MELBOURNE: England have never come back from a 2-0 deficit to win an Ashes series but that is the task that faces Joe Root’s team when they walk out in front of a Boxing Day crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the third Test on Sunday.

Cricket enthusiasts around the world would probably be satisfied with something resembling a contest after the latest edition of the game’s most iconic series opened with thumping victories for Australia in Brisbane and Adelaide.

Controversial selections, brittle batting and toothless bowling from the tourists have all contributed to nine days of cricket which have been competitive only in very short patches.

As holders, Australia need only to avoid defeat to retain the urn. The omens are not good for England — the only instance of a team coming from 2-0 down to win the Ashes was Donald Bradman’s Australia back in 1936-37.

Root has made it clear he expects a vast improvement from his whole team at the MCG as England look to win an Ashes Test in Australia for the first time in nearly 11 years.

“It has to be [better], simple as that,” he said on Friday. “I am convinced we have what we need to win Test matches over here but we are not going to if we keep missing chances and don’t give ourselves an opportunity to get into the Test match with the bat.

“The two performances we’ve put out have not been good enough, there’ve been basic mistakes. We’ve addressed it, spoken about it and I expect us to be a lot better.”

England will not name a final line-up until the toss but media reports suggest the visitors could make up to four changes with opener Zak Crawley potentially in for either Rory Burns or Haseeb Hameed and Jonny Bairstow taking over from Ollie Pope.

They are also likely to mix up the bowling unit again with speedster Mark Wood tipped to return, along with off-spinner Jack Leach, after England blundered by dropping him for Adelaide.

That would mean either Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson or star quicks Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad missing out.

“The most important thing is we pick a team that we think is going to win it,” Root added. “We have to win this game to make sure the series stays alive.”

While everything has turned to dust for the tourists over the last few weeks, Australia have negotiated every apparent banana skin with alacrity.

They lost skipper Tim Paine to a sexting scandal before the series and his replacement, Pat Cummins, to Covid-19 protocols on the eve of the second test.

Cummins will return for the Melbourne Test after serving a period of isolation, while coach Justin Langer expects Mitchell Starc to be fit despite suffering a rib injury in Adelaide, where the left-armer quick took 6-80.

Paceman Josh Hazlewood looks set to sit out a second consecutive Test with a side strain but Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser proved more than adequate replacements in Adelaide, where the former took 5-42 in the final innings.

On the batting front, Australia could hardly be in better shape with Marnus Labuschagne having just overtaken Root at the top of the world test rankings.

England avoided a 5-0 sweep on their last tour of Australia in 2017-18 courtesy of a draw at the MCG on the back of an unbeaten 244 from Alastair Cook.

“That’s exactly what’s required, somebody has to stand up and put in that kind of performance,” Root added. “But that’s a great example that it can be done on this ground by an English player. It would be great to see that this time.”

Australia all-rounder Cameron Green is sure England would put on an improved performance but said on Friday the hosts will be ready for anything Root’s men can throw at them.

“Not saying that the performances weren’t good, they had really good moments and we know how good they are and obviously a world class team, world class players,” Green said. “We played really well the last couple of matches, we’re sure they’ll bounce back really hard.”

Green said it was important to put the series to bed as quickly as possible as it was dangerous to give England the slightest encouragement.

“You never want to let a world class team like England back into the series so if we can keep on top ... that’s what we are looking for,” he added.

Stand-in captain Steve Smith had said he was advised to manage the 22-year-old’s workload on the final day of the pink ball contest in Adelaide but Green said he is ready to go for Melbourne.

Green has managed to get the prized wicket of England captain Root twice in the series but said there is no big secret to playing the England skipper.

“I just have very simple plans to him. Just keep it tight from one end and let the other guys do their job,” Green said. “I’ve just got lucky a couple of times.”

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2021