Michael Atherton believes "England have blinked" in terms of their Bazball approach to batting as they stare at an Ashes series defeat with two Tests to play.
England were beaten inside two days in the series opener in Perth and suffered another eight-wicket drubbing in the second day-night Test in Brisbane before being slightly more competitive in the third Test in Adelaide.
Ben Stokes notched his slowest Test fifty on day three, off 159 balls, while Zak Crawley's 102-ball half century on day four was the second-slowest of his England career.
Despite Stokes' best efforts, England gave up an 85-run lead on first innings, while Crawley's knock briefly gave the visitors hope of chasing down a Test-record 435 before a late collapse on the fourth evening reduced them to 207-6, still some 228 runs short of the needed victory to keep The Ashes alive.
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"I think they've blinked with the bat," Atherton said on 'Ashes Daily', the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
"But I think they've kind of been forced into that just by the fact that what they have been doing hasn't been working on the bouncy pitches in Perth and Brisbane, and by the relentlessness of the Australian attack.
"And the captain's message before the game was 'I want to see fight, I want to see dog, I want to see mongrel', which tells me that he wants a bit of old-school grit and grind.
"I said this prior to this game that I want to see them continue to play aggressively, stay true to themselves, with all the caveats about a bit of pragmatism and common sense from time to time.
"Stokes on that second day got very stuck, but you could see what he was trying to do as captain, trying to say 'over my dead body am I getting out'.
"But he then found exactly the right tempo the next day, and I thought Crawley's tempo was perfect today."
'Duckett's failure encapsulates failure of Bazball'
Crawley's opening partner Ben Duckett has been one of the success stories of the Bazball era, averaging 43.31, with six hundreds and 15 fifties in his 37 Tests since his reintroduction to the Test arena in 2022.
But Duckett's top score through the first three Tests of this series is 29, while he was out second ball in England's second innings in Adelaide, edging Pat Cummins to slip.
"Duckett's failure here encapsulates the failure of Bazball," Atherton said.
"He has played some of the best innings of this regime, scored some fantastic hundreds, and in a very unorthodox manner by leaving so few balls.
"But that was the thing: can the way England bat succeed in Australia? Can the way Duckett bats at the top of the order succeed in Australia with the bouncing ball?
"Well, so far, you've got to say no. He's not succeeded, he's averaging 16 and hasn't passed 30 yet, nicking off three times.
"He's got a few good balls in there, but you will as an opener. Today, it was a half shot. It wasn't a shot of conviction, nor was it a leave, because he obviously doesn't like to leave the ball.
"I just thought that it's such a dangerous place to be as an opener, where you're uncertain whether to play or leave, particularly for a batter whose whole identity has been based around not leaving the ball and putting bat to ball."
Hussain: I'd bring Bethell in for Pope
Ollie Pope's struggles in the series also continued on day four in Adelaide, albeit it took a spectacular diving catch from Marnus Labuschagne to dismiss him for 17.
It stretched Pope's run to 16 innings without a half century against Australia, averaging 17.62 across those eight Tests and 20.83 in this series.
"I can't see him batting at number three in Melbourne [for the fourth Test]," Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports, who added that he would now bring in Jacob Bethell at No 3.
"To be honest, his career and his series follow a very similar pattern. It starts well - he started the tour game well, he got runs [46] in the first innings of the first Test, and then slowly he just gets out the same way outside of stump.
"You want your number three to settle your dressing room, that's what greats do, they calm the situation down. On this tour, when he's been batting, Pope has looked vulnerable up front.
"I personally would now make the change away from Pope. Jacob Bethell, who's here and been in and around the England side for quite some time, I think he should probably come in at Melbourne."
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
Australia lead five-match series 2-0
- First Test (Perth): Australia beat England by eight wickets
- Second Test (Brisbane): Australia beat England by eight wickets
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17 - Sunday December 21 (Adelaide)
- Fourth Test: Friday December 26 - Tuesday December 30 (Melbourne)
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 - Thursday January 8 (Sydney)
