England batter Jonny Barstow on Sunday lamented Joe Root’s luck at the toss after England were bundled out for 185 on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test after being sent into bat. England’s hopes of posting a big total and putting pressure on Australia in their floundering Ashes campaign went up in smoke as Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon picked up 3 wickets each to skittle the visitors on the opening day.
Joe Root hit a fifty but there wasn’t any other decent contribution from the rest of the batters. Australia captain Cummins, who returned for the 3rd Test after missing the Adelaide victory, picked up 3 wickets in the first session, including that of opener Haseeb Hameed for 0.
England got Zak Crawley after dropping Rory Burns but the openers continued to post poor scores. There was middle-order contributions from Root (50), Ben Stokes (25) and Jonny Bairstow (35) but none of them were able to carry on and make a big score as Australia pacers made good use of the conditions at the MCG – overcast skies over a green top.
England have failed to reach 300 in the series, with their highest first-innings total 236 in the second test at Adelaide where they lost by 275 runs.
“When you look at the toss that obviously didn’t go our way. We’d have also looked to bowl in that first session. We’re still searching for that big score but both teams were looking to bowl first on that pitch this morning with the help of the conditions and a tinge of green,” Bairstow said on Sunday.
Trailing 2-0 after also losing in Brisbane, England need to win in Melbourne to keep the five-test series alive.
“We’ve got to get a bit stronger and tougher with our dismissals,” said Bairstow, who battled to 35 before caught trying to duck a short ball by Mitchell Starc.
“Naturally, the execution wasn’t there today but the amount of times those shots are executed and go to the boundary is high.
“People have analysed techniques and game plans as to what’s the best way of scoring runs but at the end of the day it does come down to spending time out in the middle.”
