The news from Perth is that the catalogue of great English calamities in Australia has a brand new entry. For the first time in 104 years an Ashes Test match has been wrapped up inside just two days and England, on the receiving end of an eight-wicket thumping, may already be broken.
Ben Stokes will doubtless push back at that notion, such is his refusal to ever throw in the towel. But as Travis Head cut and carved his way to a breathtaking 69-ball century, vaporising a target of 205 in just 28.2 overs, the psychological blow landed by the hosts felt greater than their 1-0 lead.
Australia were sensational in effecting the turnaround here, Mitchell Starc turning his seven-wicket haul on day one into a 10-wicket Test match and Scott Boland, four for 33, rediscovering his mojo.
From 59 for one at lunch – a lead of 105 runs – England collapsed to 164 all out, a total that would have been far worse but for some thrash from the lower order.
The surface had seen a wicket fall every three and a half overs on average by that stage and with Australia needing the highest total of the match, the England supporters who had roared on a 50-run pushback from Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse had every reason to believe that nothing was settled.
Step forward Head, opening the batting in the absence of Usman Khawaja and delivering the kind of innings that will only further the Australians’ guffaws about so-called Bazball. By the time he holed out with 13 runs required and walked off to a standing ovation, Head had made 123 from just 83 balls – and absolute mincemeat out of England’s bowlers.
“I could easily have been out in the first over,” Head said. “Didn’t really matter: I thought that was the right process, the right way of thinking: ‘Go out there and see what happens,’ and it worked today. It’s nice to set the tone in the series. I feel sorry for the 60,000 that were due to come here tomorrow! What a start.”
As for Stokes, he admitted being “shellshocked a little bit, wide-eyed after that to see what unfolded”. Speaking to the BBC’s Test Match Special, the England captain added: “It’s hard to settle in with plans when you look up and the runs are coming down quickly. We were very confident having a 200-run lead for Australia to chase. The way that the wicket was playing was tough. There was a lot in it for the bowlers.
“Looking back on it, if you’re the one out there with the opportunity in the middle, you’ve got to make sure the mentality that you’ve never had enough. The ones that had success were the ones who were brave enough to face the ball.”
This report will update
