Following Australia’s 4-0 thumping of England in the Ashes, here are my player ratings from the five-Test series.
Steve Smith – 10/10
687 runs at 137 from five Tests
One of the all-time great Ashes series by a batsman. England were reduced to kooky bowling strategies and field placements from the first Test onwards in a forlorn attempt to reduce his impact.
Pat Cummins – 9.5/10
23 wickets at 24, plus 166 runs at 41 from five Tests
Cummins is now neck-and-neck with South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada as the world’s best Test cricketer aged under 25. As I wrote nine months ago, Cummins is the rarest of Test pacemen – a genuine strike bowler who can physically intimidate batsman while also being frugal.
To be the lead wicket taker of this series in his first Ashes, while also batting extremely well, is a phenomenal performance.
Nathan Lyon – 9/10
21 wickets at 29 from five Tests
Bowling spin in Australia is a hell of a task, as England’s Moeen Ali and Mason Crane discovered this summer. While that pair combined for six wickets at 128, Lyon took 21 at 29. Beyond his wicket haul, Lyon was extremely frugal, conceding just 2.36 runs per over, which offered tremendous control to his skipper.
Mitchell Starc – 9/10
22 wickets at 23 from four Tests
Starc consistently made breakthroughs at key moments, as he has done for the past three years. When the series was there to be won, in the first three Tests, Starc was dominant, hauling in 19 wickets.
Josh Hazlewood – 9/10
21 wickets at 26 from four Tests
Hazlewood has always been an accurate, consistent and economical bowler. This series he added a generous dose of menace into that mix. Hazlewood has found an extra 5kmh of pace and was regularly just as sharp as Starc and Cummins.
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Shaun Marsh – 9/10
445 runs at 74 from five Tests
Marsh was a reassuring presence in the Australian middle order and played crucial knocks under pressure in the first innings of both of the first two Tests, before cashing in with a big ton in Sydney.
Mitch Marsh – 9/10
320 runs at 107 from three Tests
An astonishing return to Test cricket by the burly all-rounder. Has great improved his defence and also his versatility as a Test batsman.
Tim Paine – 9/10
192 runs at 48, plus 26 dismissals from five Tests
It is gobsmacking that just two months ago Paine couldn’t even get a Sheffield Shield game for Tasmania. Now he’s just completed the most impressive series by an Australian Test wicketkeeper since Brad Haddin’s standout effort in the 2013-14 Ashes. Paine kept wonderfully and looked calm and confident every time he batted.
David Warner – 8/10
441 runs at 63 from five Tests
The bullish opener didn’t have a major impact while the series was alive in the first three Tests. But his teammates and coaches would be delighted by the greater patience and maturity he displayed with the blade across the series.
Usman Khawaja – 4.5/10
333 runs at 48 from five Tests
Khawaja returned to form in a big way in the fifth Test as he cracked 171. But he was poor across the first four Tests, averaging just 27 with the bat.
Cameron Bancroft – 3/10
179 runs at 26 from five Tests
Bancroft’s second innings of his Test career was a cracker, making 82* in what easily could have been a tricky chase of 170 in the first Test at Brisbane. Since then, however, he’s had his technique picked apart by the English quicks. It seems unlikely Bancroft will keep his Test place for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
Peter Handscomb – 2/10
62 runs at 21 from two Tests
Like Bancroft, Handscomb’s technique failed him. By the end of his Ashes stint he was batting in a tragically comical fashion, moving all around the crease and attempting to shovel the ball across the line to the leg side.
Jackson Bird – 1/10
Zero wickets from one Test
The tall seamer had comfortably the worst Test of his career at Melbourne, when drafted in as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Starc. Bird bowls at a gentle pace and does not swing the ball much anymore, which means he simply must be accurate to be effective. Normally he is, but at the MCG he wasn’t.
Dawid Malan – 8/10
383 runs at 43 from five Tests
Unlike batting colleagues Joe Root and Alastair Cook, Malan flourished while the series was still alive. With a solid technique, good range of shots and most importantly a great temperament, Malan has the makings of a long-term player for England.
Jonny Bairstow – 7/10
306 runs at 34, plus 11 dismissals from five Tests
Bairstow had a flat end to the series, but I give far more weight to performances in the first three Tests, when the series was on the line, and Bairstow was one of the few Englishmen who stood up in this time. His 119 at Perth was a fantastic knock and his keeping was decent across the whole series.
James Anderson – 7/10
17 wickets at 28 from five Tests
Anderson earned new admirers in Australia thanks to his persistence across five Tests on some dead tracks. But in the end he has to be judged more heavily on his results than his effort and, similar to Root and Cook, when the series was there to be won, Anderson’s influence was minimal. He took just 3-151 across Australia’s first three innings of the series and, by the time he grabbed a five-wicket haul, in the second innings at Adelaide, the hosts were already miles ahead in the Test.
It was a similar story at Perth, where he went wicketless as the Aussies cantered to 550, before grabbing four cheap wickets as they sprinted towards a declaration.
Craig Overton – 6.5/10
Six wickets at 38 from two Tests
Similar to Mark Stoneman and Tom Curran, Overton showed great spirit in his limited appearances. The 23-year-old did not look overawed, whether bowling or batting. He also revealed significant talent in both departments. England should invest heavily in him.
Joe Root – 5/10
378 runs at 47 from five Tests
The most important stat regarding Root is this: when the Ashes were up for grabs, he flopped, averaging just 29 with the bat across the first three Tests. His three consecutive fifties over the final two Tests was a case of too little, too late.
Alastair Cook – 4/10
376 runs at 47 from five Tests
The former English skipper had yet another forgettable Ashes, his sixth poor series from seven against Australia. His 244* at Melbourne was a grand knock, but what matters far more is that he was feeble when the series was alive, averaging just 14 across the first three Tests.
James Vince – 4/10
242 runs at 27 from five Tests
Vince did something Cook did not – he made a decent score while the series was still alive. Two in fact – 83 in the first innings at Brisbane and 55 in the second dig at Perth. Regardless, it looks like his Test career has hit the skids due to the infuriating manner in which he consistently wastes good starts by fishing outside off stump.
Mark Stoneman – 4/10
232 runs at 26 from five Tests
Stoneman seems to have been badly affected by copping a nasty knock to the head from a Josh Hazlewood bouncer at Perth. Since then he has hung back in his crease and been a sitting duck for the Australian quicks. That is a great pity because he showed good skill and verve prior to copping that blow. But he’ll get over that incident and is worth sticking with.
Chris Woakes – 2.5/10
Ten wickets at 50, plus 114 runs at 16 from four Tests
One of several England players to land in Australia with bloated reputations only to be found out. Woakes didn’t bowl terribly – it’s not as if he was spraying the ball all over the pitch – he just posed very, very little threat.
Stuart Broad – 2.5/10
11 wickets at 48 from five Tests
The worst series of Broad’s storied career. His enormous strike rate of 106 reflects just how easily the Australian batsmen countered him.
Tom Curran – 2/10
Two wickets at 100 from two Tests
I loved Curran’s feisty, confident attitude whether bowling or batting. Unfortunately he doesn’t yet have the attributes required to be a good Test bowler. He is short, bowls at a gentle pace in the 130-135kmh range, barely swings the ball and doesn’t get much bounce. Curran looks better suited to limited overs cricket thanks to his clever changes of pace.
Mason Crane – 2/10
One wicket at 193 from one Test
Crane is outrageously talented for a 20-year-old wrist spinner, but no leggie should be playing Tests at that age, unless they have a very good first-class record – which he doesn’t. Wrist spin is the most difficult skill in the game and takes years to master – the world’s best Test leggie, Yasir Shah, was 28 by the time he made his Test debut.
Moeen Ali – 2/10
Five wickets at 115, plus 179 runs at 20 from five Tests
Moeen arrived in Australia with some English pundits bizarrely predicting he would have a big impact on the series with both bat and ball. While there was a chance his free-flowing batting could be suited to Australian conditions, his ordinary off spin was always going to be clattered.
Jake Ball – 1/10
One wicket at 115 from one Test
If you need any evidence of England’s woeful bowling depth, just consider the fact Ball has somehow played four Tests for them. The lanky right armer has poor control and if he were Australian, would be a fringe State player. In four Tests he has taken just three wickets at an average of 114.
Rob
Guest
I thought Vince did better than Root. Batting 3 is harder than 4,5,6. He was on the wrong end of an excellent piece of fielding in Brisbane when in full control. Copped an absolute unplayable ball from Starc that Smith on 100 wouldn't have nicked in Perth and played a very tired shot after baking in the sun for 180 plus overs. I thought he looked very composed most of the time.
AREH
Roar Guru
True, but easy to forget that Carberry was far from disgraced in that series, and I thought it was pretty unfair he didn't play another test after that. Carberry 2013/14: (281 runs) 40, 0 60, 14 43, 31 38, 12 0, 43 Stoneman 2017/18: (232 runs) 53, 27 18, 36 56, 3 15, - 24, 0
Rob
Guest
Root would be a 2.5 IMO. He was a mouse. He's a good bat but he failed to convert any of his starts. Some dismissals were soft at times with England in a good position. Smith was ruthless in comparison. His decision to bowl first in Adelaide was ridiculous and an indication he was looking for a draw before the game even started. He didn't have the pace bowlers Smith had at his dispossal but Broad and at times the others were just bowling defensively without plans. It appeared they had run out of ideas after the 1st Test and they were hoping Australia would beat themselves. I have no doubt he was ill on day 5 but plenty of players push themselves through illness and injury to do everything they can for the Team. I'm thinking of Renshaw, McCosker and Jones innings. I'm not sure Root is tough enough to be a Captain. Curran showed a lot more ticker than Broad and Ali, who like Root were carring a white flag in their pockets after game 1.
Jordan c
Guest
This is why you should be writing this
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Actually Chris the bigger reason for the discrepancy between the scores of Root and Malan is that Root was very poor when the series was still alive, averaging just 29 in the first 3 Tests, whereas Malan was outstanding with 302 runs at 50.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Definitely, plus the countless chances so see batsman smack pull shots straight at him at short leg and he doesn't even flinch but backs himself to try and catch them.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I guess it comes down to a similar thing as the rating difference between Malan and Root. Based purely on what they contributed in the series, they should have had similar ratings, but Root was the one who should have been making the runs for England and nobody expected Malan to do much, so Malan exceeded expectations while Root fell short, hence the ratings. Probably the same here, Paine did better than anyone probably thought, while Bairstow came into the series considered the next best batsman behind Root and Cook and even though he did okay, most people would say he should have done better. Paine did pretty well, but 9/10 is probably a bit high.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I suppose a lot of it really depends on how you are doing it. The series is 5 tests, should you necessarily devalue the performances in the last two tests if you are talking about player ratings for the 5 test series? I guess there's merit to it either way. If you are going to rate Warner just 7/10, I don't see how Malan could be 8/10.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
It also shows for the English. Malan gets 8 and Root gets 5 despite scoring similar numbers of runs. But because Root comes into the series as England's premier batsman and Malan as someone not really expected to do much, Malan gets a much higher rating for a similar contribution.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Ronan I think Usie deserves a 6.5 after his big Sydney haul. I would give Cummins a 9.5, Lyon a 9, Starc and Hazo both 8.5. Obviously not much in it with the bowlers, Cummins rarely bowled a bad spell all series, he was outstanding. Lyon was fantastic and the other two Quick’s both very good, at times a bit loose but I am splitting hairs really, all four were terrific bowling as a group.
Gray-Hand
Guest
Unfortunately, since so many of this English side will never be selected again, that’s a question we will never know the answer to.
George
Guest
You've been belittling and calling the opponents grade cricketers all summer - surely no great accomplishment to beat them in Tests... especially at home?
George
Guest
Winners are grinners eh? You have been belittling opponents all summer and will be whingeing about pitches and DRS (not singing) once the latest Australia-set-to-conquer-all bubble is burst away from home.
Rob
Guest
Agree.
Linphoma
Guest
Ratings, schmatings. It was a team effort. Granted the dominance of the Fab Four bowling quartet, and Smith at the crease followed by the other bit part players. But it is those bit part players too that form the glue to a side. I think to the occasions during the series when Bancroft looked like he relished the job of going under the lid. Not only has he the heaviest melon in the WA side, he must have the heaviest tolerance for concussive impact i have ever seen (re: Joe Root's full-blooded pull straight into his grille and onto the shoulder. What does that say to the opposing side? Pete Handscomb gets dropped, comes on as a sub fielder and pulls off an exceptional catch. Nathan Lyon in Brisbane pulls off that stunning run out - handy in the field before that, he's a gun now, and don't think other international sides haven't tucked that away in their memory banks next time they encounter this Australian side in the field. Ratings might give you some context but there's other infinite things to factor in.
Johnno
Guest
Michael Carberry made more runs than Stoneman I think. I would give Moen Ali a one, he was useless..
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
Surely Bancroft's press conference performance about the headbutt deserves another point all on its own!!!
Ross
Guest
Bairatow I agrrr was good for them , r deserved higher then that
The Bush
Roar Guru
Good call Ronan... But all this admitting mistakes business though has no place on the Roar.
Ross
Guest
That’s more reflective I think and credit to Ronan for doing a retrospective on this