Sydney: England’s planning for their next tour to Australia in four years’ time must begin as soon as possible following a failed Ashes defence that Paul Farbrace, the assistant coach, conceded has exposed mental frailties among the squad.
An impossibly hot fourth day in Sydney that produced a record high of 47.3C (117.1F) in the city ended with Steve Smith’s hosts on course for a 4-0 series win.
England had shipped 649-7 declared before closing on 93-4 in their second innings — still 210 runs behind — and Farbrace was in no mood to put a positive spin on events.
“A series like this does expose issues in your team,” said Farbrace. “And we have a choice. You either churn out some positive stuff, or we be honest and say that there are certain areas that are not good enough. That’s every single one of us — players, staff, structures, set-up. Everybody needs to look very closely and ask if we have got the right people in the right places.”
Australia’s monster first innings total was the fifth time in the past two years that England have conceded 600 runs or more away from home, highlighting deficiencies in the bowling attack when faced with a flat pitch and opponents willing to play a ruthless long game. They are set to go the entire series without having taken 20 wickets in a Test.
Joe Root’s batsmen have wilted over the course of this series in comparison to their opponents, with just three Test hundreds to Australia’s nine. Though Dawid Malan has emerged as competent at Test level, James Vince and Mark Stoneman have produced just two half-centuries over the course of the campaign — returns that Farbrace rightly pointed out simply do not cut it.
He said: “Nice periods of play and brief glimpses do not win you Test matches, and they certainly don’t win you Test series in a place like this. If England are serious about coming back here and winning in four years’ time, the planning needs to start in the next couple of days. You need to start identifying the type of personnel, character-wise and skill-wise, to come here and win.
“I think the majority of the game is mental issues when it comes to Test cricket. It has to be. Players have the technique and the game. It is about adapting and coping under pressure. Their four bowlers have given us no let off at any stage.”
On Vince, who nicked off in predictable fashion for 18 on the fourth evening to end his series with an average of 27, Farbrace added: “He’s shown some decent starts, some glimpses, and we all think ‘crikey, this could be the innings’. But there comes a time when ‘this could be the innings’ has to stop and it’s got to be hundreds. The blunt answer is he knows he has to score more runs if he’s going to have a future with England.”
