'If you go 2-0 down, that's the Ashes as good as done': Ex-England captain fires warning to Ben Stokes & Co. ahead of 2nd Test

Former England captain Michael Atherton feels that if Ben Stokes & Co. do not bounce back in the second Ashes Test, then the series may very be done and dusted. Australia had recorded a comprehensive 8-wicket victory over the visitors in the first Test at the Optus stadium in Perth and head into the second game as the favourites.

Australia, stellar record in day-night Tests

With the upcoming match set to be played with a pink-ball and in day-night format, Australia will be fancying their chances as they have won 13 out of the 14 pink-ball Tests that they have participated in so far. If the hosts do take a 2-0 lead in the series, it would become an incredibly hard task for England to make a comeback and their horrendous Test record Down Under only makes their chances look worse.

Atherton highlighted how England haven't won any Test match in Australia for quite a long time now and firmly stated that they are not going to win three in a row.

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“The omens are not necessarily in their favour but they have to bounce back, If you go 2-0 down here in Australia, that’s the Ashes as good as done because England don’t generally win that many Test down under and they certainly don’t win three on the bounce. So, it’s a massive game and England will have to bounce back and play rather better than they did in Perth. And if they do, there are still vulnerabilities in this Australian team to exploit,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.

“They had their moments in the Perth game. By lunch-time in the second day, they were dominating the game. They had 75% chance of winning at that point, according to the numbers guys. And then it went downhill and they lost in 2 sessions but they’ll try and draw on the bits of good news that came out of the Perth game. They’ll hope to play a bit better, certainly with the bat. They need to bat a whole lot better than they did there and try and exploit some vulnerabilities in this Australian team,” he added.

Second Test to commence soon

Meanwhile, the second Ashes Test is set to commence from December 4 at The Gabba. It will be highly important for England to win the second Test otherwise they would have to give in a monumental effort in order to overturn the deficit. With Mark Wood reportedly set to be ruled out of the second Test due to knee concerns, it remains to be seen as to who will come into the playing XI for the match.