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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
'Textbook' England collapse slammed by Aussie great
SEN • January 14th, 2026 8:56 am
The washup of the 2024/25 Ashes series is in full swing, and former Australian Test opener Marcus Harris hasn’t reflected too fondly on the series that was.
A contest that saw two Tests end inside two days, with a result settled as early as the third Test, the much-anticipated Ashes was far from the heights of what fans across the globe would have expected.
And while Australia walked away with victory, Harris couldn’t help but feel as though England’s inability to compete with the Aussies hindered the enjoyment of what an Ashes series typically brings.
“I came away from it a little disappointed that it wasn’t more of a closer contest,” Harris told SEN Mornings.
“I thought (England) were going to give it a shake, and then especially once Josh Hazelwood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon didn’t play much of a part, ‘Smithy’ missed a Test… I thought it was going to be a little bit closer.
“I know those two-day Tests are pretty entertaining, but I didn’t really like them. I thought Sydney was a good Test, Adelaide was a good Test, but sort of came away from it thinking it wasn’t the best cricket I’ve ever seen.”
England’s ‘BazBall’ tactics proved a non-factor in their ability to compete, however, Harris believes it did play a part in the cricket Australia played in response.
“I think we’ve been dragged into the way that they play a little bit,” he said. “You get overrun by it.
“A bit was made about the Perth wicket, where the pundits said it was a good wicket, but the way the players played it said otherwise.
“Having played there, it is a challenging pitch to play on. I’ve played there before, and first ball after lunch on Day 1 it just rolls along the ground.
“The way the modern game is, the modern batsmen feels if there’s a threat, it’s ‘right, I’m going to get you before you get me’.
“If everybody does that, the game moves at a million miles an hour and it’s done by just after tea on Day 2. So, I was a bit disappointed watching.
“Also, having been in that arena, it’s very easy to watch and have an opinion rather than the mental challenge of Test cricket and being in the middle of it, so I fully understand that.
“As a fan, it felt a bit short change.”
While players, coaching and tactics can and have been questioned following the series, former Australian Test keeper Ian Healy cites England’s preparation as their almighty downfall.
“It was absolute textbook for an underprepared team,” Healy told SEN Afternoons.
“It was so naive, their preparation. They were told that, it was talked about and they brushed it. They hammered their legends as “has-beens”, and then when they got into close moments early in the series, they were nowhere because they had no cricket under their belt!
“It was absolute textbook, what I thought would happen. Come Test three or four they were ready to play! They are the two or three games they needed before Test match one, so that big moments can be captured.
“Why didn’t they know that and why didn’t they listen to that? It was horrible preparation England in the last 40 years they've won twice, and both of those times they gave themselves a month beforehand playing games.
“Travelling, playing state games, playing out countryside, all that sort of stuff, and losing a lot! They lost a lot of those games and then they won the Test series!”
