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England vs. Australia: A nightmare for the Aussies

Alvina Ahmed·
International
·1 Comment·

England just sealed a series whitewash against Australia and it is no less than a nightmare for Australia…

The England vs. Australia series just came to an end and Australia is not happy. Jos Buttler’s heroic century in the last match awarded England a historic win as they sealed a series whitewash against Australia – their first ever 5-0 whitewash over Australia.

In the last match of the series, Australia posted a total of 205 runs for the hosts to chase. Even though the total seemed too low to be defended, the visitors put up a good fight and seemed to have the situation in control until the Jos Buttler show began. England, who had lost five wickets for just 66 runs in 16 overs recovered to claim a one wicket victory kudos to Buttler’s unbeaten 110.

This loss makes it Australia’s 8th consecutive loss in international cricket matches. This is the first time in history that Australia has lost eight consecutive international matches. And this only adds to the stack of records created in this series – most of which were unwanted by Australia. This series loss also meant Australia has now lost four back-to-back bilateral series; another thing that has happened for the first time in Australia’s remarkable history. Not to forget, Australia also faced their worst ever defeat in ODI history when they lost the third ODI by a massive 242 runs. England created a record by scoring the highest ever Men’s ODI total of 481-6 in that match.

This series was nothing less than a nightmare for the Australian squad. The Australian team were no. 1 in the ICC ODI rankings just three years ago. But the team that won the 2015 World Cup has now slumped to their all-time low. The Australian team is now ranked at no. 6 in the ICC ODI ranking, their lowest in 34 years. Australia are now two points behind Pakistan and only seven points ahead of Bangladesh.

What went wrong with Australia?

The embarrassing series cannot be blamed entirely on the Australian squad that appears to be relatively new. Following the ball tampering saga that unfolded in South Africa earlier this year, Australia headed to England with a team full of inexperienced players and a new coach. Without Steven Smith and David Warner, the team lacks experience and is taking its time to recover from a scandal that deprived them of their key players. The new coach, Justin Langer, who took over after Darren Lehman stepped down, is taking his time adjusting into his new job. The scandal has left the team scarred and forced a deep introspection into their team dynamics and cricketing culture.

All happy with the win, can England sit back now?

The England side is pleased with their historic clean sweep at the moment. The victory has helped them consolidate their position at the top of the ICC ODI rankings. The side is happy to have made up for their loss against Scotland but they cannot relax just as yet. The Australian team that England just beat was relatively young, inexperienced, and still in the recovery phase. The real challenge for England will be their next series against India. To maintain their position at the top of the table, they need to avoid losing the series 3-0. A loss of even 2-1 would be acceptable as England will retain their position at the top should that happen. India are currently second in the ODI rankings and will definitely be a tough side to beat. The battle for the top position in ICC ODI rankings between the two sides begins on 12th July.