Despite question marks over Australia’s top order leading into the series, they have significantly outperformed their England counterparts – the hosts’ top-three batters scoring 666 runs at an average of 41.6 compared to 436 at 24.2 by the tourists.
Of course, this can mostly be attributed to Australia’s masterstroke borne out of necessity when number five Travis Head was promoted to open in the second innings of the first Test in Perth because of Usman Khawaja’s back spasms.
Head hit one of the all-time great Ashes centuries to win the match inside two days and justified his continued promotion to opener with a sublime 170 in Adelaide.
Jake Weatherald, who made his debut in Perth, made a vital 72 in Brisbane amid more meagre returns, while number three Marnus Labuschagne has hit two fifties.
Bouncing back from a pair in Perth, England opener Zak Crawley has scored 214 runs in the past two Tests.
But fellow opener Ben Duckett is having a dismal series – 97 runs at 16.16 – while frenetic number three Ollie Pope is not faring much better and could be dropped.
