The recently concluded Ashes series has been one of the most well-balanced contests of the two oldest test-playing sides in a long time! The series see-sawed all through the five-tests long English summer, and true to its billing, ended in a 2-2 draw.
The result perfectly reflects a certain historical balance between these two sides. You know, ever since the Ashes took root, the score line between these two nations is just as close: Australia has won 33 series, England has 32 series wins, with the just concluded series being the 6th drawn series, and the first since 1972.
Well, that’s how the series cookie crumbled. But in this blog, I shall analyse how the cookie crumbled for individual players – the first seven players below saw their fortunes rise, while the next three saw their respective cookies crumble towards a decline!
The risers…
1. Ben Stokes: Undoubtedly the player with a Midas touch throughout the summer! That his exploits won England the 2019 ICC World Cup wouldn’t be an exaggeration, and he further secured his dominance by being the English pillar through the Ashes too. His exploits in the third test at Headingley etched his name next to yesteryear’s greats such as Ian Botham! It was breathtaking how he compiled his tenth wicket match-winning stand of 76 runs, with Jack Leach contributing a solitary run in the partnership.
2. Steve Smith: The genius is back! With an amazing bagful of 774 runs in 8 innings, averaging well over 100, the Bradmanesque Steve Smith is on top of his game, make no mistake about it! He also scored the only double hundred of the series. But it was the sheer character he displayed while amassing these runs that made him look a giant.
3. Marnus Labuschagne: the sprightly and baby-faced youngster established himself for the coming years in the Aussie top order with 353 runs in 7 innings, with a respectable average of 50.4. He also partnered with Steve Smith many a times to rescue Australia.
4. Rory Burns: the series saw six openers tried across the two sides, and Burns with nearly 400 runs actually equalled the opening contributions by the other five players (Denly, Roy, Warner, Harris, and Bancroft) put together. Such were the opening woes, and Burns stood out amongst this carnage.
5. Jofra Archer: Anderson’s loss turned into Archer’s gain, who got four straight tests after Anderson pulled out early on in the first test itself. Supremely athletic and utterly uncomplicated, Archer proved to be a strong foil to the masterly Broad. Archer’s concussion-causing hit at Smith’s helmet brought in the first-ever concussion substitute in Labuschagne, and made Smith sit out in the subsequent test.
6 & 7. Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins: The duo showed their class and penetration through the many English tracks, and bagged nearly 50 wickets between them in five tests. Australia can continue to bank on them for years to come.
…and the strugglers
8. David Warner: With a paltry 95 runs to his credit in 10 innings and a single-digit average of 9.5, this must have been the lowest low for Warner. As they say, playing white-ball cricket where he excelled till recently in the ICC World Cup, is a totally different game from red-ball cricket.
9. Joe Root: Is his quest for dominance over? Is he still jostling for the numero uno spot with Smith, Kohli and Williamson? Root seems to be tailing off, averaging an average 32.5 runs.
10. Jonny Bairstow: He had an amazing run of form through the World Cup, but scored just 214 runs in 10 innings at a below par average of 21.4 per inning.
10 Reasons Why the Cookie Crumbled the Way It Did 