My wife says I am very negative – she is predicting a 3-2 victory for England. Me and my eldest son (and all his PE teachers) are confidently predicting another 5-0 thrashing. For once, I really hope my wife is right and I am wrong (and it would not be the first time). But I just cannot see England regaining The Ashes this winter.
Let’s start with the last 25 years. England has only won 3 games in Australia since 2000. The first of those featured 2 players who made England debuts in 1990 (Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart). The other two came, of course, in 2010/11, when England was a very strong team. Some have said that the current England team is up with the 2010/11 team.I disagree. The 2010 versions of Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson would walk into the current England team, and I reckon Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior would probably get in too.
What if we go back to Mike Gatting’s team of heroes in 1986/7? If we include that tour, England have won 6 test matches down under since 1986 (2 in 1986/7, 1 in 1994/5, 1 in 1998/9, 1 in 2003/4, 2 in 2010/11). In that statistic is a real disappointment of England teams since 2010/11. Those England teams of the 90s did manage some draws and the odd win even – unlike those who have toured since 2011 or on 2006/7. The way England has fallen apart on those tours was really poor.
I think I have 2 major fears. Firstly, the way England bat. It can be very effective, but it can be disasterous. In both 2010/11 and 1986/7, England scored a lot of runs in a variety of styles – contrast Chris Broad and Cook with Lord Botham and Pietersen. England will need to show adaptability – or else they will be 200 all out on day 1 with the game over. If I am honest, this is what I expect to happen.
My other batting worry is that if England do put up a fight, do they have what they need to actually get over the line? England has played some amazing test match cricket under Ben Stokes, but they have not won a 5-match series. At home, in both 2023 and 2025, England should have beaten Australia and India – but they lacked the killer instinct to do so. I really hope we do not end up 3-2 down as a result of 1 terrible session somewhere.
Summary: England can win if they play the best cricket they can, for long enough. They probably won’t, though.
COME ON BOYS. PROVE ME WRONG.
ER – 11th Nov 25.
Cricketed 