Mitchell Starc looks a certainty to take home the Compton-Miller Medal after just five days of the Ashes series after bringing England to their knees again, this time with the bat.
Starc top-scored from No.9 with a brilliant 77 to all but snuff out any hope of England battling their way back into the contest on day three of the second Test at the Gabba.
The 35-year-old left-hander’s knock lifted the Aussies to 511 as their wagging tail put on an extra 133 before he then wreaked havoc with the ball as England were reduced to 6-134.
Heading into day four with cracks starting to cause havoc, Australia may not even need to bat again with another 43 runs needed from the England lower order for that to happen with Ben Stokes (four) and allrounder Will Jacks (four) at the crease.
They will head to Adelaide with a 2-0 lead and one of the world’s best bowlers in Pat Cummins all but certain to return from a back injury in further bad news for England’s hopes of winning an Ashes series for the first time in more than a decade.
Starc looked a little flat in his opening spell after his lengthy stay at the crease but returned to claim the prize wicket of first-innings centurion Joe Root and Jamie Smith to make it 18 for the series after bagging 6-75 on day one.
The Bazballers managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over in Saturday’s evening session but unfortunately for them, run rates don’t win Test matches.
But they can be lost by lazy shots which have become the de rigeur on this tour.
Ben Duckett was brought undone on 15 when a Scott Boland delivery kept low to clatter off the bottom of his bat and then onto the stumps.
But Ollie Pope (26) and Zak Crawley (44) threw their wickets away with careless drives which presented return catches to Michael Neser.
Pope mistimed his shot from a first-ball loosener as Neser started his second spell while Crawley produced a near carbon-copy dismissal to the delight of the majority of the 35,574 fans in attendance.
Root, fresh off his breakthrough first ton in Australia on day one, was pinned on the crease from ball one with Alex Carey up to the stumps to Neser.
And Starc snared him on 15 when he found his outside edge on a square drive which was given not out on the field but correctly reviewed immediately by Steve Smith to leave the Poms reeling at 4-122, still needing 56 runs to make the Aussies bat again.
Starc, coming around the wicket, set Root up with a series of back-of-the-length deliveries before he was rewarded with the fuller option outside off.
“That sort of working over, getting you back, getting you back. The surprise ball makes you lazy with your feet,” former Australian opener David Warner said on Fox Cricket commentary.
“Having spent so much time in the field and batting as much as he did in the first innings, that can be your downfall if you don’t move your feet. Unfortunately for the No.1 batter in the world, it can happen to the best.”
It was a lion-hearted effort from Starc, who needed time off the field to treat a niggle late in the day before his Root removal.
“His line and length has been impeccable,” former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee said on Fox Cricket. “His pace has been phenomenal.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan said the touring team’s recklessness was all becoming “a little bit too predictable against quality bowling”.
“If you keep running the risk,” he said, it leads to soft dismissals like the pair of return catches for Neser.
Bangladeshi umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat gave Harry Brook out to a Boland leg-cutter, which was overturned after replays showed it went well past his outside edge.
But he was gone next delivery for 15 even though the umpire gave him not out this time before the replays proved otherwise.
There was another incorrect on-field decision soon after but DRS sent Smith on his way for four.
With the Aussies resuming on 6-378 with a lead of 44, the tourists removed Neser early on 16 when he nicked off to Stokes.
Alex Carey polished off the six runs needed to bring up his half-century before he gloved one behind off Gus Atkinson.
With the 50th wicket of the series, Atkinson’s breakthrough was the first time an English-born player had snared a wicket after Stokes, Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse had done all the previous damage for the tourists.
Just when England thought they were close to beginning their run-chase, Starc opened the shoulders and found a willing ally in a usual batting bunny in Boland.
Starc was measured in his stay at the crease, taking 100 deliveries to reach his 12th half-century in his 102nd Test.
But when he attacked, he hurt the ball with his power, finding the boundary 13 times and with his forearm starting to cramp as he came within range of a maiden century, he skied Carse to Stokes at mid-off.
It was his third-highest effort with the bat and also lifted him to a unique honour of scoring the most career runs (1408) by anyone batting at No.9 in Test history, wiping former England nemesis Stuart Broad (1389) from the record books.
The 85-run ninth-wicket stand with Boland (21 not out) was invaluable because it meant another 28 overs of toil in the field for the flagging England bowlers.
They needed another seven overs before they finally removed Brendan Doggett for 13 with all 11 Australian batters reaching double figures for only the third time in history.
England’s bowlers again sprayed the ball all over the pitch with Atkinson, Carse and Stokes bringing up unwanted centuries as all four seamers sent down 24 overs or more.
With Mark Wood unlikely to return until the Sydney Test due to his knee injury, reinforcements will be required in Adelaide on December 17 for what will likely be a must-win match for Stokes’ squad with Josh Tongue, Matthew Potts and potentially Shoaib Bashir getting recalled.
Archer, after a scintillating first-up performance in Perth, has been well down on pace and fear factor.
With barely any red-ball cricket under his belt leading into this series, it was always going to be a tough ask for him to lead the attack and it appears he is already feeling the pinch with three matches remaining on the schedule.
Australia were criticised for going into the match without a spinner but England pretty much did as well.
Jacks’ off-spinners were benign and treated with little respect by the local batting brigade with his only success from 11.3 overs coming when Doggett played for turn and nicked to Brook at slip.