{"id":686111,"date":"2026-01-10T05:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T05:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/686111\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T05:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T05:53:19","slug":"see-you-later-mate-englands-stars-fly-home-after-disastrous-ashes-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/686111\/","title":{"rendered":"See you later mate! England&#8217;s stars fly home after disastrous Ashes series"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><strong><b>Likes of Joe Root and Ben Duckett have headed home<\/b><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By ANDREW PRENTICE, SPORTS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  19:42 EST, 9 January 2026   |  Updated:  19:42 EST, 9 January 2026   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">A handful of England&#8217;s stars have flown home after yet another disastrous Ashes series, this time on Australian soil.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While the likes of cricket legend <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/stuart-broad\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e37a6c40-edb5-11f0-b5fc-fdbc799560aa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stuart Broad<\/a> and divisive broadcaster <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/tvshowbiz\/piers-morgan\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e36adbe0-edb5-11f0-b5fc-fdbc799560aa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Piers Morgan<\/a> predicted the tourists would hoist the urn given the supposed poor quality of the opposition, the reality was far different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/australia-cricket\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e376e9d0-edb5-11f0-b5fc-fdbc799560aa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Australia<\/a> seized the big moments to comfortably\u00a0<a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"class\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/cricket\/article-15444387\/Australia-win-fifth-Test-five-wickets-day-drama-one-biggest-controversies-series.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">win the series 4-1<\/a>, and made a mockery of &#8216;Bazball&#8217; at the same time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">They also only played captain <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/pat-cummins\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e379f710-edb5-11f0-b5fc-fdbc799560aa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pat Cummins<\/a> in one Test &#8211; and still dominated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">On Friday, the likes of <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/joe-root\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e3795ad0-edb5-11f0-b5fc-fdbc799560aa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Joe Root<\/a>, Ben Duckett, Josh Tongue, Will Jacks and Matthew Potts were all spotted at <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/sydney\/index.html\" id=\"mol-e37478d0-edb5-11f0-b5fc-fdbc799560aa\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sydney<\/a> International Airport.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While Root&#8217;s future is assured, Duckett appears to be on borrowed time at Test level after failing to convert any of his six scores of 20-plus into anything above 42.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-1203ea8cf517ba57\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105392487-15450875-A_handful_of_England_s_stars_have_flown_home_after_yet_another_d-m-40_17680038598.jpeg\" height=\"1139\" width=\"634\" alt=\"A handful of England's stars have flown home after yet another disastrous Ashes series (pictured, batsman Joe Root)\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">A handful of England&#8217;s stars have flown home after yet another disastrous Ashes series (pictured, batsman Joe Root)<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-13b14a952907532d\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105392471-15450875-image-m-35_1768003349390.jpg\" height=\"691\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Ben Duckett is unlikely to look back at his Ashes tour of Australia with much fondness\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Ben Duckett is unlikely to look back at his Ashes tour of Australia with much fondness<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-dd001423c53ad32d\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105392481-15450875-image-m-37_1768003556319.jpg\" height=\"570\" width=\"634\" alt=\"It was also a tough tour for the likes of Will Jacks (pictured) and Matthew Potts\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">It was also a tough tour for the likes of Will Jacks (pictured) and Matthew Potts<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-be8a5723648752a5\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105392473-15450875-image-m-39_1768003703098.jpg\" height=\"1236\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Despite England's confidence ahead of the first Test, Australia seized the big moments to comfortably win the series 4-1\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Despite England&#8217;s confidence ahead of the first Test, Australia seized the big moments to comfortably win the series 4-1<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-b5bfbd9078eda1ae\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/105392467-15450875-image-m-42_1768003887641.jpg\" height=\"1137\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Josh Tongue impressed at times for England, and finished with 18 wickets to his name across the series\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Josh Tongue impressed at times for England, and finished with 18 wickets to his name across the series<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Coach Brendon McCullum should also be in the firing line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">He has <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"class\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/cricket\/article-15448885\/Brendon-McCullum-denies-England-drink-Harry-Brook-revelation-boozy-Noosa-trip-coach-admits-replaced-Ashes-defeat.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">denied his players drink too much<\/a>, despite the revelation that England white-ball captain Harry Brook was involved in a fracas outside a nightclub in New Zealand in October in the lead up to the Ashes because the bouncer thought he was drunk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But if long-suffering England cricket fans think\u00a0McCullum will walk away, they are mistaken.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Whatever you do in life, I think you have to have some authenticity,&#8217; the under-fire coach said recently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;For me, as coach, when you\u2019re trying to guide and shepherd and assist players, you need to have an influence over how the environment runs, and be in charge of a lot of the decisions that are made when the pressure\u2019s on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">\u2018So as long as that remains, I\u2019m open to progress, I\u2019m open to evolution.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Initially, McCullum was a breath of fresh air for England, presiding over 10 wins in his first 11 Tests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But results have tapered off, and four series against Australia and India \u2013 the yardstick by which England\u2019s Test progress is best measured \u2013 have produced a pair of 2\u20132 draws at home and two 4\u20131 defeats away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">McCullum still insists there &#8216;has been some progress.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;You never want to throw out what\u2019s worked. You just want to keep chiselling away at some areas which need improvement,&#8217; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;So I\u2019d be loath to want to rip the script up and try and rediscover a completely different method.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">England will now turn their focus to the T20 World Cup, which starts on February 7.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The tournament will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        See you later mate! England&#8217;s stars fly home after disastrous Ashes series<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Likes of Joe Root and Ben Duckett have headed home By ANDREW PRENTICE, SPORTS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 19:42&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,1406,92,393,4884,66284,93,16,15],"class_list":["post-686111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-britain","tag-cricket","tag-dailymail","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-joe-root","tag-sport","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115869254365076330","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}