The last Test of 2021-22 Ashes ended on the third day, and it is again the visitors who are on the losing side. After Mark Wood brought in his A-game to make a case for England’s first win after the fightback in the last Test, it was again their fragile batting that fell like a pack of cards, after a rare and impressive opening stand.
England lost by 146 runs and will be returning home with their heads down. So, let’s look at what took place on the third day of the fifth Test and the last day of this series.
Mark Wood strikes
The hosts were in a commanding position when the day started with Steve Smith and Scott Boland on strike. But it was Mark Wood, who wanted to leave the Australian shore with at least one win, who upped his game at the right time. Australian batters gave in on 155 runs after being bombarded by the English bowlers’ short ball tactics. Barring Alex Carey and Cameron Green, Aussie batters quickly fell to the English bowler’s strategy.
With a career-best of 6/37, Mark Wood was the pioneer of the English comeback. His short ball strategy finally rewarded him in this match as well. About 83% of his deliveries in this innings were shorter than the 8m mark, by far his highest figure on this tour.
England openers made a strong stand
The expected average in the first 15 overs in this Test is 21.2 – the fifth lowest in a Test in Australia in the last 15 years. Three of the top five in this list are all from this series. Batting hasn’t been easy at all in this series, especially in the first hour.
When the England openers took their guard on Day 3 and were inspired by Mark Wood’s remarkable spell, it looked like they too wanted a bite of a win. Rory Burns and Zak Crawley produced the highest opening partnership for either team in this series. A quickfire 68 runs partnership broke after Green removed Burns, and from there on, it was just England’s batters spoiling their own game.
England’s sombre batting sees their downfall, again
In a matter of 38.5 overs, England’s second inning was bundled. Even with a strong opening partnership and two extra days to chase the total, they could not rise to this golden opportunity given to them by their bowlers.
The Australian bowlers continued their dominance in the last Test, bundling the visitors for 124. So, it was befitting that the final wicket of England, bowled off a full toss by Pat Cummins, captured the story of English batters’ performance in this series.
England’s batting average in this series was 19.18, the lowest for any team in a five-match Test series since 2001. It was also England’s worst batting average in an Ashes series since 1890, where they averaged 15.74 across the two matches.
Conclusion
England are now winless in Australia in their last 15 Tests. This record would not have stretched, especially after a brilliant spell by Wood and an impressive opening stand. England only have themselves to blame for this, from a chance to exit the series on a sweeter note, to make it even worse. Credit to England, again, for giving us the second shortest Test match in Australia (1312 balls), where all 40 wickets fell.
While the batting in this Hobart Test was undoubtedly difficult (39 wickets fell to pacers), England made it more complicated for themselves. Travis Head made a century in this match, and not even a single half-century came from the English camp.
There are talks that England needs another revolution like their white-ball team. It’s about time that happens because it cannot get uglier than this.