Let me start by saying congratulations to Australia for reclaiming the Ashes -- they outplayed England in all the tests (and they will likely do so in the 5th test too), and there were some stellar performances especially from Steve Smith. What a return to test cricket! However, with some key changes I feel England should have made, I could be writing with a very different tone. Firstly, England were hampered when Jimmy Anderson pulled up with a calf strain on the first morning of the first test. Without Jimmy for the whole series bar 4 overs (where his economy was 0.25), England was always going to be on the back foot. Anderson is England's most prestigious bowler and was a huge missing piece to what is typically a formidable bowling attack. One only has to look back at the previous Ashes series in England to see how Steve Smith was struggling to play Jimmy's unpredictable swing. As well as potentially having the edge over Smith, Anderson also beautifully compliments his other bowlers, most notably Stuart Broad. Those two (when healthy) are arguably the most formidable opening attack in the world, and if either one of them is not playing to their full potential - the change bowlers of Stokes, Archer and Woakes come into play and wear down batsmen. England have a plethora of strike bowlers. But it is important to note they are strike bowlers, not capable of bowling 20 overs a day like Anderson or Broad.
England did not lose this series purely because they were missing Jimmy Anderson however. There were some major flaws with England's top order which has been an unfortunate theme within English cricket since the fall from the number 1 world ranking in the early 2010s. I am a huge fan of Rory Burns -- the way he goes about his batting is just like that of one of England's finest, Sir Alastair Cook. He is not the problem, although he needs to do some major work on facing the short ball (but that is for another day). His fellow opener Jason Roy has and will always have a place in my heart and I think he is a quality white ball specialist batsman. Heavy emphasis has been put on white ball specialist for a reason -- he doesn't cut it as a test batsman. I was talking with my dad after the one-off Ireland test before the series started and I said I really hoped Roy wasn't included in the Ashes squad. The way he went about his innings of 70 (which will hopefully be his first and last test half century) was comical. He was throwing everything at full balls outside off stump in the supposed "slot". Unsurprisingly he started edging quite a few balls through the slips but instead of thinking I should leave these deliveries alone -- he tried to hit them harder through the covers. As I sat on my sofa at home I was struggling to watch. Even though he was scoring runs, it was not as smooth sailing as it should have been against an inexperienced Irish test side. Roy simply doesn't have the temperament for test cricket, and with the research done by bowlers into every single flaw in a batsman's technique, Ashes cricket is an extremely difficult arena in which to play your second test.. And unsurprisingly - he failed to make a score. Even after being moved down the order to 4 he failed to make a score and impress the selectors and fans. He wasn't even very good in the slips cordon, dropping a few key chances that might have changed the series or at least the test in which he dropped. But as I sit here trashing on JRoy, I think back to another conversation I had with my dad about England and the Ashes - if not Jason, then who would you have open? That is a very good question which deserves another blog. But for now I will stay on topic and delve further into the failings of England.
The middle order played a large part in England's brief successes again, and by middle order I mean Ben Stokes. Or should I say Sir Ben Stokes. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about him, he is really the reason that England have stayed in this series altogether. He has scored 354 runs at an average of 59 - including that unbelievable knock at Headingley, which is arguably the greatest innings of all time (I swear I'm not at all biased hahaha). But as well as being the second top run scorer behind the machine that is Steve Smith, he has taken a valuable 8 wickets and really stepped up late on day 3 of that Headingley test to bowl all of the overs England missed from Archer. He has been the only real positive that England can take out of this series and I am so glad that he is back to playing his best cricket. World cricket benefits when Ben Stokes is involved and playing.
Another point I have to touch upon (which isn't necessarily a reason England lost the Ashes, but I still feel it needs to be discussed) is that surrounding Jonny Bairstow. Up until England's recent tour of Sri Lanka and the West Indies I was a big fan of JB. I have known for a while that he isn't the best gloves-man in English cricket, but I always felt he made up for it with his batting abilities. That was until I saw Ben Foakes. He immediately demonstrated that he is a superior keeper and as of late appears to be a better bat. In his last 20 test innings Bairstow has only surpassed 50 on 3 occasions including one hundred against Sri Lanka. For a batsman of his calibre that is not good enough. He has been bowled 8 times out of his 20 dismissals. In comparison, Ben Foakes has scored one century and one half century in his test career, which only consists of ten innings. He has only been bowled once, and has been not-out twice in his 10 innings compared to Bairstow's once in 20. This just goes to show that Bairstow should be replaced by someone who specialises in red ball cricket. I see Bairstow now as more of an ODI specialist very much like Jason Roy.
The final and most important reason as to why I think England did so poorly this series is down to the captain. Joe Root is England's finest player at the moment, and I think he will be for years to come. However, after watching these tests I do not think he is a very good captain. He has had to accommodate the failings of top order batsman by batting himself at 3 when he favours 4 -- a move that seemingly benefits the team yet at the same time negatively affects him. He needs to put himself at 4 and bat like everyone knows he can. Because of this change of batting position it has led to him failing not only as England's leading batsman but as captain. He is low on confidence and therefore does not assert himself on the field as much as he should. He seems unhappy with everything that is going on, and he appears to be a slow decision maker -- many pundits have also written that he appears to make all his decisions in reaction to the batsmen. If an edge goes through the slips he brings a new one in -- rather than originally setting an aggressive field that puts pressure on the batsmen. Admittedly he had the almost impossible task of getting Steve Smith out but he has gone about it the wrong way the entire series. I hope he can save some face in the final test. It is a lofty hope though...
It really seems to me that England are still in the honeymoon phase post their World Cup successes. All those who were involved in the drama and excitement that was the world cup seem to be hungover and unable to play cricket to the levels that they did in the World Cup. I don't blame them, it was totally thrilling and I loved every minute. But with that said, it is an Ashes series, the ultimate form of the game against the old enemy. I would give anything to be able to play in a series like this and to see it be so embarrassing (being bowled out for 67! 67!!) has been devastating. I hope that those high up in the ECB realise what needs to be done and make it happen -- otherwise it could be a tough series in South Africa this winter.