red herrings and an apology

Would Monty have made the difference?

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By Nick Miller

Much of the focus over England's capitulation in the Ashes has concerned Duncan Fletcher's team selection.

Monty or Gilo? Read or Jones? Anderson or Mahmood?

In Brisbane and Adelaide England picked Giles, Jones and Anderson, and we got pasted. In Perth they picked Panesar, Jones and Mahmood, and we got pasted. In Melbourne they picked Panesar, Read and Mahmood, and we're in the process of getting pasted.

A particularly gruesome theme for the England fan, but it goes to prove a point.

Australia were too strong for England from the very start of the tour, and by 'England' I mean any team Fletcher could have put out, not just the one that did play in the three-and-a-half games so far. England have lost, and the selection issue has been something of a red herring.

Like most commentators, pundits and general media types, I definitely would have played Panesar and probably Read, but in all likelihood it would not have made the blindest bit of difference.

Panesar may have taken a wicket or two more at Brisbane, but Australia won by 277 runs - would he have saved that many runs? Probably not.

Read is many people's choice for the gloves because he is the better keeper, but Jones hasn't done much wrong behind the stumps (only a missed stumping and a tricky drop from a steepler in Perth spring to mind). Jones was in the side for his batting, which failed, but can anyone put their hand on their heart and say Read would have made many more runs?

Saying that either of our keepers is a better batsman at the moment is like saying slamming your hand in the car door is better than a kick to the groin.

The point is Australia have won these Ashes in exactly the same way that England won them in 2005; the home side have played to their potential, and the tourists haven't. And when a team containing Ponting, Hussey, McGrath and Warne plays well then very few can live with them.

Meanwhile, at the start of this series I was overcome with mindless optimism and predicted a 2-1 Ashes win for England.

Please accept my heartfelt apologies to anyone who took my frankly bonkers ramblings seriously in any way. Even more heartfelt apologies to anyone I infected with the vile poison of optimism. And to those who possibly slapped a tenner down at their local bookies in support of my foolishness.....well.....that's just your own fault.