By Jeremy Horne
January 13 2003

The ashes are over and after another humiliation, what does the future hold for England? In the first of a three-part series review, we analyse the performances of some of England’s touring squad. All players are rated out of 10, with 6 considered as average. Ratings are given for all players who took played in at least one game on the tour.

MARK BUTCHER- 6
Started the series well with two solid innings in the first test, but was disappointing after that. His century in the last test saved his tour and possibly his place in the England side come the summer. Given his record against the Aussies I think he could have done a lot better.

ANDY CADDICK- 7
Had to cope with a lot given injuries to Gough, Jones and Flintoff aswell as Hoggard’s loss of form and at times the strain was too much. Like Butcher, the last test really helped him out and he got some well-deserved wickets. He needs more support from the other bowlers.

GRANDAD (JOHN CRAWLEY)- 7
Improved on his rather poor record against Australia, but still scores far too slowly. If he is going to bat in the lower order he needs to speed up given that the quality of our tail is poor. Maybe he’d be better at 4 or 5 where he can take his time in order to have a more aggressive player in the lower order.

RICHARD DAWSON- 5
Bowled well in his first test of the tour, but didn’t come up with the amount of wickets we needed from him. Wasn’t helped by Hussain’s reluctance to bowl him. Still has a lot to learn and maybe England should start looking at other spinners.

ANDREW FLINTOFF- 4
Unable to recover from his hernia operation and was a major loss for us given that it weakened our tail and also took away a useful bowling option. In the tour games he did play, he was clearly still hampered and his performance was effected.

JAMES FOSTER- 7
Provided a useful replacement when Stewart was injured in the fourth test. His keeping was tidy and he supported Craig White well in the first innings. He has got talent, but as long as Stewart stays fit he may not get too many chances to show it over the coming year.

ASHLEY GILES- 7
Unfortunate end to what had been a pretty solid tour. Bowled well in the first test and was useful in the tour matches. Not anywhere near as good as the world’s best, but can be useful at times.

STEVE HARMISON- 5
Had an important job to do after the injuries to Gough and Jones and at times showed some promise. He struggled a lot with his line and needs to practice getting it right in order to take more wickets. Caused a couple of injuries whilst bowling in the nets- if only he could have bowled like that when it mattered!

MATTHEW HOGGARD- 5
A poor tour for the promising young bowler. He came back well in the last test, but struggled to get the ball to swing enough throughout the series.

The rest of the ratings will be up later this week.