England put Australia in to bat because we struggle taking wickets, admits Trevor Bayliss

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Tom Collomosse3 December 2017

England ignored a century of tradition at the Adelaide Oval because they have little confidence their bowlers can take wickets in Australia, admitted coach Trevor Bayliss.

Captain Joe Root sprung a surprise when he chose to bowl after winning the toss, as only once in 100 years of Test cricket at the Adelaide Oval has a captain sent Australia into bat and emerged victorious. Sure enough, Australia piled up 442/8 declared in their first innings, with England stumbling to 29 for one before rain halted play on day two.

England look set to go 2-0 down with three to play in the Ashes and Bayliss admitted Root had made his call because the tourists are worried about the lack of firepower in their arsenal. None of their pace bowlers are able to bowl over 90mph regularly.

“It’s well documented that one of our challenges is taking wickets on flatter pitches so Joe wanted to give our guys the best opportunity to take 20 wickets,” said Bayliss. “He thought the best chance of doing that was to let them bowl on a fresh pitch.

“The wickets in England aren’t necessarily conducive to fast bowlers bowling, when they don’t get much out of the wicket like you can in this part of the world.

“Maybe that’s a little disheartening. Maybe the amount of cricket played could be an issue. It may be cyclical as well.”

England may decide to bring in Mark Wood, one of their quickest bowlers, for the Third Test at Perth if the Durham man can prove his fitness in the tour match next weekend. By then, though, it may already be too late.

Getty Images

Bayliss added: “It’ll be up to one of our guys to make a big score, not just 40 or 50.”

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