"England have doubled down on Shoaib Bashir's status as their No 1 spinner despite omitting their two-year project from the third Test in Adelaide and watching Will Jacks struggle in his place. Speaking after the close of play on day three, at which point Australia were closing in on an unassailable 3-0 series lead, England's assistant coach Jeetan Patel said Bashir had been sacrificed to prop up a struggling batting lineup."
"Patel said: We felt we did need that extra batting cover. I still believe Bash is our No 1 guy and I think he does a fantastic job for us. Always has. But in these conditions, we are horses-for-courses kind of people. We look to pick the players that we think are going to affect the game the most. With all four seamers firing and Jacksy backing them up, I think that works. But it probably didn't play as well as we'd like it today."
"My sense is he's just pretty knackered and he's taken a lot out of himself to get through this point in the game. All I know is he goes at 100%. If he thinks he can't do it at 100%, I don't think he's going to do it. That's probably where he's at: he thought he was a risk, so he didn't bowl."
England designated Shoaib Bashir as their No 1 spinner but left him out of the third Test in Adelaide to add batting cover. Will Jacks replaced Bashir but managed just six runs and produced match figures of three for 212 from 39 overs. England used four seamers, with Jacksy supporting them, yet the tactic failed to curb Australia’s dominance. Travis Head’s unbeaten 142 gave Australia a 356-run overnight lead. Ben Stokes did not bowl after batting for five hours, with coaching staff describing him as exhausted and unwilling to bowl unless at full capacity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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