Stuart Broad has delivered a stinging assessment of the England bowling attack, labelling them as “undercooked” as pressure mounts on the side.
In the absence of Mark Wood for the second Test, the fast-bowling cartel struggled to contain the Aussie batters and there were some expensive figures going around.
Broad – who took over 600 Test wickets for England – believes that the team are well below their best and took particular aim at the bowlers.
“It feels like England are playing at about 10 or 20 per cent of their potential and that’s hard to take,” he said on For The Love Of Cricket.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the preparation … I don’t particularly mind what players do, as long as you’re ready to go in your particular way, but I look at the bowlers and I think they look undercooked, they are missing that match sharpness in the brain.
“That doesn’t mean they haven’t bowled enough in the nets or anything, it’s just that feeling of being out in a game and the pressure cooker of being able to deliver.
“It looks like the bowlers are a bit short of a gallop and the batters are trying to find their feet as well. England don’t look like they are match sharp or matching the intensity … and you lose the moments in the game.
“We had a lot of hope coming here, we looked at our team and thought there’s a chance they could do something special – but I can’t look at any of those players and say they are playing anywhere near their full potential.
“What are the reasons? I don’t know, but it’s the reason we will be going 2-0 down.”
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