Following Joe Root's criticism of England bowlers, veteran pacer James Anderson shifted the blame for the Adelaide loss on the batters, saying his side did not bat well enough on one of the flattest surfaces ever produced. The latest comment by Anderson could lead to a divide in the England dressing room as England captain Joe Root had earlier said that his team did not bowl the right lengths with the ball in Adelaide and blamed the bowlers for the loss in the second Test. Anderson, in a column for the Telegraph, has now shifted the blame on batters as his side was dismissed for 236 and 192.
"We did not bat well enough on a pitch where the data said it was one of the flattest Adelaide surfaces ever produced and the pink ball did the least it has ever done in a day-night game. From a bowlers' point of view, you want to be hitting the right lengths all the time. We did our best on the first two days to do that ... Maybe we could have gone a touch fuller at times but we still created quite a few changes that were not taken," Anderson wrote in his column.
It's worth noting that England's batters and bowlers haven't been up to par in recent months. Batters have done worse than bowlers, repeatedly failing to put up a big total on the board. The biggest problem for England is that its opening partnership has yet to gel, with players coming in and out at frequent intervals due to their poor batsmanship. England's opening pair put up a 23-run partnership, a 7-run partnership, and a 4-run partnership in the two-Test matches that ended recently at The Gabba and the Adelaide Oval.
In the ongoing Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, England's new opening combination put up a 4-run stand before Australian skipper Pat Cummins removed Haseeb Hameed for a duck. England has already lost three wickets for just 61 runs on the board. Australian skipper Pat Cummins has picked all three wickets for his side. England skipper Joe Root is still intact at 33 off 59 balls at lunch. Earlier in the day, Australia won the toss and was elected to field first at MCG.