disappointing, whereas Smith and Cummins have been better strategically, which has been a significant factor.
Ben Stokes has cut an increasingly frustrated figure this tour.Credit: Getty Images
Starc has been the outstanding bowler so far and has been the major difference between the teams. Archer has had some lethal spells, but he has not been able to manage the consistent pace, stamina and discipline of Starc.
Scott Boland, Cummins and Michael Neser (in Brisbane) have shown up the rest of the England pace bowlers, although Tongue showed enough in Adelaide to suggest that he has the pace and control to be successful at this level. Carse and Atkinson have not been able to bowl enough good balls in a row to put pressure on the Australians.
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Alex Carey has been head and shoulders above Jamie Smith as a wicketkeeper and a batter so far. Carey is improving in both skill sets and is a worthy successor in the long line of great Australian keeper-batsmen.
His keeping up to the stumps has been a factor in Australia’s dominance. To stand up to bowlers bowling more than 130kmh takes courage, talent and a high level of concentration.
Smith has been pedestrian in comparison. He is flat-footed with the gloves on, which means he is slow off the mark, and he has missed crucial catches.
Smith’s batting in the second innings in Adelaide suggests we haven’t seen the best of him. Whether he is the best man to take the gloves for England is another question.
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England’s poor catching has been a detrimental influence. In Adelaide alone, the two dropped catches by Brook were critical. By contrast, Australia has caught the first swallows of spring. Labuschagne has been phenomenal, pulling off some blinders.
The seaming conditions that were once the trademark of English pitches used to prepare their batsmen and bowlers to be resilient cricketers able to tackle varying challenges. That is no longer always the case.
The ECB should be introspect about doctoring pitches and shrinking boundaries which can lead to cheap wins at home, but humiliation overseas.
Great teams win everywhere.
While I will always want Australia to win, I am disappointed this series has not lived up to its billing. I thought it would go down to the wire with the result being decided late in Sydney.
Like Scott’s expedition, England would have benefited from a more considered preparation.
