Third Test - Day 2 - England succumb without a fight.

Day 2 of the third test will be remembered for a monumental collapse of the English batting, with the entire innings only yielding 67 runs. Australia bowled well, and England failed to show the patience and discipline to survive and the day turned the Ashes into Australia's to lose.

Perhaps England have not made the necessary adjustments from the short form game to tests. The batting was i'll disciplined, and Australia were able to build pressure with consistent bowling, and then many of the wickets fell to poor deliveries. Certainly, a number of the wickets were just bad shots, and England can not blame anyone but themselves for the record books being pulled out to see how bad their innings really was.

Hazelwood picked up the spoils on the day, with a 5 wicket haul. All the pace attack worked well together, sustaining pressure in conditions certainly less bowler friendly than day 1. It's hard to see England recovering from this humiliating innings, and changes to the lineup would seem to be inevitable after this test.

The ball that dismissed Harris, in Australia's second innings will have caught Nathan Lyons attention, with plenty of grip and spin meaning he may get some overs when England bat again. Australia lead the test by 283 runs, but will want as many more on day 3 as they can get. Batting could be easier tomorrow, and the English will be desperate to make amends for that disastrous effort today.

Hard to see Australia losing from this point, but England shouldn't rule themselves out just yet. Quick wickets at the start of day 3, a target under 350 is achievable. Whether this English lineup has the mental strength and confidence remaining to take up the challenge remains to be seen.

Thanks for reading,

John.