From one of the most remarkable Ashes series victories when England beat Australia in 2005 for the first time in 18 years to to worst result in nearly 80 when the touring English side managed to lose every match in a five test series, the England selectors have to be wondering what went wrong surely. I can tell you in a few short words... five batsmen.
If you look through the batting cards of England this summer they have been nothing short of abysmal but really it's only the last five that never fired. To wit:
1st Test- Brisbane
15-5 and 77-5
2nd Test - Adelaide
DNB and 35-5
3rd Test - Perth
101-5 and 14-5
4th Test - Melbourne
24-5 and 53-5
5th Test - Sydney
33-5 and 33-5
Now admittedly, the tail isn't usually picked for it's batting ability, but when you're up against the likes of SK Warne and GD McGrath then between them they've taken more test wickets than any other two bowlers in history. Perhaps thankfully by the time of the next Ashes series in England, neither of them will be there and as 2005 proved, a side without those two can be beaten by mediocrity.
Yes a 5-0 whitewash is a very black day on which the side wil fade to grey over (nice use of colours there) but it's something to look forward from. I mean let's be totally brutal here, no-one can ever do a worse job than what we've seen this summer can they?
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