Ashes 2021-22: All Too Familiar And Incredibly Frustrating - Sir Alastair Cook On England's Batting Collapse

Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook has berated the English batting lineup after another collapse saw them sink further on Saturday in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval.

After the openers were sent back cheaply on Day 2, Joe Root and Dawid Malan combined once again to stitch a 138-run partnership for the third wicket. Unfortunately, it was deja vu once Root fell as the English lost their last 8 wickets for 86 runs.

Such kind of batting collapses are unforgivable, especially on flat batting wickets like the one laid out in Adelaide. This isn’t Root and co’s first terrible crumble this year either.

“It is all too familiar and it is incredibly frustrating for the players, the coaches, you can’t afford to lose wickets in clusters. You have got batting coaches saying, ‘if you lose a wicket you have to rebuild’, all the stuff you tell 13-year-olds in team meetings, and unfortunately they are not learning lessons,” Cook was quoted as saying on BT Sport.

“They aren’t being good enough under pressure” – Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook went on to mention the intensity with which the Aussies bowled was too hot for the Englishmen to handle. Although there were no demons in the pitch, the Australian pace attack managed to keep things tight and induce mistakes from their opponents.

“They are not being good enough when they are put under pressure as a batting unit. When one wicket falls Australia are brilliant at seizing that opportunity for 20 minutes. Starting your innings on a flat wicket is so important, Australia go all in and England haven’t been good enough to withstand that,” Cook added.

The over-reliance on Root was once again visible as the moment he fell to Cameron Green on 62, the middle-order was exposed. Apart from Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, nobody else managed to get into double figures.

“As soon as the talisman (Root) went second or third over after lunch, (England lost) four for 19, you just cannot afford to do this on flat wickets time and time again because in 45 minutes the game is almost out of reach already,” Cook analysed.

Australia ended Day 3 on 45/1 with a humongous lead of 282 runs. There are two more days left in the Ashes Test and England will have to play out of their skins to stay alive in the match.

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