Ashes 2019: The three worst performers from the series

Ashes 2019 will be immensely cherished in the coming years for the quality of cricket played and the unforgettable performances that were produced.

Fittingly, the series ended with a 2-2 scoreline but Australia retained the Ashes for the first time since 2001. Steve Smith’s Don Bradman-esque batting was evened out by a superhero effort from Ben Stokes at Headingley, who was England’s saviour throughout the series.

Jofra Archer’s pace provided a new dimension to England’s struggling bowling unit and his duel with Steve Smith at Lord’s was a sight to behold.

Despite all the individual heroics, there were a few terribly upsetting performances in the series. Except Rory Burns, the openers of both sides failed to occupy the crease for a long time, primarily due to the abundance of world class new ball bowlers.

David Warner’s struggles in English conditions continued while Jason Roy failed to replicate his white-ball form. Here are the top three worst performers in Ashes 2019,

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#3 Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow has been a constant presence in England’s middle order for a while now, but his time is running out fast. However, since the start of January 2018, he has played 20 Test matches for the Three Lions and has averaged a meagre 25.91 during this period. In the same period, his numbers in England are surprisingly worse as he does not have a single century in 13 home games.

He registered single digit scores in both the innings of the opening Test and his only performance of note came in the second Test, when he scored a half century in the first innings.

But his tendency to drive at full length deliveries without any feet movement resulted in a lot of outside edges and he became a walking wicket towards the end of the series.

He finished the series with 214 runs in 10 games and the series could have drastic consequences for Bairstow's Test future, especially with Ollie Pope knocking on the door.

Also see – World Test Championship points table

#2 Jason Roy

Jason Roy

England took a big gamble when they decided to open with Roy in such a high-profile series. Understandably, red-ball cricket at this level proved a step too far as he had only played as a middle order batsman for his county team, Surrey.

In the first three games of the series, he registered scores of 10, 28, 0, 2, 9, 8 and received a lot of criticism for his shot selection.

As evident by his white-ball record, he is a naturally aggressive opener and he failed to curb his instincts, which made it easy for the Aussie new ball bowlers.

He was pushed to the #4 position in the fourth Test but could not meet the expectations. He was eventually dropped for the final Test and Dominic Sibley could be favoured over him for the winter tours.

However, he still has a lot of time left in his career and he would be itching to make a comeback by scoring loads of runs in county cricket.

#1 David Warner

David Warner

After a year-long ban, David Warner returned to international cricket in style by scoring 647 runs at the 2019 World Cup. However, he had a nightmare return to red-ball cricket as he scored just 95 runs in 10 innings, the least by an opener in a five-match Test series.

Stuart Broad dismissed him a record seven times in the series while Archer got the better of him thrice.

Just when everyone thought he was back to his best after a half century in the first innings at Headingley, he registered three consecutive ducks and was extremely indecisive with his shot-making.

He had absolutely no answers to Broad’s outswingers from round the wicket as he was forced to play at them because of the angle.

However, his place in the team is safe for the time being as his troubles were overshadowed by Smith’s unmatched brilliance.