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Aussie whitewash

Image: Mitchell Johnson inspired his Australian side to win the 2013/14 Ashes 5-0

It started so promisingly, a wide full toss down the legside. That was Mitchell Johnson’s first ball of the 2013/14 Ashes.

It brought huge cheers from the Barmy Army and must have been a comforting, and familiar sight for the England tourists, so far away from home.

Johnson had been over-hyped and over-moustached prior to the first Brisbane Test. We’d heard how he was a rejuvenated bowler, one who had rediscovered his rhythm and pace, even seeing glimpses of it during an impressive stint in the Champions Trophy in England earlier that year.

But before Johnson was unleashed, England first impressed with the ball, dismissing Australia for 295, although it should have been fewer were it not for a counter-attacking 94 from Brad Haddin (something which would repeat itself throughout the series).

Stuart Broad had bowled the visitors into a great position, with the wickets of the Australian top four, as the hosts stuttered to 132-6.

He finished with impressive figures of 6-81 but Australia’s last four wickets cost 163 runs as they wrestled back some of the momentum.

Johnson’s wayward start might have had England licking their lips but soon after, his spell would have them licking their wounds.

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It was Ryan Harris who grabbed the first wicket of the innings – that of Alastair Cook – before Johnson bounced out a troubled Jonathan Trott, who would fly back from the tour following the Test due to a stress-related illness.

The writing was on the wall and once some brief resistance from Kevin Pietersen and Michael Carberry – who made a gutsy 40 in his first Ashes knock – was accounted for, not one more England batsman passed double figures, bar 32 from Broad.

England collapsed from 82-2 to 91-8, eventually all out for 136, with Johnson claiming 4-61.

The carnage continued for the rest of the Test, as David Warner smashed 124 from 154 balls, one of two second innings hundreds he hit in the series, which would stick the boot into a weary England.

Michael Clarke also scored a quick-fire ton as Australia declared on 401-7 and set England an insurmountable 561-run target.

Johnson was chief destroyer in the second innings too with 5-42 as England were skittled out for 179 and fell to an emphatic 381-run defeat.

Such was the manner of the loss that already concerns were raised of a 5-0 drubbing, especially with the loss of Trott, the form of Johnson and the fervent home support from the Aussie punters and press.

The Australian papers had been giving England a kicking ever since their arrival, Broad in particular, due to his supposed cheating earlier in the year when he didn’t walk after a thick edge in the Trent Bridge Test.

The second Test followed a similar narrative to the first. Clarke and Haddin hit hundreds, Johnson took seven first-innings wickets and Warner (83) made second innings runs.

England made a slightly better fist of their 531 fourth-innings target, dismissed for 312 this time, for only a 218-run defeat.

A certain Ben Stokes had made his Test debut in the game, but it would be the next Test in Perth where he would really announce himself on the world stage.

Stokes (120) scored a sensational maiden ton with his straight hitting down the ground a particular feature, especially on a day five pitch that had cracks so big that the ball could disappear down them let alone deviate off them.

Sadly his efforts were in vain, in another heavy defeat, as England were again set a target in excess of 500.

The 150-run defeat, although their most character-filled of the series, was their third straight and ensured the Aussies had recaptured the Ashes, and before Christmas.

It wasn’t to be the only loss England would suffer over the festive season either, as Graeme Swann left the tour and retired from cricket, with a persistent elbow injury hampering his bowling.

Despite the departure of their senior spinner, England had a sniff of a first win at Melbourne, even grabbing a first-innings lead for the first time in the series, although the 51-run advantage could have been even greater had it not been for handy lower-order runs again from Haddin.

Cook scored 51 and Pietersen 49 to give England a good platform to build on in their second innings but unlike the home side, England’s last five wickets fell in a flash, for just six runs.

It left the Aussies a 231-run target which they made light work of, with Rogers notching a hundred in an eight-wicket win.

On to Sydney and England made more changes. Gary Ballance, Scott Borthwick and Boyd Rankin made Test debuts, although none were much to write home about.

Rankin suffered from a combination of cramps, and injuries to his hamstring and shoulder, while Borthwick went at over six runs an over for the Test.

Ballance scored only 25 runs across his two innings but he – and the man he replaced in the side, Joe Root – has at least gone on to have a very successful 18 months in the side since.

Australia won by 281 runs, claimed the series whitewash 5-0 and an England side already in turmoil suffered a further blow with the supposedly ‘disengaged’ Pietersen sacked, and a tell-all autobiography from the batsman later in the year exposing further cracks.

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