Chris Silverwood "would pick the same team again" for Adelaide Test

"I was happy with the skillset we had in the pink-ball Test, so I would pick the same team again," head coach Silverwood told BBC Sport

Give Chris Silverwood a time machine and he would still select the same England XI for the Adelaide day-night Test.

England were on the end of a 275-run thumping at the Adelaide Oval, with their five-pronged right-arm seam attack conceding 473 for 9 in the first innings before a fragile batting line-up once again capitulated.

Though there were signs of fight with both ball and bat in the second innings, the damage had been done, and England are now staring at series defeat should they lose at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test.

Much has been made about the selection decisions for the pink-ball match.

Stuart Broad and James Anderson returned to the side in place of Jack Leach and Mark Wood, meaning variety was significantly lacking in the England attack.

Joe Root had to operate as the primary spinner, while Dawid Malan's part-time leg-spin brought him two wickets.

Head coach Silverwood, who doubles up as the lead selector for the England team, is convinced the side chosen for the match was correct, however.

^{Chris Silverwood in conversation with James Anderson (Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images)}

"I was happy with the skillset we had in the pink-ball Test, so I would pick the same team again," he told BBC Sport.

"There is always going to be divided opinion.

"You pick a team and not everybody's going to agree with you."

Joe Root said after the match that he had been frustrated by his bowlers' lengths during the first innings at Adelaide, a comment which brought criticism from former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting.

"It was fine margins between being slightly fuller and getting driven and holding the game," Silverwood said.

"I sense a real desire to get back into the series and I sense they will"

Chris Silverwood

"The captain is out there, he wants them to bowl a touch fuller, and when we did we caused problems. So I've got no problems with what he said.

"We have to be prepared to set fields that will give bowlers protection as well, and that's what Joe was getting at - if you pitch it up a little bit you create problems."

Ponting said Root's comments took him aback.

"I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that," the Aussie legend told cricket.com.au. "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."

England, meanwhile, have to regroup quickly ahead of the Boxing Day Test.

^{Silverwood has come under fire for England's performances in the Test arena (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)}

Only a win will keep their extremely slim chances of regaining the Ashes alive, and changes are likely throughout the team.

In the batting department, Rory Burns and Ollie Pope are vulnerable, as is Haseeb Hameed who registered two failures at Adelaide. Jonny Bairstow could well find himself back in the middle order.

Saqib Mahmood, the Lancashire quick currently playing for Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash, has been placed on standby as well, as England contemplate the make-up of their bowling unit.

Wood is sure to return, having been rotated to avoid injury in the second Test. The Durham pacer was the best of England's bowlers in their nine-wicket defeat in Brisbane in the first Test.

There will be a clamour for Leach to come back into the team, as well, given the monotony of England's attack at times during the pink-ball game.

Ollie Robinson has been consistent across two games and would consider himself very unlucky to be dropped, while Chris Woakes's batting form is stronger than that of many of the specialist batsmen in the squad. 

A 5-0 series loss remains worryingly possible, but Silverwood is refusing to take the negatives.

"I don't look at stuff like that," he said. "But we've got to make sure that doesn't happen and make sure we're up for the next game.

"I sense a real desire to get back into the series and I sense they will."

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