England humiliated in Melbourne to cap off a dreadful 2021 with the bat
England's calamitous loss at the MCG this week by an innings and 14 runs gave way to an Australian series win. The 2021/22 Ashes series sits at 3-0 after three games, with England left only to salvage respectability and pride in the remaining two matches in Sydney and Hobart.
It was an embarrassing display for England in Melbourne. Australia's first innings lead of just 82 runs was their third-lowest margin to win by an innings.
The match, which ended before midday on Day 3, lasted just 1048 balls, making it the shortest Test match played in Australia in 70 years. England were bowled out for just 68 in the second innings—a new record as the 39th time they have been bowled out for a score less than 100.
By extension, Pat Cummins' men wrapped up the series in just 11 days of Test match cricket, with three emphatic victories in Brisbane, Adelaide and now Melbourne.
Australia's 267 is it's third-lowest total needed to win by an innings, after 153 v RSA in 1931-32, and 199 v NZ in 1945-46.
Nah but seriously, what are we meant to do tomorrow…? #ashes
England spent more days in isolation to enter Australia than it took them to lose the #ashes
NOW | @beastieboy07 is at the MCG watching England's "Day 4" net session
England have not won a Test match in Australia since the 2010/11 Ashes series, with the 2013/14 and 2017/18 tours returning series scorelines of 5-0 and 4-0 respectively.
More recently, England have played 15 Test matches in 2021, losing nine of them, the most Test losses in a calendar year. They began the year with a 2-0 series victory in Sri Lanka, before a 3-1 series loss in India, a 1-0 series loss against New Zealand at home and a 2-2 draw with India at home (the fifth Test against India was postponed).
England's systematic failures
The bottom line of England's systematic failures is the side's inability to produce quality Test batters, despite captain Joe Root claiming that "the best 18 county players were on tour".
The country's new cricketing strategy, which emerged around six years ago, revolved around white-ball success. The fruits of their travails did call forth a World Cup victory in 2019. But it seems to have come at the expense of red-ball cricket, with batting selection in the Test side based on picking "white-ball guns" who had potential.
It would be remiss to omit Joe Root's stellar year with the bat, in which he scored 1708 runs—the third highest amount of runs in a calendar year. Root had no supporting act, with just one other English batter (Rory Burns) scoring a century in 2021.
With the exception of Root, English batters averaged just 22 this year, as extras received outscored most England batters.
Joe Root topped the scoring charts for England in Tests in 2021 🔥
Extras third on the list 🤯
#Ashes #ENG #Joeroot https://t.co/Izpz070S10
England's 2021 was the culmination of years of poor form with the bat. Their batting lineup recorded 54 ducks in 2021: a new record.
Of 17 batters to make their Test debut for England since 2015, none have an average of more than 32. Most house an average between 27 and 32, which is widely considered sub-par for Test cricket.
A record-equalling 54 ducks for England in 2021.
#Ashes https://t.co/V4M5HP3RUi
England made two changes to their batting lineup going into the MCG Test. Burns and Pope were omitted despite recording run totals in the top-five for England in 2021.
Haseeb Hameed has never scored more than 122 from 86 first-class games, and has struggled to average more than 40 in a single county season. His opening partner Zak Crawley averages less than 32 in first-class cricket and just 12 in Test cricket in 2021. Jonny Bairstow has averaged less than 22 in Test cricket since the beginning of 2019.
Elsewhere in the batting lineup, things are a little brighter, especially at No.4. Joe Root has showed up in a dismal 2021 for England, scoring six hundreds from 15 Test matches at an average of 61. He has again been England's one-man show so far this Ashes series, scoring a half-century in each of the three Tests and scoring the most runs for both teams (253). But his captaincy continues to be questioned.
Dawid Malan's series was sound, with two scores of 50+ helping guide England to mini fightbacks in Brisbane and Adelaide. Ben Stokes is another world class player who is yet to find his feet after missing so much cricket earlier in 2021.