Former captain Sir Alastair Cook says England are not learning from their mistakes after another Ashes batting collapse.

Joe Root’s side are staring defeat in the face in second Test in Adelaide after ending day three 282 runs behind Australia, who have nine second-innings wickets left.

Root and Dawid Malan’s stand of 138 had taken England to a position of promise at 150 for two but a familiar tumble of wickets after lunch saw them bowled out for 236.

A similar collapse cost the tourists the game in the first Test at Brisbane and Cook says the batters are not following advice they would have been given as schoolchildren.

“It is all too familiar and it is incredibly frustrating for the players, the coaches, you can’t afford to lose wickets in clusters,” he said on BT Sport.

“You have got batting coaches saying, ‘if you lose a wicket you have to rebuild’, all the stuff you tell 13-year-olds in team meetings, and unfortunately they are not learning lessons.

“They are not being good enough when they are put under pressure as a batting unit. When one wicket falls Australia are brilliant at seizing that opportunity for 20 minutes. Starting your innings on a flat wicket is so important, Australia go all in and England haven’t been good enough to withstand that.”

With England 282 runs behind and having nine Australian wickets still to take, Cook says the game has almost gone.

“That was the big chance to get back into the series and bat big and Root and Malan were excellent,” he added.

“As soon as the talisman went second or third over after lunch, (England lost) four for 19, you just cannot afford to do this on flat wickets time and time again because in 45 minutes the game is almost out of reach already.”