England had a golden opportunity at Adelaide. They were right back in the game at 169-3, chasing 354. But now it’s going to be real tough to come back from 2-0 down. The killer for me was Dawid Malan falling on the fourth night. If he’d had stayed in they would have had a real chance going into day five. As it is, they’ve missed another opportunity.

But England have shown they can rattle Australia – the captain Steve Smith lost his cool and that affects his whole team in a negative way – and that’s at least something they can take with them into the rest of the series.

In the 1998/99 Ashes, during my time as England coach, we were 2-0 down with two matches to play. We fought back with a win at Melbourne before losing the final Test at Sydney. In that situation you need your core players in the group to show they have the determination and belief that the team can get back into the series, your decision making has to be spot on, and you need that little bit of luck, too.

I said at the time that Craig Overton should have played at Brisbane and he gave a damn good account of himself on debut at Adelaide with bat, ball and in the field. He’s a good, young cricketer who’s been propelled into the side because of the Ben Stokes situation and the lad has made a really good start. He’s got a good opportunity to kick on from here, starting in Perth.

England have a horrible record at the WACA but they’ve got to embrace the atmosphere and respond. They will have massive support, not only from the Barmy Army but all the English people who live out there. It’s not a time for shrinking violets. Get stuck in, get some runs on the board, and let’s see how strong Australia really are.

***

And finally…

No work for me in the commentary box this winter, as you probably know, so I’ve taken the opportunity to lay some tarmac on my drive. Problem is, we’ve only got one entrance in and out of the house and it takes 48 hours for the resin to dry in these temperatures so I couldn’t get out for two days. The only way out was through the window but I couldn’t fit.

After finally making my escape I went to the Lord’s Taverners Christmas Lunch at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. It was a cracking do with some of my colleagues from Sky. Paul McGinley, Alan Smith and Henni Goya were there, and I was absolutely thrilled they made £239,000 on the day for underprivileged kids who don’t have it so good. I just salute everybody who raised so much money for such a great cause.

Bumble was speaking to Jo Harman