Barring another Ben Stokes miracle at Old Trafford, the Aussies should retain the urn later tonight.
And apart from the afternoon at Headingley when Stokes donned his superman cape, the Australians have been the far superior team so far. The two seem evenly matched on paper, so why is this?
There are two answers.
The obvious one is Steve Smith. Smith has had his own cape on, amassing a set of numbers that make you fact check multiple times. Many would argue that he has been the single difference between the two sides.
However, there is a second reason if you look closely at the English summer.
England’s World Cup triumph will rank as high as any accomplishment achieved by the English team. Some put it right up there with the their 2005 Ashes victory or their retention of the urn in Australia in 2010/11.
And their World Cup win wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Aussie cricket.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
There are a number of English players who are riding the coat tails of the World Cup victory. Jos Buttler and Jason Roy come immediately to mind. Both players had outstanding tournaments, averaging 35 and 63 respectively, and were big reasons behind not only Australia’s semi-final loss but England’s overall successes in the event.
Maybe there isn’t the depth or pressure from county level to push these players out, but with Roy only averaging 12 and Buttler a measly 14, the persistence from the English selectors based on the World Cup may have put one hand on the urn for Australia.
If you dig a little deeper, some of England’s other stars have been extremely disappointing.
Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have both been well below par in the first four Tests. Bairstow was averaging 48 in the World Cup and is now down to 25 in the Ashes, while Root has dropped from 62 in the ODI tournament to 30 in the Test arena this series – 18 below his career average.
Luckily they have had Ben Stokes to paper over the cracks with bat and ball, but should the selectors have been more ruthless to their World Cup-winning quartet?
It’s highly unlikely they would ever drop their captain or keeper, but Roy and Buttler should consider themselves extremely lucky to still be Test players.
The question must be asked: do the English have a World cup hangover?
Or are their World Cup stars simply not up to Test cricket?
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Guest
Bang on. The last country to WIN the world cup is, was, and will be Australia. Furthermore, the answer is a resounding NO. No English team winning is good for anybody, anywhere, ever.
Patrick Mastertoun
Roar Rookie
1000% agree. There was a massive focus on ODI cricket for England as soon as they won rights for the 2019WC. Luckily for us we have had Smith to cover over the cracks a little more. As for test cricket well only time will tell but the money and amount of T20 fixtures around the world is certainly concerning.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Patrick, regardless of the outcome today, England has been almost totally focused on the World Cup and their status as the best ODI team for at least 3 years. To give an example, Jason Roy had not played a single 4 day game for more than a year before his first Test against Ireland, being completely taken up with short form cricket. I suspect if you went through the rest of the team most would have played little or no long form cricket for maybe 12 months, other than Tests. Chopping and changing formats is obviously really hard and it's hurting both sides now, England slightly more so than Australia. I shudder to think what might happen further down the track to Tests if this trend continues.
Patrick Mastertoun
Roar Rookie
That is elite banter.
Patrick Mastertoun
Roar Rookie
Thanks mate. Not quite sure I believe it myself. But I think winning the World Cup has kept some of these players in the team. Now obviously I hated seeing them “win” especially in the fashion that they did.
Patrick Mastertoun
Roar Rookie
I’m not sure we are far superior. We have Steve Smith. Apart from him I feel the two sides are quite evenly matched.
Patrick Mastertoun
Roar Rookie
This World Cup will always have an asterisk attached to it. The bowling has been class yes but some of the English shot making and technique is simply not up to a test standard.
Patrick Mastertoun
Roar Rookie
Not s truer word has been spoken. But that’s a whole seperate issue.
Peter Hunt
Roar Guru
Good one Kdog!
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Anderson isn't playing because he's super old, pushing Mike Brearly territory. We'd be better off if he were playing so they could play one bowler short again.
James Butcher
Roar Rookie
Not sure that kind of thinking will catch on, but fair play to you.
Kdog
Guest
Just a question, if we win this and England take the last, has England hit the most boundaries?
El Loco
Roar Rookie
Can we win the series before this sort of piece please? An England win today is near impossible, but a draw isn't out of the question, in which case the urn is still on the line in the fifth test. And as unlikely as it is that England would pull off a second miracle and make the runs (surely not), it will be their one day skills that get them there. We got complacent at 9-down at Headingley, let's get this done then enjoy analysing England's problems.
Blake Standfield
Roar Guru
England played one more match than Australia in the World Cup and had the same lead up and focus. Australia are dominating the Ashes because they’re a far superior team.
Spanner
Roar Rookie
Good points Dougie - we can blame England's focus on one dayers for their batting failures but what can we blame for ours, esp. considering Anderson isnt playing ?
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
They were very fortunate to be on the right end of another poor umpire error that handed them victory over the kiwis. The 2019 World Cup should have an asterisk next to it! But that aside, the bowling from both teams in The Ashes has been extremely high quality. Many batsmen have failed on both sides, but we should give credit to the bowling. And imagine if Smith and Ed 'Stokes' Sheeran weren't playing; these tests would all be over in 3 days.
Desert Qlder
Roar Rookie
Let's get one thing straight, England didn't win the World Cup, they were awarded it.