Michael Atherton described England’s bowling in the opening session of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane as “terrible”, with Australia enjoying short, wayward deliveries to end the first innings scoreless.
England, who added nine runs to their overnight score of 324-9, started taking early wickets early on, but Australia instead raced to 130-1 in 21 overs by the ‘dinner’ interval. The scoring rate was even more remarkable considering that the innings started with three maidens.
“(England) were terrible from the morning,” Atherton told Sky Sports Cricket’s Ash Daily podcast. “They just bowled poorly, it’s that simple.
“Australia are six overs in, but England’s bowling is short and wide and every part is rickety.
“Brydon Kearse had a particularly tough day, but I don’t think any of them were particularly good. The pick was[Jofra]Archer, but once you moved away from the combination of Archer and[Gus]Atkinson, there was a decline.”
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Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket podcast, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton said England would be happier and more effective if they used Jofra Archer in the twilight hours of the game.
Nasser: “No to England”
Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain echoed Atherton’s sentiments, saying on his podcast: “England have a new ball and it’s no wonder they don’t get carried away with the bounce, whether it’s swelling towards the Gabba or locking up towards Australia.
“The same attack that was so great in Perth’s first innings, without (Mark) Wood, just ran up and said ‘cut me’. I’ve never seen so many uppercuts and ramps in the first 15 overs of a new ball. It was unbelievable.”
“There’s nothing between us and this England side. Either they’re really poor or they try to show a bit of character and fight back on the last day.”
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Nasser Hussain analyzed England’s performance on the second day of the second Ashes Test, saying the team bowled “terribly” in the first two sessions before fighting back after the dinner break with a number of dropped catches.
England improved slightly in the afternoon, picking up two more wickets, but Steve Smith (61) and Cameron Green (45) scored 95 runs for the fourth wicket and looked to have taken the game away from the tourists.
Only Brydon Kearse (3-113) reversed both in the same over, while Ben Stokes (2-93) added the wicket of Josh Inglis (23) to threaten an England fightback as Australia suddenly stumbled to 329-6.
“When the 57th over arrived Australia were 291-3 so England would have thought they had lost,” Atherton added.
“Just like England played yesterday, and like any other game they’ve opened the door to in the past, Australia played too.
“Kears, who had been pounded to the ground, suddenly picked up those two wickets and there was a dropped catch in the over and you would have thought England were back in this situation.
“Suddenly England stood up and felt they had a chance, but then they just dropped four catches!”
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Joe Root admits England have struggled at the start of day two of the second Ashes Test, but says they have responded well to get Australia back on track and need to go into day three in a better frame of mind.
“England could have beaten Australia”
Alex Carey (number 46) was dropped first ball by Ben Duckett in the gully of the same curse over, then again by Joe Root at slip from Gus Atkinson on 25.
Duckett was also the culprit when Inglis was brought down at No. 21 before Stokes rearranged the stumps at No. 7, while No. 6 Michael Nether (No. 15) was shelled by Kearse who went to cover.
This was compounded by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith bombarding Travis Head (33) with three off Archer’s bowling (1-74) in the first session, giving England a total of five drops on the day.
“Australia have the better of the game now, even though they didn’t have as much of an advantage as they should have,” Atherton said, looking ahead to day three at the Gabba.
“England are still in the lead but the dropped catch hurt them. They could have easily beaten Australia tonight and the balance of the game could have been right.”
“You have to say England are not out of the woods, but they have to pick up early wickets tomorrow and they can’t afford to let that lead get out of control.
“Then they need to hope that their batting is reasonable and in good condition for a day or two with the bat and then they need to hope that the cracks start to open up for them to exploit in Australia’s fourth innings.
“That’s their path to victory. And I didn’t think they could do it probably an hour and 20 minutes before the end.”
Ashes Series in Australia 2025-26
always UK and Ireland
1st Test (Perth): Australia beat England by 8 wickets 2nd Test (day/night): Thursday 4th December – Monday 8th December (4am) – The Gabba, Brisbane 3rd Test: Wednesday 17th December Days of the week – Sunday 21 December (11:30pm) – Adelaide Oval 4th Test: Thursday 25 December – Monday 29 December (11:30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground 5th Test: Sunday 4 January – Thursday 8 January (11:30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
