Ashes 2019 | Australia Player Ratings - Steve Smith’s Perfect 10 masks teammates’ shortcomings

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

09/18/2019

For the first time in 18 years, Australia, under Tim Paine, retained the Ashes on English soil. While some fought tooth and nail in a desperate attempt to keep hold of the urn, others just glid their way through the series and can perhaps consider themselves lucky to be a part of history.

Despite most of the players not firing anywhere near to the extent coach Justin Langer expected them to, Australia showed great discipline, determination, hunger, professionalism and fight throughout the entirety of the series to ensure that they left the English shores with the urn in their hands. While the execution was so and so, the planning - both during and prior to the series - however, was spot on from Langer & co, and it paid dividends as the series progressed. Egos were brushed aside and the Aussies religiously followed the “Horses for Courses” policy by using 16 of the 17 members in their original squad. Of course, one man all but single-handedly turned the tide in their favour, but the others did just enough to ensure that he got the help to steer the ship safely back home.

Cameron Bancroft - 3/10

Having top-scored in the intra-team warmup match prior to the first Test and having plied his trade with Durham, Bancroft was expected to be the man to provide solidity to the Aussies up top. Unlike some of his compatriots, the Western Australian never threw his wicket away and always battled - against the bowling and his own technique - at the crease, albeit it was painful to watch. But despite seeing off tough spells, the runs never quite came for him and eventually found himself undone by a ball with his name written on it. He fought, but he failed.

David Warner - 1.5/10

David Warner is the kind of player who you expect to set standards that batsmen can only dream of and so he did, in this Ashes. One bad match and bad shot turned into two, two into three and soon it came to a point where the existence of Warner in the team became a joke. Yes, Stuart Broad did get into his head after a couple of matches, but at times it did feel like Warner gave in even before trying. Perhaps it speaks volumes that his most significant contribution of this series came at Headingley where he showcased a pair of safe hands to cling on to the outside edges invoked by the Aussie bowlers. If it weren’t for his fielding, he’d have probably gotten a score below 1, just like he did all series.

Marcus Harris - 1/10

Marcus Harris should feel hard done by, as in all likeliness, he would have broken the records Warner set in this series had he played all five matches. While England at least had to toil hard and hit the right areas to dismiss Bancroft, for Harris, all they had to do was get one of their bowlers to come ‘round the wicket and poof, in no time, the southpaw was back to the pavilion. Harris faced a total of 121 deliveries in the six innings he batted, which is 52 less than Peter Siddle, who played two innings fewer. Unlike Warner, his fielding was also dodgy and at times it did feel like with Marcus Harris in the side, Australia were playing with 10 men. At least his series rating is the same as his batting position.

Usman Khawaja - 3.5./10

Khawaja’s axing felt justified after his constant failures to convert starts but looking back, maybe he was indeed hard done by. Mind you, his numbers are nowhere near as bad as the three people above him, but being a senior member of the team, a lot more was expected from Khawaja and truth be spoken, he failed to stand up. This was a golden opportunity for the 32-year-old to finally come out of the shadows and to put it in simple words, he blew it. A Labuschagne-like Ashes was expected from Khawaja but all he could manage was a bad impression of Marcus North. Nevertheless, a 3.5 just to show that he was better than the three openers.

Steve Smith - 10/10

Steve Smith could have gotten a king’s pair at The Oval and I would have still gone ahead and given him a perfect 10 just for the impact he had on the series. He literally carried the entire Australian team on his back from Day 1 of the series and it wasn’t until Day 45 of the tour that he finally fell prey to England’s plan, but by then, he’d already ensured the urn was going back home. In every sense, Smith’s Ashes - from the redemption arc to the return post his injury in the fourth Test - was as perfect as it could get. A 10/10 for Super Steve without second thoughts.

Marnus Labuschagne - 7.5/10

Marnus Labuschagne was almost half as good as Smith in the series, and England, as the series progressed, realized that half as good as Smith is twice as good as any other Aussie batsman. He filled the Smith-shaped void with perfection at Headingley and in the last two Tests, being a virtual opener, he tried his best to fend off the rampant English bowlers. He refused to get out below 50 and was always a thorn in England’s path - with bat, ball and on the field. All in all, he was by far the best thing to have happened to Australia in this Ashes and so he walks away with a solid 7.5.

Travis Head - 6.5/10

He saved Australia from a catastrophic defeat at Lord’s and in many ways, crisis almost brings the best out of him. The South Australian looked rock-solid in the first two Tests, but soon a glaring flaw in his technique - his inability to cope with right-handers ‘round the wicket - was exploited by Broad, first, then Archer. He was not the same in Leeds and Manchester and eventually - and unluckily - found himself out of the side at The Oval. A work in progress, but definitely a player who has shown enough to prove that he’s worth investing in.

Matthew Wade - 6.5/10

Wade is again someone who would reflect back on the series and feel he could have done a lot more, as for the majority of the series - despite two sublime centuries - he was a mere passenger in the middle-order. Unlike some of his teammates, there was no radical flaw in his technique nor was there a problem with his temperament, but he just seemed to throw his wicket away or get dismissed at just the wrong time. But Justin Langer would be happy that he now has someone other than Smith who he can bank on to score centuries and though this Ashes he was nowhere close to the prolific run-machine he is in domestic cricket, he proved that Wade 2.0 is indistinguishable from his older self that looked not suited to this level.

Mitchell Marsh - 6/10

It is never easy to carry drinks for 90% of the series and then deliver after getting drafted in, but as it turned out, much to everyone’s surprise, Marsh was the only shining light alongside Wade for the Aussies at The Oval. With some new-found glee, the Western Australian swung the Duke's ball more than anyone else on the pitch and more importantly, swung the Aussie crowd back to his side too. Saying that, he’ll be kicking himself for the way he was dismissed with the bat, with two loose shots. He ended up exceeding expectations and took a step in the right direction of resurrecting his career.

Tim Paine - 4/10

Is 4/10 a harsh judgement for the first Aussie skipper since Steve Waugh to retain the Ashes? Maybe, maybe not. With the bat, he looked like anything but a captain, while on the field, he fared much better comparatively, with the exception of DRS, of course. His rotation of his bowlers - unlike his counterpart Root - was commendable, and arguably, his masterstroke - that of bowling Labuschagne to Leach at Old Trafford - won Australia the Ashes. But at the same time, his decision to bowl first cost Australia the match at both Lord’s and Oval and while respect for Paine the human has increased ten folds, the jury is still out on both his batsmanship and captaincy.

Pat Cummins - 8.5/10

Rumours have it that Cummins is still out there somewhere, steaming in at full pace trying to hit the ‘top of off’. If there was ever any doubt regarding his label as the best - both for Australia and in the world - that has been well and truly put to bed post this series. The skipper threw the ball to Cummins at will when the Aussies were in need and every single time, the New South Welshman obliged and delivered. We learnt that for Cummins, the conditions, the pitch, the batsmen - none of it matters, and he will keep producing the results with the same efficiency as long as there’s a ball in his hand.

Josh Hazlewood - 8.5/10

The Josh Hazlewood of 2019 Ashes was unrecognizable from the 2015 one and this time around, had every single batsman at his mercy. Along with his consistency, he took his endurance, aggression and self-belief to a whole new level. Such was his impact that his skipper trusted him to deliver the telling blow at Old Trafford - with an hour left on the clock - and deliver he did, claiming the wicket which clinched Australia the Ashes. Hazlewood sure did leave the selectors red-faced for leaving him out at Edgbaston and he, alongside Cummins, was without a doubt Australia’s second best-performer of the series by some distance.

James Pattinson - 6/10

Coming into the series, James Pattinson was one of the stories of the Ashes and was expected to rip the English batting apart, thanks to his Dukes ball expertise. While he was a tad unlucky and wasn’t at his prolific best by any means at both Edgbaston and Headingley, he was quick to realize that his compatriots were out-bowling him and adjusted his role in no time to shift to a more conservative approach. Perhaps not playing back-to-back matches affected his rhythm but nevertheless, he did a commendable job on his return from injury.

Mitchell Starc - 6.5/10

Australia’s obsession with control and consistency meant that Mitchell Starc didn’t get a gig until the fourth Test and when he was eventually picked, he was asked to do a very un-Mitchell Starc like role. While he struggled in his initial few spells, he re-discovered himself as the match progressed and sported a brand new gimmick while also staying true to his old self, meaning it was a less-flashy, more sophisticated version of himself. He provided timely breakthroughs in both innings and also found his mojo with the bat and all honesty, can consider himself unlucky to have been overlooked for the fifth Test.

Nathan Lyon - 5.5/10

Nathan Lyon’s Ashes was a tale of two halves; pre-Headingley and beyond, and no, I’m not referring to his fumble. After picking 12 wickets in the first 3 innings of the series, he could manage just 8 in the next 7, an unimaginable fall, if there ever was one. He struggled with his lengths - often dragging it too short - and for the vast majority of the series, was outbowled by his counterpart Jack Leach. How much of an impact did the finger injury have on him is unknown, but by his own standards, Lyon had a forgettable Ashes.

Peter Siddle - 5/10

They say that great coaches don’t necessarily make great players and in this Ashes, that looked like the case for Peter Siddle - Australia’s Dukes ball mentor - who was well and truly outshadowed by his mates who he’d taught how to bowl the wobble seam. He was indeed extremely unlucky throughout the series having plenty of catches put down off his bowling, but at the same time let batsmen off the hook one too many times, pretty uncharacteristically. A sub-par Ashes for the “Banana man” considering the kind of damage he’d inflicted on the county circuit prior to the series.