Former England cricket chief Andrew Strauss has spoken out after England’s latest Ashes defeat in Australia. He believes that simply removing head coach Brendon McCullum or captain Ben Stokes will not fix England’s long-standing problems in Australian conditions.Strauss knows what it takes to win in Australia. He was the last England captain to win an Ashes series there, leading his team to a 3-1 victory in 2010/11. Since then, England’s record has been very poor. They have lost 16 Test matches and managed only two draws in Australia.
England are once again under pressure after going 3-0 down in the current Ashes series, with two matches still to play. Many fans and experts are questioning the leadership of McCullum and Stokes. However, Strauss has warned against quick and emotional decisions.In a long post on LinkedIn, Strauss reflected on England’s latest failure. He wrote, “So there it is, another ambitious set of England cricketers made the journey to Australia, full of hope and optimism, only for their dreams to come crashing down around them after only 11 days of cricket.”Strauss said McCullum and Stokes will face heavy criticism, just like previous England coaches and leaders did after past Ashes defeats. “McCullum and Stokes will come under extreme scrutiny for the decisions they took in preparation for this tour in the same way that (Ashley) Giles and (Chris) Silverwood did after the last tour. And Andy Flower after 2013/14 and Duncan Fletcher after 2006/07,” he further added.Strauss stressed that the blame should not fall on a few individuals. He noted, “While they will know that this goes with the territory, none of the above are responsible for England losing so incredibly consistently in Australia since 1986/87. We have been badly mauled time after time over there because Australia are a better team, served by a better high-performance system.”He ended by calling for real change, saying, “If we are genuinely serious about changing this depressingly one-sided story, then we need to look beyond sacking England coaches and captains and ask whether we are genuinely willing to make the changes necessary to break the trend.”
