Chris Tremlett: This is one of the worst Ashes tours I can remember
It’s been a horrendous Ashes tour, one of the worst. The only positive is that England will not lose this series 5-0.
England may have snuck a draw in the fourth Test in Sydney on Sunday but that doesn’t paper over the cracks in the set-up that this tour has exposed.
The way they lost the first three Test matches and made some of their decisions hasn’t been good enough. It really is one of the worst tours I can remember.
At least in other series England have played some really good cricket but were just beaten by a better side. The same isn’t true of this series. England haven’t really mustered a challenge.
It’s an odd one to celebrate a draw, but no one wanted that infamous 5-0 Ashes scoreline.
You need to give the Australians some credit. They’re in their own conditions and they’re a very good side. You have an outstanding bowling line-up down there, probably the best seam attack in the world, and they’ve shown that they have some very good back-up options.
Scott Boland came into the third Ashes Test team and performed really well, and he continued to do so in Sydney.
You can make your excuses for England but the only one that really stands up is the botched preparation. It’s never easy going Down Under and the circumstances surrounding the preparation haven’t done England any favours.
I do feel sorry for the players in that sense. It’s not their fault, but they are professional cricketers and they know how to play the game and apply themselves. A lot of them didn’t do that, and unfortunately it’s the sort of place that can get the better of you.
This batting line-up has crumbled on too many occasions and England now need to go back to the drawing board.
Captain Joe Root will be under some pressure right now. It might not have looked so bad if he hadn’t set such high standards for himself throughout last year.
He’s come into this series and under-performed, he’d admit that. But if he did step down or was removed as captain, I’m not sure who’d take his place.
Who do you bring in? The only other candidate I can think of in this set up is Ben Stokes but I think it would be too much for him to take on the role.
Tactically, Stokes is more aggressive and he’d probably be a better captain than Joe Root in that respect but I think it could be asking a lot.
He’s a bit older now and takes on such a big workload in the field, he’s always giving 100 per cent – whether that’s in training or in games – but he is also getting more injuries now.
I may be wrong in that sense but you want your match-winning players, your genius players, doing their own thing.
There needs to be some serious thought from England chiefs as to where we go from here in terms of scheduling.
I think we have too many short-form competitions and due to the money pumped into The Hundred, I think we might need to scrap the T20 Blast.
The County Championship needs four-day matches in the height of summer, when the national team is playing.
England need the ability to bring in form players at short notice.
Going forward, the national governing body will have a major role in allowing that to happen.
The fifth Test will be no easier for England, but at least they have banished the spectre of a whitewash.
This Ashes tour hasn’t been good enough, but it’s some comfort to know no one is denying that.