Ashes 2019 | Our bowlers toiled away all day, but just weren’t lucky, says Steve Waugh

At stumps on Day two, it was clear to everybody who was on the ascendency. England had had an excellent day, as they looked to reply to Australia’s first innings total of 288. They finished at 267 for only the loss of four wickets, courtesy a maiden Test ton from opener Rory Burns. Though the visitors are on the back foot the former captain still praised his bowling unit for their efforts. 

"I really can't fault our bowlers today or the effort in the field. Early in the day Pattinson hitting the stumps, maybe the referral we got wrong, we could have had them three or four down at lunch and it might've been a totally different day. I thought our boys really toiled well all day and it wasn't easy,” Waugh told Reuters, reported TOI.

Australia have fielded an experimental bowling attack in Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, and Nathan Lyon for the first Test. Pattinson, who played his first Test match after three-injury-ridden years, looked the pick of the lot. Siddle removed Root with a smart catch off his own bowling, and Cummins got rid of the dangerous Jos Buttler. Even Lyon, who wasn’t at his best, turned several deliveries past the outside edge.

Going into the third day, Waugh wants his bowlers to stick to their task patiently. A couple of early wickets to limit England’s lead to around 50 would bring the visitors right back into the contest.

"I think our bowlers' efforts were really good. If they can do the same thing tomorrow, get a couple edges first up, it could be totally different," Waugh said.

If they fail to do so, questions will be raised about the omissions of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who are both inside the top 15 in the world Test rankings. Understandably, the Aussies are looking to spread the workload on their quicks evenly through the five-match series. 

Despite some persistent bowling in the channels, the English batsmen did not give in. Waugh noted their praiseworthy efforts.

"It's not an easy wicket to bat on so you've got to give the batsmen credit -- they played really well and took their opportunities and made it hard for us to take wickets," he added.