Ashes 2013/14: An Ashes post-mortem

Captain Alastair Cook (L) and the England players look on during presentations after the 5-0 defeat in the Ashes series

Cricket is a game in which a team needs to keep performing like a unit or else it will lose its momentum and will get outplayed by another team. Similarly, Alastair Cook’s team is in total mess because of their bizarre performance in the recently concluded Ashes series right now. The team is facing criticism from the cricketing arena for its disastrous tour ‘Down Under’, where they were whitewashed by the mighty Australians.

No one had thought that the English team would surrender to the hosts in such a way after they had won the Ashes a few months back in their own backyard. But rightly said, “Cricket is a funny game” which changes within the blink of an eye. Complacency, lack of fighting spirit, and inconsistency were the root causes of England’s failure in the series.

The main difference between the two teams was that the Aussies were definitely more prepared and took this series much more seriously than their counterpart. Lots were at stake after an one-sided loss to England in the summer, and revenge was the only thing that mattered the most for them.

Right from the start they were aggressive in their approach and played cricket in the typical ‘Australian’ way. Sledging was at its peak right from the Brisbane test match, which pushed the English team on the back foot. Harsh words were being exchanged between the players; there was plenty of action and drama for the spectators (though they were also involved in a few).

It was not the first instance involving Australia showing a lot of emotions on the field. They are a team known for playing in a rough manner. England should have been prepared for such a ‘treatment’ but their attitude reflected that they were mentally under-prepared. If the mindset of a team is defensive, it is bound to reflect on the players’ approach.

England team’s surrender to the host’s aggression reflected that they were weak, and had taken things too lightly. As a result, Jonathan Trott went back home because of depression in the first half of the series. Graeme Swann, their frontline spinner, left the series in the middle, and announced his retirement as he was performing below his abilities – which added to his team’s plight. But the most shocking thing was to see the England team allow their senior player retire just like that in the middle of such an important series. This clearly shows that the team was not in the right frame of mind.

Alastair Cook looked like a man bereft of ideas

The worse part of the series was when the news broke out that all was not well in the England dressing room. Swann had passed some remarks about his team mate, which created a lot of buzz and affected the team’s morale adversely. These things became beneficial for the Australians and they stuck to their game plan of playing aggressively and consistently.

They kept bowling short deliveries at the English batsmen, who were at the wrong end of the ‘chin-music’ this time around. Their captain, Alastair Cook, failed to counter the blows with any effective strategy, and couldn’t lift up the spirit of the team.

It clearly showed that he had no “Plan B” in his mind, and chose to stick to the similar tactics. Senior players batted without any sense of responsibility, and didn’t even bother to put up a fight for their team. Star players like Ian Bell, Kevin Pieterson and Matt Prior never looked prepared to play a big inning, which could have salvaged the lost pride for their team. Youngsters like Joe Root, Scott Borthwick and Ben Stokes were guilty of inconsistency and absurd shot selections.

The manner in which the entire Australian team displayed themselves was the highlight of the series. They were not dependent on a bunch of few players to deliver the goods for the team, but their entire team rose to the occasion and performed outstandingly. It seemed as if they were hungry for success, and looked like a reflection of Ricky Ponting’s team, who were consistent with the bat and ball and also aggressive in their attitude.

Michael Clarke, who led the team magnificently, was clever and sharp with his strategies and moves on the field. Other senior players as well as youngsters performed out of their skin to demolish the bowling and batting departments of their counterpart. Almost all their top order batsmen scored a century and someone or the other performed when the chips were down for the team.

After the win in the first two test matches, the score line of the series was more or less decided. The Australian team bowled with a lot of confidence that they would require only two sessions to run through the batting order of the visiting team.

England failed to get their cards right and kept on making changes in their sides. Former England player, Geoffrey Boycott slammed the England team’s performance, and called them ‘one day clowns’ – who had completely forgotten how to apply themselves in the Test matches and never looked like playing a big innings. Rash shot selections, no fighting spirit in the team and lack of plans, conviction and confidence were very much evident in the England team throughout their lackluster performances.

They were awful in their style of play and allowed the Australians to get the better of them by letting them come hard at them. There was never much of a difference between these two teams on paper but England’s performance made a huge difference to the score line as a ‘5-0’ drubbing was never expected before the start of the series.

Nonetheless, this Ashes series has done a world of good for players like Mitchell Johnson, Nathon Lyon, Brad Haddin, Steve Smith and Chris Rogers to cement their place in the side for a foreseeable future as on the contrary, it has been a pathetic tour for England. The future of many England players will be under scrutiny. No doubt this result will leave an everlasting scar, but they’ll have to wait for 2015 to get back at the mighty Australians.