Every session is a must-win for England at the minute, but the first session of Day 2 of this third Test felt particularly pivotal.
The Aussies are so close to sealing their retention of the urn now, skittling the English top three cheaply having reached 371 after some loose bowling to kick off the day’s play.
It was Mitchell Starc who dished out the majority of the punishment with the bat, carving Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse around the ground, making another half-century before his eventual dismissal to Archer for 54.
The pair of Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon managed to keep the scoring ticking, adding an increasingly frustrating 23 for the final wicket. They made the pitch look rather mundane which would prove to be a mirage that England would blindly walk into.
England’s opening pair progressed things quickly as ever, but the return of Pat Cummins made up for a wicketless Starc spell. He produced a peach that was too good for Crawley, edging behind failing to get past single figures.
That opened the floodgates as the pressurised Ollie Pope played a horrible shot off Nathan Lyon to compile the misery of those backing him to retain his place, a group thinning by the innings.
There can be few complaints with the way Ben Duckett was dismissed. A beauty from Lyon on this occasion that gripped and turned and clipped the off stump. He became Australia’s second highest wicket-taker of all time, surpassing the legendary Glenn McGrath.
Australia’s session by a country mile. England will resume on 59-3, 312 behind Australia’s benchmark.
