England Can Look Back On 2023 Ashes Series With Pride

After coming back from 2-0 down to draw a thrilling 2023 Ashes series 2-2 against Australia, England can look back on their efforts over the summer with pride.

Against a formidable opponent in the Baggy Greens, head coach Brendon McCullum and his side showed great character to respond to early setbacks and might feel unfortunate they didn’t pull off a remarkable series victory.

Learning From Edgbaston And Lord’s

Finding the balance with England’s attacking brand of Test cricket was always going to be the key in this Ashes series. It will be another five matches where England will have to find the balance between all-out attack and pragmatic cricket that can help edge out Test matches. England are 3.50 to lift the urn Down Under at https://www.paddypower.com/bet.

Punters looking to back England can use a free bet calculator to see their potential returns on multiple bets for the next series, which will be played in Australia in 2025/26.

England appeared to get the balance all wrong in the opening two Tests as they fell into Australia’s bowling traps time and again. The hosts went after the short ball at Edgbaston and Lord’s and it played right into Australia’s hands. However, England eventually started to learn their lessons and looked far more composed in the final three Tests. The controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow, as reported by https://www.espncricinfo.com/story, in that second Test at Lord’s might well have been another defining moment. Giving England motivation for the remainder of the series, who knows what would have happened had Bairstow not been controversially stumped at the Home of Cricket.

England Left Wondering What If After Manchester Rain

Having bounced back to claim the third Test at Headingley, England travelled from Leeds over the Pennines to Manchester looking to level the series. With Australia on the ropes, as covered by https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/cricket, the rain came to the tourists’ rescue on the final two days to see the match draw. A drawn contest meant Australia could not lose the series and therefore retained the Ashes. The result came as a bitter disappointment to those in the England camp but they responded in the only manner they could, by winning the final Test at The Oval.

In a match that saw Stuart Broad announce his plans to retire after the series, England gave the veteran seamer the best possible send-off. Broad arguably gave himself the best last hurrah, as he struck a six with his final ball as a batter while notching up the match-winning wicket with the ball in hand. All the momentum of the series had swung England’s way and the camp might well be wondering what might have happened had Manchester’s notorious wet weather not played its part at Old Trafford.

The series ended with England fans wanting more and it will be intriguing to see how these teams fare over the coming years before their next Ashes series in Australia. The Baggy Greens came away from England with the urn but McCullum’s side are the ones with momentum going forward.