It was not a debacle. On the pitch it was statistically comfortably better than the

previous 3.

England have won a series in Australia ONCE since 2000.

Failed to win a single test 4 times.

Cook and Root never won there.

Under Stokes we took 20 wickets twice, Root and Cook took 15 tests between them to manage that.

Averaged nearly 16 wickets per match, only Strauss managed more at 18.

Stokes innings average was 90 lower than Aus over the series, only time its been lower than 100 this century, except the sole series win.
The difference in average wickets per match was 3.4, again the closest this century in a lost series.

So in all metrics Stokes was closer to the Aussies than any other england captain this century in defeat.

Was it great? Of course not.
But to call it a debacle is hyperbole, England were well in that series and lost it in moments or sessions.

Posted By: megson, Jun 29, 13:20:03