Where do England go now? Maybe it is the turn of the selectors to feel the heat | Vic Marks


Joe Root and Trevor Bayliss safe despite Ashes humbling but selectors’ emphasis on character over record and a reluctance to shuffle the pack needs scrutiny

It has been gruelling for England’s players but they should not forget this Ashes tour in a hurry. Every humiliation, every defeat should be stored away.

Remember it well: the preposterous head-butt, the missed opportunities such as Australia’s 209 for seven becoming 328 all out in Brisbane and England’s 368 for four becoming 403 all out in Perth, Steve Smith batting, the Marsh brothers reuniting, the bouncer barrage at the tail, Smith batting, left-handers groping against Nathan Lyon, the hashtag “Beat England” everywhere and repeated on our screens by prime minister Malcolm Turnbull one moment, Usain Bolt, even more curiously, the next, Smith still batting.

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