The English were confident pre-Ashes, believing that the current Australian batting line up was weak and ready to be exploited by their fearsome attack.
Here are a selection of bowling figures from the current Ashes series:
G. Atkinson 0/61, 1/114
J. Archer 0/45, 1/87
J. Tongue 1/64
B. Carse 3/181 match figures, 4/152
B. Stokes 0/53
W. Jacks 2/105, 1/107
M. Potts 0/141
Carse was the only England bowler to take 20 wickets in the series - those wickets cost over 30 runs apiece and his economy rate was near 5 runs per over. Outside of Josh Tongue and the skipper & all-rounder Stokes, the rest of the England attack were either flayed or not present due to injuries.
Head, Carey & Smith tucked in and filled their boots, particularly, the former, who amassed over six hundred runs in the series with three centuries.
Australia posted totals of 205/2 in Perth, 511 in Brisbane, scored over 700 runs in Adelaide, then finished the series with a whopping 567 in Sydney.
For those who have been living under a rock for the past month or so, England surrendered the Ashes is record quick time, going on to lose the series 4-1.
Now, imagine how one sided it would have been if Cummins, Hazlewood & Lyon had been fit...
Starc, ably supported by Boland and Neser, was already far too much for the tourists.
The English have a near total disregard for the World Test Championship - preferring to focus on building towards the next Ashes, which they will already be thinking about on their flight home following their latest drubbing at the hands of their fiercest rivals. County Cricket is an afterthought nowadays, with flashing lights and kiddie cricket taking centre stage in the English summer. As for that garbage The Hundred...don't make me laugh.