This was Australia’s fourth succesive Ashes series loss in England and led to renewed accusations their batsmen were “flat-track bullies”, who refused to adjust the all-out attacking approach that serves them so well at home when confronted with classic green-tinged English pitches offering seam movement and overhead conditions helping the ball swing.
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Australia are yet to announce a replacement for Haddin ahead of the final test at The Oval, which begins on 20 August.
But the arrival of a group of young players into the Test side, coupled with the appointment of Australian Trevor Bayliss as England coach all appear to have helped bolster Cook’s enthusiasm for leading England.
Australia named a refreshed squad for the ODI series against England, with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, spinner Ashton Agar and batsman Joe Burns set to make debuts.
The Age reported that a Cricket Australia spokesperson had asked the media to respect Haddin and his family’s privacy when they returned to Australia.
Two of Australian cricket’s most senior figures, head coach Darren Lehmann and high performance manager Pat Howard, have on Wednesday accepted blame and publicly apologized for the horror Ashes Test series in England.
“I am certainly going to review that decision”.
Lehmann wrote on the Cricket Australia website: “As a group, we have always placed a huge importance on family”.
Marsh was also seething at the suggestion Clarke, who has battled a chronic injuries in the tailend of his career, was above the team because he travelled in a auto for much of the series.
Meanwhile, Rod Marsh, chairman of Australia’s selection panel, described the tourists’ batting performances in first innings throughout the Ashes as “deplorable”.
Although what came as further sad news for the cricketing world was that Australian Captain Michael Clarke who hadn’t had a good knock with the bat in quite some time and was struggling to get runs had decided to say goodbye to the game.
Clarke said – “I think England deserve a lot of credit”.
Clarke was particularly dismissive of the claim the presence of players’ wives and girlfriends had been a distraction.
“If it happens, fantastic”, he said.
“They’ve got to say, “Righto, no one’s getting me out and I don’t care if it takes me all day to make a hundred”.
“I don’t know how he feels it’s working”.
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“I can’t think of any other sport in which the players are away from their homes and their loved ones for such long stretches of time, and as such we will continue to welcome families as part of any tour because it is simply unrealistic to expect them to spend those long periods apart”.
