Katich: England's bowlers have been "set up to fail"

Simon Katich believes England's young players were "set up to fail" in the 2025-26 Ashes as they were "totally dismantled" by Australia.

England have struggled across the board this Ashes, particularly in their bowling.

A lack of preparation has been a key criticism of England's campaign so far, with young touring players not given opportunities to stay match fit throughout the series and a lack of participation in the Prime Minister’s XI clash in Canberra.

The criticism comes off the back of a lackluster team showing in Australia’s first innings, where bowlers like Matthew Potts conceded 0/141 off his 25 overs; the third-worst figures by an English bowler against Australia.

It's a detail that Katich believes has contributed to England's defeat this summer.

"It's no surprise to see this happen because the game plan is a simple game plan, but you've still got to execute it," Katich said on SEN Cricket.

"But you can execute it far easier against an opponent like this that was underprepared, (that) don't have the miles in the legs, and are young and inexperienced without a frontline spinner.

"This is what happens when you don't pick a frontline spinner who can do a lot of the hard work in hot conditions in Australia. You then burn your quicks through repeat spell, repeat spell, repeat spell, and you get what you get at the end of the day.

"They haven't thought things through, poorly planned, and you reap what you sow in this game.

"There's not much that they can sell at the moment because they've made some poor decisions, and they don't have the cattle to be able to make Australia work harder for this victory.

"Travis Head treated Matthew Potts like he was a clubby and that's what he served up.

"Travis Head probably gets more of a challenge making runs for Tea Tree Gully in South Australia.

"This is not having a crack at Matthew Potts. They've been set up to fail, their young guys, him, Bashir, even Bethell to a lesser extent.

"You don't play tour matches; you don't have anything during the tour. How are they expected to come out and play under pressure against what is not our best team... but it's still a very good test team with highly experienced players.

"They've been absolutely dismantled."