News: England succumb on final day of the Ashes

Australian players celebrate after winning the 2nd Ashes Test

Austrailia completed a rout, as they pulled off yet another resounding win in the second test of The Ashes, played at Adelaide. The visitors entered the last day – six wickets down needing a mammoth 304 runs to win the match.

The rain could have been their only accomplice, but it illuded them in their hour of desperate need. After a ten minute delay, Stuart Broad and Matt Prior came out to the middle, almost having resigned to the inevitable. The tall lanky fast bowler did not last too long, after trying to deposit a short ball into the stands, having done that disdainfully, off the previous ball. This reckless behaviour incensed Geoff Boycott, who is not known to hold back :

Matt Prior was their only shining light who scored his first 50 in 17 innings. However, it proved to be in vain, as the wicketkeeper too, fell off a short ball, trying to hook, becoming the fourth Englishman to do so in the innings. For a team with their backs to the wall, trying to save a test match, it portrayed a lack of application, with little steel and determination.

Monty Panesar was the last nail in the coffin, while James Anderson remained at the crease with 13 to his name.

Mitchell Johnson was the star of the show in the first innings, which saw him rip through the England batting line-up, bagging seven of the best wickets. A performance worthy of the man of the match, completing the double in two consecutive Ashes test matches.

The teams travel west, to Perth, for the next match, which commences on Friday. With little time to prepare, the visitors will have to do what they have never accomplished in the history of the Ashes – overturn a 2-0 deficit.

Alaister Cook has his work cut out for him after two humiliating defeats. The stars need to stand up and be counted, after two lackadaisical performances.

Boycott on Broad’s dismissal: “Stupid. He’s obviously shot. Mentally gone. He doesn’t fancy it.”

— Dan Roan (@danroan) December 9, 2013