'Ashes are slipping away': England greats sound off on Adelaide woes as 'petrified rabbit' faces uncertain future
England's woes in the third Test have brought about a staunch reaction from a host of former players, while UK-based journalists have whacked the ugly performance.
The visitors slumped to 8-168 during the third session on Thursday afternoon, before a defiant partnership between Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer helped restore some pride.
The top-order struggled once again against a quality Australian bowling attack, with the under-fire Zak Crawley (9) and Ollie Pope (3) both out cheaply, before Nathan Lyon knocked over Ben Duckett before lunch to have England reeling.
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Pat Cummins then snicked off Joe Root after lunch to continue the pain and from there, another dismal total seemed inevitable for England, who still trail by 158 runs.
Pat Cummins celebrates a wicket Getty
"It looks like the Ashes are slipping away after another difficult day on a very good Adelaide pitch," former captain Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports.
"England's top eight batters, probably with the exception of Stokes and Harry Brook for a while, succumbed to the pressure of Australian attack being relentless.
"I know you want to talk about the batting of England, which has disappointed again, but the bowling of Australia in this series has given England a masterclass."
Stokes will resume on 45 from 151 deliveries on day three and Michael Atherton admits the skipper had to pick up the pieces of his teammates' shortcomings.
"England's top order crumbled again, either side of lunch," he told Sky Sports.
"It was all left to Stokes really, to be his defiant best. It was defiant and defensive, as he had to be - more than four hours of sweat and toil and we've all been there.
"I saw him at the last drinks break, he's on one knee and taking water and a towel on his head to try and cool him down, he's got cramps from the heat.
"He is trying to do it alone with not much support and it's a kind of path a few England captains have trodden down the years here in Australia.
"He arrived here in Australia saying he wanted to join the select band of Ashes-winning captains, but that's looking increasingly further away."
The player under the most pressure and scrutiny following Wednesday's top-order collapse is Pope, who has failed to deliver in the Ashes series.
A column from the UK Telegraph from journalist Oliver Brown delivered a scatching assessment of the right-hander's performance in Adelaide.
Ollie Pope walks off at Adelaide Getty
"The rhetoric around 'Popey' has become familiar: great team man, happy to be in the background, all-round dressing-room legend. But here in the blistering heat of Adelaide, Pope was such a zombie, such a petrified rabbit in headlights, that the version in the Vatican might just have done a better job," Brown wrote.
"No matter how enticing the conditions Down Under, he contrives ever more witless ways to set fire to his innings. This was the most egregious example yet, a nothing shot to a nothing ball, encapsulating the folly of England's faith.
Michael Vaughan is adamant the 27-year-old should be axed for the Boxing Day Test.
"Ollie has had a lot of chances and at three, I don't think he's working," the former Ashes-winning captain told BBC's Test Match Special.
"Do I think he should play next week? No.
"Today was cheap, first innings in Brisbane he cut from Mitchell Starc for naught, cheap. Big drive in the second innings, caught and bowled by [Michael] Neser, cheap. Second innings in Perth, [Scott] Boland goes tight, big drive, cheap - it's too easy.
"I think his race is run at No.3 and whether they look at Jamie Smith for next week. Not saying I would go that way, but that's one option, putting Ollie back down and keeping.
"Do I want to think that's the end of his Test career? Absolutely not, because players can go away and this is what we've got to get better at English cricket. He's relatively young, he's played a lot of cricket and he can go away and work things out.
"He could potentially come back at five or six, because batting at the the top of the order playing like that - unless he tightens up his technique and gets more of a defence - it's never gonna be successful against the better teams."
