Ashes to Ashes: What happened and what next?

As England slumped to a fifth straight test defeat, a whitewash to which they have succumbed just three times in the history of the Ashes, fans across the country find themselves asking the same question: How can our national side have declined so rapidly so quickly?

The capitulation that saw England turn from 3-0 victors to 5-0 losers constituted an almost incomprehensible surrender to an unremarkable Australian side.So, what went wrong? And is it a problem which England can fix?

What happened?

England began with confidence belying their success earlier in the year; at 55-1 chasing 295 in the very first innings of this disastrous series, there was not the slightest hint of nerves or anxiety for the batting side. Then, something happened: Mitchell Johnson. Ten overs, six wickets and nine runs later, and the alarm bells were well and truly ringing.

Admittedly, England players rarely face such fast bowling at county level. However, surely a good knock from a seasoned batter would save the day? Trott, Bell, Pieterson and Cook were looked to for the answers; none was provided.

This was just the beginnings of a deluge of disasters which blighted England’s Ashes. The departures of Trott and Swann, the collapse of Captain Cook, and that 28 run over – the list goes on.

With England finally in with a chance of victory in Melbourne after garnering a 51-run lead in the first innings, their summer hero and sports personality of the year nominee Ian Bell came to the crease to steady the ship and show the youngsters how it was done. And, right on cue, Bell played Lyon’s ball straight into the hands of the gleeful Johnson at mid-off to earn himself a golden duck, leaving England with just one run for three wickets. If anything sums up England’s performance over the last month, that little episode does it most succinctly.

England were beaten technically and tactically. They never recovered from the huge dent to their confidence after a poor first test showing. Perhaps they suffered from the same expectation issues as our football team; after a comfortable summer victory, the pressure was most certainly on to reaffirm their dominance.

A number of factors contributed to England’s demise, but a lack of confidence was chief among them. When things turn against you so drastically and so quickly, it can be difficult to galvanise yourself to face a 90mph leather and cork missile.

What next?

The typical response to such a complete defeat is an outcry for a total reshuffle. Bring in the youngsters, they cry. Build for the future, they plead. But such a radical move would do nothing to create the stability required to allow young players to flourish.

If I were selecting for the next test against Sri Lanka, I would ignore the consensus and introduce younger players to a backbone of experience. Cook, Pieterson, Bell, Broad and Anderson are all excellent cricketers who should not be dropped for what can be considered a blip in their otherwise outstanding England careers.

Stokes and Root must be given the chance to repeat their good form for their national side this year. Jos Buttler has impressed in the ODIs for England, and should surely be allowed to audition for the test side after the abject performances of Prior and Bairstow. Ballance had little chance to show his considerable ability against a dominant Australian side, and is surely worthy of another punt. Michael Carberry has, for me, had his chance and blown it – at the ripe old age of 33, he is hardly a long term solution anyway. Perhaps Sam Robson might make an able replacement; after all, he does have an Australian father…

Whatever the selectors decide to do, we can only hope that it is not simply a knee jerk reaction sparked by media and fan pressure.

Feature image courtesy of The Guardian