Ashes 2017: England on verge of First Test defeat as Australia seize control after familiar batting collapse

England 302 & 195, Australia 328 & 114-0: Australia need just 56 more runs to win at the Gabba with all 10 wickets still in hand

Summertime, and the batting was easy. It was Australia who moved to the brink of a 1-0 Ashes lead late on the fourth evening, marching unfussily towards their target of 170 after doing the hard part: breaking England’s batting resistance, gradually at first, and then all at once.

Having competed so well for much of the game, England certainly offered their opponents a helping hand here. Too many surrendered their wickets when well set. A single substantial score from Joe Root (51), Jonny Bairstow (42) or Moeen Ali (40) might have been decisive. A single century stand – not a single partnership passed 50 in the second innings – might have given Australia pause.

Instead, the lower order subsided again – from 185-6 to 195 all out – providing the Australians with a moral as well as an actual victory ahead of the four remaining Tests, beginning with the day-nighter in Adelaide next weekend. Too early for panic, of course: England dropped no sitters, faced no unplayable spells, have suffered no catastrophic breakdown of morale. Australia, the wonderful Steve Smith apart, are nursing plenty of flaws of their own.

But Adelaide is now a must-win. There has never been a draw in a day-night Test match anywhere in the world, and it would be unwise to expect one there. England need greater penetration from their first and second-change seamers. They need more durability from their lower order. Most of all, they need big scores from their batsmen. Six Englishmen – Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Matt Prior – passed three figures on England’s last successful visit. Trying to pick six Ashes centurions out of the current squad looks a far tougher task.

England resumed the day at 33-2, remember, a lead of seven. Stuart Broad described it as England’s best position at Brisbane for 30 years. It still couldn’t hold. Nathan Lyon made the early breakthroughs, Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan both caught at slip. Root was trapped LBW by Josh Hazlewood one ball after reaching his 50: another start unconverted. His ability to turn modest scores into Test hundreds is not merely flatlining, but regressing.

Joe Root celebrates passing his half-century in the second innings (Getty)

Moeen was his regular, ebullient self, to the extent that you wondered whether someone had told him he was playing in the Ashes. He counter-attacked Lyon with abandon, hitting two fours in the first over after lunch. Bairstow joined in with a big six over mid-wicket, and without too much difficulty, England had pushed the field back and were milking the singles.

It was as comfortable as England were allowed to feel all day. The shrilly persistent Lyon continued to wheel away, and after being beaten by the turn a couple of times, Moeen plunged forward once more, allowing his back toe to slip forward just a quarter of an inch. Tim Paine knocked away the bails, and after around a dozen replays, third umpire Chris Gaffaney gave the most marginal of calls in Australia’s favour.

Moeen Ali is stumped by Tim Paine off Nathan Lyon's bowling (Getty)

Was Moeen’s foot on the line? Was there a micron of synthetic leather behind it? Was the line even painted in the right place? Television and social media hummed with lively debate. Irrelevant, ultimately. Lyon had deserved his wicket after a superb spell of deception, coaxing Moeen further and further forward in an attempt to cover the turn.

Chris Woakes hung around for an inconsequential hour against the aging ball. A grimacing Mitchell Starc, feeling discomfort in his right ankle, offered brief hope right until he found a little extra bounce and the shoulder of Woakes’s bat: taken by Smith at third slip, his fourth catch of the innings. England were effectively 159-7 at that stage: clinging to the cliff, but with Australia prising away their grip finger by finger.

Nathan Lyon celebrates after having Mark Stoneman caught (Getty)

Finally, the decisive blow: Bairstow, trying to ramp Starc over the slips, perhaps unaware that Peter Handscomb had been stationed at third man for precisely that shot. Stuart Broad offered a fine edge four balls later. Jake Ball tried to withstand Pat Cummins’ bumper attack from around the wicket, and lasted exactly four balls. And so once again, England’s lower order had crumbled like good Stilton.

Their only chance was early wickets: not just one, but three or four, to twang the nerves of the Australian middle order. Instead, Cameron Bancroft and David Warner simply blocked and nudged and prodded and left until the shiny new ball was shiny no more: seeing off Broad and James Anderson, biding their time, slowly turning the screw.

Jonny Bairstow leaves the field after being dismissed by Mitchell Starc (Getty)

No team had successfully chased more than 130 at the Gabba in a generation, and yet England looked spent: mentally as much as physically. They knew the game was up, and Australia knew they knew. Bancroft lifted Moeen back over his head for six. Warner began to loosen his shoulders and his sore neck. England’s hopes of getting Smith out for a morale boost foundered when they were unable to get him in. Anderson tried an off-cutter and ended up lobbing the ball straight to first slip.

Meanwhile, on a blissfully straightforward day for Australia at the Gabba, perhaps the only hollow note was the Gabba itself. In contrast to its first three days, the ground was almost half-empty, with only 21,535 in place to witness Australia’s decisive advance. For all the entertainment on the field, this has not quite felt like a classic Gabba Test, the slow surface contributing to a stymied atmosphere.

David Warner salutes his teammates after passing 50 in the second innings (Getty)

Certainly, according to the locals, it is usually much noisier than this. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland admitted this week that it was “probably No 5” in the ranking of Australian Test grounds, and it looks likely to miss out on next summer’s lucrative four-match series against India. Perhaps, despite being able to chalk up another win, the Gabba’s halo is slipping a little. Once again, however, England will be delighted to see the back of it.