Test Match Special - The Ashes: Welcome to Adelaide!

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

While England and Australia rest up after the second Test, Eleanor Oldroyd brings the latest from the tour and learns more about the famous Adelaide Oval.

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Listen to Football Daily on Spotify to Football Daily on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The TMS Podcasts on BBC Sounds. Hello, this is Eleanor Oldroyd. Welcome to the Test Match special podcast from Adelaide. England have it all to do to stay in the ashes and it's here for the Christmas test

that begin their fight back a week on Wednesday. In this episode, we'll be chatting to Phil Tufnell with his memories of Adelaide alongside a special local guide. We'll get the latest from Nusa where England are enjoying some R&R and we'll hear what Australia's Alex Carey thinks of that much question break

for the England side. TMS at the Ashes. Well, here we are on the banks of the Torrens River, which runs through Adelaide and this was I think the city that I always dreamt of coming to when I was a young cricket fan growing up at home and you hear stories about Adelaide Oval and all the history that's associated with Don Bradman and there's a museum to Don Bradman actually in the ground itself but also the fact it's the setting it's the old scoreboard

it's the the Morton Bay figs on one side of the ground it's the view of the cathedral and the ground has changed an awful lot over the years but I'm always so happy to be in Adelaide and we'll hear about how Phil Tuffel's got great history here as well at this ground but first of all Barrett Sundarason adopted South Australian I know how proud you are of your city what is it about this place that you love so much oh firstly welcome to Adelaide it's I mean I know it's always been called the city of churches but it's also the only city I've been to in the world where when you say a day is 24 hours long you can kind of live every minute of those 24 hours It's just the pace of the city. It's also this beautiful mix of new and old.

People here like to believe that Adelaide never changes and it doesn't. I mean, you can look at it as a positive and a negative at times. And you can say the same about the Adelaide Hall as well. Like you mentioned the word a few times there. You wouldn't talk of the MCG as being a ground even though it has got ground in its name. It's a bowl, isn't it? It's an arena. It's a stadium.

It is, it is. I mean, some might say that. I mean, some might say that when you walk out in the middle of the MCG, you feel like a gladiator. But Adelaide Oval is still just this beautiful village ground in a stadium setting. And when they say nothing is more than 20 minutes apart, it's true. I live up in the hills. I've joined you guys here bang in the middle of the city and it doesn't take you more than 20, 25 minutes. So a lot of wine, a lot of really good coffee these days as well.

I mean, you can literally throw a stone and hit a winery in Adelaide, and I'm not even kidding when I say that. Tough as you would agree with that. Not with my arm, I might miss. And it's just everything else. It's got this beautiful, like I said earlier, blend of old and new. And you see it as you travel around the city, you meet people. They love talking about the history of the place. The first thing they'll tell you is it wasn't founded by Convict, so that's the first thing you hear from Mighty South

Australians when they talk about the state and it just it just embraces you in this very soft embrace like this there's nothing very intense there's nothing very over the top about anything in Adelaide and you can kind of either just disappear in Adelaide or you can find energy and excitement wherever you go so it's also called the the festival state because there's always some festival on here and it's it's a place that I could imagine i would ever call home coming from the you know busy city bit slightly busier city of mumbai and like you ellie when i was growing up adelaide just seemed like an el dorado to me and

now i'm so fortunate to call it home well over on the left we've got the bandstand there's a stage that's being set up carols by candlelight because we're getting close to christmas you've got the footbridge which will lead us over to the ground the adelaide oval or adelaide oval as they call it feel toughnall what do you remember about coming here for the first time well well i'm defeated at Adelaide, play two, play two, one one. Is there not a plaque up? There should be. Play two, one, one drawn one. And yeah, I mean, just a sort of a feeling of space, a feeling of space and a bit more sort of a little bit more of a chilled vibe, you know, you know, you're going to Perth, Brisbane, the gabbatois and everything in your, really in your face when you're on

the field. But one of those places, the Adelaide Oval that you just want to play at, you know, slightly, is it slightly more Englishy, you know, perhaps a, the odd picket fence around it and everything, you know what I mean? And I think England might do all right here. We have done in the past. I think stats wise, it's probably our best chance of a winner, Adelaide. And no, loved every minute of it. And also, of course, met the great Don Bradman here back in 1990. Well, it was a few of the boys had benefit years and he turned up at the ground. on the practice day to have a look and have a little chat he was very lovely I had a chat with some of the England batters and everything and we all gone down

there and crikey you don't turn down a chance to meet the great Don Bradman do you you know so I've gone down there with a couple of little miniature bats like that and sort of very sheepishly gone in there and gone home mr Bradman sir do you mind if you sign my cricket bats and I've still got them at home on my wall but just like that offers I really met someone who's 50 or in Abau in Adelaide, who doesn't have a Bradman story. I remember we had a chimney sweep a few years ago. Look at this little boy from Bombay talking about chimney sweeps to start with.

But I remember he came home and he said, oh, I used to be the chimney sweep for the dawn. And I'm the only one who can claim that the dawn used to make a cup of tea for me every month when I used to go sweep his chimneys. Or you meet, you know, just a punter, just a normal fan at the Adelaide Oval, and they'll tell you about the one time that they saw, or the dawn just walk into an Australia post or you know they walked into a restaurant

there was a dawn. Whether it's true or not, everybody seems to have seen the dawn everywhere. So, yeah, and the fact that this wasn't even his original home state or his hometown, but to Holden Street, not too far from where I used to live when I just moved to Adelaide. It still remains a shrine.

I don't think it's still like this in the Bradman family, but you'll still see someone or the other just posing outside with the plaque. So, and as you guys would have seen, as you land in Adelaide and you drive into the city, you are on Sir Donald Bradman Drive to start with. So the Bradman aura exists wherever you go in Adelaide and especially at the Adelaide over. So he was a proud adopted South Australian, just like you, Barrett. Good things happen to good people who move to Adelaide, you see.

Tough as the first time that you played here at this ground then, it was when the bank saw went all down one end. And the Barmy army, so the early days the Barmy army. they were there and we've been watching a compilation of great phil tuftanall catches before we set off on our walk and tell us about the one you got to dismiss michael slater well i mean just quickly you're talking about the ground they still have sort of kept that i mean if they've they've sort of developed it and developed it like it is but yet but if they've still kept that sort of essence of what it was back in the end absolutely and the hill and that

wonderful scoreboard and what have you yes and then as england were rampaging to a victory against the Aussies. I managed to cling on to one down at fine leg off Devin Malcolm Bold Michael Slater a bouncer got a top edge and it's amazing how good you can make a catch look when you misjudge it. Completely misjudged it and then it ended up being a bit of a specky as it's called over here but great memories of that and you turned around and all the base I said it was the start of the sort of Barmy army then and they've all come running down the steps from the bank and everything and cheer. Listen, it must have been a good catch to make them put their pints down.

Put it that way. But there was always a great support here. We always had fantastic support here. And I can remember when we won, you know, everyone, you know, stayed. And we were in that old dressing room, the big open bit on the side of it. All sitting out there and everyone having the songs being sung to them and everything. Wonderful memories. And in some ways, Barrett, actually, for England coming to this ground,

there is a bit more of a history of them doing well. So maybe the muscle memory is there a bit better. So innings victory here in the series in 2010-11. Yeah, I mean, if we go only as far back as 2010, we don't want to go to 2006, do you? Like, you know, when they lost the most unloosable test match? Should have won. Should have won.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, you're right. And even, just one more thing on the Adelaide Oval. And you speak about the Barmy Army. The one thing I've always been taken by this ground is the acoustics of the place. Even though they've kept that one side open and you can still see the cathedral when you sit on the western side of the ground. And I've watched a lot of Ozzie Roos football here as well. It's not the MCG but still the way the sound just stays in there and the way the sound just echoes around.

It's often considered for such a beautiful, polite venue, it's considered the one place that Victor and football clubs dread coming because of the support that the two teams airport Adelaide and out Adelaide Crows get and it's the same with cricket as well it's a little more English in that way I mean everybody claps and everybody's well-dressed the members are anyway and you'll see the members queuing up like from 6 a.m. or even 5 a.m. at times outside the Adelaide all on day on the first day and like you said earlier I mean it's there's no reason why this England team shouldn't find these conditions closer to home

Especially the way the pitches at the Adelaide Oval have played this summer. They've been flat and it's a red ball test as well. A lot of hundreds have been scored already in the Shield season, the three or four games. So you've had Manus Labushane made one for Queensland most recently. And it's the kind of Adelaide Oval pitch that Phil Tuffman would have played on. Everybody loves batting in the Adelaide Oval. And it'll start taking turn by, say, early day four and into day five. So in a, because we've gone so used to ping ball test matches here,

it feels like we've lost touch with what was or what made the Adelaide over, what, you know, one of the best venues in the world for five-day test cricket. But I think it's backed this year because it's a red ball test. I just forgot to mention that you brought it to my mind, Barra. Out the back, out the back is where it all goes on. You know, there's great party atmosphere. As you said, everyone's done it. Everyone with the boat is on.

Yeah. you know and you know champagne and everything everyone chatting and everything so it really is a great atmosphere when you turn up here as as a player you sort of just feel a little bit more at ease for some reason you know the other got places you sort of fight your way in and a little bit you know but this just seems to be a little bit more laid back and i think the england team will like it and i think as you were saying i think the pitch will be a little bit more sort of english style play shorter square as well long straight still I think isn't it yeah but yeah I think somewhere that if you play well you can get value for your runs there's not that

sort of steep bounce like a Perth of Brisbane there was some pedaloes over here fancy a ride well could do something got into trouble didn't know from the England team in a relaxation maybe that's not such a good idea there's not many out on the water though is that they're waiting for you are I mean once the English should I from Noosa maybe yeah I know this is always one of the favourite places for England fans to come and watch cricket. And we've mentioned there have been some good memories here. There have been some bad memories here.

Let's look at the good memories first of all. So as you said, 2010-11 when England last won a test match in this country, the last one a series in this country. And it all came from the drawer at Brisbane, didn't it? And just that little bit of sense of belief that something could happen. And then coming here and, you know, a famous victory. A very famous victory. And just going back to that draw, I think that's why last week at the Gabba, all of us felt like if whether they drew that game or not,

England could have gained a lot more if they batted a little better in the second innings and, you know, kind of dragged that test match deeper because that's how these five-match series work, don't they? I mean, even in 2012 when England won in India, that first test match, Alistair Cook making that second innings 100 kind of showed them, gave them a blueprint. And I think that's what happened in 2010-11 as well against an Australian team, which was probably the last time they were in the kind of transition they are in right now. And they had them for the taking. And yeah, I mean, at that point, because England were winning a lot of Ashes series at home as well at that point, they'd won back-to-back series. You felt like after this win, I remember, felt like probably the tide was turning. And how wrong we were.

Yes, yeah. And bad memories 2013-14, Mitchell Johnson. I mean, he was unplayable throughout that whole series. Well, absolutely, I mean, talking to the boys who had to face up against him there, they say that that was, you know, one of the most lethal spells or, you know, over a period of time, you know, kept coming in, kept bowling plus 90 miles an hour, you know, at the head, at the body, worked England over. And I can always remember, I think, sitting in my lounge, you know, watching Sir Alas to cook get that delivery, which just, you know, it just sort of missed through sheer pace.

I mean, one of the fantastic, nothing better than watching fast bowling is there, you know. And when you see that happen, it makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. And, yeah, fantastic, fantastic bowler for Australia. Scare the living daylights out of us, I think. I think just on that spell as well, there's, there's a picture of it just outside the media centers. If you're an English fan, just close your eyes as you're walking past. And that's when the stadium was under construction for the 2015 World Cup.

So there's this beautiful image of Mitchell Johnson running in where half the stadium, there's just a lot of debris. It's like a construction site. But I've heard people who watched that live saying they didn't know whether there was more debris in the stands or more debris of English batters in the middle. English hopes and dreams. All of the end and a lot of batting eagles as well. Well, because what Mitchell Johnson did, I mean, he was lethal throughout that series,

but this was his statement piece, I think he took 12 wickets or so here. Yeah, on a good pitch, on a good batting pitch. On a very good batting pitch as you say, that was a real statement. It doesn't matter where we go, don't matter what 22 yards you put in front of me. I've got your number. Just walking over the bridge now, the river bridge, which is, we've got the hotel behind us. The first time actually I was here with Utah for eight years ago. the England team are in that hotel as well, aren't they?

And they all used to walk over here. What a beautiful commute it was. And actually, they're quite like doing that in a very relaxed way, don't they the England team. I mean, they might not be able to, I don't think they're staying in this particular hotel for this test match. But you know, you wouldn't be surprised

to see them turning up on scooters. No. With helmets, of course, because I'm sure there are rules here in South Australia, like in Queensland. Well, they're all on holiday at the moment, aren't they? They're all up at Noosa, having a little bit of a break. And listen, I think that's right. You know, they've had two, you know, testing test matches, mentally, physically.

I think it is to get away with it. And as I said, how long is there? I don't know, eight, nine days or something like that. And then you get back into it. You get the feel for it. And I just, I've still got hope, Ellie. Well, we'll get a bit more into all of that in a second, toughers. But we're going to go and check in shortly with what England are actually up to in Nusa,

where they're having that little bit of a break. and they will probably be reflecting on that hugely disappointing start to the series and we'll get some thoughts from Tuffers and Barat on where the series might go from here. Don't forget to subscribe to the Test Match special podcast, and for all of our Ashes pods and programmes, just search Ashes on BBC Sounds. The TMS podcast on BBC Sounds. I'm Maisie Adam and I'm Susie Ruffle.

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And finding ways to shoehorn in some truly obscure pop culture references. It's actually quite a silly podcast. Yeah, listen now on BBC Sounds. Yeah, you should. Okay, cool. This month in football, everything is up for grabs. The Premier League battles intensify, the Champions League reaches its crucial turning point, and the World Cup draw sets the stage for the biggest tournament on earth. Football Daily from the BBC brings you sharp analysis, instant reaction, expert insight,

and the stories driving the game on and off the pitch. Your essential football podcast delivered every day. Listen to Football Daily on Spotify, to Football Daily on BBC.com, or wherever you get your podcasts. TMS at the Ashes. So whilst Australia are having a bit of time off with their families, before meeting up here in Adelaide on Saturday, England are having a much publicised break in the beach resort of Nusa in Queensland, not far from Brisbane. There's been quite a lot of talk about whether they should be there or hard at it in the nets, though. Our chief cricket reporter, Stefan Shermelt, is in Nusa. Steph, how is it?

What's been happening over the last couple of days? Ellie, welcome to Nusa. A couple of hours north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast. Tough assignments for a journalist to follow England to this holiday resort, but someone has got to do it. England arrived yesterday. They've been out and about in the bars and restaurants of the town. They were on the beach this morning.

Not sure if there's been any golf yet, but I'm sure that's coming in the next couple of days. We know there's a lot of debate around this trip, just like there was around England's warm-up plans in Perth and the Canberra game in between the first and second tests, understandable to question why England are playing in the sea when they're 2-0 down in the ashes. The counter to that is this trip has been planned for a long time.

It was arranged with the help of cricket Australia, not a new concept for touring cricket teams to go on holiday, during a series, Australia's players sort of scattered across Europe during the last ashes in the UK in 2023. And a lot of people are drawing comparisons to the last tour of Australia, England's last tour of Australia in 2021-22, the COVID ashes, when the restrictions the players were placed under meant they couldn't enjoy Australia. We know what Brendan McCullum thinks. He said before the second test, when they did five days of training, they were over-prepared. How many times have we heard him say that cricket's played in the top two inches. Well, he thinks that the top two inches were benefiting

from this trip to Noosa and England will be back training for three days before the Adelaide test next week. And a few Aussie photographers peering out of bushes with extremely long lenses. Yeah, the photographers are here and their lenses don't really need to be that long. Nusa is quite a small town. It is hard for England to be inconspicuous. To be inconspicuous. and they haven't tried to be. They've been told to expect media attention and to embrace it and that is what they've done.

They've been happy to chat to the locals. They've even been happy to chat to those of us from the media when they've seen us, in terms of, I don't know, blending into the background, a number of them have bought a Kubra hat, traditional Aussie hats. Think Crocodile Dundee. And if they thought they might have been a disguise,

absolute opposite, it means you can see them coming from a mile away. All the players were on the beach this. morning. They were playing that football game, Pig. You know, the game that they play and was a warm-up before training days and before match days. All the squad were on the beach. All the staff were there as well. And the players were happy to pose for selfies with fans when they were approached. Ben Stokes with some local children. There were a couple of local radio DJs who appeared in full whites carrying signs saying moral victories for sale and Bazballers anonymous counselling sessions. And Ben Stokes even had a photograph.

with them, just talking to some of the Australian media, they've been really impressed with the way that England have handled the attention, the way that they've interacted both with the media and with the public. A bit of a contrast to what India were like last year. And in fact, the Aussies are saying the only thing that England haven't done well in this country so far

is play cricket. Well, the next chance to do that is in Adelaide, and that's where I'll see you. Steph, thank you. Look forward to seeing you soon. Travel safe. Well, there's been a lot of reaction to this break, much of it critical, but here's what a slightly more sympathetic Alex Carey, Australia's wicketkeeper, had to say on it all this morning. look it's a pretty big series isn't it and you know there's lots of time in between games so

for the Australian cricket team we get to go home for a few days and be with the families you know for touring parties you've got to find time to fill in those those little windows and you know noosa's not too far from Brisbane and on the way down to adelaide so I'm not sure you need to do it totally up to the touring groups to find ways to I guess take your mind off cricket for a little bit The Ashes is a very hotly contested contest and, you know, you don't want to be thinking cricket every single day of the tour. If you do have a little break, it's probably not a bad time to refresh the batteries. But, yeah, there's been little windows, I guess, in England, was able to get up to Edinburgh for a couple of days in that little break between, I think it was Manchester and Leeds. So, yeah, it's not, you know, new stuff that the English guys are doing having a little break.

So that was Alex Carey, the Australian wicketkeeper, and he is quite sympathetic, I think. You know, I think he understands Barrett that they can't be on it all the time and making the point that Australia took a bit of a break themselves during the 23 Ashes series back at home in the UK. They did also the nicest man in cricket Alex Carey, so you won't get a bad word out of him. Even though I know he's still considered a villain in some parts of England, I hope that... We're over that. We're over that, don't we? Are you now? All right. No, I think it's fair. is this in the itinerary from the beginning just because they've lost two test matches

just having two extra net sessions is not going to really help anyone here and i think the one thing i do appreciate about this england team they're not losing is they're not doing anything for optics and and i think i have a lot of respect for that i mean they especially the way ben stokes spoke after the defeat in brisbane that that was it came from from within i've never seen him being so reflective after a loss there was no bravado there was no machismo like we saw at lords when they had gone zero two down where they said oh we have all the moral victories and we can still come back he he admitted that they've done a lot of things wrong and they need to dig deep to find the courage to make better use of these advantage or the

positions of advantage that they find themselves in and also to to deal with the pressure so I think the break is absolutely fine and we often take what these athletes go through especially in the modern era for granted the scrutiny is not no longer just the way it was in toughest time where there were newspaper lighters and maybe a few TV cameras but the fact that they're surrounded by 24-7 I don't blame them at all for wanting to take a break with the last thing you want is for them to for anyone in that group to you know be affected in a way where it has long long-term impacts on how they think about the sport or about their life.

Well, we saw the stress that they were all under in the COVID series here four years ago, don't we? And how difficult that was because they couldn't get out. And actually, the fact tough is that, you know, Ben Stokes has been on the beach in Nusa, having photographs taken with fans. You know, I think it feels quite healthy to me, actually, to get out and into the real world a little bit. Absolutely. I mean, they're going to be coming back here. I think the same time as Australia had come back here to train, loosen up and get your eye in and what have you. Yeah, I don't mind I'm going up for noosa.

Too exhausting, mentally, physically, everything is exhausting about those two test matches. So go away, clear your mind, have a bit of a break. Enjoy yourself and come back fresh and ready to go. But I'm sure also there will be a few little one-to-ones on the beach over a cocktail, you know. Or a coffee, or a coffee, perhaps. And a few little home truths as well.

I don't think it's going to be all fun and, you know, surfing and all messing about. That will be part of it. But I'm pretty sure that there will be a few stern talking to, you know, not only about attitude, but also about the way you play, what's required from your in test match cricket, especially in Australia. So it won't all be fun and games up at Noosa. Not at all. And I think Ben Stokes was very clear about it as well.

Again, going back to that press conference and all the multitude of interviews, interviews he did after that defeat in Brisbane where you know he wants I know his comment was more around there I know weak men in my dressing room and you can't win in Australia so you can look at it in different ways you can like you know there's a shock and awe of like oh did he just say that but the other way of looking at it is what he basically saying is from a cricketing sense that they just haven't really shown up for the fight and and I've been thinking about it for the last two or three days that if this was any other team but this English

team and I've seen and you've seen so many visiting teams come to Australia and get caught out batters trying to play square of the wicket getting nicked off, bowlers getting excited by the bounce at the Gabba and Perg bowling two shot and getting found out and and that's more a cricketing thing and I think that is what has happened to this England team but because there's so much narrative around their attitude and their approach and preparation or lack thereof I think we are looking at things which actually don't matter I I think England has zero two down because they just haven't played good cricket.

And I think if we leave it at that, everything else just falls into place. And so often we've seen teams kind of find their feet as you get deeper into the series. And which is why Australia don't lose a lot here. They get you at Perth or they get you at the Gabba. And by the time you come to Adelaide, you can either go one or two ways where you're knocked off your feet and you are already thinking about the flight back home. Or you can say that actually I feel like I'm settled here. And there's no better place in the Adelaide O'World to give you that feeling if you wanted.

And Australia have named their squad. They've got the luxury of being able to call on Pat Cummins again. We know that Josh Hazelwood is out of the series in the same way that Mark Wood is out of the series for England. But interestingly, Usman Kowager is still in the squad. I mean, what do you make of it? I had a long chat with Usman Kwaja maybe two days before the Brisbane days. The day he was ruled out. And what I gleaned from that was he was going to be part of it.

of the squad or the group till the end of the ashes. Whether he plays on out, we will have to see. I mean, Andrew McDonald kind of hinted that he didn't rule out the possibility of Usman Quarja coming out and batting in the middle order at number five in place of Josh Ingliss. Now, I don't know how that works, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are considering

different ways of just bringing him back in. I would be very shocked if they disturb that opening combination, because I think the series turned on its head. the moment Travis had walked out to open the batting. And I think even the English players would say that as well. So I think it's, I'm not saying it's almost a thank you to Usman Khwaja saying, oh, you've done so much for us.

We're going to keep you around. I still think they feel like there could be an opening at some point in the series. Whether it happens at the Adelaide Oval or not, we'll have to wait and watch. Because all said and none, he's played one innings so far in this series in that first test, where he got bounced out by that Ripsnotter from Bride in Cars. us and Australia also don't like to make too many changes and they're two zero down or two zero up they don't really have to either and I want to tough as well so no mark wood as we know for sadly he's got to fly home at the weekend which is really disappointing for him and you know we

love watching him bowl yeah Matthew Fisher brought into the squad from from the lions yeah but I wonder you know we talked a bit a bit about how that last test ended at Brisbane and Australia chasing 60 on to win I mean clearly England weren't going to do anything but the approach the Joffa Archer having a go at Steve Smith, as it were, and that little bit of spice, do you think that maybe gives England a bit of hope, a bit of momentum moving forward, that actually they're saying, right, okay,

this is the blueprint for how we approach it next time. I wouldn't mind seeing that in the first innings. Let's be fair, you know, but I mean, for sure, you know, we have got the tools, we have got the tools. I think we might see Show with Bashir come in and bowl here. We're going to see Nathan Lyon play. You know, I mean, and that is the worrying thing for England, really, that they've got nearly a thousand test wickets to come back here at the Adelaide over.

I mean, wow. But I don't think they'll be thinking about that. I think there'll be, as you say, Appet News, thinking about their own games, how they can adapt again to a different pitch, a different stadium, a different circumstances, different bowlers as well now. We haven't seen much spin, have we? Nathan Lyons, an absolute, you know, world-class spin bowler. So they're going to have to be getting their heads around that as well.

I think there might be a few changes. I do. I think that bowling line up might need a little freshen up. You've got the likes of tongue and pots. Perhaps a pot's kind of bowler here at Adelaide might be a little bit better. Pitch up, look to swing and just sort of like a niece did at Brisbane as well. So these are all things they're going to be thinking about. Do they make any batting changes?

I don't think so. I don't think you can bring someone like a Jacob Bethel in. I think you just sit down at that top seven and say, listen, lads, you've got to do better. Tuffa's Barra. Lovely to be back in your beautiful city. Thank you. Thank you for welcoming us.

I mean, look, do you have a few more days before that test match? Like I said, you won't miss a winery if you throw a stone. So enjoy the hills, enjoy the beaches, go up to the barossa, go down to the McLarenville. And you all know where you're coming on the eve of the test. So I can't wait to host you guys. Listen, in the city of churches, you're preaching to the choir literally. Certainly am. Now I'm looking for a really nice reasling.

The TMS podcast on BBC Sounds. Well, before we go, there's been an awful lot of doom and despondency around England's 2-0 status in this test series so far after defeats in Perth and Brisbane. But we wanted to take the temperature of the mood in the camp here with Test Match Special in Adelaide. So Henry Moran, who is always positive about life, is with me. Hello. Hello. Hello, I am the absolute epitome. I'm a ray of sunshine, the epitome of positivity. Ellie, because it's nearly Christmas and there's always hope until it's mathematically impossible and we're not even close to that at this point. You say hope. Andy Zaltzman, TNS statistician, has written a piece for the BBC Sport website which says Ash's history offers little statistical

hope for England. Yes, but the good thing about history is that it's finished so what's happened in the past doesn't directly influence what's about to happen coming up and it just you know what i was trying to was give context to the scale of the challenge facing england and when they romped to a three two series victory how extraordinary that would be but generally historically when a team goes two nil down in the ashes after two matches they get thrashed but the positive is that the one exception to that since the second world war was this England team two and a half years ago, albeit in very different circumstances and after a much closer first couple of tests. But we can, you know, I'm all about clutching

straws. Absolutely. Well, Henry's going to give us some reasons to be cheerful and then Zaltz is going to give us some reasons to be tearful. If you like, we've got sort of punch over here, punchy mood and moody. Yeah. So here we go. England always lose at Perth and Brisbane. So we can actually just accept that that was going to happen. Statistically, though, I had laid Oval is their most successful test venue in Australia. They've got nine wings. So there you go. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Well, they've actually got reasonable records at Melbourne and Sydney. Oh, it's coming out. As well. It's in 20 wins in Melbourne, 22 in Sydney. Some of those were quite a long time ago in the dim and distant 19th century past.

And England's record at Adelaide recently, they've only lost six of the last 10. And in the context of England's last 10 trips to Australia, that is phenomenal. I mean, they've lost six of the last seven and won one and drawn two of the first three of those ten. So recently it's not gone too well other than Strauss's team winning the second test there spectacularly in 2010-11. Since the war, England has won four lost 11 in Adelaide, eight lost 11 in Sydney, one-eight lost 12 at the MCG. But you compare that with Perth and Brisbane. They've got much better records at the three grounds they're about to play at, albeit that they still lose more than they win, but Perth, one win, 11 defeats in the two stadiums in Perth, Brisbane, two wins 14 defeats

since the Second World War. So the difficult part is over and we're only 2-0 down. Okay, I'm feeling more cheerful all the time. Go on, Henry. I'm not going to mention the dangerous 2-0 lead at this point, but I'm going to throw that, you know, that's just a spare if I need it. England, as you mentioned, Zoltz came back from 2-0 down last time. So this is an England side. And were it not for the rain in match, they've won that series. It's an England side that has muscle memory of fighting back in a series, and Australia will also be aware of that.

Yes, that might make Australia slightly less likely to give up a 2-0 lead again. They did it. I mean, they've done it in the last two consecutive series. Sorry, they've lost the final test in the last two series in England when they needed to win it to win the series, having retained the ashes, by going 2-1-up in the 4th. The difference compared with 2023 was, I mean that series was really close, apart from the Manchester game, which ended in a draw, which was only one that either side dominated and they lost an entire day to rain, also about 30 overs unbowled due to slow over rates, which don't talk about quite as much as the rain, but could have made a big difference. But if you look, we look at the first two tests of that series. I read about this in my website piece, two close games. After two tests, England had scored 34.6 runs.

for wicket, Australia 35.8, so two very close games, Edge, Basson Test and the Lord's Test. This time, England are 22.7 per wicket, Australia 38.2 per wicket. And those, that margin is almost identical to four years ago, which is 21.8 to 39.5 and eight years ago, 23.9 to 38.6, and after going two nil down in those series, England lost both four nil. So that might be, statistically that seems to be the pattern that is being followed more closely than 2023 but as you said the fact that this specific team has done it's only the batting line up so mostly a different bowling attack um so they do have some memory of it that will give them some hope and i think you know i guess if they make a good start then you know that they can

forget about what's gone what's gone before but uh yes i mean historically going two-nill down every time England's gone two nil down in the ashes in Australia, they've lost. But 100% isn't what it used to be. I mean, everything's exaggerated now, so actually 100% is quite small as percentages go. Well, there we go. In the bag, as I told you, Eleanor. England have now played a couple of Walmart matches, albeit they were the first two. On the beach in Newsom. No, I mean the one at the birth stadium and then the one at the Gabba. But all, it might be said, didn't necessarily go too well. They are a little bit more battle-hound. I say that's not half in jest, but actually there is an argument to say, okay, well, into the series.

Yes, I mean, we could say that now, whether that proves to be the case when the cricket begins again. I don't know. And looking at the evidence of this specific England side, before the test, when there was all that talk about, the lack of warm-up games, you know, points out that actually on their five previous tours under Stokes and McCollum, they'd won the first test every time. So the evidence is that this England team actually gets worse. over the course of the tour. So since they won 3-0 in Pakistan, they went to New Zealand, won the first test,

lost the second will be only by one run. They went to India, won the first test, lost the next four. They were competitive for two and a half of those four then tailed away at the end. Pakistan won the first test, scored 800, faced with a couple of turning pitches, lost the second and third tests. And then they won the series in New Zealand,

but lost the third test. So in terms of looking at, you know, tests after the beginning of a tour, generally they've got worse. So let's just hope that the whole, you know, they lost the first test. Maybe they're just trying, just flipping that, flipping that round. But if that doesn't, I'm not sure that necessarily will help. You've done, you've not tempted his enthusiasm yet. Not yet. No, I've still got two to go.

Okay. Next up, Joff Archer's pace and that's bell to Steve Smith. Now, some people would say, well, why not bowl like that? Just, you know, if you can bowl like that, look at it in the negative. Why wasn't he bowling like that? There was just a sense, I don't know, it was a short period of play, but there was just a sense there was a little bit of fire from England's fast bowler who couldn't be a match winner. He could be.

He's only got three wickets in the series so far, but I think has sort of bowled better than his stats so far, bowled really well in that fantastic first innings in Perth. He bowled a very far spell, but ended with Nort for quite a lot from it. It was the 21st quickest recorded spell for England since 2010 and the top 20 are all Mark Wood. So it was the fastest spell for England since 2010 that hasn't been bowled by Mark Wood.

Ten of those wood spells were on the last tour of Australia which was when he bowled heroically in a losing team. And now Mark Wood's got out of the way he's going to be having the incentive to move out of the list. That does highlight what England have lost with that, you know, that potential of having two bowlers, capable of bowling, sustained 90 mile an hour plus.

So, I mean, Arch is a very different bowler to Wood, I think we saw in his debut series in 2019. He bowled in lots of different ways. He bowled that famous spell at Lords, where he bowled incredibly quickly and hit and concussed Steve Smith. Then later in the series, he was bowling, bowling swing, and bowling at different places. So he's got different techniques.

So I don't think obsessing over his speed is necessarily the right way to look at him as a bowler, because I think he has a lot of different ways. of saying to Shane Warn, why don't you just rip it really well and turn it in a very exaggerated fashion every single delivery out? That's not how bowling all the human body works or your plans work. Yes. And, you know, I think there are some bowlers for whom that high speed does make them a lot more effective. Arch, I guess, you know, we have limited data on Archer because he's had a very interrupted test career and has only played a few games since coming back. But, you know,

If they can harness that speed plus the skills that he's shown over his career, then he can be a potent force, but as he end in the series, not as many whiffics as he and we would have wanted. Well, there we go. I'm just going to offer you a quick one as well. Jackson's Stokes showed the way. There's encouragement, Ellie. So there we go.

Sorry, go on. Well, just on the Jacks and Stokes, that was 36.4 over partnership, longer than either innings in Perth. To put it in context, it's the 160. 64th longest England stand in Australia. So this just used to be how cricket works. The 36 over partnerships weren't exceptional, but it felt epic in the scope of what we'd seen.

The Stark-Bowland partnership of 27.2 overs was only three balls less than England's eighth, ninth and tenth wickets have lasted in all four innings of the series so far. So England's last three wickets, 12 wickets fall and then 27.5 overs, Stark and Boland batted almost that long in their one-match shaping stat. out. You say that's how cricket used to be. I remember Christmas used to be a time of

cheer and goodwill. Look what we've been to I Revelli. I've still got hope. There's always option. Sorry to be the statistical screwing. Andy Zaltzman, thank you so much for being so realistic. Henry Moran, thank you so much for being so optimistic. That is just about it from this episode of the Test Match Special podcast. Hit subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode. And if you search Ashes on BBC Sounds, you'll find so much more from our coverings. out here in Australia. The next test begins next Tuesday night, UK time, starting at 11.30. We'll have full ball-by-ball commentary of it all, plus highlights and a daily Ashes debrief on the BBC Eye Player.

Thanks so much for listening from all of us here in Adelaide. We'll speak to you soon. The TMS podcast on BBC Sounds. This winter, cricket's oldest rivalry. is re-ignited. England and Australia do battle to compete for the Ashes. That is extraordinary. Hear live ball-by-ball commentary on Fife Sports Extra

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