The Ashes

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Fast bowler Gus Atkinson needs to work on his body language, according to former England seamer Stuart Broad.

On Monday, Atkinson, 27, became the third England pace bowler to be ruled out of the Ashes series after confirmation he will miss the final Test against Australia in Sydney because of a hamstring injury.

Atkinson took six wickets at an average of 47 in this winter's series down under and Broad, who took 604 Test wickets, wants to see more.

"Atkinson has amazing attributes," Broad told Sky Sports., external "He still averages under 25 with the ball, he wobbles the seam, he can swing it, he's tall, he's consistent, but his body language is not of a Test-match bowler in the battle. He was work to do on that.

"That doesn't matter so much when you're playing teams you should dominate and beat, but not against top teams, so his areas of improvement aren't attributes or mental ability to cope with pressure but letting your team know you are leading this group.

"I read a piece about Tiger Woods, who would never look at the floor when golfing. His eyes would always be above the horizon, which is really strong for body language.

"When I was under pressure or struggling I would keep my eyes above the horizon because then someone couldn't tell if I'd bowled a good or bad ball. You're constantly in the battle and your opposition cannot feel like they are getting on top of you."

Marc Higginson
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

In the aftermath of England surrendering the Ashes, batter Joe Root was asked if changes needed to be made to the team's management.

He was unequivocal, saying: "In terms of the playing group, we're absolutely committed to the management."

He went further by suggesting every player that appeared in the Ashes down under four years ago under Root's captaincy has improved under head coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes.

But is that true? BBC Sport, with the help of CricViz's Ashwanth Kavuluri, has crunched the numbers.

The players who played in Australia four years ago and who also appeared in this series are Root and Stokes, opener Zak Crawley, batter Ollie Pope and fast bowler Mark Wood.

We have also looked at left-arm spinner Jack Leach who played in the last Ashes series down under, has appeared regularly under McCullum and Stokes, and who still harbours hopes of breaking back into the fold.

As you might expect, Root's Test performances have remained consistent - he averaged almost 60 in the period from September 2019 and leading up to the last Ashes down under in 2021.

His form dipped in England's 4-0 series defeat but he was back to averaging in the 50s under Stokes and McCullum and finally scored his first century in Australia in the second Test of this series in Brisbane.

Both Pope and Crawley have improved - Pope averaged 33.74 between 2019 and the start of the last Ashes down under, with a strike-rate of 51.17. Since the 2021-22 Ashes, and going into the current series, he was averaging 39.01 and striking at 72.23. He went from one century in 18 Tests (6%) to eight in 38 (21%).

As for Crawley, he's gone from averaging 28.34 and striking at 53.09 to 33.01 and 71.34. Interestingly, Crawley has maintained that latter average down under - unlike Root and Pope, though he is scoring marginally slower.

Ben Stokes' batting numbers have regressed in our chosen time periods (from 43.24 between September 2019 and December 2021 to 34.91 at the start of this series), but his bowling has improved.

Stokes is England's joint-highest wicket-taker in Tests in 2025, alongside Josh Tongue, and his influence as captain is pretty much immeasurable.

Wood's record in the Bazball era is remarkably similar to what it was before, as is Leach's.

In short, of the players we looked at, none have become worse and most batters have improved, both in terms of runs and strike-rate.

Image source, Herald Sun

The fallout from the two-day Melbourne Test continues in Australia with one newspaper, the Herald Sun Sunday, labelling the match 'Tiktok cricket'.

Many of the newspapers down under are pointing out the financial hit which Cricket Australia will take following the quickfire fourth Test, with some estimates putting the losses at about £5m.

Melbourne Cricket Ground head curator Matthew Page said he left was in a "state of shock" by the events which unfolded but a former Australian groundsman said there should be few excuses.

Speaking to the Herald Sun,, external Tony Hemming, who has prepared pitches in England, Australia, Pakistan and now Bangladesh, said: "I saw his [Page's] press conference before the game where he talked it up as a seaming wicket and mentioned a 'recipe'.

"But if the recipe for the previous Indian Test was successful, why increase the grass cover? I would never take that risk.

"With all the bells and whistles available, it's the curator's responsibility to read the weather and say, 'I need a greenhouse, I need heating - this is what I need to do to produce the pitch I want.

"I've prepared 20 Test wickets in my career, and for me it's the pinnacle. If I were in that position, I would be doing everything possible to get it absolutely right - not experimenting at the most important game of the season."