England's latest Ashes
calamity in Melbourne means the time has come for wholesale changes to be made
to an aging side that has simply had its day.
England headed into the
current five-game series full of confidence that they could again successfully
defend the Ashes they won on home soil against what
was thought to be just an average Australia side supposedly with plenty of
problems. But how wrong has that prediction been made to look?
It has been a
completely one-sided series so far with England's camp being affected by injury
(Stuart Broad), withdrawals (Jonathan Trott), an unexpected retirement (Graeme
Swann), wretched form with both the bat and ball and some questionable
selection and captaining issues.
All of these things
have combined to leave the tourists staring at a totally-unexpected 5-0 whitewash in the Aussies favour and many Ashes betting pundits now are suggesting it is time to break
up a team that has enjoyed significant success over the past decade.
All good things come to
an end and it appears for a good chunk of what has been rightly a celebrated
England side, it's now the end of the line - or it will be after the final
Sydney Test.
Some will say that is a
harsh judgment but so bad have all aspects of Andy Flower's side's
performances been down under that only a rigorous examination of what has gone
wrong preceding big changes is what's now required for England to rise again -
and that may mean Flower himself is also given the axe.
The coach has said he
will review his position at the end of the failed series and the murmurs are
that he will either decide to quit or, more likely, be shown the door with
England needing a new direction under a new leader.
Flower has been brilliant
for the country but sometimes freshening things up is what is required and
there is a case to be made that, under Flower, he and the squad have now become
stale.
Then there's the
question of Cook. Undoubtedly, on his day, he is an excellent batsman but he
appears too weighed down with captaining the side to perform at his best. There
should still be a place for him in the side moving forward provided he regains
his form, but it might be time to relieve him of the skipper's role to
concentrate on his own game instead.
Stuart Broad would be seen as the ideal candidate by cricket betting fans while Trott, if he recovers from illness, could also step up.
Cook's tactical ability has been rightly questioned and found wanting in
Australia while several well-placed pundits suggest he is not a man able to
inspire and lead others when the going gets tough in the heat of an Ashes
battle.
Both Flower and Cook
have indicated, at the minute at least, that they do want to stay on in their
key roles but their defiant stance may change if Australia do indeed go on to
inflict an embarrassing 5-0 whitewash.
Sadly for the likes of
Michael Carberry, a woefully out-of-form Matt Prior and even the wildly
unpredictable Kevin Pietersen they may too be told their international careers
are over with the ECB instead deciding to build a new side around the promising
Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes.