Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar lambasted England for their performance in the Ashes series against Australia. Ben Stokes & Co. were comprehensively defeated by 4-1 in the assignment even though their arch-rivals were missing multiple key players in the team. While Josh Hazlewood missed the series in its entirety due to injury, Pat Cummins participated in just one Test out of five due to fitness concerns. Despite this, Australia went on to retain the Ashes rather comfortably.
Gavaskar labelled the England team as "paper tigers" and remarked that it isn't a surprise that they lost the series. He further went on to say that England's performances in most of the other sports is disappointing nowadays and they lose whenever they come up against formidable sides.
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“England’s performances in most sports are a huge let-down when set against the write-ups their teams receive from people who have hardly, if ever, played any sport at the highest level. The disappointment, therefore, is far greater when the teams show that they are more paper tigers than real ones,” Gavaskar wrote in his coloumn for Sportstar.
“England’s capitulation to Australia by a 4–1 margin was, therefore, not really a surprise for the non-English. It is extremely tough for visiting teams to win a Test series anywhere, especially in Australia and India. India themselves, however, were beaten comprehensively by New Zealand a couple of years ago and by South Africa late last year,” he added.
England's controversies off the field
England haven't only been criticised for their performances on the field, but have also come under scrutiny for their actions off it. Following their defeat against Australia, The Telegraph had reported that multiple England players spent a lot of time drinking at casinos in between Tests. Not to mention their controversial Noosa trip ahead of the third Test in Adelaide where the players were reportedly involved in excessive drinking.
Brook's nightclub incident
Additionally, The Telegraph also reported that Harry Brook had been involved in a fight with a bouncer at a nightclub in New Zealand during England's white-ball tour in October. The incident led to him almost losing his white-ball captaincy and it only increased the criticism against the England team for their unprofessional behaviour off the field. It remains to be seen if they will be able to improve their performances in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka and the 2026 T20 World Cup that will begin from February 7.