Daniel Norcross

England’s most successful Ashes series Down Under for 15 years has somehow come to be seen as its most calamitous. England won a Test match, and competed for large periods in three of the other four. Yet many England fans are left wondering what might have been. Defeat in this manner is much more devastating than the repeated, predictable failures of earlier tours. After England’s loss at Adelaide confirmed the Ashes would stay in Australia, Phil Tufnell turned to me and said 'I really believed we had a chance this time. Were we deluded Dan?

No doubt even the cricket averse among you will be aware at some level that the England team is currently undergoing its traditional four yearly mauling at the hands of gleeful Australians under unforgiving, sun-drenched skies Down Under. Fans back home are enduring miserable nights, pock-marked by false hope, fever dreams and regret for engaging in the whole inevitable business of sporting despair but with added insomnia thrown in for good measure. Failure in Australia means that really it doesn’t matter what England do until they win The results on the pitch have once again been dismal, but in fairness to this team, they are simply following a trend that has seen England go winless for 17 consecutive matches in Australia stretching back to 2011.