Jonathan Agnew

So not only are they scoring slower, as you would expect, they're losing more games.

I guess there's slightly more defensive play.

But they've been less able to control the scoring rate of the opposition.

And part of that is the retirement abroad situation.

At the end of 2023, Jimmy Anderson at the start of the 2024 summer.

Two bowlers who gave them in that first year and a half a lot of control with the ball.

Ollie Robinson bowled quite a bit in that period as well.

You know, a control bowler, essentially.

So that's, I think, restricted England in the different ways that they can bowl in the field.

Looking at this series specifically, sort of individually, let's start with Josh Tung, the great success with the ball.

18 wickets at 20.

with a strike grade of a wicket every 32 balls.

That's the best average by an England bowler in Australia with 15 or more wickets in the series since the 1978-79 Ashes.

So a great personal success for him, but only played three tests.

Now played nine tests in total, taken 49 wickets, which is sixth on the all-time list.

Most wickets by an England player in his first nine tests and the second most, joint second most in the last 100 years.

which does slightly raise the question after he took 19 wickets in three matches on flat pitches in the summer, why he didn't start the series.

Brydon cast 22 wickets.

That's the second most by an England bowler in an Ashes series in Australia since the 1970s.

But at an average of 30, which in quite a low scoring series, broadly a relatively high average strike rate, wicked every 38 balls.