So, how did the English players fare in the Ashes? Let’s find out!
Stuart Broad – 9.5
The star of the show for England. Has Broad ever bowled better? We think not. The spell at Trent Bride, where he took 8 wickets for just 15 runs and dismissed Australia for a paltry 60, will go down in history as the best spell ever by an English bowler. Broad bowled superbly in other games as well, and has really come into his own, after being a sidekick to James Anderson for much of his career. He did well with the bat too. Did not put a foot wrong in the whole series.
Joe Root – 9.5
Joe Root has established himself as England’s premier batsman and he is only 24. The young man carries England batting on his shoulders every time he is out on the crease. Root was the top scorer for England in all the matches won by them. His runs came at a rapid clip, at a strike-rate of 67.08, which is excellent for Test cricket. His hundred in the first Test was one of the best knocks you will ever see in Test cricket.
Moeen Ali – 9
Moeen’s place was under threat from Adil Rashid at the start of the Ashes as many questioned his position in the side as an allrounder. Moeen was not just England’s most consistent batsman, making over 250 runs batting at no. 8 and rescuing England time and time again with the tail, but also picked up 12 wickets to emerge as the second highest wicket taker for his team. Impressive!
Steven Finn – 7
Finn did remarkably well in his comeback Test at Edgbaston, where he singlehandedly won the match for England with his brilliant fast bowling. He wasn’t able to maintain the same level of consistency in the rest of the series, but he has lived up to his great promise and delivered when asked to by his captain.
James Anderson – 6
Anderson probably had one of his quietest series for England. He still picked up 6 wickets at Edgbaston in a brilliant spell of seam bowling, but that was that – Anderson was forced to bow out with a side strain and was rested for the last two Tests. Age is catching up with Anderson and he is no longer as fit as he used to be. Will he ever play in the Ashes again?
Ben Stokes – 7
Stokes did not have his best series for England, but did more than enough to justify being called the best allrounder in world cricket. He had a couple of crucial innings, where he played the supporting role to Joe Root and had a match winning spell in the fourth Test, taking 6 wickets, which won England the Ashes. His fielding was just sublime.
Alastair Cook – 6
Cook’s best innings in the Ashes, a couple of half-centuries, came in matches that England lost. He didn’t play much of a role in England’s wins, but his captaincy was first rate throughout the Ashes. He made the right decisions in the field and attacked all through the series. Clearly, he has grown in his role as the captain.
Mark Wood – 5
Mark Wood had mixed Ashes. He was very good in the first and fourth Tests and was really quite mediocre in the second and fifth. When good, Wood bowled with pace and swing. When bad, Wood was lackluster. But there is no questioning his ability and he is a great new find for England.
Gary Ballance – 4.5
Ballance was dropped pretty early in the series, which is unfortunate as he did play well in the first Test, adding 153 for the fourth wicket with Joe Root. But there are questions about his technique against genuine pace and he will have to address that if he is to have any hope of playing for England again.
Jonny Bairstow – 4
Called as a replacement for his Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance, Bairstow only had one decent knock in the 3 Tests he played – an innings of 74. Otherwise his performance was mediocre and he simply failed to get going.
Ian Bell – 4
Bell had only one significant innings in the entire series and that was a match winning won, hitting an unbeaten 65 to take England to a victory in a tricky run chase at Edgbaston. Apart from that, he did nothing of note and it is clear that his best days are past him. Still, he has won 5 Ashes, which is a record.
Jos Buttler – 3
Buttler was one of the worst performers in the Ashes for England. His wicketkeeping was decent enough, but his batting was simply atrocious. His inadequacies as a batsman in Test cricket were brutally exposed by the Aussies. He may lose his spot in the England team for this reason.
Adam Lyth -2
Adam Lyth gets a rating of 2 only for his great fielding and for the wonderful catches taken by him. His batting was atrocious and one cannot see him play again for England in the near future. England will probably look for another opening batsman now.
