Ashes 2019: Five players who disappointed the most 

Ashes 2019 concluded with honours even as both Australia and England won two matches each and played one match to a draw. The five-Test series was a fantastic spectacle as the two traditional rivals battled it out aggressively and passionately.

The series was a mixture of splendid performances as well as underwhelming ones. Big names from both sides either lived up to their expectations or fell flat.

England had a famous victory against Australia in the World Cup semi-finals. The Aussies considered the Ashes as an opportunity to give it back to the ones who knocked them out.

However, their intentions were only partially fulfilled but they would be happy to have held on to urn.

England will also be disappointed as they failed to stamp their authority at home. Both the sides will now look back and analyze the performance of each player, and a major focus will be on those who disappointed the most.

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#5 Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja.

One cannot be too harsh on Usman Khawaja’s performance in this Ashes series. The Australian batsman played reasonably and gave modest performances, but whatever he did wasn’t enough to meet the standards of a significant tournament like the Ashes.

Khawaja scored 122 runs in three matches at an average of 20.33. The only valuable performance from him came in the second innings of the first Test where he scored a solid 40 and helped his team to recover from a vulnerable position.

There were high expectations on Usman Khawaja before this series as he was a senior player in the side along with the returning Steve Smith and David Warner. Failing to live up to those expectations, Khawaja’s immediate future looks bleak as he got dropped from the playing XI after the third Test and did not make a return. With each Test counting in the ICC World Test Championships, the selectors will be all the more careful while picking players and Khawaja might struggle to come back.

Khawaja at nets during Ashes.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

#4 Chris Woakes

Chris Woakes.

The Ashes performance of Chris Woakes wasn’t very poor but still, he failed to meet the high expectations. The fast-bowling all-rounder took 10 wickets from 4 matches at an average of 33.10. As the stats reveal, Woakes was not consistent as a wicket-taker and did not get a place in the top five highest wicket-takers of the 2019 Ashes.

Jofra Archer was in scintillating form in the Ashes.

Debutant fast bowler Jofra Archer, who played the same number of matches as Woakes, picked more than double the number of dismissals than him. Veteran pacer Stuart Broad also looked exceptional in this series. Thus, there is heavy competition among the English pacers and the position of Woakes in the playing XI is under a challenge at the moment.

To manage his workload, Woakes was dropped for the 4th Test in Manchester and was brought back for the fifth match in London but still, he did not find his usual rhythm. It will be interesting to see if Woakes will bounce back or gets lost in the shuffle.

#3 Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow.

Jonny Bairstow scored 214 runs in 5 matches at an average of 23.78. With opportunities to bat on all the matches, Bairstow should have proved his worth but unfortunately, he did not. Bairstow’s highest individual score in this series was just 52.

Since the start of 2018, Bairstow’s average in Test cricket has not crossed 20. There is no denying the fact that he is one of the best in the world when it comes to limited-overs cricket but consecutive failures in the longer format look pitiable.

After this Ashes, Bairstow looks likely to be dropped as there are some other wicket-keeping options for the England side to consider. Either Ben Foakes might be tested as a direct replacement or Ollie Pope might come in with Jos Buttler handling the gloves.

Whether the replacement idea succeeds or fails, the chance for Bairstow’s Test comeback will look only dimmer. That is what we could speculate about his future at the end of this Ashes series.

#2 Jason Roy

Jason Roy.

Jason Roy put in some high-quality performances in the World Cup. As he mastered the art of batting in limited-overs cricket, the team management had immense faith in him to shine in Test cricket, especially in this year’s Ashes.

It was an experiment when they relied on him to open the innings in the longer format. They were serious about grooming him in that position, but after this Ashes series, it looks as if the experiment has failed.

Roy scored only 110 runs in 8 innings with an average of 13.75. The right hander’s highest individual score is not more than 31. It has to be noted that his overall score is less than teammate Chris Woakes who is a bowling all-rounder.

This is not a good return by someone as talented as Jason Roy. Unfortunately, it is likely the batsman will get dropped for the next Test series. Looking at his performance in this series, it might take a long time for Roy to get another Test-match opportunity.

#1 David Warner

David Warner

David Warner made a comeback to Test cricket after a one-year ban for his involvement in the sandpaper incident. All eyes were on him in the Ashes as he had finished the World Cup as the second-highest run-getter.

However, Warner’s batting turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the 2019 Ashes. The southpaw managed to score just 95 runs from 10 innings at an average of 9.40. This is his lowest average ever in a Test series.

Mostly falling with single-digit scores, Warner added an embarrassing record to his name for being the first-ever opening batsman to register eight single-digit scores in a Test series. Warner also got dismissed by Stuart Broad seven times during this series.

The management might overlook Warner's setback at the moment, as he is one of their big-time players. They will probably give him more chances, but it is up to the left-hander to make sure that this debacle is put behind him.

Broad got Warner seven times in the Ashes.