England have put their first Test loss in Brisbane down to a “bit of madness” and are steeling themselves to show a tougher resolve in next week’s second Test in Adelaide.
England paceman Stuart Broad says winning in Adelaide is all about putting runs on the board early – like the tourists did in 2010 when Australia were bowled out for 245 before England hit 5-620 declared en route to an innings victory.
After England’s 381-run first Test loss last week in Brisbane, where they failed to reach 200 in either innings, another double-failure with the bat could put enormous pressure on the tourists heading into a fast-paced encounter on the bouncy WACA pitch in the third Test.
“We let ourselves down after being in a fantastic position in that (Brisbane) Test match. We were buzzing at the end of day one after the hard work we put in,” Broad said on Wednesday from a sightseeing trip to Uluru.
“But we have to be honest, we lost that Test match with a 50-minute bit of madness (losing six wickets for nine runs) before tea on the second day and naturally we’re disappointed in the way that happened.
“Adelaide is a place you need to score big first-innings runs and we’ll be aiming to do what we did last time and we’re very focused on that.”
Left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson was the destroyer for the home side with nine wickets in Brisbane, leaving England’s hopes of a strong start to the series in a blur.
“It was an odd one because it happened so quickly and the dismissals were uncharacteristic really and there were soft wickets that gave Australia a lift,” Broad said.
“We need to make ourselves harder to get out because we know how important big runs are in Australia.”
England play a two-day match against a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI in Alice Springs starting on Friday.