'Can't remember a worse touring squad in last 20 years' - Ed Cowan belts Joe Root's England for poor Ashes show

The first two Ashes Test didn’t produce the kind of result that England might have expected. Several cricketers have criticized England’s tactics in these two games. Also, England made plenty of mistakes while picking the playing XI in both games.

Former Australian opener Ed Cowan criticized the English side and went on to say that this was the worst touring side in the last 20 years on Australian soil. Cowan also pointed out that the Ashes is really not competitive anymore as England last won the series back in 2010-11.

England have lost 11 of its last 12 Ashes Test in Australia since 2013. The team lost the second Test of the ongoing series by 275 runs in Adelaide. While appearing in The Grandstand Cricket Podcast, Cowan spoke:

“It is fair to say I genuinely can’t remember a worse touring squad in the last 20 years. Maybe the West Indies in the mid-2000s when they had that awkward transition. But this could be a huge blowout.”

Test cricket needs great contests: Ed Cowan

Cowan said that England suffering a humiliating loss against the hands of Australia is not good for Test cricket. He further added that Test cricket needs great games and that could only happen if both the teams are equally strong.

“It kind of makes you sad because Test cricket needs great contests. It needs a strong England. It needs a strong Australia and it needs a strong Ashes. We are not really seeing that at all,” he added.

Cowan further mentioned that England has won only two Ashes Tests in the last 15 years and that he feels sorry for the touring team.

“England have won two Ashes Tests in Australia in the last 15 years. And beating the c**p out of them isn’t fun. It is not good for the game. I feel sorry for them. I’m actually starting to feel sorry for the touring team,” he added.

The English team has already been criticized for the choices it made in the first two Tests. Cowan mentioned that the bowling unit is looking ageing and lacks variation. He also mentioned that apart from Root and Dawid Malan no other batter has been able to adjust to the situation.

“The bowling looks ageing. It looks slow in parts and it looks like it lacks variation so there is nowhere to go,” Cowan added.