The backdrop for the Ashes presentation podium was naff in the extreme — a clenched English fist, next to an Australian hand with four fingers pointing skywards — yet it did reflect an unarguable truth. England have been hammered yet again in Australia: if only one match had been won, then England’s fist could have presented the middle finger in reply. Joe Root was reported to be fast asleep when the final wicket of a desperately one-sided series fell. Seriously unwell, suffering from viral gastroenteritis, Root had batted for an hour before lunch, before retiring with exhaustion, not to appear again. When he stirred, how he would have loved to be able to say this Ashes series had just been a bad dream.

Source: The Times January 08, 2018 06:22 UTC