Steve Harmison, the England 2005 Ashes hero has slammed England’s ’embarrassing’ innings defeat by Australia, which ensured the hosts retained the Ashes inside 12 days of the tour. The visitors were skittled for just 68 – their lowest total Down Under since March 1904 – in their second innings in Melbourne after losing the last six wickets for just 22 runs before lunch on day three.
Joe Root’s men – who also lost four wickets in the final hour of day two – now have nothing but pride to play for in Sydney and Hobart after Pat Cummins’ men took an unassailable 3-0 series lead with their innings and 14-run win at the MCG. England lost the 1st Test by 9 wickets and the 2nd Test by 275 runs.
Steve Harmison Terms Innings Defeat By England Despite Australia Scoring Only 267 Runs As Embarrassing As He Saw No Fight
Steve Harmison believes there will be a ‘big inquest’ in the visiting dressing room and claims some of the current playing staff’s careers ‘could be on the line’ as their disastrous Ashes 2021/22 tour took another turn for the worse.
“The only teams that have gone over there [Australia] and done anything meaningful are teams that have got first-innings runs,” Steve Harmison said in the direct aftermath of England’s defeat.
“Last night, they [Australia] bowled brilliantly, but that’s embarrassing, I’m sorry. No fight, there was nothing there.You can say Australia have bowled well, which they have done. But to lose by an innings when a team only scores 267 runs, that tells you everything,” Steve Harmison said.
“They have had the rub of the green, England have dropped catches, two umpiring decisions… but Australia have earned the right to get those decisions going in their favour. There is going to be a big inquest. There’s gonna be a lot of things blamed, people’s careers on the line, but first you marvel at Australia,” Steve Harmison said
“They have been magnificent, as painful as it is for an Englishman to say, they have been right in preparation, in selection, they have bowled the right areas. They have put enough runs on the board, and they took catches. That is why they have won the Ashes before the series is even halfway through,” Steve Harmison said.
Out of England’s 10 lowest team totals against Australia in Tests, two had taken place this century. Both of those scores have arrived in the last three years, with this latest 68 coming more than two years after they were bowled out for 67 at Headingley in August 2019.
England batted first and was bowled out for 185 in the 1st innings. Joe Root scored 50, the highest of any other batsman. In response, Australia posted 267-10 with a 76-run knock by Marcus Harris. having an 82-run lead, England was bowled out for a miserable 68 in the 2nd innings.
Steve Harmison Criticizes England Batsmen Who Are Nowhere Near Joe Root Who Is Overburdened
The former fast bowler called for changes in the underperforming batting unit, claiming captain Joe Root still shoulders too much of the run-scoring burden.
“This batting lineup in the last three to four years has not been good enough to win enough cricket matches for this England cricket team,” Steve Harmison added.
“The only time we have won is when our captain has scored a hundred or a double hundred to give us the best chance to stay in the game. Our bowling unit over the last few years have been able to win games of international cricket. Our batting unit has been abysmal. There is no other way of sugar-coating it, something has to happen, something has to change, whether it is looking through the system, where it is personnel.”
“If Joe Root doesn’t score runs, England lose heavily. What has just happened? The catching has been poor, but the batting has been worse.We are being carried in the bowling department by a 39-year-old who looks as good as ever, and we are being carried in the batting by one of the best of the modern generation.”
“We have got bowlers who can stay with Jimmy Anderson, but we haven’t got batters staying anywhere near Joe Root, and that’s our problem.”
Australian debutant pacer Scott Boland took six wickets in the second innings as Australia crushed England by an innings and 14 runs in the third Test to retain the Ashes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday. The visitors England was bundled out for a humiliating 68 to hand Australia the Ashes urn as apart from Joe Root(28) and Ben Stokes (11) none registered even double-digit figures.
Australia 267 (Harris 76, Anderson 4-33) beat England 185 (Root 50, Cummins 3-36, Lyon 3-36) and 68 (Boland 6-7, Starc 3-29) by an innings and 14 runs