In Brisbane and Adelaide England have managed to tantalise. They have not been uniformly hopeless. They clung on at the Gabba for three days and there were moments when they could have taken control of that Test. Conversely in Adelaide, having played ineptly for two and a half days, they bowled out Australia for 138 in their second innings and so conjured up the possibility of a historic victory. On the fourth day they rose again and allowed their fans to dream. On the fifth grim reality returned. All out for 233, defeated by 120 runs.
Nonetheless there have been moments when the soft underbelly of their opponents has been visible. This is not a vintage Australia side. Darren Lehmann is not a backward looking bloke, which is just as well. If he was he would surely look at some of his batsmen and then wonder how it was he played only 27 Tests for Australia and Stuart Law played just one. How Steve Smith would love a Lehmann and a Law in his middle order – so would Joe Root for that matter.
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