3 reasons why the 2013-14 Ashes was so one-sided

#2 Captain Cook

Cook struggled to replicate his form of 2010-11

Alistair Cook began his reign as England captain after Andrew Strauss's retirement in 2012. Cook was able to lead his team to a series victory in India in 2012 but was unable to replicate such success the following winter.

The captain and former captain had formed a formidable opening partnership and Cook was named the player of the series in 2010-11, amassing 766 runs in the five Tests. However, with captaincy responsibilities on his shoulders and a rampant Mitchell Johnson opening the bowling, Cook did not impress with the bat.

Strauss left both a hole at the top of the order but also in terms of captaincy. Many pundits have argued that Cook's poor captaincy contributed to England's downfall. His rigidness and reactive style meant that England were always on the back foot.

Earlier this year, Cook gave up the captaincy, and it will be Joe Root that will hope to retain the Ashes urn for England.