The Exiled Robin

High on hope, low on delivery. England are heading towards yet another heavy away Ashes defeat, with an overriding feeling of frustration and annoyance at what could have been. Despite a largely woeful winter, it doesn’t feel like they’ve been too far away from having a chance of claiming a rare victory, which makes the scale of the failure all the more galling. Mitchell Starc and Travis Head have been the huge difference makers and deserve to be joint Men of the Series. Steve Smith delivered in Sydney, whilst Alex Carey has proven himself to be the world’s best wicket-keeper. Other than that, there hasn’t been a lot to scare England. Major Australian absences opened the door. Starc, and more latterly Scott Boland, have dragged their attack through the series. Thirty years of worrying about Shane Warne and Nathan Lyon ended with a complete lack of spin option. Other than Head, Smith and Carey, no Aussie batter averaged over 28. Ultimately, though, it was a series defined by brainle...