England suffered an embarrassing nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in the opening Ashes Test at Gabba on Saturday (December 11).
Resuming their second innings on 220/2 with the match still within their grasp, the visitors lost eight wickets for 77 runs to be bowled out for 297 in the first session on Day 4, leaving Australia needing only 20 runs to win.
The hosts then completed the formalities by chasing the paltry target in 5.1 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.
After the match, former Australia skipper Rick Ponting warned Joe Root and company of another Ashes whitewash down under if they can’t bounce back from their crushing loss in the first Test.
The pink ball Test in Adelaide gets underway on December 16 and Ponting believes a 5-0 whitewash could be on the cards if England failed to take advantage of favourable conditions.
"The conditions are only going to get better for Australia. Those conditions (in Brisbane) were very English-like... They're probably not going to get that much movement anywhere else for the entire series," Ponting told cricket.com.au.
"We saw them bowl really well on the last tour in Adelaide under lights where everything just fell perfectly into place -- Australia had to bat for a session, the lights were on, brand new ball, clear night.
"We've also been to Adelaide at other times when the pink ball has done nothing, whether it's a new ball or not. If they don't win in Adelaide then there could be shades of '06-'07."
Veteran pacer James Anderson wasn’t included in the playing XI as the England team management felt the workload of five Ashes Tests would be a bit too much for the 39-year-old.
Surprisingly, the tourists didn’t pick Stuart Broad in the playing XI either and opted to go with left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who conceded 102 runs in his 13 overs for the sole wicket of Marnus Labuschagne.
Ponting slammed England’s decision to rest both Anderson and Broad, who have taken 1156 Test wickets between them.
"I can't see why they would have left (Broad and Anderson) out if they weren't just getting them prepped and ready for Adelaide. I'm still staggered to this point now... One of those two had to play," Ponting said.
England have not won a Test match on Australian soil since the 2010-11 series, when they triumphed 3-1.
(With Reuters inputs)
