The Ashes 2025/26: England on the verge of collapse in the series, almost entirely their own fault | Cricket News

We’ve been here before…

England lost the away series 2-0 and fans fear Australian legend Glenn McGrath’s unwavering prediction of a 5-0 whitewash.

They most recently experienced that fate in the 2013/14 season, but were averted by draws in Melbourne and Sydney in the 2017/18 and 2021/22 seasons respectively, but in this era of fast-forward Test cricket (the first two Ashes clashes often accelerate faster than Lando Norris’ McLaren), draws are rare.

England may have to win the match to avoid a sweep. To win the series, they need three wins in three games.

Tourists have shown in Perth and Brisbane that they have the weapons to do it, but do they have the wisdom and means to do it? There are countless examples in the defeats at Optus Stadium and The Gabba to suggest otherwise.

England have had the best time in four years to prepare for this series, but after six days of cricket they are teetering on the brink. The captain is angry. Perhaps even more so for supporters.

The manager risked further angering fans by saying his players had overtrained ahead of the second Test. Maybe he’s right. Perhaps we should have done the pink ball warm-up instead…

Australia is great, England not so much

England are not certainly doomed in The Ashes – with three games still remaining in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, Stokes’ team could still pull off a heist within a heist – but they now have no margin for error and it is almost entirely their own fault.

But it would be a mistake to ignore Australia’s role in their opponent’s plight. The Baggy Greens are far from vintage, with Stuart Broad saying they are “the worst in 15 years”. While that may be true, the hosts have won in key situations and have had their players, especially Mitchell Starc, step up when needed.

The left-arm quick is truly living his best life: 18 wickets at an average of 14. From his No. 9 spot in Perth, he hit 77 off 141 balls as he played a batting knock with a bat that England’s top order should learn from. Consecutive player of the match award.

Starc often carried the attacking responsibilities in the absence of Pat Cummins (back) and Josh Hazlewood (hamstring), but was supported at key moments by Scott Borland in England’s second innings at Perth and Michael Nether on the fourth day in Brisbane.

Travis Head smashed that astonishing 69 Boulton in the first Test, and in the second Test all 11 of Australia’s batsmen reached double figures in the first innings. Alex Carey’s wicketkeeping is impeccable and far below that of England’s Jamie Smith, who endured a hellish introduction to Ashes cricket.

But the mess England is in is probably 90 per cent self-inflicted. Look at the mistakes they made, the promising positions they abandoned.

England let fans despair in Ashes, waste new ball

After a low-order first innings collapse in Perth against a mindlessly large boundary, England, who were at the time leading by 105 runs from 65-1 at the second dig, dwindled to 164 all out, with Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Joe Root removed in the early stages, and a meltdown at 0-3 from six balls.

If you want precision driving, stick with Norris and his F1 buddies. Not the England men’s cricket team.

Brook was also the culprit on the first day at the Gabba, with the most dangerous innings of the innings when he hit Steve Smith at slip on the second ball of Starc’s twilight spell, exposing England’s lower-middle order to Australia’s pink-ball wonders.

The co-captain is intoxicating and infuriating at the same time. He has the ability to launch all sorts of attacks on all parts of the ground, but doesn’t seem to have the ability to assess match situations.

England’s bowlers are not scot-free either.

Australia’s first innings started really badly. Short and wide most of the time, they were able to score a ton of runs behind the offside square on the cut, and were overpitched in other periods while the home side cantered to 146-2.

Four more catches turned grass when the seamer finally scored under the lights to pull England back into the match, combined with one in the first half when wicketkeeper Smith moved to his left and fired three missed chances to dismiss Head.

The next day, England repeated the move, bowling to Starc and Australia’s stubborn tail. The hosts batted for time rather than quick runs and ensured they got the new pink ball in the later evening hours, showing the nous their rivals lacked.

In the embers of the fourth day, intensity returned to England’s players – the battle between Jofra Archer and Jake Weatherald and especially Steve Smith was a box office hit – but by that point Australia were just chasing 65 points from victory. “Raise your bowl when nothing’s going on, champ,” were the words Smith said to Archer during the duel. very.

But perhaps the most vexing episode of the Brisbane Test was England’s batting in the night session on the third day. They were fine with one down, just like the second time in Perth. And just like in the second innings in Perth, they foolishly let the Australian bowlers get too worked up and left the fans in despair.

Rinse and repeat.

Let’s go for a drive. Crowley goes for a drive. Out for a drive on the great route (2 days after our long-awaited first away to Ashton). Smith went for a drive. Uphill drives are criminal on Australia’s bouncy pitches, especially when pinching a pink ball, but England keep doing it. And assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said there hasn’t been any discussion about not doing that.

If the captain (Ben Stokes) and a player just playing his third Test (Will Jacks) can bat with such responsibility and determination as they did to delay England’s defeat on the fourth day, why can’t the others? Messages are being ignored or inconsistent.

Stokes has mental doubts after consecutive losses

Judging by the way Stokes questioned his players’ mentality and inability to withstand pressure in a series of interviews after the Gabba drubbing, you could feel the message coming loud and clear. “Get in shape or get out” might be the gist of the conversation.

The captain said Australia was not a place for “weak men” and did not call his team explicitly weak, but if he sensed a negative impression from anyone ahead of the third Test, he could probably be sure they would not take to the field at Adelaide Oval.

Stokes has shown he has more nuance than just playing offensive shots that make buzzballs nauseating, and his teammates will need to take that into this series when they’re in danger of running away.

However, management should also bear some responsibility. The team doesn’t have a back-up opener to put pressure on Crawley or the seriously out-of-form Ben Duckett, and perhaps a back-up wicketkeeper who can take the struggling Smith out of action.

The fact that Smith’s first experience with the pink ball was an Ashes Test also seems like a major oversight.

England’s decision to play just one warm-up match against B-team Lions on the mellow decks of Lilac Hill, which in no way replicates the conditions faced in Test matches such as Perth and Brisbane, has also continued to be criticized in some quarters.

Stokes and his team still have a chance to beat the Ashes 3-2, but at 5-0 they are still a respectable gap at the moment. England had a good chance in this series and dropped the ball (literally and figuratively).

That hurts more than anything.

Ashes Series in Australia 2025-26

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