It was exactly 12 months ago yesterday that Jos Buttler scored a brilliant, unbeaten hundred at Old Trafford to take England to a first ever whitewash over a weakened Australia. Led by a captain in Tim Paine who did not merit his place in the best XI and without star players who were either banned or injured, the old enemy looked a hollowed out shell of a team in a 5-0 defeat. It was almost sad to behold. Historically, though, downturns in Australian cricket have lasted for shorter periods of time than here and it is no surprise to see them resurgent in this World Cup, sitting comfortably behind New Zealand in second place, having won five of their six games to date.

Source: The Times June 24, 2019 16:08 UTC