The heady heights of summer 2005 must seem far, far away for an England side of waning success. Of the victorious eleven (twelve if you count last-match replacement Paul Collingwood) very few took the field in the third Test currently going on against New Zealand.

The five-man bowling attack that took the fight to the Australian side so convincingly was completely absent. Injuries have struck every member of that attack.  Ashley Giles was forced into retirement whilst Simon Jones has not been fit enough to play in a match for England since the Test that took England 2-1 up over Australia.

Most notably, England’s man-of-the-series for the 2005 Ashes, Andrew Flintoff, has suffered a string of injuries and missed crucial series' for his country ever since. It seems unfair to call England’s 2005 success a ‘blip’ based on recent performance – the team that steam-rollered their way through every side they came across to sit at the top of the world in September, 2005, are not present to defend themselves.

'The inevitable conclusion, of course, is that the England teams of 2005 and 2008 must be regarded as two separate entities'


The team that won the Ashes unarguably had the talent to beat any team they came across. They demonstrated this with a string of successes; a run of eight successive Test match victories was recorded shortly before England proved their true worth by toppling Australia.

Unfortunately, the two winter tours of Pakistan and India, which followed, set the tone for things to come. By the end of the winter, England had lost Ashley Giles, Michael Vaughan, Simon Jones, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison to injuries and opening bat Marcus Trescothick to a stress related illness, which would end his international career. That is half of the Ashes-winning side.

England have certainly picked up promising new talent since 2005 – Alastair Cook boasts a century on every continent he has played on whilst Monty Panesar has impressed on a number of occasions, but the experience England have lost in their key absences is not replaceable overnight; it will have to be built up from scratch.  

Aside from an ankle injury to Brett Lee, the Australians of 2005 have been very lucky with injuries. It is fair to say that England have been decimated by them. Being able to hold together the same winning side has had its worth proven by the Aussies who, until recently, had not suffered a defeat since the 2005 Ashes.

The inevitable conclusion, of course, is that the England teams of 2005 and 2008 must be regarded as two separate entities. The 2005 Ashes win was certainly not a ‘blip’ nor a ‘fluke’ but the 2008 side would almost certainly be incapable of repeating such feats. England must come to accept that they are no longer the 2005 side and begin their rebuilding.