England's Stokes praises Australia's Head, supports his own errant batters

PERTH :England captain Ben Stokes declared himself shell-shocked by Travis Head's incredible innings of 123 as Australia, seemingly on the ropes, roared back to crush England by eight wickets inside two days of the opening Ashes test on Saturday.

But, predictably, he declined to criticise his own side's batting approach after a second consecutive collapse triggered by a series of loose, early shots by the team's elite operators.

England were in a strong-looking position with a lead of 105 with one wicket down just after lunch, but lost nine wickets for 99 and needed late runs from bowlers Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse to even make that, setting Australia a target of 205.

Stand-in opener Head then hit the second-fastest century in Ashes history en route to 123 and Marnus Labuschagne was