"England should not have picked five English-type seamers just because they are playing a day-night Test in Adelaide" - Nasser Hussain

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has criticized the visitors' faulty selection for the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval. Hussain reflected on Day One of the second Ashes Test, saying England got their team selection wrong after doing the same in Brisbane.

England selected an all-out pace attack, choosing five seamers while omitting specialist spinner Jack Leach, who played in the first Test. However, the visitors couldn't do anything special as Australia dominated the proceedings. The hosts finished Day One on 221-2.

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain blamed the captain and coach for picking five pacers solely because it's a day-night Test. Hussain recalled England's selection blunder in the pink-ball Test in India as well and wrote:

"Chris Silverwood and Joe Root should not have picked five English-type seamers just because they are playing a day-night Test in Adelaide. It’s not the first time they have done this either. In Ahmedabad, last winter England played four seamers against India and then saw 28 of the 30 wickets that fell going to spin."

The 53-year-old blamed the visitors for misreading the pitch again as England needed an X-factor. He continued:

"There were long periods of play when the pitch was slow and flat and they needed a specialist spinner or the extra pace and X-factor of Mark Wood. But they had picked the side in Adelaide they should have played last week in Brisbane on a green top and they clearly do not rate their spinner in Jack Leach, not if they are leaving him out here."

The fielding lapses from Jos Buttler behind the stumps didn't help as he let Marnus Labuschagne off the hook twice. The 31-year-old dropped when he was Labuschagne on 21 and later when he was on 95. Australia's No. 3 will walk out on Day Two eyeing his sixth Test hundred.

"They have not done much differently so far in this series" - Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain. (Image Credits: Getty)

Hussain further noted that England missed the trick of bowling full and pitching the ball short. The former cricketer criticized England's failure to include an express pacer despite constantly stressing its need. He wrote:

"I cannot fault England's efforts but they did bowl too short. The England bowlers were too worried about going for runs and did not bowl full enough. I know England lost Jofra Archer and Olly Stone before this series but Silverwood has been saying for two years now that they need pace in Australia."

Hussain continued:

"And Root has said that if England do what they’ve always done in Australia, they will be beaten again. But they have not done much differently so far in this series."

The visitors need quick breakthroughs on Day Two to stay alive in the Test. Although England prized out Marcus Harris early, David Warner and Labuschagne ground the opposition down with their 172-run stand.