The batting – statistically, and according to the world rankings, a mixture of the great, the good and the decent – has, strikingly, failed. England have had plenty of starts – 18 innings of 30-plus (two more than Australia, with power to add, albeit probably pointlessly). Unless one of England’s lower order reaches three figures, Joe Root’s 138 not out in Brisbane will have been England’s only century in the first three Tests. Harry Brook has now played eight Ashes Tests. He has scored at least 45 runs in each game, but never had a match aggregate of 100. He has reached 30 in 10 of his 15 innings against Australia, but has only two scores over 65 (both of which did make significant contributions to England victories in 2023), and no hundreds. Against all other opposition, Brook has converted 10 out of 23 scores of 30-plus into centuries.
