Joe Root weighed in with his verdict after the Ashes defeat but England’s nurturing of Test batters should be scrutinisedEngland in Australia: anatomy of a shellacking. The reviews are in. The play-by-play reports have been filed by those closest to this sullen and lifeless Ashes tour. Two things stand out.Firstly, the startling mediocrity of so much of the basic management. There is no question, if only in the spirt of making the deckchairs look nice while the prow of the ship slides into the north Atlantic, that heads must roll, even if just in the name of keeping up appearances. Continue reading...
The pandemic, a lack of preparation and a fine Australia team are all fair mitigation yet England’s muddled selections, fitness issues and abject batting suggest a deeper malaiseDay four in Hobart was one of potentially beautiful batting conditions, the sun shining down on the Tasmanian state capital as the ferries pootled in and out of Brooke Street Pier on the shimmering harbour and tourists wandered around Salamanca Square with barely a care in the world.Unfortunately for England’s cricketers the Ashes series was already over, with their surrender of 10 for 56 under lights the previous evening at Bellerive Oval for a 4-0 defeat leaving two days of soul-searching before the flight home. There were a couple of escapees, at least....
Rory Burns and Zak Crawley put on England’s first opening stand of more than 50 in the series before old failings returnedAt least it was quick. The final ignominy over in less than two hours, from Rory Burns to Ollie Robinson with barely time for a scratch and a sniff: 10 wickets for 56 runs in 22 overs. Out of a paper bag into the ashes.It was Mark Wood’s face that said it all. He’d just produced the best bowling of his Test career, six for 37, a high-class bouncefest to haul England back into the match by their gammy toenails, short-pitched menace with a smile, hurling that woodchip body into the unwilling Tasmanian ground. Reward at last for seven...
Green took the key wickets in the fifth Test, Travis Head was player of the series and Scott Boland had unplayable burstsImagine if three witches in a forest glade had offered England this deal on a dark November night. Steve Smith, scorer of 11 Ashes hundreds in 20 outings, with an average of over 100 in his previous two Ashes series, would not add to those centuries and would average 30. David Warner, with an Ashes average in Australia of 60, would not make a hundred and would average 34. Marnus Labuschagne, on a streak of 13 Tests averaging 73, would make one small and lucky hundred and average 42. Fast-bowling leader Josh Hazlewood would miss four Tests, Pat Cummins...
England’s specialist batters have struggled throughout while Australia’s bowlers have increased the pain in the form of runsThere was a moment in the trajectory where the impossible announced that it was, in fact, possible. Nathan Lyon had just played a pull shot, which was nothing unusual. His only shots in Test cricket are the pull shot and the sweep shot, which for Lyon is the pull shot he plays while kneeling down. He knows fast bowlers will bowl bouncers at him and he has devised one method of deflecting them.So it is normal to see Lyon lean back and heave across the line. It is not unprecedented for him to hit one of those shots for six, which before this...