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Mark Wood provided a glimmer of hope for England’s future but he couldn’t hide the miserable tour for most of their side, which ended in a terrible 4-0 defeat in the Ashes series.
Joe Root went first with the bat but failed to break his centenary on Australian soil, leaving Jonny Bairstow as the sole English centurion for the tour.
Zak Crawley and Dawid Malan showed it was worth going on and Stuart Broad showed his class, but there were simply too few runs from the England batting group to make a competitive series.
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Read on for the English player ratings for the 2021-22 Ashes series.
Rory Burns 2
77 runs at 12.83, HS 34, strike rate 43.25
Rory Burns was bowled with the first ball of the Ashes series by Mitchell Starc, who set the tone for England’s 4-0 loss and his own struggles with the racquet throughout the series.
Burn’s best shot was a 34 counterattack in the second innings at Adelaide, but he was dropped midway through the series before being recalled for the final game.
Burns’ run-out for a duck in the first innings at Hobart summed up his miserable tour, which included some pathetic drop catches for good measure, and his future in Test cricket is bleak at best.
ZAK CRAWLEY6
166 runs at 27.66, HS 77, strike rate 58.65
There’s a lot to like about Zak Crawley and it remains a mystery why England didn’t start the series with him given how the other openers fared throughout the series.
His 77 in Sydney showed he could score with a good clip, which is what England need to take the pressure off of Joe Root to score all runs at the top of the order.
Despite that, Crawley didn’t average over 30 and he will regret not being able to convert some of his starts into a great century, but he was still one of the few highlights at the top of all series order.
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HASEEB HAMEED 1
80 runs at 10 a.m., HS 27, strike rate 28.07
Haseeb Hameed started strong with two starts in Brisbane but was unable to continue and his Tour went downhill after that.
Hameed finished with the third-worst average of any England player on the tour, ahead of only James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, which isn’t what you’d expect from an opening racquet.
The 24-year-old struggled with impact on his first tour of Australia and later has to learn to play the ball after being brutally exposed by Australia’s pace cartel.
DAWID MALAN 4
244 runs at 24.40, HS 82, strike rate 38.60
Malan started the series in spectacular fashion with back-to-back 80+ points in Brisbane and Adelaide as he was the only player to make it through with Joe Root at the top of the order.
However, he will be disappointed he couldn’t go on and score a big ton when the Ashes were at stake.
Disappointingly, Malan’s streak lacked consistency and he continued to deteriorate, finishing with a sub-25 average, but he showed enough to suggest he’s worth continuing.
joe root 7
322 runs at 32.20, HS 89, strike rate 48.27, five wickets at 46.80, BBI 2-27, economy 4.10
Unsurprisingly, given their batting order, Joe Root was England’s top run scorer for the series, but he’ll still be disappointed not to have done more.
Root has never scored a century on Australian soil and that drought will continue for at least four more years if he’s as close as he came with his brilliant 89 in Brisbane.
Root was handy with the ball but his captaincy has been called into question at times, and after making seven starts in five Tests, including three half-centuries, he will rue his inability to make it big with match-winning innings.
Ben Stoke’s 5
236 runs at 23.60, HS 66, strike rate 42.60
This series has always been a great challenge for Ben Stokes, having only returned to the team on the eve of the tour after taking time off from cricket for mental health reasons.
Stokes is the heart and soul of the team and has, as always, tested his mettle with bats and balls, but an injury meant he was unable to contribute to the bowling squad for a full series.
He looked like he’d lost touch with the racquet early on but still managed to finish the third leading run-scorer for England and his two half centuries in Sydney showed his best is not far off.
OLLIE POPE 2
67 runs at 11:16, HS 35, strike rate 41.87
Ollie Pope came to the series with great success as the star of the future but unfortunately he failed to live up to his potential and England needed a star now.
Pope started the series strong with 35 in the first innings in Brisbane, but things went downhill from there after being dropped mid-series and recalled by Jonny Bairstow only because of an injury.
Pope will need to find the right balance between his attacking instincts and show more guts and determination at the crease to get through the rough patches and he was found overwhelmed on his first tour of Australia.
JONNY BAIRSTOW8
194 runs at 48.50, HS 113, strike rate 54.49
The only centurion for England and Bairstow became their fourth-highest run scorer despite playing just two of the five games.
Bairstow’s torrid century in Sydney was one of the most entertaining events of the series and unfortunately one of the few innings of real substance and combat for England on the Tour.
An injury prevented Bairstow from finishing the streak on the field, but he showed he’s worthy of staying in the No. 6 role because Ollie Pope isn’t ready.
JOS BUTTLER 3
107 runs at 15.28, HS 39, strike rate 27.43
It’s been a miserable Tour for Jos Buttler with a racquet, gloves and an injury that sent him home after the Sydney Test.
To be fair, Buttler produced two of the summer’s best catches, but he also had some of the series’ biggest drop sitters.
Aside from a struggling swipe in Adelaide as England tried to secure a tie, Buttler offered little with the bat and England’s brittle batting order needs more of their goalkeeping batsman.
SAM SETTLEMENTS 6
30 runs at 3 p.m., HS 29, strike rate 52.63
He only joined the squad from the Sydney Thunder after Buttler’s injury but showed some good signs in a fair Test debut.
He made 29 in his first ditch in Test cricket and ticked off his first catch, but it was energy that most impressed his bowlers and fielders.
If he can keep working on his long format, Billings is worth hanging on to because Buttler hasn’t been able to cement his place and they need the energy he brings.
CHRIS WAKES 3
Six wickets at 55.33, BBI 3-104, Economy 3.74, 146 runs at 24.33, HS 44, strike rate 54.68
Chris Woakes performed better with the racquet than with the ball, which is why he wasn’t exactly picked for this tour, even though England needed every one of his runs.
Woakes had the second-worst average of any English bowler and he just didn’t have the right line or length throughout the tour when Australia’s batsmen tore him apart.
Woakes may have a brilliant record at home, but it may be time England left him there when they tour abroad.
MARK WOOD 9
17 wickets at 26.64, BBI 6-37, economy 3.73
Mark Wood, the shining light of the Tour for England, finished as his side’s leading wicket-taker with four more than second-placed Stuart Broad.
Wood is showing the kind of commitment and struggle that the England squad is sadly lacking and they need to seek out more players like him, and fast.
Wood’s 6-37 in his last bowl in Hobart was just a reward for a player who wasn’t advised to play back-to-back Tests before starting for the final three of the series.
OLLIE ROBINSON7
11 wickets at 25.54, BBI 3-58, economy 2.64
Another positive factor for England was Ollie Robinson, who showed he has a bright future after finishing with England’s third-most wickets in the series.
Robinson still needs to work on his fitness to be a consistent player at Test level but his clean line and length and ability to swing the ball give England a difference.
With Anderson and Broad nearing the end of their careers, Robinson could be the man up for the challenge and succeeding them as the leader of the English attack with Wood.
Stuart Broad 8
13 gates at 26.30, BBI 5-101, business 2.88
One of the most frustrating parts of the tour was England’s under-used Stuart Broad after he finished with the second-most wickets for his side despite playing just three Tests.
Broad didn’t start the first game, allowing his bunny David Warner to build the series for Australia and England, who never recovered.
His five-wicket move in Sydney appeared to be broad, telling the English selectors he was not done and had plenty of Test cricket left in his form.
JAMES ANDERSON7
Eight wickets at 23.37, BBI 4-33, economy 1.79
The veteran was aiming for three Tests this summer but unfortunately for England he probably should have played the first and the last but instead played neither.
Anderson’s 4-33 in Melbourne was as good as he’s bowled in his career and it’s up to him when to hang up his boots.
Anderson also provided an important blow to allow England to achieve a draw in Sydney, which was truly the only highlight of the tour for the entire team.
JACK LYE 4
Six wickets at 53.50, BBI 4-173, economy 4.33
It’s always been a rough ride for England’s crackpots, but it was made more difficult by some questionable captaincy and selections when it came to Jack Leach.
Australia clearly had a plan to pursue Leach to keep the pressure on England’s fast bowlers, but the decision not to play him in Adelaide was odd.
Leach bounced back with his best numbers of the series in the second innings in Sydney but he still has a lot of work to do on his game and he needs more support from his skipper.
