England’s all-time highest Test wicket-taker James Anderson has delivered a “controversial” verdict following Australia’s dominant 4-1 series victory in the Ashes.
The tourists were blown off the park by the Aussies, losing the first three Test matches inside 11 days and going down 3-0 by the time Boxing Day rolled around.
Brendon McCullum‘s men were able to walk away with one victory at the MCG – their first on Aussie soil in 15 years – before losing again in the series finale in Sydney.
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A host of English players broke down with injury at various stages, from Mark Wood only featuring in one game and Jofra Archer ruled out after three, to skipper Ben Stokes succumbing to a groin issue at the SCG as the final nail in the coffin.
England captain Ben Stokes speaks with director of cricket Rob Key. Getty
Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope struggled in Australian conditions, Jamie Smith and Harry Brook were scolded for a number of ugly dismissals, and Shoaib Bashir didn’t play a single game despite being picked as England’s first-choice spinner for the tour.
But despite all of the glaring issues with England’s performance and major concerns over the team culture, Anderson believes it might not be all doom and gloom.
“It might be a controversial or unusual thing to say after a series defeat like this, but I think potentially leaving this series that England could be in a stronger position going forward than Australia,” Anderson said on TNT Sports.
“England have more answers – the likes of [Jacob] Bethell coming in, they found out things about certain players, [Josh] Tongue has been brilliant and [Brydon] Carse has gone through five Tests. They’re a young team and there’s players coming through.
“On the other hand, Australia are not so young. How long are these players gonna carry on? We’ve seen [Usman] Khawaja retire, and I know [Mitchell] Starc has got through five Tests but he’s not getting any younger.
“[Pat] Cummins only played one Test, [Josh] Hazlewood wasn’t there and [Michael] Neser is 35, so there’s still question marks around their attack.
“There are more questions around Australia than England.”
While there is truth to Anderson’s comments surrounding the age of the Aussie team, it’s expected that the majority of the squad from this summer will still be there in 2027 when they travel to England for another bumper Ashes campaign.
There are also young players waiting in the wings for George Bailey and the selectors to lean on, with opening batters Sam Konstas and Campbell Kellaway and bowlers Fergus O’Neill, Mitch Perry and Calum Vidler turning heads on the domestic scene.