NICK HOWSON AT OLD TRAFFORD: Dry pitches, a six-strong bowling attack and England's batting frailties all played a part during a thrilling series
That Don Bradman's record of 974 runs in a single Test series is even within sight for Smith tells you everything you need to know about his titanic displays.
From scoring centuries in both innings at Edgbaston in his first Test since March 2018 to his double hundred at Old Trafford after being knocked sideways in the second Test, Smith has existed in a different world this summer.
His efforts have been particularly vital given Australia's tribulations elsewhere in their batting order. Their top two have averaged less than 10 in the series and the middle order has looked brittle under pressure.
The debate over whether we're in the presence of an all-time great is for another day but without him Australia wouldn't have pulled away from England like they did. Though it took something extraordinary from Ben Stokes to win it, it is no coincidence that Australia's only slip-up came with Smith on the sidelines.
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In stark contrast to the resources of the hosts, the Aussies have had six front-line bowlers to call on this summer.
The selectors deserve plenty of credit for the way they rotated their bowlers throughout the series, ensuring each of them were at the peak of their powers.
Josh Hazlewood was held back from the World Cup and as a result, has been the stand-out bowler. Pat Cummins has prevailed amid an incredible workload while Nathan Lyon has exerted control, even if not that many wickets.
Having James Pattinson and the metronomic Peter Siddle in reserve putting pressure on that duo has also been significant. Then being able to call on Mitchell Starc - who has been hovering above those in possession - four Tests into a series is a luxury few teams in history have been blessed with.
Twenty-four balls. That is how long England's greatest bowler lasted in this series. A calf problem saw Joe Root forced to live without him virtually throughout the whole summer and it made a huge difference.
Granted, this is not a summer where swing was greatly apparent, but that the hosts could not field their three premier seamers at any stage in the same game meant they were always swimming against the tide.
The 37-year-old will surely want to leave international cricket on his own terms now, having potentially targetting this Ashes series as his swansong. But it is unlikely we'll see him take on Australia again.
Tim Paine will have been surprised to fine several dry pitches during this summer
One constant theme during this series has been the dryness of the surface during each of the four Tests.
It has therefore been a battle of which bowling attack could perform better under pressure.
England have hardly performed poorly, but they have been carried by Stuart Broad and to an extent Jofra Archer. The others have not come to the party.
Cummins and Hazlewood have been superb, bowling to plans and sticking to them. They have bowled a fuller length, which really only Broad has been able to replicate.
Having complained about the pitch at Lord's for the Ireland Test, Joe Root will have been stunned by the lack of life in these pitches, which have put England on the back-foot.
No-one wants to see a series decided by the home team cherry-picking conditions but few would have anticipated the series being played under such circumstances.
Rory Burns has established himself as an England opener for the immediate future and will fancy finishing the series as the team's leading run-scorer.
But directly below him the home side have looked fragile. Jason Roy's ascent has not worked at all. Joe Denly has been sacrificed, moved up and down the order to accommodate others. And Joe Root has made three ducks and played within himself when the runs have come.
The fifth Test and the series in New Zealand - which is not part of the World Test Championship - provides an opportunity to bring in fresh faces. But perhaps more pertinently, it might also be a chance to bring some stability to the team's problem position.
Dom Sibley, Sam Northeast and Ollie Pope could all be tested in the coming months. Regardless of what the Test Championship may or may not mean, England must use the fall-out from this as an opportunity to finally solve this particular conundrum.
James Anderson managed just four overs in this series
While England were distracted with winning the World Cup, Australia have been fully focused on this Ashes series for many months.
The old Dukes ball was used in the Sheffield Shield. Marnus Labuschagne and James Pattinson played domestic cricket in England. Josh Hazlewood was rested for the World Cup.
England's faltering campaign could meanwhile be considered to be a failure of preparation.
Bar James Anderson, few have played regular County Championship cricket. Others have been fully focused on the white ball for the last four years. Selection meanwhile has rested on reputation of individuals rather than the team dynamic. And the results have been a reflection of that.
Posted by Marc Evans on 10/09/2019 at 22:48
Clearly the Aussies bowled better as a unit and as so often as the away side, they seemed a more united team. So much criticism of our white ball batting selections must have put extra pressure on the likes of Butler, Roy and Bairstow, none of whom showed the necessary technical and mental strength to bat for long periods. Leach and Overton seemed to be able to bat time at Old Trafford so why not the batsmen. As has been pointed out good players don't get bowled that often, yet every other dismissal for these 3 seemed to be bowled as gates were left in playing over ambitious shots. However that said apart from Smith, who scored half his team's runs, the Aussies batting didn't fair much better. Unquestionably the absence of Anderson, along with alternatives like Wood and Stone, played a major role. Broad bowled well throughout and both Stokes and Archer had their moments, but we just didn't have the consistency to capitalise on our opportunities. Root, weighed down by captaincy problems,whether to bat at 3 or 4 and the poor form of his team mates was a shadow of his former self. The problem with the above is that all these issues were predictable beforehand yet nothing was done to address them at the time.
Posted by Bob Smedley on 10/09/2019 at 15:28
Whilst England's failure in this summer's Ashes series has not entirely been preventable it is nevertheless to a large extent of their own making. Bizarre selections both of personnel and batting order have created unnecessary problems. This was exemplified in the disastrous 1st Test at Edgbaston by the ultra risky selection of Anderson whose fitness for a 5 day game was far from assured. Sending Archer off to play a 2nd team game to prove his fitness was prudent but to then not select Anderson to do likewise against Ireland was an act of selectorial madness. Their logic for not picking him against Ireland was that "he might break down." Given that the purpose of a fitness test is to check just that then this was one of the biggest cricketing non sequiturs of all time. Anderson is an outstanding bowler but his selection meant we were a man down early on Day 1. This was compounded by persisting with a hopelessly out of form Moeen Ali that meant that we effectively played with 10 men and only 3 bowlers. Had Stone (or ANother seam bowler played) and Leach had been our spinner then I believe we would have won the game. The Aussies were 122-8 and teetering on the brink but our 3 man attack simply ran out of steam in the 1st innings and even more so in the 2nd. Smith aside, I think that the sides have been very evenly matched with equally weak batting line ups. The Australians have probably just edged it in the bowling department. Both sides have quality bowlers, the Australians just have more of them. Whilst Jason Roy was worth a gamble it was crazy to open with him. Unproven in Championship cricket as an opening batsman and with a distinctly flawed defensive technique he has never looked remotely like a Test opener. To make matters worse he has also dropped two crucial and straightforward catches. As with his batting he goes at the ball with hard hands. Finally I've also been hugely underwhelmed by Root's captaincy. I've never really viewed him as captaincy material; he's too passive and uninspiring in my opinion. Mind you Paine hasn't been much better; he just had Smith, Cummins and Hazelwood to call on. It would be far better to have Joe concentrate solely on what he's best at i.e. being a world class batsman. All is not doom and gloom, however. There is talent in the English game. Sibley, Pope, Crawley and Banton are just a few of the up and coming batsmen and, provided we can keep them fit we have an array of pace/seam bowlers (Wood, Stone, Saqib Mahmood, Henry Brookes etc.) to complement the current incumbents. However, nothing will really change until the structure of our domestic game reflects a renewed focus on red ball cricket. I'm afraid that the "100" is not an encouraging starting point for such a shift in emphasis.
Posted by Murray Hedgcock on 10/09/2019 at 14:31
I was startled by Nick Howson's comment: "No-one wants to see a series decided by the home team cherry-picking conditions". Everything I have read over many years about England hopes for home success has stressed the need to provide English-style conditions i.e. greenish seamers. Is this basic principle of the game in England to be abandoned? Are we about to see fair does for visiting teams?
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