Major Changes Will Surely Be Afoot As Ashes Surrendered With Two To Spare

Major Changes Will Surely Be Afoot As Ashes Surrendered With Two To Spare

- Chris Stocks

WHEN England won in South Africa less than two years ago there were no complaints about the county system, players not being experienced enough in the conditions or a lack of fast bowlers.

But when Ashes series go wrong, people search for deeper meaning and for answers as well as scapegoats.

This defeat at the WACA saw England surrender the Urn inside 15 days. It is also the third time in four Ashes tours they have headed to Melbourne and Sydney for the final two matches of the series with only pride to play for.

Captain Joe Root summed it up best, simply saying: “It’s bitterly disappointing.”

However, this is just the latest in an underwhelming sequence of results for England on the road. This was their seventh successive away Test loss and ninth in 11 if we go back to that South Africa tour in the winter of 2015-16.

Back then England played well in very similar conditions to here and the likes of Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and James Anderson were two years younger. South Africa, missing Dale Steyn for all but one Test, didn’t have as good a bowling attack as this Australian team.

In the decisive Test at Johannesburg in January 2016 Stuart Broad took a series-sealing haul of 6-17. In Perth, he returned 0-142 – his most expensive Test figures – as Root’s men were swept aside by an innings and 41 runs.

Root, too, scored an important century in that match at the Wanderers. At the WACA he failed twice as England went down meekly.

So, despite the temptation to look at the bigger picture, the truth is England did not play to the best of their ability for long enough at any point over the first three Tests.