England face Ashes reckoning in Adelaide furnace

ADELAIDE, Dec 16 : The Ashes could be decided within days at an Adelaide Oval furnace where England's hopes of wresting back the urn will fire anew or flame out entirely against a strengthened Australia.

Trailing 2-0 after eight-wicket defeats in Perth and Brisbane, Ben Stokes' team must win the match starting on Wednesday or become the fourth touring England squad in succession to crash out after three tests.

Only one team has ever pulled off a series win from a 2-0 deficit in nearly 150 years of test cricket - Don Bradman's Australia in the 1936/37 Ashes.

Outplayed with bat, ball and in the field this series, England will need the grit of Bradman's battlers to create their own history.

Stokes is adamant his team can rally, having led them from 2-0 down in the 2023 Ashes to draw the series 2-2. Australia, as holders, kept the urn anyway.

"We're able to draw on experience, being in the situation before," Stokes said on Tuesday.

"Everyone knows what needs to happen in the coming week and after that as well. So if anything, it actually makes everything more simple, a little bit more clear for us."

Though the series remains alive, some cricket pundits have already written off England's "Bazball" game after seeing it fail twice.

Head coach Brendon "Baz" McCullum is under genuine pressure for the first time since ushering in England's attacking revolution in the wake of their 4-0 loss in the 2021/22 Ashes.

Former England players have been aghast at the squad's lack of match practice.

The sight of England players necking beers in the holiday hotspot of Noosa Heads last week, straight after their Brisbane thrashing, may have been hard for fans to take, even if the trip was long planned.

While pace bowler Josh Tongue has dislodged Gus