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Where to now? Skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have much on their plate heading into next Wedneday\u2019s Third Test in Adelaide.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019 assessment came after Test great Ricky Ponting said Archer had \u201cjust embarrassed himself, and he embarrassed his team the other night\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo bowl his fastest spell ever in Test cricket, when Australia\u2019s chasing 60 \u2026 it [his bowling at high speed] has been there the whole time, it\u2019s been up his sleeve, and England have needed him to do it, and he hasn\u2019t been willing to do it,\u201d Ponting said on Thursday, also on SEN.<\/p>\n
\u201cDay three, when they needed him to do it, he rocks up with his pillow under his arm, and that was always going to be a bad day for England from that moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as anyone saw that, it was going to be, \u2018OK, there\u2019s their mindset for the day. They\u2019re just going to rock up and Australia\u2019s going to fall over, and we\u2019ll bowl them out\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Archer and his fellow bowlers were accused of lacking patience and taking a scattergun approach, with former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie admitting he had been baffled by the tourists\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n
Skipper Ben Stokes has often turned to a short-pitched attack with, at times, his fielders spread on the boundary in a bid to take wickets, but this had little to no impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just feels like, \u2018If in doubt, let\u2019s just spread the field, and bowl short\u2019,\u201d Gillespie said on The Fast Bowling Cartel podcast with former Test teammates Damien Fleming and Glenn McGrath.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually baffled me, I have to be honest, the tactics and plans of the English bowlers. That\u2019s what I said \u2013 is it the captain and coach, or is it the bowlers, themselves, that have come up with these plans?\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gillespie, once in the frame to be a future England coach, said he felt as if Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had determined the field placings, when he insists bowlers should also have a major say.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you need a little bit of democracy there. A captain only ever needs to ask a bowler one question: \u2018How are you trying to get the batter out?\u2019 That will then dictate what field settings are then required,\u201d Gillespie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think bowlers should have a real say in that because, after all, they are the ones bowling it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tourists have had much to think about during their sabbatical in Queensland this week, before leaving for Adelaide on Saturday ahead of next week\u2019s pivotal third Test. They are due to have their first net session in Adelaide on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u2018He embarrassed his team the other night\u2019<\/p>\n
Ricky Ponting on England firebrand Jofra Archer<\/p>\n
Fellow quicks Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse were also disappointing in Brisbane, Fleming critical of their inability to build pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at their pitch maps, it\u2019s like an artist spraying paint, isn\u2019t it? There is a low percentage of balls into that avenue of apprehension,\u201d Fleming said, referring to the traditional attacking line of on, or just outside, off stump.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you see that [Mitchell] Starc has been brilliant but [Michael] Neser, [Scott] Boland and [Brendan] Doggett, particularly in that second innings, were constantly into that zone.\u201d<\/p>\n