There was little to cheer over the five games. Joe Root’s first Test century in Australia was one, followed by a second, and Jacob Bethell reaching his first-ever first-class hundred. With the right nurturing, it won’t be Bethell’s last.
There was a brief moment when Sussex’s own Jofra Archer shone with the ball, but overall, the tour was a disaster.
Comments have been made about poor preparation and the lack of warm-up games, that the so-called Bazball approach (playing positively and without fear) was not conducive to this series, and that there was a drinking culture amongst some players.
But the problems are more deep-rooted than this.
Test match cricket is about testing the best against the best, over five days. Yet in the first Test, England succumbed to a strong Australian attack in under two days.
The rest of the series was not much better other than the fourth Test which England won, but the Ashes had already been lost. Even that Test was a bit of a farce, once again over in under two days. It was little more than a four innings T20 game or, in football, a penalty shootout. Yes, some criticism of the pitch prepared for the Perth and Melbourne Tests is justified, but players representing England in an Ashes series should apply themselves better.
The fifth and final Test in Sydney was worthy of the Ashes.
It was in this game that Root scored his second century of the series and Bethell his first. Nevertheless, Australia won on the fifth day.
Captain Ben Stokes is the talisman for England, liable to do something exceptional when required. But in this Ashes series he passed 50 just twice and in six of his ten innings he did not get into double figures. Stokes is injury prone. As England’s most effective strike bowler he has a tendency to over bowl himself, thereby risking further injury as we saw in the final Test.It might be in England’s best interests, and prolong his career, if the burden of captaincy was lifted from his shoulders. He is too selfless to protect himself. Another captain might.
A major part of England’s Bazball approach is that it has its foundations in limited over cricket, particularly T20 cricket. It is dynamic and exciting, with balls flying to all parts of the ground and wickets falling at regular intervals. But Test match cricket is totally different.
There is just under 18 months until the start of the 2027 Ashes series in England. That might provide just enough time for England to prepare properly for that series.
Winning this next series must be a priority for all involved in England cricket. After all, an Ashes series is a defining part of any England player’s career. Win a series, particularly in Australia, and you and your team mates will go down in legend.
Take Sussex’s Matt Prior. He played in three Ashes series that saw England winning 2-1, 2-1 and 3-0. (There was a fourth series in which Prior played which Australia won 5-0 but an Achilles injury limited his involvement.)
When I say there is just enough time before the next Ashes series, I mean it. Those England players who wish to be considered for selection in that series should focus exclusively on four day first-class and international cricket and avoid all limited over cricket, particularly the ridiculous Hundred competition and the India Premier League.
Batsmen should learn how to build an innings over two or three sessions, and how to score slow, patient hundreds.
Bowlers should hone their technique, with short pitch deliveries being the exception rather than the rule.
County Championship teams should be allowed to field three overseas players, two of whom should be Test bowlers so that batsmen are tested regularly against the best. Maybe then England players can learn to play four and five day games.
Australia’s Test team play a lot of first-class cricket in their domestic Sheffield Shield and were ‘match-ready’ at the start of this Ashes. Many of their players will play county cricket in England in preparation for the 2027 Ashes, just as Steve Smith did when he played for Sussex in 2023, thereby becoming acclimatised to English conditions.
If there isn’t the hunger amongst some England players to prepare properly for the Ashes, they should move aside for those who want to beat the Aussies more than anything else.
Andy Winter is a former councillor who worked in social care and homelessness services for 40 years.