Ashes 2021-22: The Biggest Concern For England Was Mixture Of Poor Technique: Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain slammed Joe Root-led England side for another batting collapse on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test at MCG.

In a match where England need to win to keep their chances of winning the Ashes alive, the visitors were asked to bat and were skittled out for 185.

England batting once again collapsed in Ashes

England openers Haseeb Hameed and Zak Crawley, who replaced Rory Burns in the third Test, failed to fire at the top. Hameed was dismissed for a nought by Australia skipper Pat Cummins who later claimed the wickets of Crawley and Dawid Malan to push England at backfoot.

Skipper Joe Root led England’s fightback before he departed just after reaching his 53rd half-century. Root once again fell to Mitchell Starc after nicking him behind the wicket.

Poor shots were played from senior players: Nasser Hussain

There was some hope for a big partnership after Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow rebuilt England’s innings but that couldn’t last well as the former went to cut Cameron Green’s short length delivery but was caught by Nathan Lyon at the point.

Lyon picked the lower-order wickets to fold up the visitors’ innings as Australia, led by David Warner’s counter-attacking approach, posted 61/1 at the end of the day’s play.
Hussain rebuked the England batters for their poor technique and selection of their shots.

“If it were a one-off you could blame the sub-par total of 185 on the pitch or the toss but it is happening all too often,”Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail .

“The biggest concern was the mixture of poor technique – Hameed was rooted to his crease and played with low hands and Crawley’s bat came across the line – and poor shots, especially from the senior players.

“Notably Ben Stokes trying to ramp Cameron Green over the slip cordon and Jos Buttler coming down to Nathan Lyon in the over before tea,” he further added.

England bowlers substantially bowled well on the early part of the second day to heal the scars of Day 1.

Also Read: Ashes 2021-22: When You Look At The Toss That Obviously Didn’t Go Our Way – England’s Jonny Bairstow Blames Toss For Batting Collapse