England have made sweeping changes ahead of the Ashes Boxing Day Test with Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes all omitted.

Batsmen Zac Crawley and Jonny Bairstow earn their first opportunities during this Ashes series while paceman Mark Wood and spinner Jack Leach have been recalled.

England trail 2-0 in the Ashes after heavy defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide and will look to keep the series alive at the MCG starting on Sunday.

Opening batsman Burns has been left out after managing only 51 runs at 12.75 along with Ollie Pope with 48 runs at 12 in the first two Tests.

Broad and Woakes make way as England look to add variety to their attack which has allowed Australia to score more than 400 runs in the first innings of both Test matches.

England vice-captain Jos Buttler told reporters on Saturday: "I'd say the reaction is just an honest one from the group. We've had some honest conversations.

"When you come and play Australia we need to be at your best. We're honest with ourselves that we haven’t been there yet. We have to find that very quickly."

Victorian fast bowler Scott Boland has been confirmed for a shock debut in the Ashes Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Australia captain Pat Cummins, who also returns to the XI after his COVID-19 scare in Adelaide, confirmed the decision on Christmas Day, with Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser dropping out due to soreness.

Boland, who plays his state cricket for Victoria at the MCG, took 8-89 in a match last month against New South Wales. The 32-year-old right-arm fast bowler has played 14 ODIs and three T20Is for Australia and has taken 91 wickets at 25.71 in 26 first-class games at the MCG.

"Really excited for Scott debuting here on his home ground," Cummins told reporters. "Jhye and Ness pulled up a little bit sore after Adelaide, so we made the decision to bring in Scotty. It's a luxury to have someone like him ready to go. He's fresh.

"We earmarked him as a chance for here and the SCG. We think he's really well suited. His record speaks for itself here in domestic cricket. Home ground and having someone fresh and ready to go were big factors."

Cummins explained that Richardson, who took a second-innings five-wicket haul to earn Australia victory in the second Ashes Test and a 2-0 series lead, was carrying a minor leg injury.

"He's pretty sore," he said. "We were umming and ahing. He had a bit of bowl-out yesterday.

"We felt seven days off, give him enough rest. He's got a small leg injury which is nothing major but we felt rather than risk a longer term injury, give him a week off."

Josh Hazlewood remains unavailable due to a side injury but is in the mix to return for the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney starting January 5.

Joe Root says the England captaincy is "not a dictatorship" as the tourists prepare to try and keep the Ashes series alive in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Root called on his attack to be "braver" by bowling fuller lengths after Australia went 2-0 up with a resounding 275-run victory at the Adelaide Oval.

England start the third Test in Melbourne knowing they must win to have any chance of regaining the urn and captain Root does not see a problem with himself and the bowlers having a difference of opinion.

"I like to give our bowlers, especially the senior ones, that responsibility," Root said. "They [James Anderson and Stuart Broad] have more than 300 Tests between them and over 1,000 wickets, and they know what they are doing.

"It's working alongside them, it's not a dictatorship. Every now and again, you don't always agree on everything and that's fine.

"Ultimately, it's about coming to a point where you get the results we want. Unfortunately, in the last game, we didn't quite get there."

Root will break former Pakistan batter Mohammad Yousuf's record of 1,788 Test runs in a calendar year if he scores 159 or more in England's last match of 2021.

England must raise their game in the field, having dropped at least five catches in four of their past five Tests. They put seven chances down in Adelaide.

Australia have lost two of the previous three Boxing Day Tests, both of those defeats coming at the hands of India.

England set to ring the changes

The tourists are set to wield the axe after two heavy defeats, with Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Jack Leach and Mark Wood potentially getting the nod.

Rory Burns is reportedly in danger of being dropped and fellow opener Haseeb Hameed is also under pressure, while Chris Woakes looks likely to miss out after he went for 149 runs and took only one wicket in the second Test.

Ollie Pope has also been out of sorts early in the series, failing to reach double figures in his past three innings after starting with 35 at the Gabba.

Crawley has not played for England since a drawn Test against India at Trent Bridge in August.

Cummins returns, Labuschagne on top of the world

Pat Cummins returns to skipper Australia after missing the last Test due to coming into close contact with a positive coronavirus case at a restaurant in Adelaide.

Australia now have the number one Test bowler in the world in Cummins and the best batter on the planet, with Marnus Labuschagne taking that mantle from Root.

Labuschagne is the leading run-scorer in the series with 228 at an average of 76 following his maiden Ashes century in the second Test.

Josh Hazlewood is set to miss out again due to a side injury, so Jhye Richardson should get another opportunity after claiming a maiden five-wicket Test haul on his Ashes debut last week.

Australia are set to be without Josh Hazlewood for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG after sitting out of training on Friday as he continues to recover from a side strain.

The 30-year-old fast bowler, who has taken 215 wickets in 56 Test matches, missed the second Ashes Test after sustaining the injury during the series opener in Brisbane.

Hazlewood did not partake in Australia's nets session on Friday, instead watching on as Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser jousted for his spot for the third Test.

Australian allrounder Cameron Green said that Hazlewood would likely be ready for the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney starting on January 5.

“He's going really well,” Green told reporters about Hazlewood. “He was doing his run-throughs today and he’s looking really good. I haven't spoken to the guys for this game, but definitely lock him in for Sydney.”

Neser looms as the bowler likely to drop out for returning captain Pat Cummins after taking one wicket in each innings in Adelaide, with Richardson likely to hold his spot after a second-innings five-wicket haul.

"I spoke to him today and he is good to go," Green said about his state teammate Richardson. "He was so pumped after how he went in that second innings, as you would be, and he’s ready to go again."

Joe Root has backed himself to score a maiden Test century in Australia as England search for a response in the Ashes after a dismal start.

England have been comfortably dispatched by Australia in the opening two Tests, succumbing to a 275-run defeat in Adelaide after a nine-wicket beating in Brisbane.

The tourists are without a win in 12 Test matches in Australia – their joint-longest such run (also 12 between January 1937 to February 1951) – and must defeat Justin Langer's side in Melbourne to stop them from retaining the urn.

Root has been in fine form, scoring 175 runs at an average of 43.75, but the England captain has yet to convert to three figures despite registering eight half-centuries in Australia - only Bruce Laird (nine times) has reached fifty more times in Tests Down Under without ever managing to a ton.

Indeed, Root has already surpassed Michael Vaughan (1,481 in 2002) for the most Test runs in a calendar year by an England player and sits fourth on the all-time list with 1,630 runs in 2021.

Root will eye the Boxing Day Test as a chance to further his record haul and the 30-year-old remains confident he can manage a maiden ton on Australian soil sooner rather than later.

"I expect a response from our players and I would like to bring a nice Christmas present home for everyone who stays up," Root told reporters.

"I feel in a really good place with my batting. I feel confident I can, in these next three games, bang out a hundred in these conditions.

"I know that's a brave thing to say but my conversion rate, this year, it's not been an issue at all.

"I feel like I have managed that well and have an understanding of how I want to score my runs. There's clarity there, I just need to keep putting myself in those positions, just have the bit between my teeth, [make it] 'over my dead body'".

Australia number three Marnus Labuschagne, who leads the Ashes scoring charts with 228 runs, overtook Root as the ICC's top-ranked men's Test batter and England's skipper admitted he wants his title back.

"I've never been one for that but it would be nice to have it back for Christmas," he responded when asked about being displaced at the top of the rankings.

Root will also be expecting a response from his bowling attack after he provided a scathing summary post-match in the second Test, in which he slammed his bowlers for repeating mistakes from four years ago and needing to be braver with their lengths.

He hopes his outburst, which was followed up by a "brutally honest" Chris Silverwood debrief with the England players, will act as a catalyst for change on Saturday.

"I did [get angry] at the end of the last game because of the situation we're in and the manner in which we lost," he continued.

"I'll always try to look at things with a level, pragmatic approach but I don't think you could after the way we've played those last two games. I expect a response from everyone this week.

"Twice now we've got ourselves into a position, second innings in Brisbane, first innings in Adelaide, with decent partnerships between me and Mala [Dawid Malan], we needed to go on and we didn't.

"Sometimes that can happen, but the first 20 balls, starting your innings, you've got to be disciplined, you've got to know how you're going to get yourself in the game and we can't afford to be losing eight wickets for 70 or 80 runs.

"It is not good enough, it is not the level that an England Test team should be playing at. The guys know that and they're very aware of that. Their work ethic is very good and you'll have seen how guys practiced and how long they bat for in the nets, but sometimes I think we can be smarter about what we are practicing and how we are practicing.

"And understanding that batting, in my opinion, it's about making good decisions for long periods of time."

Australia head coach Justin Langer backed Mitchell Starc to be fit for the Boxing Day Test, though it remains unclear whether Josh Hazlewood will feature.

Langer's side boast a 2-0 series lead after a nine-wicket demolition of Joe Root's tourists in the opening Test in Brisbane, in which Starc bowled opener Rory Burns with the first delivery of the Ashes, and a 275-run victory in Adelaide.

Starc managed match figures of 6-80 at the Adelaide Oval as Australia made it nine wins in day-night Test matches, the only side with a perfect 100 per cent winning record, in the absence of Pat Cummins and Hazlewood, who injured himself at the Gabba.

Cummins is expected to return in Melbourne after coming into close contact with a positive COVID-19 case last Wednesday, but Langer remained unsure on Hazlewood's fitness as he praised the work of left-armer Starc.

On Starc, Langer told reporters: "He should be fine. He's tough. If he's not right, then we'll look at it. But at this stage, there's no indication suggesting he won't be playing the next Test.

"I'd be very surprised if he doesn't get up for Boxing Day. We will wait and see how Hazlewood pulls up.

"I honestly thought Starc was almost the man of the match last game. He became the leader of the group.

"There's been a lot of talk about Mitch Starc for the last few years but he just keeps turning up. He's an unbelievable athlete and he's incredibly fit.

"His resilience to just keep coming up over and over and over again is remarkable really, and his consistency of length and the way he controlled the tempo of the game last game was a great credit to him, particularly with Patty (Cummins) and Hazlewood not playing."

Indeed, Starc has been the pick of fast bowlers in the series thus far, picking up nine wickets at an average of 21.33, with off-spinner Nathan Lyon the only other player to record as many dismissals (nine wickets at an average of 25). 

The hosts initially named an unchanged 15-man squad for the remainder of the Tests in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart but have added bowler Scott Boland to the group while the medical team continue to assess the fast-bowling group.

Langer has also confirmed Marcus Harris will open in the third Test, despite the left-handed batter managing just 38 runs across four innings, knowing Australia will retain the Ashes if they avoid defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Dawid Malan insisted the time for talking is over and England must now prove themselves in Melbourne after a dismal start to the Ashes.

England have been outclassed in the opening two Tests, suffering a 275-run defeat in Adelaide after a nine-wicket beating in Brisbane.

The tourists are without a win in 12 Tests in Australia – their joint-longest such run Down Under (also 12 between January 1937 to February 1951).

The third Test starts on Boxing Day at the MCG, with bowler Mark Wood revealing England have held "brutally honest" meetings before Saturday after disappointment last week.

Captain Joe Root also provided a scathing post-match summary of his bowlers repeating mistakes from four years ago and needing to be braver with their lengths, and batsman Malan knows it is now time for England to right their wrongs as they look to keep their hopes of regaining the urn alive.

"We've done a lot of talking," Malan told reporters. "When you lose there'll always be reports that people are at each other. There definitely isn't. 

"One of the things we've been doing this series is a lot of chat amongst the players and encouraging players to challenge each other on a lot of things. 

"We've had good discussions with the coaching staff and without the coaching staff. It's vitally important that we as players take responsibility.

"Ultimately we are the ones who walk onto the field. We get all the preparation and all the knowledge we need, it's up to us to put it in place. We haven't done that well enough. 

"When we have those honest chats as players we feel we learn a lot more. Now it's about not talking any more, it's about putting it into play."

Malan has been one of England's standout performers so far, scoring 188 runs at an average of 47, with Root (175 at an average of 43.75) in close company.

However, England's next-best batter is all-rounder Chris Woakes (105), with the trio the only players to accumulate more than 100 runs from the first two Tests.

"Everyone is up for the challenge, everyone is really keen to face up to Australia," Malan added.

"We do it in white-ball cricket, we take them on, so hopefully we can get that mindset and not go into our shells and just try to survive, take the game to them.

"We are almost learning in Test matches because we haven't had that preparation. A lot of the guys haven't played in Australia so are trying to find ways of facing bowlers they haven't faced before but also to get used to bounce here. 

"I know there's a lead-up to dismissals and how bowlers set you up, but a lot of our dismissals were probably soft in the sense that we could have left them. You still have to score, but it's about making the right choices under pressure, myself included. 

"If you look at the way they have batted, the ones who have done really well, they've left really well so it's a good learning curve for us. Hopefully it's not too late."

Eoin Morgan will lead a 16-strong T20I squad in England's tour of the West Indies.

The five-match series takes place in Barbados from January 22 to 30, with the first match scheduled only four days after the final Ashes Test is due to end.

Therefore, none of England's Ashes squad have been considered for selection, while Paul Collingwood will stand in for Chris Silverwood as coach.

Morgan's squad still includes 11 players who travelled to the T20 World Cup, with England reaching the semi-finals, only to lose to New Zealand.

Two uncapped players – George Garton and David Payne – were also named.

Dawid Malan is out in Australia with Joe Root's struggling red-ball side, while seamers Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Tom Curran are out injured.

Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are also playing Down Under, as is Ben Stokes, who missed the T20 World Cup to focus on his mental wellbeing.

Tom Banton and Saqib Mahmood are the other players to have been called up who were not involved in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

The series marks the continuation of England's preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia.

"We have selected a strong squad with some serious batting power and a balanced attack as we begin preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia," said Collingwood.

"The [T20] World Cup is less than a year away and there will be increased opportunities for the squad in the absence of those players who are with the Ashes squad.

"I have good memories winning a World Cup in Barbados and I'm really looking forward to going back there with this squad to face a very good West Indies who will test all aspects of our skills."

England squad in full:

Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mill, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince.

Australia coach Justin Langer has confirmed Marcus Harris will play the Ashes Boxing Day Test at the MCG against England despite his poor run of form.

Harris has only managed 38 runs from four innings during the series and averages 22.19 during a 12-game Test career with only two half-centuries from 23 innings leading to pressure on his spot as David Warner's opening partner.

Australia's 2-0 Ashes lead has helped ease some pressure on Harris but Langer publicly threw his support behind him in a further boost for the embattled Victorian.

"He'll play in the Test, no worries about that," Langer told reporters on Thursday. "This is his home ground. He's played a lot at the MCG.

"He hasn't made the runs he'd like to so far, but he dominates domestic cricket so he knows that he knows how to play.

"He's a fantastic bloke around the squad ... And we know he's a very good player. For him and for us we're hoping he plays well and gets a good partnership with Davey Warner in this Boxing Day Test match."

Australia's opening partnerships in the four innings this Ashes have equated to an average of 17.75, with stands of 10, 16, four and 41.

Langer added: "We're really confident Marcus has got what it takes to be a successful Australian opening batsman and what we see in the nets, what we see in domestic cricket all adds up to what is potentially a very good Test career.

"One of the building blocks of a great team is the opening partnership and top three. We're determined to get that right."

Former Australia left-handed opener Langer endured similar struggles during his playing career but was backed by ex-captain Steve Waugh.

The 51-year-old coach, who worked with Harris during their time in WA, said it was important Harris felt "important to the team" to bring out the best in him.

"That's absolutely one of the most important things in life, knowing people have got your back," Langer said.

"My experience, when Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor or Allan Border said 'you're in the team', you feel like Superman. You feel like you're important to the team and Marcus Harris is important to the team."

Mark Wood expects a response from England after stern words from Chris Silverwood and a discussion among senior players following their poor start in the Ashes.

Joe Root's side have been comfortably outplayed by Australia in the opening two Tests, most recently succumbing to a 275-run defeat in Adelaide after a nine-wicket loss in Brisbane.

Another crushing blow at the Adelaide Oval leaves England needing a minor miracle to overturn a 2-0 series deficit, the tourists now without a win in 12 Tests in Australia – their joint-longest run Down Under (also 12 between January 1937 to February 1951).

The third Test starts in Melbourne on December 25 and Wood hopes an in-depth chat between players, and an honest evaluation from Silverwood, after defeat in the second Test will leave England in better shape.

"We obviously review the game, chat about what we did well, what we didn't do well, but this time it was sterner from Chris Silverwood," Wood said.

"To hear [Chris Silverwood] speak like that – not because he's under pressure or anything – but to hear him speak like that rather than just being his usual coaching self, he was actually annoyed and wanted a change.

"Hopefully it comes at the right time for us to catch a spark.

"Stokesy [Ben Stokes] and Joe Root spoke to the group about… basically a bit of a kick up the bum saying 'this isn't good enough'.

"We've talked in-depth about how things can get better. Not just words or cliched words, we actually set out what we're going to do in Melbourne practice-wise, what we're going to do differently."

Wood did not feature in Adelaide despite impressing in the opening Test, with Stuart Broad and James Anderson leading the tourists' bowling attack in the latter pink-ball outing.

Right-arm paceman Wood is expected to return for the next Test to offer Root an alternate option to his attack after the England captain criticised his bowlers' lengths.

Root provided a scathing summary earlier in the week as he claimed his bowlers "needed to be braver" and had repeated mistakes from four years ago, but Wood believes his captain's words did not come across in "the way he totally wanted" to.

Wood added: "I don't think there's any friction between the bowlers and the captain. It's not like that at all."

Nevertheless, it is now or never heading into Saturday and the Durham quick believes England can still change their fortunes around.

"We've got to believe we can turn this round," Wood said. "We haven't shown our best stuff yet. We know that Australia have played really well. If we can match them then we believe we can win Test matches here.

"We've just got to up our game in all three areas. At the minute, Australia have scored 400 twice, we've had batting collapses and we've dropped catches.

"We've got facets of the game that need major work. We've now got a couple of days to stop thinking about cricket, get away in Melbourne and enjoy the lead-up to Christmas."

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne has risen to number one in the ICC Test batting rankings.

Labuschagne made his Test debut for Australia in 2018 against Pakistan in Dubai. However, it was during the 2019 Ashes that the 27-year-old came to prominence.

He became the first player to be a concussion substitute in a Test match when he replaced Steve Smith in the second match at Lord's, after the former Australia captain had been struck on the back of the neck.

His resilient 59 helped Australia secure a draw and he was named in the line-up for the following Test and has not looked back since.

Labuschagne has averaged 62.14 from 20 Tests, and has scored 74, 0 (not out), 103 and 51 in his four innings in the 2021-22 Ashes as Australia cruised into a 2-0 lead.

He has hit six centuries, including one double-hundred against New Zealand in January 2020.

Labuschagne's career-high 912 rating points saw him leapfrog England captain Joe Root, who has had a brilliant 2021 when it comes to run-scoring, even if his side have struggled.

Indeed, Root has now scored 4,859 runs as England Test captain, surpassing the previous record set by Alastair Cook (4,844).

Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and India's new white-ball captain Rohit Sharma complete the top five.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam, meanwhile, has risen to the number one spot for T20I batsmen, though he is tied with England's Dawid Malan.

Mitchell Starc has bowled impressively in the Ashes so far and has moved into the top six for bowlers.

Ricky Ponting questioned Joe Root's leadership after the England captain's comments following the second Ashes Test.

England slumped to another heavy defeat in Adelaide as Australia cruised into a 2-0 series lead.

The tourists now head to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test in need of a victory to stand any chance of regaining the Ashes. Australia will retain the urn if they win or the match finishes as a draw.

A frustrated Root was critical of his side's display in his post-match media duties, and in particular England's bowlers as Australia accumulated 703 runs across their two innings.

"I think when you look at ball in hand in particular, I don't think we've bowled the right lengths if we're being brutally honest, we needed to bowl fuller," he said.

"As soon as we did in that second innings, we created so many chances and we made it hard work. We need to do that more, we need to get the ball up there, be a bit braver because when we do, we make life difficult."

These comments, however, annoyed former Australia skipper Ponting, who told cricket.au: "I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that!

"Whose job is it then to make them change? Why are you captain then?

"If you can't influence your bowlers on what length to bowl, what are you doing on the field?

"Joe Root can come back and say whatever he likes but if you're captain, you've got to be able to sense when your bowlers aren't bowling where you want them to.

"And if they're not going to listen, you take them off, simple as that.

"Give someone else a chance that is going to do it for you. Or you have a really strong conversation with them on the field to tell them what you need. That's what captaincy is all about."

Ponting also suggested England bowled better when Root was off the field at the start of day four.

"The interesting thing for me is the only time they bowled full in the game was when Joe Root wasn't on the ground," he said.

"The start of day four when they had a meeting on the ground before play started, Ben Stokes took over the captaincy, and that was the only time in the game they pitched the ball up."

Joe Root does not believe Australia are "that much better" than England despite their dominant start to the Ashes.

England once again paid the price for a poor first-innings batting performance at Adelaide Oval, eventually succumbing to a 275-run defeat following prolonged resistance from Jos Buttler.

Buttler thwarted stand-in captain Steve Smith's side for over four hours as he made 26 off 207 balls before being trudging off after stepping on his stumps when facing Jhye Richardson (5-42), who claimed a maiden five-wicket Test haul.

Chris Woakes also made a battling 44, but England are 2-0 down and winless in 12 Test matches in Australia – their joint-longest run without a victory Down Under.

Captain Root says they have not done themselves justice in two emphatic defeats.

Root told reporters: "With the bat, we have got the ability. I don't think that Australia are that much better in these conditions as the scoreline suggests.

"I'm convinced we've got what we need to win Test matches over here but we're not going to if we keep missing chances and don't give ourselves an opportunity to get into the Test match with the bat.

"We've got to find ways of building those partnerships, getting in, making big contributions.

"That's something we'll have to do very well at Melbourne. I was absolutely gutted to get out last night. I should have been able to turn up today, put the pads on and lead by example, so I'm bitterly disappointed in myself."

Australia have now won all of their nine day-night Test matches, the only side to boast a 100 per cent winning record in such fixtures, while England are winless in their last four pink-ball outings since beating West Indies in 2017.

While Root bemoaned the lengths his bowlers settled on in Adelaide, the skipper reserved special praise for Buttler as he appreciated the tough task that lies ahead.

"Everyone is absolutely devastated for him, having had that mindset and that strength of character in what has been quite a difficult week for him," Root said of Buttler.

"I'm very proud of the way the guys fought today. The attitude and the desire, that's how we need to go about a whole match.

"But we can't just leave it to the last day to try and pull off an enormous feat like we had to do today.

"We've got three massive games now, with the Ashes on the line. If that's not motivation enough, I don’t know what is."

Steve Smith felt Mitchell Starc bowled "as well as he has for a long time" after Australia cruised to a 275-run victory over England in the second Ashes Test to take a 2-0 series lead.

The hosts posted a mammoth first-innings declaration total of 473-9 at the Adelaide Oval after Smith had stepped up as stand-in captain, following new Test skipper Pat Cummins coming into close contact with a positive COVID-19 case last Wednesday.

England could only muster 236 in response, despite 80 and 62 from Dawid Malan and captain Joe Root respectively, with Starc taking 4-37 from his 16 overs – only Nathan Lyon went at a lower economy (2.07).

Australia were again able to declare in the second innings, setting England an improbable 468 to win, before tearing through the tourists to leave six wickets required for victory on the final day.

Jos Buttler battled hard during a 207-ball stint but fell in unusual circumstances as he trod on his stumps going back to Starc, before Jhye Richardson fittingly sealed victory to complete his maiden five-wicket Test haul by removing James Anderson.

While Richardson managed a final-innings 5-42, Smith reserved special praise for Starc – who boasted 7-80 after two wickets in the second innings.

"Mitchell Starc bowled as well as he has for a long time, he led this attack well," Smith told reporters at the post-match presentation.

"He summed it up quickly that there wasn't a great deal of swing so he just wanted to bash a good length and hit some good areas - he did that as well as he has in his career.

"He looked in really good rhythm and I'm incredibly proud of the way he went about his business."

Australia have now won each of their last nine pink-ball Test matches, the only side with a perfect 100 per cent winning record, while England are winless in their last four day-night fixtures since last defeating West Indies in August 2017.

Smith, who fell seven short of a century in the first innings, was captaining for the first time since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal in Newlands and enjoyed his return to the helm, while hailing the performance of some England batters.

He added: "We weren't nervous. They showed some good resistance and fight. Jos played extremely well - it was an innings we haven't seen from him before, he's usually a bit of a dasher. He showed good fight, as well as [Chris] Woakes and [Ollie] Robinson.

"We felt there was time left and all it would take was a couple of good balls.

"I had fun this week as captain and did enjoy it. The guys played really well. We were able to control the game from the first day as Marnus [Labuschagne] and Davey [Warner] set it up with their partnership.

"So we were able to declare when we wanted and bowl where we wanted to bowl."

Joe Root says the England bowlers must be "braver" after Australia won the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval by 275 runs to take a 2-0 series lead.

Jos Buttler made 26 from 207 balls before he stepped back onto his own wickets and Chris Woakes top-scored with 44 as the tourists put up an admirable fight on the final day.

However, it was always likely to prove fruitless and they were eventually bowled out for 192 in the final session.

Jhye Richardson (5-42) claimed a maiden five-wicket Test haul on his Ashes debut, showing Australia's strength in depth in their bowling ranks in the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

Cummins is set to return to captain Australia for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne after missing out in Adelaide due to being a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case.

England's' shortcomings with the bat have been plain to see, but skipper Root wants to see the bowlers change their approach to give them a chance of getting back into the series.

Asked about England's plans, he said: "I think when you look at ball in hand in particular, I don't think we've bowled the right lengths if we're being brutally honest, we needed to bowl fuller.

"As soon as we did in that second innings, we created so many chances and we made it hard work. We need to do that more, we need to get the ball up there, be a bit braver because when we do we make life difficult.

"That's one of the frustrating things, we did that four years ago and we didn't learn from it – we've made mistakes throughout the game that we made last week, whether it be no-balls, missed chances, we just have to be better. We have to learn those lessons quickly ahead of next week."

England will ponder making changes in Melbourne, with fast bowler Mark Wood expected to return.

Root said during the post-match presentation: "Of course someone like Woody, he's always going to offer something, that extra bit of pace he has and hopefully he'll be raring to go for the rest of the series."

Despite England having a mountain to climb, Root believes they can pull off a remarkable fightback and challenged his fellow batters to step up.

Asked if he believes they are capable of winning the series, he said: "Absolutely, you have to be. I think, I'm convinced we have got what we need to win over here, we just need to be better and we can't keep making the same mistakes.

"Guys need to get themselves in, get past that first 20-ball period and then get greedy.

"We need to leave better on occasions as well and manage certain passages of play better, but we're more than capable of doing that and we've shown it in small pockets that we can we've just got to do it for longer, and as I said, do better."