Chris Silverwood believes he retains the support of his England players despite the side tumbling to a harrowing Ashes defeat in Australia, losing the 3 Tests by heavy margins.
England’s fate was sealed as they were razed for just 68 on day three of the third Test at the MCG, losing the game by an innings and 14 runs and falling 3-0 down in the five-match series.
Chris Silverwood Believes England’s Players Are Still Responding To His Methods
The tourists’ latest abject display with the bat means they have passed 200 just twice in six innings in the series, while they have now lost nine and won just one of their previous 12 Test matches.
Asked whether England’s players were still responding to his methods, England head coach Chris Silverwood said: “I think they are. We had a good honest chat after the last game [a 275-run defeat in Adelaide]. We just have to put performances together and start pushing back [against Australia].”
“It is disappointing for us all and the lads will be feeling that in the dressing room.”
Chris Silverwood also stressed England do know their best team but the four changes made for the Boxing Day Test – Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Jack Leach, and Mark Wood coming in for Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Stuart Broad, and Chris Woakes – were needed after crushing defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide.
“We do know who are our best 11 players are, but we had to make changes after the first two games. We knew we had good people to come in,” said Chris Silverwood.
Captain Joe Root has carried England’s batting in 2021, with his tally of 1,708 dwarfing the return of the team’s second-highest run-scorer this year, Rory Burns (530) runs. Joe Root is the only England batter averaging over 40 in this Ashes series, with Dawid Malan the only other player averaging over 30.
Chris Silverwood Credits Australia Attack For Bowling Well In The 2nd Innings
Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Ollie Pope, and Zak Crawley have floundered against Australia’s high-quality attack en route to England suffering a series defeat after just 12 days of cricket. England captain Joe Root says it’s time to put some pride back into the badge after Australia retained the Ashes
Chris Silverwood added: “We have some world-class players and some youngsters who are learning on the job constantly. We have to try and give them some confidence. We know they have the ability and we do back them. We have to give them the opportunity to show what they can do in the last two Tests. I have to give credit to the Australia attack [especially] Scott Boland for bowling as well as he did in that second innings. “
“Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are also world class. That said, we have to find a way of competing, find a way of pushing back and scoring runs against them. That is certainly something we will be reflecting on in the dressing room as we want to take something away from this series and compete in the last two Test matches.”
Former England batsman Rob Key blames the side’s batting debacles for their current Ashes defeat in Australia and their recent Test failures. England had dragged themselves back into the Test on day two by reducing Australia to 180-6 – at which point the hosts trailed by five runs. Australia went on to post 267 before reducing England to 31-4 in Monday’s pulsating final hour and then sinking them the following morning.
Still, England coach Chris Silverwood took some comfort from the way England pacers bowled, with James Anderson snaring 4-33, the tourists’ only four-wicket haul of the series so far.
The head coach added: “I think the way the guys applied themselves, the way the bowling attack rallied and got us in a position to get back in the game was a credit to them. The way we caught in the last innings was good as well. There are positives coming out of this.”
Scott Boland just took 19 deliveries to complete his fifer which is jointly the quickest for any bowler in Test Cricket. The Victorian pacer returned with figures of 4-1-7-6 as Australia bowled England out for 68 in the second innings to retain the Ashes with two matches to go. He returned with match figures of 7/55.
Apart from Joe Root(28) and Ben Stokes (11), none of the England batsmen registered double-digit figures.
Brief scores: England 185 & 68 (Mitchell Starc 3-29, Scott Boland 6-7) lost to Australia 267 (David Warner 38, Marcus Harris 76; James Anderson 4-33, Ollie Robinson 2-64, Mark Wood 2-71) by an innings and 14 runs.