‘Don’t know what to say’: England scalded amid historic low as greats call for axe to swing

England’s fallout after their historic Ashes loss to Australia has well and truly begun, with the “enormous” gap between the two rivals set to force internal change.

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Australia’s flawless series was topped off with an emphatic pink-ball Test win by an innings and 122 runs at the MCG on Saturday evening, the side’s third-largest win ever by runs.

England’s ability to draw the Ashes on their home soil back in 2023 hinted that this summer could have been Australia’s biggest test to keep retain the trophy in over a decade. But after winning three one-day internationals, three T20s and the series’ sole Test match, it has became abundantly clear that the predictions many had of England heading into this last month of cricket were well off.

Speaking on BBC’s Test Match Special post-series on Saturday night, former England spinner Alex Hartley noted throughout the coverage that change must come internally off the back of the historic multi-format whitewash.

“I don’t really know what to say; Australia were dominant, how many times do we have to say that?” Hartley begun by saying.

“Something has change, whether it be captain, coach, leadership, management. Something needs to change … you can’t lose an Ashes 16-nil.

“All the big wigs at the ECB (England Cricket Board), they’ve got to get together and honestly reflect on where this team’s at.

“I don’t know where this England team go from here, because they are (fielding) the best 11 cricketers in the country without a doubt.”

SERIES RESULTS

1st ODI: Australia won by four wickets

2nd ODI: Australia won by 21 runs

3rd ODI: Australia won by 86 runs

1st T20: Australia won by 57 runs

2nd T20: Australia won by six runs (DLS Method))

3rd T20: Australia won by 72 runs

Only Test: Australia won by an innings and 122 runs

Former Wales domestic cricketer Ffion Wynne added that England had “made the same mistakes repeatedly” this series, and that their “edge is missing when they are put under the pump.”

“(England captain) Heather Knight and (coach) Jon Lewis said at the beginning of the series that the gap (between them and Australia) wasn’t there as much; it is massive, it is enormous. And to close it … it might take a few years of actually quite painful results.”

Writing for the UK’s Telegraph, England great and Fox Cricket expert Michael Vaughan noted that while he believes a lot of the blame for England’s failures this Australian tour will fall on the shoulder of Lewis, the roots of the issue run far deeper.

“Jon Lewis will be made the scapegoat for humiliation Down Under but the problems run much deeper to a culture of complacency and entitlement,” Vaughan begun by saying.

“The England and Wales Cricket Board is paying the price for losing sight of what matters. It has thrown money at the England women in terms of salaries and facilities, created a PR juggernaut that tells everyone how brilliant they are and allowed the players to believe they are the greatest in the world.

“But fundamentally the board has forgotten the most important thing: creating a team environment that produces good, disciplined cricket. It has all come home to roost in the Women’s Ashes in Australia.

“For a long time there has been a lot of fear around criticising the England women’s team. You might get a backlash and be labelled a dinosaur. But that has not helped because it enables decision-makers to avoid proper scrutiny and shuts down debate. That is not healthy because criticism is mostly aimed at trying to help the team to improve.

“What is a new captain or coach going to bring if you don’t have a collective strong culture across your game? Sacking Lewis or Heather Knight resigning will change nothing unless there is a wider acceptance of deep-seated problems.”

Knight, 34, first captained England at international level eight and a half years ago. And while she made a start in every innings with the bat this series, her output was below par for someone with 38 half-centuries and five hundreds across three formats at the top level.

The responsibility for England’s failure this summer lays on the shoulders of so many more players than Knight, with Vaughan noting that an axing of only a captain or coach will not do the trick. It must be something that cuts deeper.

“The group needs a shock. If it means getting rid of two or three players to make a statement and send shockwaves through the team, then do it,” the former England men’s captain finished by writing.

“If England do nothing, other than change a coach or captain, then the next time they play Australia it will all happen again. Australia are not going to drop their standards so it is down to England to raise theirs, otherwise what’s the point?

“We were supposed to have shortened the gap between us and Australia but in fact, it has never been wider.”