Trescothick insists England will 'stick to principles' as Ashes disaster looms

Marcus Trescothick, England's assistant coach, insisted that the team would continue to stick to their principles, and "remain focused on how we try and win the game" despite a gruesome day with bat and ball at the Gabba that has left them on the brink of a 2-0 deficit in the Ashes.

Speaking to TNT Sports shortly after the close of the third day's play, Trescothick said that the team remained "fairly philosophical about what we're trying to do", but added that they were "not quite operating as we need to at the moment", after a collapse of 6 for 80 in the floodlit evening session had torpedoed their hopes of overturning a 177-run deficit with wickets in hand.

As had been the case in the first Test at Perth, England's collapse came after a strong start to their second innings, and was largely of their own making. After reaching the dinner interval on 48 for 0, Ben Duckett was unlucky to be bowled by a ball from Scott Boland that kept low, but Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley then departed while driving on the up to Michael Neser - precisely the flawed shot selection that had left to a match-turning collapse of 3 for 0 in the series opener.

It ran counter to the call from England's first-innings centurion Joe Root, for his team-mates to "express themselves in the right way", and whereas he'd salvaged the innings from 5 for 2 on the first day, this time he had no response. Mitchell Starc had been successfully negotiated by the openers but returned to prise Root out for 15, and when Harry Brook and Jamie Smith were extracted before the close, England still trailed by 43 runs with just Ben Stokes and Will Jacks of their recognised batters remaining.

"They've been better than us today, and they've dominated today," Trescothick said. "They've put us under a lot of pressure, and it's always challenging when that happens.

"We're trying to score as many runs as we can. We're trying to take wickets when we can. In certain areas, we probably haven't been as good as we need to be, for long enough. And we're trying, obviously, to do that and trying to put that right all the time."

Trescothick's phlegmatic response to a catastrophic day was in keeping with England's bid to maintain a positive team environment, and echoed similarly outlandish professions of optimism in previous contests - perhaps, most notably, spin coach Jeetan Patel's insistence, on the eve of Ollie Pope's astonishing 196 to beat India in Hyderabad in 2024, that "nothing was impossible" for this team and their self-belief.

However, Pope will be back in the spotlight once again this evening, and for less glorious reasons. For the second match running, his skittish display when well set was the root cause of England's collapse - in Perth, his inability to keep the score moving after a fast start resulted in a loose drive that cost him his wicket; here, with the conditions at their toughest and the onus on keeping wickets in hand until the morning session, he survived two wild drives in three deliveries that nearly went to hand off Brendan Doggett, before poking a return catch to Michael Neser in the very next over.

Trescothick, however, refused to point fingers, and held back from criticizing the decision-making that had undermined England's chances.

"Of course, we work with them as coaches," he said. "Myself, Baz [McCullum] will talk with them about what we're trying to do, and the principle of our game, and how we're trying to play our style of play.

"When we get it right, sometimes we really dominate and we put pressure on oppositions, and at times we don't always get it right, and we play bad shots, and potentially, of course, that gets highlighted.

"But it is what it is. You've got to have some way of trying to play the game. Of course, we'll look back on it, and every game, every innings, and talk with batters and discuss what we're trying to do. And we'll say, yeah, keep going … stick with trying to work out how we're going to make it better for next time. We've got to stick to our principles and what we're trying to do."

The irony is that Australia's entire team offered a demonstration in how to build an innings on a cracked Gabba surface that, as Duckett discovered, can offer a few rogue deliveries but broadly speaking has played very true throughout. Every Australian from No.1-11 reached double-figures, for the first time since 1992, while none of them faced fewer than 30 balls.

"Once the guys have been in the field for a period of time, like they have in the heat, and then you're starting to lose a couple of wickets, it's always tough," Trescothick said. "We've been good in parts. We've had periods in the game where we've been sustained pressure, and put Australia under that the scrutiny that we needed to, it's just maybe they've then fought back.

"They've got through the periods of the new ball well, and made it tricky for us, so fair play to them. It's not just necessarily things that we've done wrong. I think Australia have been pretty consistent in what they've tried to do.

"It's pretty obvious what they're trying to do. They're just trying to smash away on a good length, especially Boland from the far end … there's a big crack just outside the channel of off stump, we're all aware of that. They've hit consistent areas, and they've put us under pressure."

England arrived in Australia with high hopes of competing for their first series win in the country since 2010-11, and their first Ashes victory since 2015. Right now, however, they are racing towards their 15th defeat in their last 17 Tests, and arguably their most humiliating yet, given the chances they've had to dominate, and the relative weakness of a team that has been lacking three all-time great bowlers in Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

"When momentum gets in their favour and they do get on top of you, it's obviously always a challenge." Trescothick said. "We are strong enough, we are good enough to challenge with it at times and put a bit pressure back on, if you like. It's just not quite happened today.

"We're trying to work that out ourselves," he added, when asked how England had let so many strong positions slip away. "We can be a bit more consistent in the style and in the momentum of the game, and try and keep on top of it when we need to be. And potentially, we haven't quite matched up to that when we needed to be. But you've got to try and remain focused and positive on what you're trying to do.

"We've still got an opportunity here. Yes, we're behind still in the context of the game. We've got to come out tomorrow, try and get a partnership going with the last few wickets that we have, and get a total on the board that we can maybe have a little dart at.

"The guys are disappointed, but we're still trying to remain focused on how we try and win the game."