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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.<\/p>\n
Of course, this can mostly be attributed to Australia’s masterstroke<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Head hit one of the all-time great Ashes centuries<\/a> to win the match inside two days and justified his continued promotion to opener with a sublime 170<\/a> in Adelaide.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Bouncing back from a pair in Perth, England opener Zak Crawley has scored 214 runs in the past two Tests.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n