England started the Ashes in the worst manner, as their left-handed opener Rory Burns got bowled on the very first bowl of the Ashes 2021-22 by Mitchell Starc. The Three-Lions played some pleasing knocks but their fate hasn`t supported them much as they are now 3-0 down in a 5 match series. During the Ashes batters have played some significant knocks specially Root and Malan as they are the only English batters who played half-century knocks twice in this Ashes series, Butler’s knock of 26 runs from 207 balls were also in talks for quite some time as he tried to replicate de Villiers knock of 43 runs from 297 balls which came in 2015 against India.
Joe Root is the only Englishmen who dominated the calendar year this year as he scored more than 1000 runs in last 12 months and became the third-Most Calendar-Year test run getter in the history of the game. He scored 1708 test runs and after him Rory Burns was the only Englishmen to score more than 500 runs in the calendar year 2021. They gather 412 runs in extras since January 2021 meaning wides, no-balls, byes and leg byes combined have scored more runs than any other batsman. Root is the only Englishmen who dominated the 18 test matches played during this calendar year, David Malan also plays a couple of impressive innings but didn`t get the chance to convert that into a ton.
The main question that arises in the mind of Three-Lions fans is that why England middle over has stumbled most of the times they came on to bat. Let`s discuss the reasons in detail:
- Most of the England middle order haven`t even played 30 test matches till now, this inexperienced middle order is the main reason why they haven`t won many test series this year.
- Ben Stokes the best test all-rounder England have produced in the last few years, his absence because of the mental health break also played a huge impact on the middle order. He came back into squad just before the Ashes series.
- Jofra Archer also makes a huge difference in the squad. His absence makes England bowling line-up a little less furious.
