It’s all been happening for England again, and they’ve now got to try and overcome a WACA graveyard in the third Test, haven’t they really?

According to The BBC , over 46 years of Test cricket at the ground, England and Australia have played each other in 13 matches and England have been defeated nine times.

It’s sad from the outside hearing of a guy like Ben Duckett, who is a very relaxed bloke and a good bloke, pouring a drink over one of his team-mates.

Whether that’s because they’ve fallen out or they’re having a bit of fun, I’m not sure. But it saddens me that things like this are coming out.

Little spats happen all the time in clubs because some of the guys are living in houses together and you have flash points every so often, but it saddens me that hasn’t been kept in-house.

You need your big guns like Alastair Cook and captain Joe Root to fire – of course, that’s important. But I still think, when you’re not playing consistently well like England aren’t doing, I think there are underlying facts that aren’t right. When people in the dressing room know things are wrong, like Jonny Bairstow who has been batting too low, things don’t function well. But I’m pleased to see he’s been put in at No.6 for the third Test. That is the catalyst and has to be right. If you get it right, that’s half the battle. For me, it’s the right decision to move him up with Moeen Ali at No.7.

In the last Test, Australia were 209-5 and ended up reaching 442 before they declared when they were eight down. If you have a team 200-odd for 5, you need to be looking at getting them 330 or 340 all out. England let the Aussies get a big score.

Shaun Marsh batted brilliantly but the batsman at six had the mental resilience to bat for 231 balls. That’s a very unlike Marsh innings, he is usually ultra-positive.

Again, Pat Cummins has got runs, scoring 44. To be fair, England also have some decent players in their tail. Stuart Broad has been a bit poor of late with the bat but Craig Overton and Chris Woakes, they faced 140 balls between them which is great, with Woakes getting 36 and Overton 41.

For me, James Vince would never have been my No.3 for England. He looks great on the eye but, personally, he is more a five or a six. I don’t think he is tight enough at international level.

The biggest issue, though, with this England team is they are just not taking the wickets. But Overton bowled some good balls, and he actually looked a settled player, which is really positive.

In terms of the batting order from the last Test, if I look at the order of Cook, Mark Stoneman, Vince, Root, Dawid Malan and Ali at six at the moment. For me, Bairstow should be batting at five.

It’s been tough for Malan in this series so far but it’s tough for youngsters to come in and dominate. Youngsters come into one-day cricket in England and bat in the middle-order at six or seven. Then, they get a bit more confidence and they then bat a bit higher. They get used to the environment. It’s very hard to go out and dominate straight away.

Bairstow is an experienced Test cricketer now and I think he just needs the opportunity to bat a bit higher. He has a good technique and he believes he is going to score runs. If you had two people to bat for your life, Mo or Jonny, I really believe a high percentage would go with Jonny Bairstow. Mo is a lot more free-spirited and can take the game away from people but his game is not based around being No.6 for England and churning runs out.

The key at the WACA is the bounce. There is always going to be wear and tear on the pitch. You will have Mitchell Starc bowling left-arm over and that will create some footholds. The disappointing thing for me is how England’s right-handers have been playing Nathan Lyon. If you aren’t scoring over three an over off the bowling of Lyon, that’s disappointing. In the first innings at Adelaide, he bowled 24 overs in the first innings for 60. In the first innings of a game, he should not be going at two and a bit an over.

But you have to give credit to England’s opening bowlers, Jimmy Anderson and Broad. They have been outstanding. You have got to look after that ball, it has to swing in Australia, otherwise you are under pressure. But the problem is England’s lack of other wicket-taking options.

The bowlers aren’t going for too many runs to a certain extent. It’s only really Ali who has gone for more than three an over.

England cannot keep getting 50s. In Australia, once you get past 50, you have got to go big. You have got to grind it out, take time out the game and bat and then bat some more. Australia have just had one guy who has taken the game away. England have not quite had that yet, they’ve had people get 50s and getting out.

In the first Test, England got three 50s and then the Aussies skipper Steve Smith got 141. England need to convert the 50s because it mentally tires you fielding for longer periods of time. It physically and mentally tires you. It’s massively important to have the character to bat big and that’s where we’ve missed Cook and Root.

If Mark Wood had been fully fit, after he featured in the warm-up match, I would have played him, especially at the WACA. The ground would have suited him with his pace and bounce.

I think all us England fans woke up for the final day of the last Test, thinking “Come on England”. England got into a position which made us all think we could win the Test but we kept losing wickets.

It’s tough because Australia now have the momentum and they’re at home.

I would still back Cook to get a hundred, though. If he does, England would get 350 and be in the box seat all of a sudden. It’s smaller margins than people think in Test cricket, but Australia have got confidence and momentum, while England are striving for it.