Ashes 2019: Four reasons why England have failed to regain the urn
Tim Paine became the first Australia captain since Steve Waugh in 2001 to have won the prestigious Ashes urn on English soil after winning the fourth Test at Old Trafford by a handsome 185 runs.
Australia took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series and although there is one more Test to go at the Oval, England can only level the series and that will mean that the Ashes trophy will remain with the men from Down Under.
The scoreline doesn't tell the actual story of the series because the visitors have clearly been the better side so far. If you take out that one magic innings of Ben Stokes at Headingley, England might have been 3-0 down.
In a contest which was expected to be lot more closer, especially with two relatively fragile batting line-ups, England's struggles have surprised a few experts and fans alike.
Let’s analyse a little bit more to understand why England have found the going tough so far in this series.
#4. James Anderson’s injury
England’s most experienced fast bowler James Anderson was expected to cause havoc in the Australian batting order as he always has done in English conditions with the Dukes ball.
When the right arm swing bowler completed his 4th over of the opening spell of the series at Edgbaston, Anderson felt a niggle in his calf muscle and went into the dressing room for medical attention and that was the last we saw him bowl in the entire series.
It was a huge blow for the home side right at the start of the series from which they are yet to recover and put up a complete bowling effort against a batting side which is fragile if you take out the name of Steven Smith.
Also see – World Test Championship Schedule 2019e