The Ashes: 'England destined to lose first Test to Australia with wrong team selection'

The way in which England folded on day four of the first Ashes Test, losing by nine wickets in Brisbane, was bitterly disappointing.

The resistance of Joe Root and Dawid Malan, who shared an unbroken 159-run partnership on day three, was heartening and showed a great deal of skill and discipline.

Going into the fourth day, England were 58 behind and Australia were clear favourites, but to lose as heavily and quickly as the tourists did undid the good work.

Having said that, with a lack of match practice and the wrong team selection, picking Jack Leach over Stuart Broad, England were destined to fail.

Root said it is easy to look at selection errors with "hindsight", but we did not say it with hindsight.

Before the captain had even flipped the coin, we said this was not the team to beat Australia at the Gabba.

I am not suggesting Leach, who conceded 102 in 13 overs, should never play again or anything silly like that, but not many people would have picked that XI.

Broad is more of a threat than a spinner on this ground, whether you choose to bowl first on a fresh green pitch or bowl last on a wearing pitch which has uneven bounce.

I also do not understand why Root does not back his own bowling a bit more. He could do a perfectly good job with his off-spin.

If you have five seamers and you are slightly managing Ben Stokes' workload, Root is more than capable of keeping an end tight and rotating the attack.

Anderson and Broad will be wheeled out for Adelaide

This England team were also not ready to play a Test match. It is not an excuse but a fact.

They should have played 12 days of first-class cricket before the game, but they played none. You have to be fair to England and make that point.

For those who played, this Test will now give them that match practice. But that cannot be said about the likes of James Anderson and Broad.

They are going to be the wheeled out for the next Test, a day-night match at Adelaide, without any games behind them.

It is not a great place for them to be. They are very experienced and have been bowling with the pink ball for long spells in the nets at Brisbane, but that is not the same as being in the field.

England will have to hope Anderson and Broad can draw on all that experience and the years of playing and settle into that groove of bowling. But it is not going to be easy.

Missed opportunities

England did have opportunities in Brisbane.

David Warner, who made 94 in the first innings, was bowled off a no-ball by Stokes, dropped by Rory Burns and could have been run out by Haseeb Hameed.

Australia were 195-5 in their first innings in reply to England's 147. That was another opportunity, before Travis Head punished England with a terrific 152.

And on day four England had 10 overs to go until Australia took the new ball. That was a nice amount of time to play yourself in.

Root and Malan had to get through to that new ball, but for England to lose three wickets in that time, there was no way back.

Ollie Pope, caught at slip trying to cut off-spinner Nathan Lyon, was a poor dismissal. He is young but has to learn from that mistake.

Burns struggled after being out first ball of the series to Mitchell Starc and then falling to Pat Cummins for 13 in the second.

But there is not a single tour game between any of the Tests. It means someone who is out of form cannot go and find some.

It is a very compressed schedule. It is not the players' fault. It is all manners of things, not least Covid. The T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates also pushed things around a little bit.

A 5-0 loss is possible but Australia are not invincible

Another 5-0 hammering down under is a possibility but I would be disappointed if it happened because Australia are not invincible.

They have holes in their batting line-up and seamer Josh Hazlewood clearly is not 100% fit.

For England to come back in this series, they will have to play out of their skin and also take advantage of two day-night games.

With Perth unable to host the fifth Test due to Covid restrictions, it is quite extraordinary Cricket Australia has made it a day-night game in Hobart, which definitely plays into England's favour.

There are other positives to take for England. Although Root makes mistakes at times, he certainly has the players' respect and is a strong leader. He also has Stokes, who is a strong character, as vice-captain.

In the first Test, Malan stood up to it and Hameed stuck to it at times. I really hope the opener gets a score soon because he looks the part.

There will be changes for the next Test at Adelaide, which starts on Thursday - I would not play Mark Wood or Leach.

Wood bowled out of his skin and he is the one prize England have as far as pace is concerned but, if it is a day-nighter with a pink ball, you are looking at an attack of Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Anderson and Broad.

England have the players who could beat Australia, but you have to a) pick the best cricketers and b) they all need to play to the best of their potential.

But if England lose at Adelaide then it makes their task of regaining the Ashes very difficult.

Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Kal Sajad.

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