Terrifying trio has England on back foot

Australia selector Mark Waugh says England’s tail will be “having nightmares” after they were ruthlessly exposed by the hosts’ crack bowling attack in the first Magellan Ashes Test at the Gabba.

Pacemen Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood unleashed a bumper barrage in England’s second innings in Brisbane, rolling the tourists for 195 to set up a 10-wicket triumph.

The trio targeted their opposition with a short-pitched assault, with wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Jake Ball succumbing in the second dig to the hostile bowling, while Stuart Broad and James Anderson also found it difficult to cope.

Australia signalled their intentions in a 20-over burst which garnered two wickets late on day three, with visiting skipper Joe Root on the receiving end of a searing Starc bouncer that hit him flush in the helmet.

The Gabba wicket gradually got quicker as the game progressed, which played in Australia’s favour.

“(The bowlers) did adjust to the conditions well,” Waugh told Sky Sports Radio.

“I thought they all bowled well, the whole Test match. There were certainly no easy runs for the English batsmen.

“The first probably two-and-a-half days the pitch was really slow, so the short stuff just wasn’t going to work.

“We saw Mitchell Starc bowl nice and full on the first morning and, as the pitch hardened up, that intimidation factor came in in the second innings.

“There was a lot of short-pitched bowling. I reckon the three tailenders, they’re going to be having nightmares for two months waiting to go in to bat.

“Jake Ball copped an absolute pounding, as did Broad. Anderson wasn’t there that long, but it’s going to be a tough summer for the batsmen if the standard is that good.”

While Australia’s fast bowlers put England on the back foot, off-spinner Nathan Lyon (2-78 and 3-67) also starred, removing three of the tourists’ top-six batsmen in the second innings.

Lyon has netted an incredible 51 wickets from eight Tests in 2017 and sits behind only South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (54), India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (52) and Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (52) in the calendar year list, and all three have played more matches.

"His bowling was outstanding. I’ve never seen a Gabba pitch turn as much as that,” Waugh said.

“The difference between his class and (Moeen) Ali is a big factor also between the two teams.”

England had moments in the first Test where they appeared to have the upper hand, reducing Australia to 4-76 and 7-209 in the first innings after posting 302.

Instead, they faced a 26-run deficit after captain Steve Smith (141) and Cummins (42) combined for a 66-run stand for the eighth wicket, which Waugh said turned the contest as the home side dominated proceedings from there.

England’s two champion batsmen – Alastair Cook and Root – also failed to fire, though Root managed a half-century in the second innings.

However, Waugh believes England will carry some “mental scars” into the second day-night Test, starting in Adelaide on Saturday.

“If Joe Root’s not making runs, I don’t see where a lot of their runs are going to come from, especially if Alastair Cook continues to fail, which he probably won’t – his record says that,” Waugh said.

“But they’ve got to bat with a lot more aggression and be proactive.

“You’ve got to be able to score – if you don’t score you just can’t put any pressure on the opposition. That’s where they fell down.

“They were in the game…so they’ve got some positives to take out of it, but I still think there’s going to a be a lot of negative thoughts going through their team heading into Adelaide on a pitch where it should even things up a bit because we know day-night cricket, if you’re batting at the wrong time, it can be difficult.

“They should fight back but I think they’ve got a lot of mental scars to come out of that first Test.”

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night). Tickets

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21