England have been thoroughly outplayed in each of the first two Ashes 2021-22 Tests, losing the first Test in Brisbane by nine wickets before going down by 275 runs in the second in Adelaide. While skipper Joe Root and Dawid Malan have been the lone contributors with the bat, the bowling has failed to challenge the Australian line-up.

"The criticism of the bowlers from Joe’s point of view… I’d have been waiting for him at the top of the stairs if Vaughany (Michael Vaughan) had said that,” Harmison told TalkSport. “If Vaughany had said that after what we had just done, I think me, Hoggard, Flintoff, Jones would have been standing at the top of the stairs.

Harmison further highlighted England’s poor catching, stating that when the bowlers did create chances, they were not taken.

"You’ve got size 12s, get something behind them,” said the 2005 and 2009 Ashes winner. “But to say that they bowled too short? They created 10 chances in eight and a half days of Ashes cricket that haven’t been taken. The bowlers go, 'Well, the batsmen aren’t catching it, first and foremost, so we’re having to bring our lengths back because every time we pitch it up, we either get driven for four or we potentially create a chance that isn’t getting taken."