England's batters have to be braver in the third Ashes test in Melbourne if they are to haul themselves back into the series, former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson said. "If England are to turn things around in this Ashes series, their batsmen are going to have to be braver," Watson wrote in his column for The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ashes-ben-stokess-timid-batting-gobsmacked-me-england-must-be-brave-with-the-bat-or-defeat-is-inevitable-q9z696503. "So far, and especially in the second test in Adelaide, the intent has just not been there. I'm gobsmacked," Watson said of the all-rounder, whose heroics with the bat secured England's most successful Ashes run chase at Leeds two years ago. "Selection and strategy have been questionable," Atherton, who captained England in 54 tests, wrote in The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ashes-ashley-giles-put-too-much-power-in-chris-silverwoods-hands-and-now-england-are-counting-the-cost-fq8l3r8vp.

Source: The Times December 23, 2021 05:56 UTC