This England team’s most memorable brain explosions have occurred under the pressure of the contest. Equally impressive have been those that took place in the calm of meeting rooms and phone calls.

The lack of match preparation and casual arrogance of the planning have been well documented, but Jacob Bethell has shown in Melbourne and Sydney that his non-selection in the first three Test matches is another element in this dumbest Ashes tour.

The relentlessness of Australian bowling and supposed hostility of the Australian people can’t take the blame. This was an error entirely of England’s making.

How could Ollie Pope have been thought a better Test No.3 than Bethell?

With his chanceless century in Sydney, Bethell rubber-stamped the quality he had shown in Melbourne and in his previous Test appearances in New Zealand. Oddly, for a tour so distinguished by recklessness, it was over-conservatism that had held Bethell back. Pope sealed his position, ahead of Bethell, during 2025 with a century against … Zimbabwe.

Pope’s greater experience was thought to........

© Brisbane Times