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Joe Root would have struggled to imagine the 2021/22 Ashes series going any worse.
Following the disastrous tour that saw England suffer a 4-0 hammering by Australia, only avoiding a series whitewash courtesy of the Sydney rain, an inquest into the calamitous performances has already begun.
With the next Test match just over six weeks away against the West Indies, there will be changes aplenty, but before they all depart the Southern Hemisphere, here is a player-by-player rating from those who featured for England in the series.
Rory Burns (77 runs @ 12.83, HS: 25) 3/10
Having fallen to the first delivery of the series, throwing his front foot over towards a seventh stump only to be castled by Mitchell Starc, it was a horror start and things only marginally improved from then onwards.
His technique will forever stay under question, and having been dropped for the fourth and fifth matches, his future in the squad may well be up for discussion.
Glimpses were shown during the final innings of the series when the left-hander helped contribute to England’s highest opening stand in eight years. If he is to remain, there will be serious doubts lingering until he can produce a significant score.
Haseeb Hameed (80 runs @ 10.00, HS: 27) 1/10
Putting his torturous experience down as a learning curve would be a nice way of wording a potentially career-defining failure.
Having been recalled to the international set-up against India last summer, the young Lancastrian could not get to grips at any point with the barrage he was facing, succumbing each time in such a fashion that saw him dropped for the final Test in Hobart.
Having spent almost five years in the international wilderness, to the extent that he lost his County contract, there will be strong worries that should this series potentially become more than just a blip, could we see another opening batter fall by the wayside and career end early?
Zak Crawley (166 runs @ 27.66, HS: 77) 6/10
Having played in the final three Tests and opening the innings on Boxing Day morning, despite not facing a competitive delivery for over five months, it was almost a hiding-to-nothing for the Kent youngster.
After an inevitably shaky first knock, we then saw his talent begin to flourish, getting a big stride forward and driving both sides of the wicket, scoring freely in a stark contrast to his opening teammates in Burns and Hameed at the other end.
Finishing the series with the third-best average of all Englishmen to play, his place should not sit under threat for the tour of the Caribbean, but given how the tall right-hander averaged 10.81 throughout Tests in 2021 and has not scored a ton in his last 10 matches, it may not be enough to guarantee himself a start in six weeks time.
Dawid Malan (244 runs @ 24.40, HS: 82; 2 wickets @ 30.50, BBI: 2/33) 5/10
Starting the tour as the nailed-on number three, he would never have expected to be facing the second ball of the series. It was an odd five matches for the Yorkshire batter. He played fluently at the start, scoring 82 and 80 in the first two contests but then never managed to capitalise on the platforms laid to score big runs.
The left-hander did look comfortable for periods, but they were never more than one-session spells. Malan can count himself unlucky as he did get his fair share of unlucky dismissals, twice having deliveries misbehave off the pitch to leave him stranded.
Referring to himself as a part-time leg-break bowler would see the part-time statement emphasised, but himself and captain Joe Root did become a spin-attack in Adelaide, seeing the ball turn square. England chose an all-seam attack and were duly punished.
Joe Root (322 runs @ 32.20, HS: 89; 5 wickets @ 46.80, BBI: 2/27) 6/10
The captain can rightly feel a little aggrieved with the performance of some of his teammates, but when self-reflecting, similar to Malan above, Root never fully capitalised on promising starts, getting himself in before succumbing to either a probing delivery outside off stump or a misbehaving ball that cannoned the front pad.
Root will feel mightily disappointed to score three 50s from his 10 innings and not convert one into triple figures. For a batter with aspirations of returning to the number one world ranking, aggregates such as these will not make pretty reading, considering how freely some of his counterparts were able to churn out big scores and keep the opposition bowlers under the pump.
There will no doubt be further questions of his captaincy, but with no obvious replacement to take over, he will more than likely live to fight another battle.
Ollie Pope (67 runs @ 11.60, HS: 35) 2/10
For such a promising talent to arrive in Australia and return such tepid figures, throwing away his wicket more often than not when he was dismissed in Brisbane trying to emphatically cut the off-spin of Nathan Lyon from middle stump without any control, and finally getting clean bowled on his return in the second innings, jumping all around the crease, missing a long-hop and losing his leg stump.
The wicket almost epitomised the series for the young batter who had to fill in as wicketkeeper in the fourth Test following injuries to others.
It is almost certain that Pope will feature in future England tours and those in charge at the ECB hope this will be more an experience to learn from and improve, instead of leaving unrepairable scars.
Jonny Bairstow (194 runs @ 48.50, HS: 113) 8/10
After travelling initially as England’s reserve wicketkeeper and general “square peg” batter able to cover any positions between three and eight, he was chucked into the lineup in Melbourne replacing the struggling Pope batting at six, despite calls to take over the gloves from Jos Buttler. Immediately catching the eye, he scored a smart 35 before receiving a snorter from Starc.
It was then in the fourth and Bairstow’s final Test of the series, where he swept and drove impeccably to bring up 113, the only century scored by the visitors on the tour. However, during those innings, he took a blow to the thumb that caused him to miss out playing further. He did bat in the second innings and scored 41 off 105 deliveries to help delay any collapse when batting time was the task at hand.
His contributions in that fourth test alone more than played their part in ensuring the Test ended as a draw.
Ben Stokes (236 runs @ 23.60, HS: 66; 4 wickets @ 71.50, BBI: 3/113) 5/10
Clearly hampered by two injuries throughout the series, Stokes was never fully fit, but this did not stop him from playing every match. Very limited to what we usually see from Joe Root’s talisman, his bowling was as always whole-hearted and when batting it was clear match practice was required despite not being offered the chance.
The all-rounder was battered and bruised throughout the drubbing, injuring his side rather seriously when bowling and taking heavy blows to the body whilst batting. His poor form can be excused given his injury layoff prior to the tour, coupled with his break due to mental recovery.
If he travels to the West Indies then Root will be hoping his niggles have fully cleared up, but it might be best to allow his body a further few weeks and months to gain full recovery.
Jos Buttler (107 runs @ 15.28, HS: 39) 1/10
A multitude of dropped catches has plagued his Test career to date and this tour was no different. Dropping two simple chances and one which was almost unbelievably simple for a first-class cricketer, he may well have worn the Whites for the last time.
Although dogged with the bat in one inning, scoring 39, he picked up a broken finger and departed at the end of the drawn match in Sydney.
The heir-apparent in white-ball cricket to Eoin Morgan, he may remain one of England’s biggest mysteries how someone so talented in the limited-overs formats could never truly crack the red-ball side.
Sam Billings (30 runs @ 15.00, HS: 29) 6/10
After becoming his country’s 700th capped player, the 30-year-old quickly showed his gloveman qualities and put in a solid performance behind the stumps, taking three catches.
Arriving off the back of playing in the Big Bash League, Billings batted sensibly and with control as he notched 29 runs. In the second innings, his dismissal left a lot to be desired, chipping clumsily to mid-on and departing for one.
Chris Woakes (146 runs @ 24.33, HS: 44; 6 wickets @ 55.33, BBI: 2/64) 3/10
In English conditions where the ball swings for the full 80-overs, his skill and guise see himself command a spot in the team. As soon as we head overseas, Woakes’ record appears slightly shaky and can be seen to be less of a threat.
His return with the bat has never been an issue, on each occasion holding his own, excluding the final innings in Hobart when all players batting eight or lower seemingly swung for the hills.
With the ball in hand, the Warwickshire seamer became nullified and toothless, unable to really press home any control and looked a little lacklustre.
Mark Wood (86 runs @ 10.75, HS: 39; 17 wickets @ 26.64, BBI: 6/37) 8/10
Arguably the Man of the Series for the tourists, he bowled with pace, accuracy and skill to thwart the Australian top order and blow away the tail when given the chance. Wood now boasts 23 of the fastest 25 spells by an Englishman in Australia and given how publicly England have stated their desire to fight fire with fire, taking 90mph+ seamers for this tour, yet Wood was almost a lone-wolf and had to carry the responsibility on his own.
His spell of 6/37 in the final Test was a standout moment for England in an otherwise dreadful tour. Chris Silverwood, should he remain in the role as England Head Coach, will have to be careful not to “burnout” Wood, similarly how they seem to have done with Jofra Archer after his injury issues all seem to stem back to the 2019 New Zealand Test Series, where he bowled 82 overs in two tests.
A repeat of this could set back England for years to come.
Ollie Robinson (38 runs @ 5.42, HS: 22; 11 wickets @ 25.54, BBI: 3/58) 5/10
The Sussex-seamer was miserly with his line and length, able to contain the opposition batters run scoring. The main issue that was highlighted before the series and subsequently throughout, his bowling speed is something that the coaches will be desperate to work on.
His starting speeds were around the 80mph-mark, come the third and fourth spells in the day, Robinson regularly found himself dropping below 70mph, becoming less and less threatening as the matches wore on.
His fitness levels were publicly questioned by bowling coach Jon Lewis and this should come as a rude awakening.
Robinson will have a future in the Test arena given his accuracy and nagging control, but depending on how much he can improve his speed will ultimately decide his fate.
Stuart Broad (42 runs @ 14.00, HS: 15; 13 wickets @ 26.30, BBI: 5/101) 6/10
Considering that Broad had opener David Warner on strings during the 2019 Ashes in England, it was almost flabbergasting that England decided to enter the first match at the Gabba without their trump card, who has given one of the oppositions key figures, in Warner, nightmares.
Following the loss, he returned to the fold for the pink-ball Test, but the wicket prepared was for spin to be a key asset by curator, Damian Hough. Having neglected to play a spinner, it proved tough work for the seamers and ultimately saw them crumble to defeat.
In the end, Broad made three appearances and performed admirably but questions do need to be asked why he was left sitting on the sidelines at the start of the series.
James Anderson (13 runs @ 6.50, HS: 5; 8 wickets @ 23.37, BBI: 4/33) 7/10
Even at 39-years-old, Anderson showed he is still more than capable of leading the attack and performing at the highest level. Only being asked to play in two Tests, he ended the tour with the best average of all the travelling bowlers, and if that was his last tour down under, he can leave with his head held high.
Having maintained his bowling speeds throughout the campaign, averaging regularly in and around 84-87mph, to end the series as England’s second quickest bowler it must lead to serious questions being asked.
Anderson will look to continue further and may target the 2023 home Ashes series as his final swang-song, but if that is the case, England will still have 18 months of their premier bowler to perform.
Jack Leach (51 runs @ 12.75, HS: 26; 6 wickets @ 53.50, BBI: 4/84) 3/10
Through a combination of inconsistent lines, overly-defensive fielding placements and bowling in unfriendly conditions, Leach was never able to keep the economy rate down and Australia were able to milk the bowling with consummate ease.
In the fourth Test, Leach found himself on a hat-trick after taking Cameron Green and Alex Carey in successive deliveries, only for Australia to declare and deny the spinner a chance.
Should Leach play for England again, it may require a change of coach and captain given Silverwood and Root’s reluctance to give him the opportunities and support needed from the start. Matt Parkinson may just well be the next spinner England turn to, seeing Leach becoming the unlucky victim to depart the side.
Unused players: Dan Lawrence, Craig Overton, Dom Bess.
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