England are set to complete their review into what went wrong on their 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia over the winter in the coming weeks.
These reviews have become a standard part of the four-yearly winter Ashes cycle, with the only exception from the last 25 years being when England won Down Under in 2010/11. Often, these reviews result in sackings both behind the scenes and in the visible leadership structure – i.e captains, coaches and support staff. Sometimes, there's an attempt at an even bigger structural reset, like the Strauss review in 2022.
This time, however, changes will reportedly be less drastic. Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are contracted until 2027, and while the latter's position looked in jeopardy for a while, subject to some changes in his methods, he appears set to stay on. That both are likely to stay on, and that England's main focus remains winning the Ashes back in 2027, makes the review into this disaster in Australia unique in its outcome.
What have England done after previous Ashes hammerings?
2002/03: Fletcher and Hussain retained
England were steamrollered in 2002/03, and while they were never expected to defeat arguably the greatest Test team of all time, there were a catalogue of errors made during the series. From Nasser Hussain's bowl-first catastrophe on day one, to the familiar problems over adequate preparation. Nevertheless, it was made clear from the start of the review process that Hussain was not in danger of losing his job. Duncan Fletcher's position as head coach was more precarious, having already been in the role three years and overseeing his second Ashes defeat.
That he was kept on, however, was the crucial outcome of a series from which 2005 was born. Hussain retired in 2004, and Michael Vaughan – fresh from the lessons of Australia – was able to form a key partnership with Fletcher to win back the urn a year later.
2006/07: Flintoff's last Test as captain, Fletcher axed at end of winter
If 2002/03 sowed the seeds of success through continuity, 2006/07 was full scorched earth. Andrew Flintoff never captained another Test after England's defeat in Sydney, and Fletcher's credit never quite recovered. He was axed after defeat in the 50-over World Cup four months later. The ECB also commissioned the Schofield Report, which resulted in 19 recommendations to improve the state of English cricket. Those included centrally contracted players playing less county cricket, and to play more competitive warm-up fixtures ahead of the next Ashes series in Australia – a theme still going strong 20 years later.
Arguably, it took the next two years for England to recover from the horror of that Ashes defeat and find a direction. Bending to the will for blood following a whitewash only works if there's a clear idea of what comes next.
2013/14: Flower moved to different role, Cook retained
Those lessons were learned the following winter following an even more cataclysmic defeat. It was clear that Any Flower's tenure over the Test side had run its course, and already there was a shift in focus starting to attempt to rectify England's lack of a 50-over title. The role of white and red ball coach were split for the first time in the aftermath of the defeat.
For Alastair Cook, credit in the bank played a role again, with England's win in India and the preceding home Ashes series just enough to counter for his personal lack of runs and the manner of defeat. Equally, significant player turnover meant that, unlike the previous aftermath, Cook held onto the reigns until a viable successor was ready take them on.
2017/18: Bayliss and Root retained
The 2017/18 and 2019 Ashes are the only two so far this century where the same England coach and captain presided over both. That path was set from the end of the 2017/18 series, when Trevor Bayliss announced in the aftermath of defeat in the final Test match that he would stand down at the end of the 2019 summer, following the home World Cup England had already spent two years building towards. Bayliss's brief was explicit when he was recruited in 2015 – build an ODI squad to win the World Cup, Test performance would fit in around that.
In reality, there was little change of any kind attempted following the series apart from greater merger of red and white-ball teams, in the hoped the success of the latter would rub off on a dismally performing Test side. Jos Buttler was recalled at the start of the following summer, and by the home Ashes series in 2019, with the World Cup secured attention at least in part could re-focus on rectifying what had been sacrificed.
2021/22: Silverwood axed end of series, Root at end of winter
For the players that were there, such were the conditions the Covid series was played under that it barely registers. Coaches and players confined to isolation hotel rooms, social bubbles and daily nasal swabs ground down a team performing as badly as they had at any point in the preceding two decades in Australia. That tour was the last straw for Root's tenure, which had already endured a lot of turbulence. The backroom staff was largely gutted, Silverwood, Graham Thorpe sacked, and Ashley Giles replaced as director of cricket at the ECB by Andrew Strauss. Root was permitted to continue, but defeat in the West Indies two months later was the end.
What followed was a wider attempt at structural change beyond personnel, however. The Strauss Review set out key changes from the grassroots game to the England dressing room to create the best team in the world across all formats. While some of those changes were adopted, like 'sustaining and exciting shop window for the game' in the way England teams play, reforms to the county game were broadly killed. Nevertheless, it set the ground work for structural change that now feels inevitable.
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