What This Ashes Really Told Us About Both Teams
Another excellent series between 2 of the big 3 has ended, and, despite what other people might think, I think the series was quite contested at times. Obviously most of it was dominated by Australia, but England did have a couple of bright moments here and there. Obviously they should take those moments with a grain of salt, and shouldn’t just think of the series as overall “morally” good for them. There are some overhauls that both teams need to make, but we’ll talk about that later. First, let’s talk about the individuals who made the series great.
Travis Head was easily the best batsman in this year’s Ashes, scoring 629 runs in 10 innings at an average of 62.9 and a massive strike rate of 87.4. One of his career defining series, and he’s made so, so many ripples in cricket this decade. In a series that’s been criticized for their non batting friendly pitches, scoring that much and at that rate is crazy. Obviously in all of these matches the pitches got better for the batsman as the match continued, but England batted in the 4th innings a bit and they struggled more than Head in the 3rd. Head was simply fantastic and had so much impact for Australia, whose only other good batter was Alex Carey. Speaking of Alex Carey, this guy has been SO GOOD since that Bairstow stumping incident in 2023. Since then, he’s averaged close to 41 scoring 1330 runs and has been Australia’s perfect keeper. In this series he took 28 dismissals with 27 catches and a stumping. An insane record for him, and he’s probably solidified himself as one of the best test wicketkeepers of this generation. Next up is Joe Root and Harry Brook. Joe Root scored his first 2 hundreds in Australia and was England’s best batter, scoring 400 runs in 10 innings averaging 44.
Not too shabby, and all he could’ve improved on was consistency. Other than that, he was GREAT. He could’ve helped England a lot more by guiding some of the younger batters, but sometimes there’s only so much you can do. Harry Brook is one of those batters that Root could’ve guided better. His only real problem is that he never plays sensibly. All of his dismissals have come from quite literally just throwing it away. He could’ve easily gone on to score a couple hundreds. He scored 358 runs averaging 39.8 at an impressive strike rate of 81.7. In most of his innings he looked fairly comfortable, building a partnership with either Root or Smith after the top order failed to deliver, but he would just throw his wicket away after a break.
In my opinion, this is just a matter of focus. My suggestion is for him to not lose track of the game and situation and to defend even if you think you can hit it, especially on pitches and in situations like these. Now to the bowlers. Or should I say allrounders, because Mitchell Starc had an amazing Ashes.
2025 was probably his best year in test cricket since like 2019 or 2017 or maybe even of his whole career. I already talked about his 2025 stats like 2 weeks ago, but his Ashes stats were insane. In the first 3 matches he took 22 wickets averaging around 16. While he did lose steam in the last 2 games (average going up to 19), Australia had already sealed the series by then. Other than his bowling, he played crucial innings, building a solid partnership with Carey and Lyon to take Australia to 371 in the Adelaide test, and top scoring in the second innings in the Gabba test. Not only that, but he averaged more than all of the batters except for Carey, Bethell, Root, Head, Brook, Crawley, Steve Smith, and Labushagne.
All this to say, that he’s my player of the series. He also overshadowed Scott Boland, who had a solid series as well, with 20 wickets in 10 innings averaging 25. Not much to say about Boland, clearly supported Starc well and did what he could. Josh Tongue, however, had yet another amazing series. In my video following the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, I talked about how Josh Tongue should be playing most of the Ashes matches and is the future fast bowling prospect for England. England however, didn’t believe that. In the Ashes he played 6 innings taking 18 wickets averaging 20 and striking at 32. All this without help from other bowlers is pretty impressive. He’s a very smart bowler and knows how to use Angles well, so I think he should be considered in T20 cricket as well, and should be playing a lot more tests. And finally, Michael Neser is the last player I want to spotlight. He did really well when Starc and Boland lost steam and really just put in a lot of effort while bowling, so he gets a very deserving shoutout.
Now let’s talk about England, and their future in the format and what they should do. Clearly the series wasn’t all bad for them. They won the Boxing Day test and got 2 great youngsters in the squad, being Josh Tongue and Jacob Bethell. The series also kind of acted as a confirmation for Bazball not being the best tactic for their team, and it also confirmed that they need better bowlers. They did kind of learn from their mistakes with Scott Boland, but they still didn’t know how to play Mitchell Starc nor did they know how to play Michael Neser. Their bowling was solid but let partnerships build up too frequently, and even though Australia did the same with their bowling, Brook or Smith’s wild swinging would give them a breakthrough. It’s one thing to play aggressively, it’s another to throw your wicket away while your team is still in a relatively vulnerable position. It may come down to focus, or it may come down to Baz’s and Stokes’ plan for the team. They should let players play their natural game, like letting Crawley play a normal test innings, don’t force him to attack when Duckett gets out. Stokes is also in a similar position. While he might’ve always seemed like a relatively attacking batter, that’s not really his game. Sure when it’s his day he could play a blazing innings, but during his best years (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020)
he was striking around the mid 50s to low 60s while averaging well around the 40s. However, since 2022 until mid 2025 his strike rate was a little higher (around the mid sixties to low 70s), but his average was far lower, indicating either dwindling ability to stay in, or that Baz’s way just doesn’t fit him. However, in 2025, it was his worst year for England. It’s one thing to play according to what the team plans and lower your average, but it’s another to defend and not play according to the team’s plans. Of all the batters who scored runs in the series, he had the lowest strike rate, being 36.6. His average was still terrible, being 18.4, but he did have some good saves, in the test at the Adelaide Oval and the Gabba.
I’m not sure what exactly Stokes can turn to now, but I think he should go back to his normal rate of striking at mid 50s and his team should also learn how to play a bit more carefully. Again, the pitches that Stokes played on since 2022 were also a little flatter compared to the pitches in 2017, 2019, and 2020. That’s the reason why I excluded the Ashes, because it doesn’t really follow the trend. If Brook and Smith can lower their strike rate to the mid 70s (or just not throw away their wicket at every chance they get) the batting could be a lot better. The bowlers do also have to improve. They might seem solid after the series in Australia, but again, those pitches were very bowling oriented compared to the pitches that they now prepare in England. Josh Tongue was excellent, Stokes was solid, and Jofra was pretty good as well. Carse wasn’t that good, but I do think he can be improved, but that just might be my bias speaking because I like him a lot. Gus Atkinson is really good, and he should be a 3rd pacer. They have Stokes as a 4th pacer, and they need one more. They have 2 part timers in Jacob Bethell and Joe Root as well, so only one spinner is needed. Liam Dawson is a pretty good one, but he is on the older side. He averages 31 in First Class, which isn’t too bad. But Jack Leach should obviously be coming back into the team, for at least a little bit, at least until Tom Hartley or Shoaib Bashir mature. Rehan Ahmed is another good option who also provides batting depth, which is something that does fit their team plan. Their fourth pacer slot should probably be another medium bowler, preferably someone who can bat as well. George Hill is interesting, he’s 24 and he’s scored a good amount of runs in first class cricket. He only averages 30 though, but the other appeal is his bowling. He averages 22 and has taken 130 wickets in 92 innings. Edward Barnard is 30 years old, but he’s also not a bad pick to replace Ben Stokes. He isn’t amazing, but he is solid. And obviously, Ollie Robinson is an excellent pick, who can’t bat, but he can definitely bowl. In First Class, he’s taken 474 wickets in 201 innings averaging 21.6 and striking at 44. Insane.
SO clearly, they have some good options, but they really just need to get a solid game plan. It’s still a transition phase, but they still don’t have a good team mentality. They have 6 games coming up against New Zealand and Pakistan, and those are 2 teams that can definitely be experimented against. Against New Zealand they can build a solid pace attack and batting lineup, considering how good New Zealand’s pace attack can be in England. Their pace attack will be tested against the likes of Conway and Latham who love blocking, and will be tested against Ravindra’s aggressive style. Their spin will be tested against Pakistan, whose batters feel less comfortable against spin, especially the kind of spin that England has in their arsenal.
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Now let’s talk about Australia. They obviously have a good team. Their pace is solid, their spin is mostly locked in, it’s really just their batting that needs something. Alex Carey, Travis Head, and Beau Webster are easily going to play for the next cycle, while everyone else’s position is still in jeopardy.
But if you look at Shield, every single batter there has already been tried but hasn’t worked. Weatherald was terrible in the Ashes, Matt Renshaw played 14 matches and averaged less than 30, Handscomb played a lot of matches but didn’t stick in the long run, Bancroft… he had that one issue. Obviously Smith and Marnus can play for this cycle, I assume he will retire after reaching the World Test Championship final or even after the 2027 Ashes in England, but even then you only have 5 batters, 2 of which aren’t that useful. Kontas is an interesting one.
He succeeded against India and against peak Jasprit Bumrah, but was crap against the weaker West Indies bowling lineup. He has scored some runs in the Shield, scoring 392 runs in 12 innings averaging 33 and striking at 60 at the time of writing this, but obviously that isn’t that impressive. I still suggest bringing Matt Renshaw in considering that he’s had an impressive shield with 425 runs in 6 innings averaging 71 with 3 hundreds. I guess you do also have Darren Lehmann’s son Jake Lehmann, who averaged 43 and struck at 71 in the Shield, and even Nikhil Chaudhary have been solid. Nikhil Chaudhary obviously does have the aspect of being able to bowl a little. I think that they do have a lot of potential here, and they shouldn’t give up on Weatherald super quickly. They also can’t really give up on Cam Green, but he’s just not had the best time. He should definitely work on his skills against the short ball and his variety of shots. He clearly has potential, I mean he can come in and save the game a lot of the time, but if you aren’t consistent, you're gonna get the axe. He can also improve his bowling by focusing on supporting Starc, Neser or Boland, instead of trying to take wickets. He should also keep it tight and just bowl straighter lines. Obviously, even with all these problems, Australia are still one of the better teams in the World Test Championship. There aren’t really any other matches for them soon, so there’s no immediate cause for concern.
And that’s it for today. See y’all next week.
