“The way things ended was a damning reflection of the managerial and managerial positions in the team. Players who respect captains and managers don’t go down like that; Michael Atherton says defeat in Hobart was a ‘depressing sight'” , as England lost 10 wickets for 56 runs
Joe Root’s team failed to reach 300 once in an Ashes series that they lost 4-0
Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton reflects on the Ashes 4-0 thrashing of England that was confirmed after they lost 10 wickets for 56 runs at Hobart…
It was the tour from hell for England and there can be no change.
You have to separate what are deep-seated systemic issues, and there may be changes there, from mistakes made on tour, that people have to take responsibility for.
I don’t think you can walk out of a tour like this and say, ‘everything is going to be fine, we’re still going to be with the same people.’ It would seem inconceivable to me that there would be no change.
As for the captain, there is a real shortage of alternatives to Joe Root and he also seems to have the support of the ECB. You have more choices when it comes to the managerial and coaching roles of Ashley Giles and Chris Silverwood.
It may not happen right away because Ashley has to send her report and Sir Andrew Strauss is in charge of reading it and then making some recommendations, but there has to be a change.
The way things ended was a damning reflection of the managerial and coaching positions on the team. Players who respect captains and coaches don’t fall like that.
I think there is also a bit of denial. Joe was very helpful with the press, doing a number of post-match interviews with the British and Australian media. He was told by an Australian journalist, Adam Collins, that England’s batting was fragile and Joe said that was a bit unfair.
It’s not unfair, it’s the truth, I’m afraid. There were unbelievable collapses in the series, they didn’t make it to 300 once and there were only a hundred singles. [Jonny Bairstow in Sydney].
It was a depressing sight on the last night. It was sad to see an ending like this. I have been involved and seen many England defeats, but the manner of that defeat was abject and really sad. There have been several meltdowns on this tour, but that was probably the worst.
There were extenuating circumstances, as day and night test matches fluctuate and the last couple of hours under the lights is the best time to bowl, but there were some bad layoffs.
Ollie Pope, who I think is a really good young player with a lot of skill and a bright future, came out in the first inning defending until the fifth or sixth stump and then threw behind his legs in the second inning. That tells you that all is not well.
The Tailenders are always going to have problems against Pat Cummins in those circumstances, but for the final layoff, Ollie Robinson was practically off the sideline when he was dropped by a full pitch. There is a way to get down and that is not the way to get down.
England have made basic mistakes in their cricket and can also be discussed in selection and strategy.
There is mitigation. The preparation or lack of it, the rain in Queensland before the series, the lack of matches against Australian state teams. They showed up at the Gabba woefully underprepared and I accept that completely.
You also don’t have games between tests to restart now, so when that momentum goes against you, it’s very hard to stop it. However, you cannot completely pass on the responsibility.
Root has made some very sensible points about the structure of domestic cricket in England, but he was a bit of a pass on the responsibility.
All we’ve heard from Giles over the last year has been clear lines of accountability and responsibility, which is why he gave Silverwood the job of head drafter. But there seems to be an absence of responsibility for a tour gone terribly wrong.
Most people who have played county cricket would like to see red ball cricket played at the right time of year and the quality to be as high as possible on the best quality surfaces.
It is not an exact science. You want a good flow of talent in the county game. You want the standard to be as close to Test cricket as possible, with the England Lions providing a bridge for that gap. You want the training and management of the team to be of the best possible kind.
I see no interest in sacrificing any of the 18 counties, but a condensed, high-quality, first-class competition is essential if you are to have a smaller gap between domestic and Test cricket.
For the future, I am hopeful because I have seen England win in Australia in 2010/11. English cricket has always produced good players and I hope it will always produce good players. Things spin, but you need to grab the nettle, as they don’t spin on their own.
A loss like this, like when England lost at home to New Zealand in 1999, makes you want to change things. Hopefully something good comes out of this.
