England turning on their own over outrageous claims after Ashes loss

A former England great has dropped the hammer on the current squad over claims made in the wake of the fourth Test loss.

Former England greats have turned on their own as the fifth and final Ashes Test gets set to get underway.

Australia retained the Ashes after the fourth Test at Old Trafford fell victim to rain with the Aussies surviving over the final two days.

Watch every game of the Major League Cricket Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

The fourth Test loss didn’t sit well with the English contingent as they cried foul for how the series came to an end, forgetting they won in the exact same circumstances previously.

But as the hits rolled in from the current England squad calling for changes to be made to the Ashes format, one former great dropped the hammer.

Steve Harmison didn’t like what he was hearing and said the current squad simply only had themselves to blame after dropping the opening two Tests.

“Honestly I can’t get my head around some of the stuff that’s come out,” he said.

“I can’t get my head around some of the people who have said ‘I think we should have a reserve day. The game lasts five days, an Ashes series is over five Test matches.

“England haven’t lost the Ashes because of two wet days in Manchester. England have lost the Ashes because they’ve made a mess of what happened in Test match one and Test match two, with mistakes they’ve made.

🤷 "Honestly I can't get my head around it. To say there should be a reserve day is ridiculous."

🏏 "It wasn't long ago we were asking to play 4-day Test matches. This is just madness."

Safe to say Steve Harmison is NOT impressed with the idea of reserve days in Test Cricket pic.twitter.com/smoubHTZEc

— talkSPORT 2 (@talkSPORT2) July 25, 2023

“Saying that there should be a reserve day, even in Ashes cricket, I think is ridiculous. Not long ago (coach) Brendon McCullum and (captain) Ben Stokes came into this Test match arena (and) blew the doors off and within three, four Test matches were asking for four day Test matches … now we want to make it six, this is just madness.

“We lose the Ashes and it’s county cricket’s fault. We lose the Ashes and it’s the Duke ball or the Kookaburra ball’s fault. Now we’re extending Test matches because we had two days of rain.”

Harmison’s outburst comes on the back of remarks from English star Joe Root who wanted play to be extended until 10pm at night.

“It doesn’t get dark until 10pm here in the summer,” Root told the BBC after the Test match. “Why can’t we play until the overs are bowled?”

Notoriously combative former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting had a direct response to Root’s dreams of changing the way Test cricket is played.

“You can’t just choose to change the laws of the game whenever you want to,” he said on The ICC Review podcast.

“I’m sure there have been times when England have wanted to not get back out there and play themselves. I mean, that’s just a ridiculous thing to say.”

Really, Joe. Really? (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Stuart Broad wrote in a column ahead of the final day’s play it would be “unjust” if weather had the definitive say in a match that ultimately decided the Ashes for another series.

Ponting showed some rare sympathy towards the blond-headed quick, before reminding him it was a regular issue with playing cricket outdoors in England.

“I can understand Stuart’s frustration,” he said. “You know, they had dominated that game.

“They had to dominate that game, they had to win that game to get themselves back in the series.

“So they’d done everything that they possibly could, but unfortunately the weather came in.

“So I can understand the frustration there, but it’s not like it’s the first time it’s ever happened, especially in the UK and especially in Manchester.

”It’s not the first time it’s happened here, won’t be the last time.”

Ponting was also keen to cheekily remind the Englishmen they had waited far too long in the series to display the type of swashbuckling cricket they produced in Manchester.

Originally published as England turning on their own over outrageous claims after Ashes loss