'Embarrassing and gutless' - Ian Botham lambasts England after their dismal showing in The Ashes

The England cricket team was absolutely hammered by the Australian side in The Ashes series. The Joe Root-led side lost the five-match series 0-4, as the Aussies proved to be superior to their counterparts.

And now, former England cricket legend Ian Botham has slammed the England side for their dismal showing in The Ashes. Botham opined that England were ‘gutless’ in The Ashes series against Australia, and added that the England Test side has disappointed people back home as well.

Botham also said that the players should be disappointed with their performance, and strongly feels that England should now focus on red-ball cricket.

“It’s been embarrassing, if I am honest, gutless. I thought the way that they performed today will have disappointed me and disappointed everyone back home. They should be disappointed in that dressing room as well, with the performance. The one thing we have to do now is take our heads out of the sand and we need to pull together and prioritise red ball cricket,” said Ian Botham in a chat with Channel 7.

A lot of players could be at the end of their careers: Ian Botham

Ian Botham also added that a lot of England players might be at the end of their careers after this Ashes defeat. Adding that many England cricketers might be sent back to the domestic arena so that they can learn how to play at the international level, Botham reckoned that the way England selected their playing XI disappointed him.

“They’ve been completely steam-rollered and … a lot of these guys could be at the end of their careers. And a lot will be sent back to learn how to play at this level because the Australian public wanted a fight and they haven’t had it. It’s disappointing and some of it has been embarrassing – selections, winning the toss and bowling when it’s overcast on a green pitch in Brisbane, where I played for a year and could have told them exactly what it was going to do,” said Botham.

Botham concluded by stating that James Anderson and Stuart Broad who have more than 1000 Test wickets together were seen carrying the drinks and that does not make sense to him.

“Then we left two guys with 1,156 wickets [Anderson and Broad] sitting in the stand and carrying the drinks. There’s been a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense,” concluded Botham.