I know some say all is wrong with this England cricket team / management / tour etc

But there was an interesting bit of writing at the start of the Guardian OBO this morning. Quote:

“Anyway, here’s a quiz question. Of all the losing squads England have sent on an Ashes tour this century, which one has done least badly? Using a simple yardstick: the gap between their average score and Australia’s.
Look away now if you want a minute to think about this. But you’ve probably guessed where I’m going with it. Yes, the answer is … Ben Stokes’ brave boys from 2025-26.
They’re averaging 258 per completed innings (actually, all their innings have been completed – for some reason, not even Stokes has been inclined to declare). The Aussies have made 372 per completed innings – only four of those so far, but the two romps to victory still feed into the average. So the difference between the two sides has been 114.
That may sound embarrassing, but, by England’s Ashes-tour standards, it’s highly respectable. Last time round, under Joe Root, they averaged a feeble 202. Their bowlers kept the Aussies down to 350, which still left them, on average, 148 behind.
The time before, also on Root’s watch? England batted better, averaging 292. But we may have to give most of the credit to the pitches, as the Aussies averaged 514. No, that is not a misprint: the gulf was 222, almost twice as bad as in the present series.
How about 2013-14, under Alastair Cook? England averaged 216, Australia 414, so the gulf was 198. Or 2006-07, under Fred Flintoff? England 264, Australia 528, the gulf 264. Should have stuck to calling himself Andrew.
Which just leaves Nasser Hussain’s tour in 2002-03 – surely that wasn’t too bad? Well, the batting wasn’t. England 293, Australia 468, the gulf 175.
With the ball, Stokes’s team have been more effective than any other bunch of England losers, bar the lockdown gang of 2020-21. With the bat, they are fourth out of six, and as they’ve done better in each Test of this series than the one before (yes, really), they could end up second. In terms of the gulf, they’re the bees’ knees. It hasn’t been worse than usual: it’s just been more galling for the fans because their hopes were higher.”

Food for thought, anyway. That wicket was ridiculous, btw.

Posted By: APB on December 26th 2025 at 07:12:00

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