Brydon Carse peeled himself off the outfield at the Gabba with his shirt drenched through with sweat, his left hand strapped, and his whites stained with grass after a failed attempt at a sliding stop on the boundary rope. His obvious exhaustion reflected England's mood: through no shortage of effort, this series is already threatening to slip away from them.

England simply cannot afford to lose in Brisbane. If that sounds like an exaggeration after four days of cricket, consider this: only once, in 1936-37, has a team ever come from two-nil down to win an Ashes series. They have been handed two golden opportunities to face an Australia side without two of their three great fast bowlers but gifted them a win in the first Test and already have conceded a significant deficit in the seco

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