Harry Brook dropped Travis Head on 99, which would have only soured the mood of England captain Ben Stokes, who started the day already pretty ticked off.
Elsewhere on day three, Jake Weatherald walked when he shouldn’t have, and pressure mounted on Cameron Green.
Here are the quick hits from the third Ashes Test in Adelaide.
1. Ben bins Bazball and harks back to Headingley
Ben Stokes has been in no rush for his past few Test innings. (Getty Images: Santanu Banik/MB Media)
England captain Ben Stokes spoke after the capitulation at the Gabba about how the team’s philosophy under Brendon McCullum was supposed to be absorbing pressure, as well as applying it.
As he called for “fight” from his team, after showing it with a 148-ball 50, he was lauded for his leadership but it also raised some queries about the skipper’s apparent and sudden diversion from the Bazball approach of the past three-and-a-half years.
“The top six have been told to play attacking … without consequence,” former Australia fast bowler Stuart Clark said on ABC Sport.
“It hasn’t worked and [Stokes has] gone ‘I’m gonna play like we’re supposed to play’. To me that is really, really confusing if I was a young player.”
Early on day two, with his country’s hopes once again on his shoulders, Stokes eventually reached his half-century off 159 balls — the slowest 50 in his Test career.
Despite still leading by over 100 runs, Australians had cause to be alarmed by the left-hander’s dogged dig as his previous most glacial half-ton came at Headingley in 2019, before he launched for his legendary, match-winning 135.
This time, though, he fell short of a truly defining knock as he was out for 83, hastening England’s demise.
2. Stokes blows his stack
No batter likes getting out, but it always comes as more of a shock to the really good ones.
That’s probably why the likes of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith hang around for five minutes even when they’re clean bowled and why, on day three in Adelaide, Stokes chucked a wobbly to rival any under-13 player when he was castled by Mitchell Starc for the sixth time in Tests.
Mitchell Starc bowled Ben Stokes for the sixth time in Tests. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)
He jumped up and down as he flipped his lid …
Stokes fell 17 runs short of his second century in Australia. (Getty Images: Santanu Banik/MB Media)
… then his bat, in what is fast becoming his trademark move.
Ben Stokes lobbed his bat in the air after being dismissed once again. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
And he continued to curse himself as he made his way off the ground …
There were some expletives hurled by Stokes on his way off the field. (Getty Images: Gareth Copley)
He was pursued by batting partner Jofra Archer, who chased him all the way to the rope to give him a single pat on the back in an apparent effort to prove there was no bad blood from their day-one dust-up.
3. Weatherald walks woefully
Starting the second innings with an 85-run lead, England had a puncher’s chance if the bowlers struck early.
There were calls to hand the new ball to Josh Tongue, rather than the wayward and costly Brydon Carse, but it took the South Africa-born quick just three balls to prove his worth.
After a big LBW appeal from England, umpire Ahsan Raza raised the finger and Jake Weatherald, after a conference with opening partner Travis Head, turned tail and fled for the pavilion.
There were questions about where the ball pitched (and height too potentially) but Weatherald obviously felt he was plumb. Unfortunately, the technology disagreed.
Ball-tracking replays showed the ball pitching well outside leg stump, continuing a poor Test for the umpires, and baffling fans as to why Weatherald hadn’t sent it upstairs where the decision would have been reversed.
The ball pitches outside leg to dismiss Jake Weatherald. (Supplied: Fox Sports)
4. A novel suggestion as Green’s struggles tell
After a 0 and 7 in this Test, Cameron Green is averaging 21.8 in 15 innings with the bat since his career-high 174* in Wellington 18 months ago.
Speculation is starting around his position in the team being something of a foregone conclusion despite limited returns on the Test scene.
Beau Webster feels like the obvious all-rounder replacement, having performed well in limited opportunities since his debut last summer, and Jason Gillespie floated another name some may have forgotten.
“I don’t think the Australians would pivot and make a change in that space. [But] Beau Webster is in the team. There will be a conversation with the selectors about Beau Webster,” the former Test fast bowler said on ABC Sport.
“There obviously will be discussions. They like Cam Green in the side, they obviously believe he’s a generational talent, and he certainly is a very fine young player, but ultimately they need a return on investment.
Cameron Green’s meagre returns have put him in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. (Getty Images: Gareth Copley)
“If the selectors do decide to make a change and bring Beau Webster in, the logical step would be to move Inglis to five, Carey stay at six and Webster in at seven.
“But I’d be tempted to bring Nathan McSweeney in at five if I was a selector. It just feels like Inglis has jumped the queue. It seems McSweeney has disappeared from the thinking. He got that double hundred against the Lions. He’s banging on the door, that’s for sure.”
5. Brook’s botched it again
Aside from awkwardly navigating a few short balls, Travis Head had batted uncharacteristically safely on his way to 99 off 137 balls in the second innings, but then things got a bit tight and nervy.
Facing the part-time spin of Joe Root, he dabbed the next ball straight to point and took off for a run before rapidly reversing course with a wry smile.
That appeared to shake him up, as he was unable to work any of Root’s remaining set for even a single.
Fellow South Australian Alex Carey did his part by working a single off the third ball of the next over to give him the strike, and Head almost blew it when he dabbed a late cut right directly towards Harry Brook at gully.
It was moving quickly and would have been a superb catch had he held it but, despite moving well low to his left to get both hands to it, the ball burst out and ended up in the grass.
To make matters worse, he did a similar thing on day one when Usman Khawaja went on to score 82 after Brook shelled a chance when the recalled 38-year-old was only on 5.
Ben Stokes was off the field for the Head drop, so maybe Brook was distracted by bearing the weight of the captaincy for all of 2.5 overs.