In a dramatic turn of events that could potentially shape the entire series, England found themselves grappling with significant challenges during a pivotal hour in the first Ashes Test. This moment raised pressing concerns about England’s ability to swiftly address their shortcomings and stay competitive.

Having reached 65 for one just after lunch on the second day, England had a lead of 105 and seemed to have Australia under pressure. However, their fortunes changed rapidly as they stumbled to 88 for six, fighting desperately to regain their footing.

Merely five and a half hours later, England was left reeling from an eight-wicket defeat, as Travis Head unleashed a stunning performance, scoring a 69-ball century that left England’s hopes in tatters.

This defeat was particularly painful, marking a dramatic reversal not seen in any of the prior 13 Ashes series. Not since 1921 had an Ashes Test concluded in just two days, and not since 1904 had England been bowled out twice in a match with such brevity, lasting only 67.3 overs.

Fans who traveled far to support their team, and had filled Perth’s pubs with cheerful songs the previous night, found themselves witnessing a loss of historic magnitude. This left many pondering the pressing question: How did it all unravel so drastically?

The hour of madness had begun when Ben Duckett edged Scott Boland low to second slip, having been outmanoeuvred by a bowler who in the first innings he had successfully hit off his line.

Scott Boland celebrates claiming the prized scalp of Harry Brook to set Australia on their way

Brook fell for a three-ball duck on a day that went from bad to worse for England, who are now 1-0 down in the series

It wasn’t an especially bad shot and, besides, worse was to come. Far worse. At 76 for two, England were still in control, only for Ollie Pope to edge one of the many drives he had aimed unsuccessfully at Boland.

It was a wasteful way to go for a player who had missed a leg-stump half-volley in the first innings after battling to 46, and had now done the hard yards again en route to 33. Senior players ought to know how to cash in. Pope flunked the test twice.

Out walked Harry Brook, whose first-innings half-century remained the knock of the match until Head eclipsed him as Australia raced to their target of 205 inside 29 overs. Now, though, he declined to reacquaint himself with the conditions, aiming a loose drive on the up at his third ball and picking out Usman Khawaja in the slips.

And Australian joy was unconfined when Joe Root, having avoided the ignominy of a pair, chopped Starc on to his stumps as he played with the kind of crooked bat that is supposed to be banned on the bouncier pitches in this part of the world.

Three wickets in six balls, and the cream of England’s middle order gone, just like that – all to strokes that come with warning signs in Australian conditions.

Stokes, in fairness, got another good delivery from the rampant Starc, completing an hour from hell that left England 88 for six, and persuaded Australia this game was theirs for the taking.

Joe Root endured a quiet Test, falling for a duck in the first innings before he chopped on against Starc on eight in the second

Mitchell Starc cleaned Ben Stokes up with a beauty in the second innings

Later, Stokes insisted that the players who had chanced their arm by trying to hit the bowlers off their most dangerous length were the ones who succeeded: Brook on Friday, Head on Saturday.

But, to pull that off, you need to possess either Brook’s remarkable hand-eye coordination, or Head’s counter-attacking nous and familiarity with the conditions. And, for all Root’s class, the rest of England’s line-up have neither.

If the message from Stokes and Brendon McCullum is that England must recommit to their hard-hitting principles, even on pitches that have more life in them than anything they play on at home, then we could be in for a long tour. Or a short one, depending on how you look at it.

Amid the dissection of England’s middle order, it was easy to overlook the fact that Zak Crawley had twice fallen for a duck in the opening over to Starc, completing the first pair by an England opener since Mike Atherton in Johannesburg 26 years ago.

So low are the expectations of a player whose standing in the dressing-room often seems in inverse proportion to his reputation among the public, that no one batted an eyelid – except to admire Starc’s brilliantly athletic return catch from the fifth ball of England’s second innings after Crawley prodded at one for no obvious reason other than the desire to feel bat on ball.

England will stick with him, despite his increasingly untenable Test average of 31. And in so doing they will hand a gift to critics who regard the management’s loyalty to their opener as symptomatic of a wider malaise, one in which the Bazballers’ heads remain in the sand, impervious to reality.

Zak Crawley’s place in the team will come under even more scrutiny after he recorded a pair in the opening Test

The England captain has plenty to mull over ahead of the second Test following his side’s disastrous collapse

That would overstate the case. Their demolition of Australia’s first innings offered genuine optimism that England’s coterie of fast bowlers can make a series of it, and at lunch on the second day there was only one team in this Test.

But the surrender that followed reopened old scars, and hinted at a refusal to adapt to circumstance – precisely the charge that dogged this team when they lost the Ashes Test at Lord’s in 2023 amid a flurry of harebrained hooks.

It is a tricky balance, no doubt. England can’t suddenly dispense with the attitude that has informed the past three and a half years under Stokes and McCullum. Then again, if the definition of madness really is repeating the same mistake and expecting a different outcome, the meltdown on the second and final afternoon in Perth felt like Exhibit A.

With four Tests still to come, England have time to turn things around. Whether they have the inclination is another matter altogether.