England batting collapse at Gabba caused by long-standing problems, says Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes the team’s collapse at the Gabba was caused by long-standing batting deficiencies. England was defeated by nine wickets in the first Ashes Test, paying the price for yet another costly collapse. They fell from 220-2 overnight to 297 all out, leaving Australia with only 20 runs to secure a comfortable fourth-day win.

“England fans, however much our bowling carries us over the years, will know over the last two or three years that the batting has disappointed and these collapses have happened,” Hussain told Sky Sports after the match.

“It does seem to me that England’s batting line-up struggles to start the next day. It (Australia’s) is a wonderful bowling attack, make no mistake. They have five genuine bowlers. It is not easy against this attack. This game was not lost today, this game was lost with the dropped catches and the fielding and most importantly 147 all out on day one.”

“England have had batting collapses for a long, long time now. (Joe) Root has been their star player for a number of years now. I think this year he is the only one to average over 40. I think Root and (Dawid) Malan are the only ones averaging over 30, I think Root and (Rory) Burns are the only ones with Test hundreds. That is not good enough, that is not going to win you that many Test matches,” he added.

HUSSAIN BACKS BEN STOKES

The former England player did, however, back the Three Lions’ batting unit and also mentioned that all-rounder Ben Stokes would play a crucial part with the bat in the series.

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“Stokes always takes time when he has had a long spell out of the side – and he has. He is someone who needs rhythm to batting,” Hussain said. “You are always better players when you are out of the side. I noticed the England Lions were bowled out for a hundred the other day. So the reserve batting line-up aren’t exactly kicking on with massive runs. There is a problem with red-ball batting in general in England at the moment. Australia is not a bad place to bat even with their bowling attack,” he added.

The second Test in Adelaide begins next week, and Hussain believes England will respond in the pink-ball Test, but admits they are in a selection quandary.

“I think the key is not to look back too much. Focus in on the next one, work out what you are doing with that bowling attack and the seam attack in particular. Because it is not easy, people will say bring (Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson in,” Hussain said.

“But the bowlers that have been bowling have now got overs in their legs. So they are the best ones physically to go and play the next one. Broad and Anderson haven’t bowled in anger in a match for months now and their ageing bodies, can you get them both in? I’d go with Anderson for the swing. And then what do they do with (Jack) Leach? All this talk about pink ball in Adelaide. Yes under lights it can swing but the rest of the day it can be pretty flat and it can spin. So you might need your spinner,” he added.