Ashes 2015 Combined XI

The Ashes are done and dusted, no pun intended. Two cricketers with contrasting careers have walked into the twilight. One rose into eminence after most thought he’ll end up with just that one cap. Another was the blue-eyed boy of Australian greatness, almost marked for greatness too early. While Michael Clarke got the victorious farewell he deserved, Alastair Cook grabbed the urn, even before the fifth Test went underway.It was a strange Test series in many ways. Not one Test went into the fifth day, the first time that has happened in a five-Test series. Interestingly, this is the second shortest Ashes series and third overall amongst five Test series in terms of balls bowled as well.More than hard-fought games, the series fluctuated drastically with one-sided games. Sample this – England won the first by 169 runs, Australia won the second by 405 runs, England won the third by eight wickets and the fourth by an innings and 78 runs only to lose the fifth by an innings and 46 runs.Both teams have had some bright spots, both have had some consistent failures. Here we take a look at the combined Ashes XI for this series.

#1 Chris Rogers

Chris Rogers had a dream final Test series, despite his team’s loss

Chris Rogers completed 2000 career runs, a miracle considering how late his career had been resurrected. He ended up with 480 runs, the second most on either side at 60.00, the highest average on both sides.

He managed four fifty-plus scores in 9 innings. His scores include 95, 10, 173, 49(retired hurt), 52, 6, 0, 52 and 43. That accounts for just three failures in 9 innings, as reliable as an opener can be in a high profile series. He was one-half of the opening pair that registered two fifty and three-century partnerships.

#2 David Warner

David Warner was announced to be Australia’s next vice-captain in the middle of the series

Warner registered a half-century in every Test match of the series with scores of 17, 52, 38, 83, 2, 77, 0, 64 and 85. It is a rare occurrence for a batsman to score a 50 in every match of a long five-match series. More interestingly, most of his half-centuries came in the second innings for his team, which is always a tougher achievement.

Apart from the solid partnerships he gave, he managed an average of 46.44 with a strike-rate of 74.5, the highest for anyone with more than 150 runs. Even in the final Test, he set the game up after curbing down his natural instincts, which goes to his credit.

#3 Alastair Cook (c)

Alastair Cook came up with shows of courage and calmness several times in the series

Cook was England’s second best batsman scoring 330 runs at 36.66 runs. More than the runs, it was his grit at the top that offered stability especially with the other England opener having a horrendous series with an average of 12.77. Cook faced 732 balls, the most by an England batsman and third most in the series behind Rogers and Steve Smith.

His 85 off the last innings in a 234 ball marathon showed how much steel he packs his innings with. He missed out on a century when he got out on 96 in the second Test, all tough runs when his team was in trouble.

#4 Joe Root

Joe Root came up with England’s most important innings in the series

Joe Root probably played the most decisive innings of the series. England were in deep trouble at 43 for three in the first innings of the first Test. Root was dropped very early by Brad Haddin and he didn’t look back from there. Scoring 134, Root took England to 430 and the rest they say was history.

The momentum was set and England fought with belief, even though very few gave them a chance at the beginning of the series. Root overtook Steve Smith as the No.1 Test batsman as well with 460 runs at 57.50 and an impressive strike-rate of 67. He managed two centuries and two half-centuries proving to be a solid top order player for England.

Interestingly, Root scored a century in the fourth Test, to help England break the pattern of losing a match, every time they won one in recent times.

#5 Steve Smith (vice-captain)

Steve Smith was the only batsman to cross 500 runs in the series

Australia’s next captain had a mixed series. Both the matches that Australia won, the second and the fifth, Smith was Man of the Match. He scored 215 in the second Test and then 58 in the second innings when Australia won by 405 runs.

In the fifth Test, where Australia won by an innings and 46 runs Smith scored 143 setting his team up nicely. His scores were poor in the three Tests that Australia lost - 33, 33, 7, 8, 6 and 5, showing how much his team depends on him.

In spite of the string of low scores, Smith has 508 runs at 56.44, the only batsman to cross 500 runs in the series. His runs came at a strike-rate of 62.87.

#6 Ben Stokes

The emergence of Ben Stokes’ all-round abilities was one of the biggest gains for England

Stokes, touted as England’s next big thing, didn’t disappoint. With bat and bowl, he showed promise and enterprise, especially in the crucial first Test when he scored 52 and 42 with the bat. Capable of breaking partnerships, Stokes showed his talent with the ball taking 6-36 in the second innings when England won the fourth Test against Australia by an innings and 78 runs.

Stokes finished the series with 201 runs at 25 and 11 wickets at 33.45. Stokes was a really bright spot for England, bowling fast and swinging the ball both ways. In times to come, he has more assurance to be in the team than Moeen Ali.

Even though he has fewer runs and wickets compared to Ali, he makes it to the team for two reasons. His wickets came at an average way below that of Ali. Ali wouldn’t make the cut as a preferred off-spinner in the team ahead of Lyon and in England, Stokes’ pace is a better option compared to Ali’s off-spin.

#7 Peter Nevill (WK)

Peter Nevill has established himself as Australia’s wicketkeeper of the future over the course of this series

Nevill stood-in for Brad Haddin in the second Test and grabbed his opportunity with an impressive 45 in the next. He got a very gritty 59 in the third Test which Australia lost, but played out 147 balls, the most by any on either side in the Test, the second highest being Mitchell Starc’s 108.

Nevil scored 143 runs in six inning at 23.83 and will improve as he career progresses. Jos Buttler’s poor series with the bat, 122 runs in 8 innings at 15.25 meant that Nevill becomes the obvious choice for wicket-keeping duties.

#8 Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc was not as effective as he was in the World Cup, but still packed a punch

Starc didn’t quite provide the impact he was expected to after a great World Cup. He still is not the bowler he looks like in ODIs. In spite of not being at his best, he still managed 18 wickets at 30.5 with two five-wicket hauls, both coming in losing cause.

Had Peter Siddle played more than one Test match, in the form he showed in the last game, Starc wouldn’t have made it to the team, interestingly, considering Hazlewood has better numbers to show for his efforts in the first four Tests than Starc.

However, Starc makes for a very good No. 8 registering two half centuries including a 52 ball 58 in the final Test adding 91 for the eighth wicket. Even though Hazlewood was the more consistent bowler, Starc will add variety with his left arm fast, especially being the better bowler compared to Mitchell Johnson overall.

#9 Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad came up with a devastating spell in the 4^th Test to dispel fears raised by James Anderson’s absence

Broad has been the best bowler on show by daylight. He finished on 21 wickets in 9 innings but more importantly, at an average of 20.90 and a strike-rate of 41, only next to Mitchell Marsh who had eight wickets to show for his efforts.

Broad also bowled the best spell of the series, 8-15 in Nottingham where he wrecked Australia who were bundled out for 60 in the first innings of the fourth Test. He did that when England were playing without their No.1 bowler, James Anderson.

Broad’s consistency also shows from the fact that he took one five-wicket haul and yet managed 21, thus picking wickets consistently to help his team win. Broad was nippy and moved the ball both ways as well, becoming the leader of the attack in Anderson’s absence.

#10 Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon was the best spinner of the series

It would be unfair to pick a pace bowler over Lyon who was the fourth best bowler of the Ashes and will be the preferred spinner had Ali not scored enough runs to make it to the team.

It was a very tough decision to pick Lyon over Josh Hazlewood, who was unfortunate to be dropped from the fifth Test in favour of Siddle. Hazlewood had better numbers than Starc had with the ball and was consistent without ever delivering that one heavy-impact spell, still managing 16 wickets at 25.75 with a strike-rate of 42 both more efficient numbers than Starc.

But, Lyon was one of the bright spots for Australia taking 16 wickets in 9 innings at 28.25. For a classical off-spinner, those are wonderful numbers playing in England especially.

#11 Steven Finn

This Ashes will be remembered as having turned around Steven Finn’s career

Finn played the role of the support bowler to perfection in the third Test. He took the two crucial wickets of Steve Smith and Michael Clarke when Anderson cleaned the Australian team up with a six wicket haul. In the second innings, it was Finn who was the wrecker in chief with figures of 6-79 winning the Man of the Match for the decisive numbers.

Finn’s 12 wickets came at an average of 22.5 and a strike-rate of 39, both excellent numbers which could have taken him to the top 3 had he played all five Tests. Nevertheless, he will be ideal as the first change bowler capable of reversing the ball.

#12 Moeen Ali (12th man)

Moeen Ali played several crucial cameos in the series

No one would have believed that Ali would be the better all-rounder ahead of Ben Stokes in terms of runs and wickets, who performed really well too. Ali was sixth on the run-scorers’ list despite coming low down the order. He scored 293 runs at 36.62 at a strike rate of 71, with two 50s.

He played some crucial cameos down the order, edging out Stokes who had just 210 runs to his credit. Ali played as an off-spinner for England, an experiment that worked well for them as he picked 12 wickets at an average of 45.

In the first Test, it was Ali’s two big wickets that opened up the game for England. It was a tough call between Ali and Stokes and maybe, on pitches friendlier to spin, Ali would make it ahead of Stokes.