The Telegraph Cricket Podcast · The Telegraph

Where do England go next after humiliating Ashes defeat?

·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

England were 71-4 just after lunch, and Nick Holt says Ollie Pope’s shot should cost him his place.

Australia have retained the Ashes, and the panel starts by treating the scale of that defeat with the seriousness it deserves. The result is framed as close to inevitable from around lunchtime on day two. England's late effort on days four and five is acknowledged. That resistance gave a brief sense of hope, but it never really changed the match's larger shape. The panel notes that England bowled Australia out quickly on the morning of day four. England then put together a decent batting response later that day. The lower order also chipped in before the match finally ran out of road. Even so, the conversation keeps circling back to how narrow England's margins were. One line of argument is that the touring side arrived underprepared for Australian conditions. Another is that the people around the squad did not teach those players enough about what this kind of tour demands. The episode is especially focused on preparation. It asks whether the group was ready not just for the cricket, but for the pressure and scrutiny that come with it. That includes media scrutiny. It also includes the basic need to be sharp enough on the pitches to make a difference. The panel is willing to credit England for the freedom that once made the approach feel refreshing. But it argues that Test cricket in Australia is brutal, and freedom without ruthless professionalism is not enough. The conversation reaches back to the promise of the early McCullum era. It then marks the point where that promise began to fray, especially after the 2023 Ashes and the 2024 India tour. The sense is that the reset needed then was less about style and more about standards. Selection is also part of the scrutiny. Only five of the tourists had played a Test in Australia before. That inexperience is used to explain why the side looked unfamiliar with the demands of the trip. Mark Wood's brief spell and Ollie Pope's likely place in the aftermath become telling examples. The panel keeps returning to the small edges that can decide a tour. In the end, the episode leaves the feeling that a change is coming, even if nobody can yet say exactly what shape it will take.

As heard by us

A brisk Ashes debrief that asks whether England's loose approach needs tighter professionalism.

Australia have retained the Ashes in 11 days, and the episode uses that result to put England's preparation and professionalism under the microscope. It keeps coming back to the same blunt point: touring Australia is hard, and loose habits do not survive there for long.

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Why you'd press play

For when Australia's 11-day Ashes retention needs a blunt post-mortem, not spin.

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