Athers on Joe Root's captaincy, Dawid Malan's best knock for England, and a Test match right in the balance.
Friday 24 November 2017 14:33, UK
"I thought he was superb in the field." Mike Atherton says Joe Root was Captain Fantastic on day two in Brisbane.
WATCH Athers' review in the video at the top of the page, as he explains how Root's clever captaincy helped England reduce Australia to 76-4 in the Ashes opener at the Gabba.
Michael was particularly impressed with the Yorkshireman's decision to deploy Moeen Ali against Usman Khawaja, the home batsman subsequently dismissed by an off-spinner yet again for just 11.
Steve Smith (64no) and Shaun Marsh (44no) dug in at the back-end of the day to steer the Baggy Greens to 165-4, a deficit of 137, and Athers says the Test is now right in the balance.
England lost their final six wickets for 56 runs earlier on but Atherton says Dawid Malan's 56 from 130 balls - only James Vince (83) scored more for the tourists - was his best Test knock to date.
Watch Athers' video reviews on skysports.com every day of the Test!
