Sport

The Ashes

Opinion

Self-immolation on an almost unconscionable scale: How England unravelled Advertisement

How do you even begin to measure the ineptitude of England’s batting here? Perhaps it is the fact that they bowled Australia out for 132 and yet still contrived to lose by eight wickets in two days.

Or that Alastair Cook faced more balls in making his Brisbane double century in 2010 than the entire team did across two innings of this pulverising in Perth.

For sheer torment, though, it was difficult to look beyond the sorry sight of Joe Root, the second-highest run-scorer in Test history but so psychologically scrambled on this stage that he had fewer runs in this match than his tormentor, Mitchell Starc, had wickets.

The same ignominy befell Ben Stokes. And Zak Crawley, w

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