Former Test captain Michael Vaughan says England face an uphill battle to avoid a 5-0 series whitewash, following the second Test loss in Adelaide.
Despite some strong resistance from England in the second innings, Australia managed to record a 120-run win over the tourists on Wednesday, to take a 2-0 series lead.
With Australia just one win away from reclaiming the Ashes and Adelaide considered England's best chance for a Test victory, Vaughan fears yet another series whitewash could be on the cards.
“In Adelaide the conditions were English, rather than Australian, yet they were still beaten, and quite comfortably so in the end," Vaughan wrote in the Telegraph.
"For England not to lose 5-0 Joe and his team will have to pull off something spectacular.
“This was their chance. If they can't take 20 wickets here when the ball is moving around where will they do it? Where are they going to make the big scores?"
The former England batsman pinpointed the side's capitulations when batting second as of particular concern. England have averaged 400 runs over the past two years when they have batted first, compared to just 262 when batting second.
“I want to know why they are so poor when they bat second," he wrote.
“It can only be a mental thing. They seem to go to gears three and four far too quickly.
"It is not as if they have been on the wrong end of conditions in this series so far. They had perfect batting conditions in Brisbane both times and they started their innings twice in the day time in Adelaide.
"I just wonder why it takes England to be forced into a corner and criticised before they start to play properly."
The third Test begins in Perth on Thursday, December 14.
