Fleming: Why England will regret series loss

Damien Fleming believes England will rue their lack of planning for this Ashes series, which has seen them be comprehensively beaten.

With a five-wicket win on Thursday at the SCG, Australia would once again retained the urn, doing so with a 4-1 series victory.

This was despite many, particularly in England, believing that this side was capable of winning their first series in Australia since 2010/11.

Following this loss, the English Cricket Board (ECB) have confirmed that there will be a review of the Ashes campaign, which will examine areas like their preparation, planning and individual performances amongst other aspects.

But with their fourth Ashes defeat away from home, the former Australian fast bowler thinks that there will be some regret amongst the group about how the tour panned out.

“For England, they are going to regret it,” Fleming noted on SEN Cricket post-game.

“They are going to look back and go, ‘we stuffed this up’.

“This three-year plan, which we never saw any semblance of a plan, could have been done so much better."

While there is certainly disappointment within the England camp of yet another away Ashes series going awry, there have been positives on this tour.

The visitors did manage to avoid the fate that their three previous tours incurred by winning the Fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

And it has seen some players enhance their reputation following strong performances in the back end of the series.

“But they won in Melbourne,” he continued.

“Last Test (in Sydney), Jacob Bethell looks (like) a gun, looks an absolute star.

“And Josh Tongue with the ball, I think they have got someone who can get wickets all around the world.”