Australia

England's batting flops in the two Ashes games so far have seen the tourists succumb to a nine-wicket defeat in the opening Test at The Gabba and are now staring at an almost-certain defeat in the second Test currently underway at the Adelaide Oval. The cricket expert also said that it was an irony that the bowlers had to bear the brunt for the losses, as they are the ones who get axed.

With day five left, Australia now need six wickets to go 2-0 up in the five-match series while England need to bat three sessions to save the match. Brief Scores: Australia 473/9 dec in 150.4 overs and 230/9 dec in 61 overs (Travis Head 51, Marnus Labuschagne 51, Joe Root 2/27, Dawid Malan 2/33) against England 236 all out in 84.1 overs and 20/1 in eight overs (Rory Burns 34, Joe Root 24, Jhye Richardson 2/17), England need 386 runs to win

According to reports in Australian media, one positive case is a member of the BBC Test Match Special team while another one is a technical member of broadcasters Fox Cricket. The positive cases, which came out after scheduled testing, meant that the BBC Test Match Special and ABC Grandstand teams couldn't enter the stadium for ball-by-ball radio commentary on day four of the match.

Australian batters Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had extended Australia's lead to 371 despite early strikes from England on day four. At dinner on Sunday, Australia were 134/4 in 44 overs with Head (batting 45) and Labuschagne (batting 31) at the crease and six wickets still in hand.

Root, one of the most successful Test batters in the world, has got off to confident starts in the two Ashes Tests so far but squandered the advantage by throwing away his wicket when the need of the hour was to build on the foundation. Even during England's second innings in the opening Test at The Gabba, Root had ignited hopes of a fightback before he was caught by wicket-keeper Alex Carey off Green for 89.

Cummins had dined with fellow New South Wales and Adelaide Strikers fast bowler Harry Conway at Little Hunter Steakhouse on the eve of the ongoing Test following which he was replaced by Michael Neser in the Playing XI. On Saturday, it was confirmed that Cummins will not have to continue his COVID-related isolation in Sydney and will resume training for the third Test.

Curran's exit is a big blow for the defending champions, who are also missing the services of spinners Ben Manenti and Steve O'Keefe due to neck stress fracture and calf injury respectively. Curran, a member of England's 2019 Cricket World Cup-winning team, had missed last season's BBL because of travel restrictions and quarantine rules.

Australia have a perfect record in day-night Tests, winning all eight they have played so far, while the tourists, by contrast, have won one and lost three of the four day-nighters they have played so far. To add to the uphill task for Root is the fact that England have not won a Test in Australia since 2010/11, losing 10 of their past 11 games in the format Down Under.

During the morning session on day four, a power outage at the stadium meant TV broadcast went down mid-way in the session, leaving Fox Sports, Seven Network and TV stations around the world with no cricketing action to show.

Batting stalwart and former captain Steve Smith has been appointed Cummins' deputy ahead of the Ashes series beginning at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 8. Cummins was earlier serving in the role of vice-captain under Paine. The 28-year-old Cummins is the first specialist fast bowler to lead Australia's men's Test side since Ray Lindwall, who served the role in one match in 1956. Medium-pace all-rounders Monty Noble and Jack Ryder captained the side in the early 1900s.