Looking Back At England’s Disastrous Run in Australia 

For years, England has found it notoriously tough to win in Australia during the Ashes series. Pitches in the Land Down Under are much faster than the slower ones found on home turf, while their dry nature exposes England’s reliance on swing rather than raw pace or spin. As well as that, the challenge of playing in front of tens of thousands of their biggest rivals’ most ardent supporters in searing heat also takes its toll. 

England’s record against Australia since their last triumph on enemy territory back in 2011 has been a dismal one. Back then, the likes of Alistair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, and spinner Graham Swann took the fight to the Aussies and emerged as 3-1 series victors. That was the English’s first triumph in Australia in 24 years. Not only have they not won a series there in the 14 years since, they haven’t even won a single test. 

This winter, England will embark upon another daunting tour Down Under – and the word “daunting” is accurate even for a strong English team. Thanks to their dismal record across the last decade-plus, online betting sites unsurprisingly make them the outsiders to regain the urn. Popular crypto betting sites such as Thunderpick make Australia a short-priced 1.50 to win the Ashes series later this year, with England all the way out at 3.75. Punters will be keeping an eye on Thunderpick odds going forward, but for England fans, it’s not looking all that hopeful.

Heavily Favored England Ransacked 

England headed down under for the 2013/14 Ashes Series with a very real hope of retaining the Ashes on Australian soil for the second straight time. They had resoundingly clung on to the urn on enemy territory three years prior, before beating the Baggy Greens 3-0 on home turf in the summer of 2013. Six months later, they were determined to enforce their will on their greatest rivals and truly rubber-stamp their status as the dominant force between the two. 

England had a squad as stacked as ever. All the big guns remained intact. Opening batsman Alistair Cook was the captain and accustomed to piling on the runs, as was his second-in-command Kevin Pietersen. Jonathon Trott, Ian Bell, and Joe Root provided plenty of class in the middle order, while James Anderson and Stuart Broad were at the peak of their powers. But even though they had plenty of quality and were the favorites to win the series, England were ransacked like never before. 

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson had the tour of his life. He picked up nine wickets in the first test to help the Aussies to a resounding 381-run victory. In England’s first innings of the second test, he picked up a whopping seven wickets for just 40 runs, skittling the tourists for just 172 to help his side toward another win. 

That was a common theme throughout the rest of the series. Australia would win every test in a series whitewash, while England would score over 200 runs just four times throughout their ten innings. 

Normal Service Continues 

Four years later, England were again off Down Under, but this time a number of their big stars had signed off. Pietersen, Bell, and Trott were all gone, while their new talisman Ben Stokes withdrew from the squad. As such, they knew that this time around they were in for a tough time, and that proved to be the case. 

It looked as though the tourists were up for the fight when they scored 308 in their first innings of the first test, with new boy James Vance top-scoring with 83. Little did they know, that would be one of the few highlights of the entire tour. Australia duly fought back in that opener, winning by ten wickets thanks to a tame bowling effort throughout their second innings with the ball. In the second test, more weak stuff with the ball saw the Aussies win by 120 runs, despite being bowled out 138 in their second innings. 

In the third test, it was more of the same. The hosts posted a whopping 662/9, declared thanks to a blistering double-century from Steve Smith. In the fourth, it was England’s time to finally make an impression with the bat, and Alistair Cook hit a double hundred of his own to become the sixth-highest run-scorer in history. That was enough to escape with a draw and avoid a second straight series whitewash. 

Still Waiting For a Win 

The most recent Australian Ashes series took place in 2021/22, and this time, they had their big guns on display. Stokes was in the squad as vice-captain, as was Jos Buttler – who had become arguably the most feared batsman in T20 cricket. Led by captain Root, there was a faint hope that England would make an impression, but unfortunately, they couldn’t. 

Once again, England was mauled, much to the joy of the raucous Aussies in attendance. The worst performance came in the third test in Melbourne, where Australia only scored 267 runs and still won by an innings after bowling England out for 185 and 68. They did manage to avoid a series whitewash again with a draw in Sydney, but the curtain came down on yet another series in which England hadn’t picked up a single win. 

They will be hoping to win one test at the very least this year. Anything more than that would be a bonus. 

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