England look for a swing in momentum from a swinging ball

England are hoping that conditions in the series’ day/night Test in Adelaide help them drag themselves back after a chastening start to the Ashes

Stuart Broad (left) and James Anderson look set to return in Adelaide (Getty Images)

As England search desperately for a swing in momentum in this Ashes series it may well come in the swinging of the ball.

Joe Root's side head to Adelaide for the second Test a chastened unit after being comprehensively outplayed in the opening contest in Brisbane last weekend.

Australia routed the tourists by nine wickets well inside four days and were it not for a much-needed counter from Root and Dawid Malan on day three it could well have been done a whole lot sooner.

It was a wake-up call if one were needed with the supreme challenge of winning on Australian soil apparent to everyone both on tour and watching on, bleary-eyed from afar.

Root's decisions at the toss and in selection have been raked over in the hours and days since but the skipper is set to be able to right one of those wrongs at least with the returns of James Anderson and Stuart Broad this week.

Bringing back more than 1,100 Test wickets is sure to improve any side but their selection here, at the series' sole day/night Test, is strategic as well as a response to what has gone before.

The pink ball that is used in these contests - coupled with the gloomy conditions that descend under the floodlights in the third session each day - can be ideal for swing bowling with Anderson and Broad two of the finest masters of it.

England bowled Australia out for 138 in such conditions on the last tour Down Under and having largely failed to cause the home top order problems with the ball at The Gabba will be confident of a better showing this time around.

Australia have some pretty adept swing bowlers too, however, even without the injured Josh Hazlewood and boast an unblemished eight from eight record, including five at this ground, in this format. Batting against a moving ball, as we've seen already, is hardly England's strong suit either.

Root then is preaching caution against the notion that the pink ball will be the answer to all of his side's problems.

"For us it's about not falling into the trap of thinking it's going to hoop round corners for five days," said Root. "There will be periods in this game where that takes a more prestigious role but one thing from our point of view is not overthinking that part of it.

"It is about understanding the different challenges that a pink ball Test at this ground takes and having plenty of options to still find ways of taking 20 wickets. There will be two sessions where the sun can be out and it might not do as much.

"Also as a batting group, we need to be managing those different phases and finding ways to get through."

Anderson (centre) and Broad (second right) look set to return in Adelaide (AP)

It wasn't just the seamers who came under fire in Brisbane with Jack Leach's spin taking a licking from an Australian batting unit who clearly set out to target him.

Leach went for a deeply dispiriting 102 from his 13 overs there calling into question his inclusion in the side.

Root remains confident in his front-line spin option though with Australia too tipping him to make an impact in the series, starting on Thursday.

"I'm sure he'll want to respond and he'll want to get back into the series and have an impact," Root said. "Some of the grounds that we will be going to from this point onwards should offer a lot more for him and bring spin into it as well."

"There's a huge role (for spin), we've seen it here for a long period of time," first Test player of the match Travis Head added. "Lloyd Pope for South Australia has spun the ball and I have spun the ball every now and then, which is rare.

"Whenever we played Nathan Lyon here for New South Wales he's always been near impossible to hit with the bounce and turn he can get from this wicket and the patchiness of the grass.

"He (Leach) is definitely going to have opportunities throughout this series...this wicket is going to be one, it's probably going to be patchy and probably spin.

"There definitely was a plan to put him under pressure (in Brisbane). It wasn't take him down like we did, it just worked out that way."

A further issue for Root is the lingering fitness concerns around Ben Stokes.

The all-rounder, playing in his first competitive match in five months, looked understandably leggy in Brisbane and also appeared to aggravate an old knee complaint.

He looked sharper in the nets on Tuesday, catching his skipper on the helmet with a rapid bouncer, with Root understandably keen to get his star man back to top form as soon as possible.

"We will find out about Ben over the next couple of days. He obviously had a bit of a jar in his knee in the last game," he added.

"Hopefully that is something he's shaken off now and he can get back to full intensity but all options are on the table. We will have to manage that and see where we are at.

"We obviously have big decisions to make. With that experience in your squad it's obviously exciting, plenty of good options to choose from."

Stokes could prove key if England are to take full advantage of the conditions in Adelaide. If they don't it would already look a long way back in their quest to retain the Ashes.