This Stat Highlights The Horrors Of England’s Batting In Test Cricket This Year

The England batters put on a horror show as Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the ongoing Ashes series on Tuesday. Australia won the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) by an innings and 14 runs as England were bowled out for scores of 185 and 68. Not just the ongoing Ashes series but the year 2021 in general has been a nightmare for the England Test side, especially in the batting department. Captain Joe Root enjoyed a career-best season from a personal point of view as he plundered 1708 runs, the third-most by any player in a calendar year.

However, the rest of the England batters had a year to forget as no other player, apart from Root, managed to cross the 600-run mark in Test cricket this year.

To make their case even worse, extras have been the Three Lions’ third-highest run-getter in the longest format over the past 12 months.

The Root-led side have accumulated 412 runs from extras — no-balls, wides, leg byes and byes — their third-highest source of runs after Root and opener Rory Burns (530).

Burns too has been under the scanner for throwing away his wicket cheaply on too many occasions. For the record, He has six ducks to his name in Test cricket.

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England have struggled with the bat, especially at the top of the order, with the likes of Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Haseeb Hameed all failing to conjure much with the willow.

With the ongoing Ashes series done and dusted following England defeat in the Boxing Day Test, the visitors will look to salvage some pride in the final two Tests, which will be played in Sydney and Hobart, respectively, after the new year.