England’s performance in the first three Ashes Tests against Australia has been nothing short of disappointing.
The wayward shot selection and a lack of full bowling that Joe Root made no apologies about in his post-match comments after the Adelaide Test have been nothing short of embarrassing for fans abroad.
England’s first hit-out on Australian soil against the Lions and Australia A before the Gabba Test was washed out and the rolling show of COVID wiping out several state games has left the English looking very underdone.
Take nothing away from a rampant Australian line-up with the personnel of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and debutant Scott Boland, who took 6-7 on debut at the MCG.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
The current climate of Test match schedules doesn’t allow tour matches in between Tests with a short turnaround.
The visitors swung the axe coming into the last Test at the MCG with the likes of Rory Burns and Ollie Pope dropped for Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow.
Crawley was injected into the side after the opening combination of Burns and Haseeb Hameed struggled to make in roads. Burns was infamously bowled on the first bowl of the series in Brisbane.
Did England make the right decision in dropping Burns? Probably not. If anything, the wrong opener was dropped. Burns scored 34 in the second innings in Adelaide, which was possibly enough for him to hold his position.
Bairstow was injected into the side in the middle order in place of Ollie Pope after Pope failed to make an impact in his first four innings over two Tests.
Bairstow came into the match from the proverbial wilderness and was out in the first innings to extra pace from Starc and was trapped on his crease by Boland during his onslaught.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
England’s decisions on the selection table have no doubt contributed to the lack of success and the subsequent loss of the Ashes.
England’s bowling line-up with the personnel of Mark Wood, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson have all been impacted throughout the series.
Dropping Broad and the 39-year-old Anderson for the Gabba Test and then dropping Wood for the seaming day-night Test in Adelaide and then going 2-0 down, England certainly couldn’t take a trick.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Pfffffft, didn't say that after 2010/11!
Jeff
Roar Rookie
It's the ones who proclaim to be the Minister for the Interior, that you have to watch out for..
English twizz
Guest
In the Guardian newspaper today talking 5 tests is to long and need to maybe have a multi format ashes like the womans
Richie
Roar Rookie
Regardless of the bus if you’re anything like me you’ll believe (hope) you’re getting wiser. :silly:
The Late News
Roar Rookie
I could fill a bus with people who might doubt my wisdom!
Mike
Guest
I really think Ollie Pope should've been stuck with. He looked pretty good in Brisbane although he obviously didn't go on with it. 5 tests playing in Australia against this attack won't be a bad thing for him. I reckon he looks like he has some talent. If England want to continue to back Buttler and Bairstow ahead of him, them so be it.
Richie
Roar Rookie
Well at least you’re getting wiser.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Myself I did not believe for one second Aus would struggle ...But I also did not believe England would be so poor either .,
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
The selections absolutely befuddled me .. It’s just so obvious that England past 5 years at the very least have built their game around Root at the top of the order , Stokes middle order and The Broad/Anderson combo anchoring the bowling attack . They together with Wood were impressively effective as a unit in there last tour of South Africa in conditions closer to The Gabba than anywhere else in the World ..Stokes we all knew , everyone of us , was a gamble given his lack of cricket and recent mental health challenges..so yes , it was risky selecting him . Then to compound that risk England choose to experiment with a bowling attack , dropping their stalwarts in the first Test against Aus at the Gabba ..Are they on drugs ? You can be forgiven for experimenting against Zimbabwe or if you are 3 nil up in the series all good but not the opening Ashes Test …I would love to have been privy to the discussion and logic that led to that call ….
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Right. I am on number two. Second stab at dealing with menopause!
Chris Love
Roar Guru
Exactly Paul. Even considering the T20 World Cup where only Buttler, Wood, Bairstow ad Malan were really playing. The English team could have gone home for a month to rest after India. Then come to Australia, quarantined for 2 weeks then had 6 weeks worth of lead-up games before the Gabba test. Being that they QT'd in Brisbane they could have bounced between QLD and WA throughout that whole period. Im pretty sure during that window as well Tassie and SA would have been open to tour games. All the talk prior to the Ashes was about Australia being underdone and England playing a mountain of Cricket in 2021.
Richie
Roar Rookie
I’m onto my third. My first was Minister for War, the second was Minister for Sleeping Arrangements (hers of course)! My now last one is Minister for Finance(she’s good at making money).
The Late News
Roar Rookie
A friend of mine calls his lady the Leader of the Opposition!
Richie
Roar Rookie
Ahh you’ve got one of those too? We’re a big club :laughing:
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Gees I am right? Please let my good lady know. Thank you!
Richie
Roar Rookie
Your right News, they are perfectly ok for Englishmen. :silly:
bungeye
Roar Rookie
The excuses on this forum keep on coming for this England team. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, people thought Australia would struggle, with no test cricket for 12 months...
Linphoma
Guest
Throw in some rubbishy fielding, I mean this is not an International standard team, Can't bat, can't bow, can't field, can't select.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Bad selections- no Wood in Adelaide or Broad in Brisbane. Would they have made a difference? Maybe, but hard to say, given Broad doesn’t have a stellar record in Australia and Wood has never taken bags of wickets and averages 33. The other selections were debatable, but not obviously bad. I personally think Pope should have been persevered with, but it’s not obvious. Hard to argue that dropping Burns rather than Hameed was shooting themselves in the foot. I disagree that wayward shot selection has been England’s downfall in this series. The only obvious ones I can think of were Buttler holing out in Melbourne and chasing a wide one in Adelaide. Maybe Root playing a bit of a nothing shot in Melbourne, Pope’s downfall to a hook in Bris, and Stokes’s weird half cut shot in Melbourne can be added. But the big problem has been getting out to balls seaming away from the bat and taking the edge.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Well you can't argue with the pommie footwork. Not one of them has tripped or slipped walking basic after we have got them out!