England lost their last six wickets by just 47 runs on the morning of the third day. England must be realistic. They can’t mix entertainment with stupidity, Vaughan said.

For the first 188 runs, England played good cricket with the right strokes, he added.

Vaughan called England’s approach to batting stupid. The Australian bowlers got no help as the ball did nothing, so they resorted to short balls. What happened next was pure stupidity, he said.

Thanks to the collapse of the bat in England, Australia ended day three on a strong note and are favourites to win the Test match. The visitors led 130-2 with Usman Khawaja’s 58 points and Steve Smith’s six when it started to rain.

Australia leads England by 221 points with eight wickets remaining. David Warner, who opened the game, was trapped on 25 balls by Josh Tong in the 25th over as the visitors began to steadily build a 91-point lead.

Then Marnus Labuschagne struck out in the 30th minute, kicking the ball from Jimmy Anderson right to Harry Brook, making way for Smith.