Pundits despair at England’s capitulation
Former England cricketers and pundits reacts to the tourists’ latest Ashes collapse as the England lose in Hobart and Australia complete…
“That has to be our rock bottom.”
Those were the words of former England captain Sir Alastair Cook after the tourists’ Ashes misery finally came to an end in a familiar fashion.
Set 271 to win on the third day of the fifth Test in Hobart, England reached 68-0.
With an England opening pair who, at long last, looked settled at the crease, that glimmer of hope started to shine a little more brightly.
There was an opportunity to end the series on a high, prove some doubters wrong and head home with a smidgen of respect.
But then England lost all 10 wickets for just 56 more runs. The Test was over inside three days, the series lost 4-0.
“Feeble”, said former England bowler Steven Finn. “Appalling” and “ghastly” said Mark Butcher, the former England batter.
Blame for the collapse can firmly be placed on shot selection and judgement.
To name just a few: Ben Stokes played a wholly unnecessary pull and was caught on the boundary, Sam Billings tamely chipped to mid-on and Ollie Pope got into an almighty tangle as he moved across his stumps and was bowled.
Speaking on BT, two-time Ashes winning captain Cook did not hold back.
“It is a batting line-up devoid of all confidence and belief. Nobody seems to be able to step up and stop that slide once or two wickets are lost,” he said.
“That has to be our rock bottom. Until people grab this team by the scruff of the neck I can’t see them changing.”
‘Enough is enough’
It was one of the worst collapses of all time. Only once since 1908 have England lost all 10 wickets for fewer than 56 against Australia, at The Oval in 1948.
But as an indication of their flurry of recent collapses, it is the fifth time in four years England have lost all 10 wickets for less than 65.
“Enough is enough. This is the line in the sand,” BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said.
“We can’t keep going back after a hammering in Australia and say things need to change, and then nothing happens.”
As Cummins lifted the Ashes urn, a deflated England camp looked on. Finn had some sympathy for the losers.
“It’s a watershed moment for the England players,” he said on TMS.
“You have green and gold confetti over the pitch, Australia spraying champagne, and you just wish it was you.”
Change needed?
England’s next assignment in red-ball cricket is a three-Test series against West Indies in the Caribbean.
Despite Joe Root saying he wants to continue as captain, Cook is expecting some changes to the team and coaching set-up.
“I will be very surprised if England go to the West Indies with the same structure in place,” he said.
“I’m not saying Joe Root won’t be captain but we’ve had the same set-up for 18 months now and I’ve not seen any improvement.
“You have to ask questions of Graham Thorpe, the batting coach, and the others. If they lose in the West Indies their positions will be untenable and there has to be change.”
Finn says the manner of England’s latest defeat is likely to influence change.
“Had England won [in Hobart], there would have been three or four people who would have put in significant performances in this game and there would be something to cling on to going to the the West Indies,” he said.
“But it now feels like there will be some degree of change.”
England will host the next Ashes in 2023, and have not lost a series against Australia on home soil since 2001.
But having lost 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 in the past three Ashes series down under, a huge amount of work needs to be done to compete in Australia again in 2025-26.
But Finn says England would be “fools to start thinking that far ahead”.
He added: “You have to think short term and find those players capable of being there in four years. Plus it’s disrespectful to the other teams you’re playing in between.”
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