England fall to familiar fate as Australia wrap up the Ashes in time for Christmas
Photo courtesy of Stacey Chapman
At times, a Christmas miracle felt possible. There were glimmers of the series sparking back into life. Crawley, Jacks and Smith all showed promise, the former in particular impressing with a gutsy innings, while the latter just played one big shot too many.
Make no mistake, however. The eventual fight shown by England does not hide the utter humiliation they have succumbed to at the hands of Australia.
England entered the series brimming with optimism. They thought they had a barrage of both skilful and quick bowlers, a spinner with a high release point sculpted for this very tour, and a settled top seven well suited to typical Australian wickets. Meanwhile, their opponents were scrambling to find a top three, described by Broad as the “worst Australian team since 2010”, and hit with injuries to their two premier fast bowlers. To be blunt, England couldn’t have dreamt of a more favourable start - and the first ball had not even been bowled.
And yet, just eleven days of cricket later, England have lost the Ashes. Why?
In terms of the cricket itself, Australia have been far superior in every aspect of the game. With the ball, Bazball has been suffocated. Operating at high pace with pinpoint accuracy, the Aussies have been well deserving of their wickets, allowing English batters little fluency or freedom.
Both sides have failed to reach their full potential with the bat, but Australia have still looked a class above. In particular, Travis Head; when in full flow, he looks unstoppable, bludgeoning the English bowlers to all parts without a hint of mercy. When coupled with his partner in crime and fellow hometown hero Alex Carey, batting suddenly looked easy. The combination of attacking strokes with old-fashioned temperament and caress formed the foundation of a big partnership which all but sealed the urn for Australia.
Arguably the biggest and most frustrating disparity from an English perspective was the fielding. Cricket is full of ‘uncontrollables’ - sometimes you simply get a ball that is too good. Fielding is different; it is something you can control. While Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith take one-handed worldies, England have shelled rather routine catches in decisive moments. That will frustrate Stokes a lot.
The other most glaring reason for such an abrupt defeat was preparation. England walked out into the ferocity that is Ashes cricket with little under their belts other than a New Zealand white-ball series and a warm-up game at Lilac Hill, which, as said by ex-players, could be described in footballing terms as nothing more than a kickabout. This is not a winning formula.
So where does that leave us? Stokes insists there is still plenty to play for, but everyone knows it is never the same once the series itself is gone. More realistically, jobs and careers are now on the line. English cricket has grown accustomed to a judgement day at the end of every away Ashes tour - the beginning of another cycle after yet another defeat.
The immediate task is to prove a point on Boxing Day, give something back to the travelling support, and avoid the whitewash.
