Ashes analysis: It's not just in Australia that England are an awful away team


Paul Radley
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The Ashes

Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs

It was all down to the Kookaburra ball. Or the parochial press. Or the lack of fast bowlers. Or Ben Stokes.

Whatever reason England do fall on for their Ashes drubbing, which ended 4-0 after an innings defeat in Sydney, the root of the problem is worryingly greater than all of them put together.

They have said in the wake of this humbling that planning for the next Ashes in four years’ time starts now. A fair intention, of course.

But what happens the rest of the time?

England were entirely listless in this series, but it is hardly a new thing. They have lost seven of the past eight away Ashes. The trouble is, it is not just against their oldest rivals that they suffer.

England are an awful away team, not simply in Australia. In the past five years, they have won a mere four Tests of the 27 they have played overseas.

Ashes player ratings: England

Somehow, that was enough for a series win – their only one away in the past half a decade – in South Africa in 2015-16. The only other success they have tasted on Test tours has been in drawn series in Bangladesh and West Indies.

Their win rate of 15 per cent over that period is far inferior to the other leading Test nations, and their loss percentage (59) is worse than any of the top seven Test nations bar Pakistan.

It might be worth pointing out England are not the only nation who suffer from travel sickness. It is more or less endemic in the game at present.

Australia have lost 56 per cent of matches on the road over the past five years. In the 1990s, when they were peerless at the top of the Test game, they lost just 32 per cent of the time.

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Of all sides in the past five years, India are the only one without a negative split between wins and losses abroad. Their win percentage overseas in Tests is 32 (the same as their loss rate), which is a point less than Australia and Pakistan, but they lose far less matches away than either of those sides. It is not for nothing that they are the No-1 ranked Test team.

It is counterintuitive that away series should be more difficult now than in the past. International travel in easier than ever before. Young English players think nothing of flying to the other side of the world to progress their development with a winter spent playing Australian grade cricket, for example.

And the England and Wales Cricket Board are better than most at finding winter placements for their promising young players. Young spinners, for example, are regularly sent to India or here in the UAE to hone their skills, while fast bowlers have gone to South Africa and Australia.

Ashes player ratings: Australia

Plus leading players benefit from being able to fly to various places around the world to play Twenty20 league cricket. The negative effects of playing too much short-format cricket is a different debate, but the fact players can so easily go and sample different pitch, as well as living, conditions can only be a good thing.

But there needs to be a point to it all. England’s results – at Test level, at least – suggest the best laid plans are being wasted.

Navel gazing about the pace-bowling problem in Australia, for example, will be rendered pointless when they get to the subcontinent next, and realise they can’t play or bowl spin either.

The solution is not an obvious one, but at least the question should be. England’s most pressing concern should be about winning anywhere, not just in Australia.

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Leading run-scorers

1. Steve Smith, 687

2. Shaun Marsh, 445

3. David Warner, 441

4. Dawid Malan, 383

5. Joe Root, 378

Leading wicket-takers

1. Pat Cummins, 23

2. Mitchell Starc, 22

3. Josh Hazlewood, 21

4. Nathan Lyon, 21

5. James Anderson, 17

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Rajasthan Royals 153-5 (17.5 ov)
Delhi Daredevils 60-4 (6 ov)

Rajasthan won by 10 runs (D/L method)

Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting

-      Don’t do it more than once in three days

-      Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days

-      Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode

-      Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well

-      Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days

-      Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates

-      Manage your sleep

-      People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting

-      Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match

The Ashes

Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs