A tale of two contrasting teams

The England batting unit has struggled to put runs on the board so far in the opening two games. ©AFP
Joe Root was in the middle of a very intense solo net session two days out from the Adelaide Test. It seemed to be specifically designed for him to get prepared for the new challenge of facing Jhye Richardson. To try and replicate his rather unique release points, Root had assistant coach Graham Thorpe chuck balls at him from very wide of the return crease. The idea seemed to be Thorpe slanting the ball in from that angle and getting it to straighten while Root worked on picking the right ones to shoulder arms to. The England captain was successful on most occasions but every time he got one wrong, Thorpe would end up walking down the pitch for a chat. Then at one point, when asked how he would encounter something they hadn't planned for, Root simply replied with a "I'll figure it out."

To Root's credit, he did figure it out when it was time for him to take on Richardson during the second Ashes Test. Not surprisingly either. He is the best Test batter through 2021 for a reason, maybe a few.

But then you wondered about his team. How Root's words about his own approach to batting seemed to fit in aptly with England's approach to Test cricket. And how unlike with the captain, it hasn't worked well for his team. For, don't England forever seem to be trying to figure out Test cricket and what they really want out of this format.

If it's not their best playing Xis, then it's their quest to find the best balance between resting and playing their key players or it is about creating a workable blend between their white-ball and red-ball players. With only one Test to go in what has been a miserable year for Root's team, despite his prolific brilliance with the bat, it is a sign of how they're as far from figuring any of these issues out as they were at the start of 2021. If not further.

And a day after trying to figure out some unique techniques to get their out-of-form batters ready, the visitors spent Christmas Eve doing the same with some of their other non-performing facets during the Ashes. For Jon Lewis, the bowling coach, Friday (December 24) was all about getting his fast bowlers to collectively hone in on a slightly fuller length than what they'd operated on in Adelaide. He placed two yellow markers just before the first set of fast bowlers led by Stuart Broad and including Craig Overton and Chris Woakes started to run in. To their credit, the trio rarely missed their mark. Lewis stood behind the stump at the bowler's end to monitor them and would nod his head in agreement after every delivery. Broad though did seem to have a few queries for Lewis as to the ultimate purpose of this exercise, even if he did stick to the plan the coach had laid out for him. Sometime later it was the turn of Ollie Robinson, Jimmy Anderson and Mark Wood to bowl.

Not too far away, Haseeb Hameed was trying to figure out a technique where he wasn't edging lifting deliveries off a length to the slip cordon. The young opener, who is expected to keep his place ahead of Burns, spent as much time as Root did in the nets, if not longer, facing a variety of bowlers and coaches with sidearms. His focus was on sticking to his backward and across movement but also then making sure to keep his head and eyes were right on top of the ball, rather than have his weight slightly resting on his back leg. Hameed didn't leave any coach out, from Ant Botha to Graham Thorpe and finally Jeetan Patel, when it came to picking their brains on what he was doing right and what he wasn't to somehow break free of his disappointing run with the bat in Australia so far.

Not long after, it was Jos Buttler who was trying to figure out why he's been edging length deliveries behind the wicket repeatedly, including the time he was handed a reprieve by Alex Carey and the slip cordon very early in what would turn out to be his dramatic rearguard effort in Adelaide. Thankfully for England, the two guys who have figured out ways of surviving and scoring runs against the high-quality Aussie attack, Root and Dawid Malan, looked very pleased with how they've gone about their success so far. Instead, they concentrated on getting better at the rare blemish that has led to them not converting their good knocks into significant ones. It was back to batting with the fourth stump for reference again for Root while Malan used one of the yellow markers left behind by Lewis earlier as a virtual silly-point fielder while facing Patel bowling some very competent off-spin.

Jack Leach and Dom Bess, meanwhile, were left to figure if getting the better of the very out-of-form Ollie Pope would be good enough to bring either into contention for the Boxing Day Test. Even as Ben Stokes showed little mercy in clubbing the ball with all his might against them, like he does every time he's having a net.

Even as England have laboured away trying to figure out what their team make-up is, not to forget more importantly, how they plan to get the better of Australia in their own den, two Tests have slipped by. The Ashes are nearly gone again. And if there isn't the much-needed turnaround in Melbourne, then there might be some, or many, in the English camp who might be left figuring out their immediate futures as Test cricketers.

Interestingly, you look over to the other side, and after a few years of soul-searching following the events of Cape Town, Australia seemed to have figured it out as a team. They seem to have found their character again in this format unlike their opponents who continue to battle with a massive identity crisis as a Test unit. We could see it especially during the second Test when Smith slipped in seamlessly for incumbent captain Pat Cummins and Australia hardly missed a beat to the rhythm they'd set in motion at the Gabba.

It showed too as they went about their routines two days out from the Boxing Day Test. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne batted for lengthy periods, both breaking a few new bats in. And when they weren't batting, the few brief intervals between stints, they spent their time talking about batting, to each other and anyone else who'd listen. Smith took a special interest in how Cameron Green went about his batting in particular, even as the fast bowlers, sans Josh Hazlewood, steamed in with full venom and bluster. Justin Langer spent most of his time working with Marcus Harris, about head positions and body alignment while Usman Khawaja played entertainer, especially with his battle with statemate Labuschagne. He'd even claim to have got the better of the No 1 ranked Test batter in the world, not once but on two separate occasions. And much to Labuschagne's chagrin, Khawaja would be right too. Scott Boland, fresh from having received his hugely-deserved call-up to the Test squad, showed why he's a handful with the red-ball, making life difficult for every batter he bowled to on Friday.

The Aussies took the day off on Thursday and will take it pretty easy on Christmas morning as always, with a handful of them rolling their arm over in the MCG nets. But still they look and feel better prepared for what's to come on Saturday (December 26) and beyond. Except maybe for Root, who like always looks better prepared than most in the world going into a contest. "I'm going to stick to what I'm doing and if one of them bowls a real ripper, then so be it," as he told his support staff after another long hit with the fourth stump strategy.

As for his team and maybe even Root the captain, they're still figuring it out and may continue to do so even once we're into the final Test of the calendar year for both teams.