Day three of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval will nearly certainly deliver another.
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And he was right to say that Australia had bowled much better than England had.
The two players recalled by Australia, Peter Siddle (2-18) and Mitch Marsh (3-18), played a major role in England collapsing from 1-46 to 8-92.
But it was when Cook was bowled off-stump by a Nathan Lyon off-break which turned sharply from round the wicket that England were left with plenty to ponder on 30 for one in reply.
– Moeen Ali has taken a wicket in 22 of the 27 Test innings he has bowled in.
Here he was back to his belligerent best, cutting and pulling regular boundaries against an England attack struggling to find consistent lines.
England have only two wickets in hand and need a further 175 runs to pass the follow-on mark. Australia finished the first session at 376 for 7.
The English batsmen failed to convert their starts.
England lost eight wickets for 62 runs with Adam Lyth making just 19 to all-but ensure he will be replaced at the end of the series ahead of the matches in the United Arab Emirates against Pakistan and the tour to South Africa in the winter.
The left-hander has been so poor in the series – he averaged 12.29 across the four Tests – it is likely he would have been dropped had his team not been so clearly in the ascendancy. It was an ugly dismissal that became progressively uglier because of what followed.
Jonny Bairstow committed the second faulty Yorkshire pull of the evening, off the returning Mitchell Johnson, and Jos Buttler was bowled through the gate driving at Lyon.
Stokes joined the pulling misadventure, caught-behind off Marsh. It was the last chance England offered for the day.
Smith was 78 not out overnight and Voges unbeaten on 47.
Smith, meanwhile, offered a typical batsman’s response.
The right-hander fell for 143 after lunch, having put an incredibly high price on his wicket for 394 minutes before playing on to Steve Finn.
The loss of the openers sparked a remarkable flurry of wickets which while in stark contrast to the Australia innings, was in keeping with an otherwise highlights package of a series. It was 27 deliveries before he scored the next eight runs to reach his century, which he then celebrated with a heave over long-off for six.
Steven Finn insisted England’s Ashes winners were short on skill, not desire on a chastening second day at the Kia Oval.
Smith, already confirmed as Australia’s next captain, arrived at the crease looking to avoid registering a fifth straight single-figure score – after innings of 7, 8, 6 and 5 – and he did just that.
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Mitchell Starc has joined ex-New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori with the most scores of 50+ in Tests batting at number nine or below (six).
