5 crucial moments where England lost the Ashes
Not many experts had given England a chance ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes Down Under, wondering if the visitors would be able to win even a single game owing to an inexperienced middle-order and harmless spinners. The 4-0 outcome in favour of Australia was not far from what was predicted – surprisingly, it was rain that saved them from a defeat in the fourth Test, which ended in a draw – and England found it impossible to stop Steven Smith from going big time and again.
But amidst all that, there were moments that belonged to England which they could not capitalize on. Here are the 5 major moments where England lost the Ashes.
#5 Middle-order collapse in Brisbane from 127/1
The series began in bizarre fashion for England when they lost veteran Alastair Cook in the third over after they opted to bat first on a very good track in the first Test at Brisbane. Much to the surprise of many, newcomers Mark Stoneman and James Vince took it upon themselves to rebuild for England. Both seemed at ease against the relentless pace of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, even handling the accuracy of Nathan Lyon well.
They added 125 before Cummins removed Stoneman, getting him bowled from around the wicket. And one wicket opened the floodgates: Vince was run out five overs later and Joe Root fell cheaply to Cummins. Though Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali briefly steadied England’s innings, they first fell from 127/1 to 163/4 and then from 246/4 to 302 all out.