THE inquests have already opened, and the bigwigs at the ECB are all set to dust down the cheque-book to try and remedy the problems that have blighted this disastrous Ashes tour for England.
However, all the meetings and money in the world won’t get to the root of England’s problems this winter. There were two mighty forces operating against England Down Under - one of the greatest Test teams in living memory, and the seemingly English problem of being mentally weak in pressure situations.
This is not the worst English Test team to ever tour Australia. In fact, it is probably better than any of the teams that have toured the country since Mike Gatting’s heroes of 1987.
Players like Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison are all proven match-winners and can hold their own on their day. By the same token, people like Ian Bell, Alistair Cook and Monty Panesar are on their way to becoming equally as good.
However, they are not consistent enough to beat a team of world-beaters like Australia, and usually save their big performances for when everything is stacked in their favour. For example, two of England’s three centuries in the series were scored by Pietersen and Paul Collingwood on a very flat and slow wicket in Perth.
In all five games, England have had the opportunity to get into a winning position but have never taken it. Australia have been in difficult situations and someone has consistently stuck their hand up and turned things around. England just fold when put under pressure.
I think there is a common problem across the board in English sport in the way we always seem to fail when really under pressure. We have seen it time and again with the football team missing penalties in major tournaments, the cricket team not fulfilling their potential, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski’s inability to win Wimbledon and the demise of the English Rugby Union team once they were placed on a pedestal.
Talent can only get you so far, and English sportsmen and women do seem to fall short when it matters with alarming regularity. The entire system from grassroots level needs to be looked at to try and eradicate the problem.
It is not surprising that we don’t have a winning mentality when schools across the country ban sports days for fear of upsetting the children who finish last. We are just too nice in some respects.
Take the guard of honour offered to Justin Langer, for example. Langer was walking out to bat in a Test match. The England bowlers should have been lining up to bounce him out - not make him feel welcome at the wicket.
The right thing to do would be to form a guard of honour once he leaves the field at the end of the game. Sportsmanship is crucial in sporting tussles, but there is a time and place.
Not once did Australia let up in their intensity during this series, and they got their rewards. Once all five games were won, Australia shook hands with their opponents, said nice things about England and shared a beer with them.
That’s the way to do it. If the bigwigs at the ECB want to cure England’s ills, they should look to try and instil the Aussie mentality into their players. That, together with England’s undoubted talent and potential will go a long way to re-dressing the balance next time we meet.