Ashes series player ratings: Our verdict on who fired and who flopped for England and Australia

England's batsmen wilted once again under pressure in Australia on Sunday, falling from 68-0 to 124 all-out to see genuine hopes of an Ashes Test win disappear in the blink of an eye.

It brought an abrupt end to a dismal series for England, leaving Pat Cummins and his Australia side with plenty to celebrate.

With the dust settling on a disappointing display, here is our verdict on each of the England players who featured in this series. And Australia's, if you can stomach it.

England ratings

Rory Burns

Technical deficiencies were exposed by the first ball of the series and he never recovered. Recalled for Hobart but dozy run out and scratchy 26 feels like the end of the road. 2/10

Haseeb Hameed

Should never have been picked for Australia given his limited scoring range against pace and bounce and confirmed on this tour he was rushed back too soon last summer. Started well enough in Brisbane but averaged 10 with his confidence completely shot. 2/10

Zak Crawley

Provided a glimpse of something to build on with his attractive, high quality strokeplay but staying in and seeing the job through remains his problem. West Indies tour is a big series for him. Good slip fielder. 4/10

Dawid Malan

Faded after two 80s in his first three innings. Ended up averaging 24 in the series, and had problems with Nathan Lyon that first undermined his confidence. Looked drained after Sydney and four months on the road. 4/10

Joe Root

Averaged 32 in the series and first Ashes hundred in Australia never looked likely after the first innings in Melbourne. He was let down by a lack of support when the series was alive but also struggled to leave the ball in his rush to dominate. Lack of runs in Australia stains his fine record and played his part in the many wrong turns taken by the management group. 4/10

Ben Stokes

Only had one good Test in Sydney and showed that even great players need decent preparation. Flogged into the ground bowling short balls. Averaged 71 with the ball, and 23 with the bat, a succession of soft dismissals ruining his tour. Root needed more from his deputy. 4/10

Ollie Pope

Lacks the patience to play at Test level and his off stump guard is just not working. He does not know what to play or leave and for all the promise he is currently turning into the new Mark Ramprakash. A talent unfulfilled. 2/10

Jonny Bairstow

His fighting qualities were never in doubt and he saved his career with a brilliant Sydney hundred, batting through the pain of a broken thumb. Is still quick between the wickets and a good fielder, but as a senior player he needs to maintain his fitness to set an example to younger, less experienced members of the side like Robinson. 7/10

Jos Buttler

Never settled on a method for batting in Australia, his keeping was scrappy and he lacked fizz and energy behind the stumps. He spent last summer pondering whether to go to Australia over family arrangements and perhaps that played on his mind. He never looked happy on the field. 3/10

Sam Billings

Jaunty debut and really what else could he do when joining a sinking ship? Has given himself a chance of starting the West Indies tour as first choice keeper but will he put red ball cricket first next summer when the IPL starts? 5/10

Chris Woakes

Totally innocuous with the Kookaburra and is becoming unpickable overseas. Was given his chance at Brisbane with the new ball but lacked a cutting edge. Averaged 55.33 with the ball and his batting never made up for it. 3/10

Mark Wood

Dismissed good players and bowled with high pace and heart throughout. Should have played in Adelaide when the series was still alive. That decision alone summed up England. Hooked Cummins for three sixes which gave him confidence to work over Australia’s captain in Hobart setting a marker for the 2023 Ashes. 8/10

Stuart Broad

Respectable figures of 13 wickets at 26, including his first five fer in Australia for a decade, but never threatened to run through Australia and England lacked potency with the new ball. Was right to point finger at batsmen but is standing over the trapdoor as the calls for change ring around this squad. 6/10

Ollie Robinson

Two career paths are opening for this fine bowler. He could spend the next five years in Test cricket taking 200 plus wickets or fade back into county cricket anonymity. It is his choice. Does he want it badly enough? England must be tough and give him one more chance to improve his fitness or leave him out. 5/10

James Anderson

Topped the bowling averages and still has a few Test matches left in the tank. He wants to mentor the next generation and help Root transition the team but is worried the ECB wants blood after this tour. Broad and Anderson cannot play together again. It is time to properly commit to rebuilding. 6/10

Jack Leach

Did well to recover from Brisbane to bowl well in Sydney where he showed the value of a spinner having some rhythm from bowling overs. Who would have thought it? Never been handled properly by Root and England need to give a wrist spinner a chance of they do not rate Leach. 4/10

Australia ratings

David Warner

Started strongly with two nineties in his first two knocks but went downhill from there. A couple of fast thirties to get things going for Australia on occasion, before a pair to end the final Test. Will be disappointed, especially to get out to Stuart Broad, again, twice in two matches. One of the few ‘match-ups’ that England have resoundingly won. 5/10

Marcus Harris

A slow start and about the only Australian who had his place under scrutiny going into the third Test, where a top score of 75 set things up beautifully for a crunching Australian win at Melbourne. Unlucky to lose his place in the side, falling foul of there simply not being enough berths to cram in Australia’s in-form batters. 5/10

Usman Khawaja

Made himself undroppable after twin tons in Sydney in a match where he was only meant to perform the temporary role of a Covid replacement. A bit unlucky to therefore be rewarded with the task of opening on a green top. 8/10

Marnus Labuschagne

A first Ashes ton and the second most runs in a series is nothing to frown at. However, there’s something quite human about Labuschagne’s contributions drying up somewhat the moment he was crowned the world’s top-ranked Test batsman after the second Test. Also provided the funniest moment of the tour, tripping over his feet like a newborn deer on ice to a Stuart Broad delivery which clattered into middle stump. 7/10

Steven Smith

A quiet series… for Steve Smith. Still averaged more than any England batter bar Joe Root but since we were expecting tons for fun after his ridiculous 2019 Ashes campaign, we were left wanting more. Susceptible to the short, fast one in the end. 6/10

Travis Head

Quite the series to cement himself in Australia’s top five. Two tons and going at a remarkable strike rate of 86, Head is exactly the middle order ballast that Australia need. Plays with intent and a plan and more often than not executed. Brilliant to watch and put Australia in strong positions every time. 9/10

Cameron Green

Australia have been searching for a genuine all-rounder since Keith Miller in the 1950s. It looked at first as if they’d found a proper fast bowler rather than someone handy with the bat, as 22-year-old Green kept on finding the outside edges of Root, Stokes and Malan but couldn’t find a run. However, the moment the criticism came the runs flowed, and fast. Two seventy-odds in the last two Tests and Australia have something special here. 8/10

Alex Carey

Didn’t quite create the impression he will have wanted as Australia’s new gloveman but still managed one half-century (and a 49) more than most of England’s batsmen. Has a lot to prove if he wants to become Australia’s permanent wicketkeeper but tidy enough behind the stumps in a difficult series for wicketkeepers on both sides. 5/10

Mitchell Starc

Quite the statement-maker of a series for Starc, who had criticism about his economy, his body language and everything in between coming into the series. Got Rory Burns first ball and then continued to lead Australia’s attack, repeatedly sending down deliveries beyond 90 miles per hour over the course of all five matches, the only seam bowler to do so. Behind only his captain for wickets (19). 8/10

Pat Cummins

Captain fantastic, he’s not nicknamed Postman Pat (because he delivers) for nothing. A captaincy debut which couldn’t really have gone much better, with the added personal accolade of having taken the most wickets (21) at an average in the teens. 9/10

Nathan Lyon

A spinner thriving where they’re not meant to, that Lyon ended up with 16 wickets on pitches which preferred seam throughout is testament to his skill. A small minus mark to his name when Australia failed to bowl out England in Sydney, but it wasn’t as if the pitch was a ragged turner by that stage either. Good fun with the bat too, delivering the equal most sixes (four) across the series. 7/10

Scott Boland

A horses-for-courses pick, like Khawaja Boland made himself undroppable after a searing innings of six wickets for seven runs in Melbourne. Eighteen wickets in three Tests and suddenly the veteran Victorian might find himself a Test regular. An Ashes series bowling average in the teens shows you quite what a wild ride it’s been. 8/10

Josh Hazlewood

Probing, quick and relentless, his injury enforced absence from all Tests bar the first probably mean that England’s innings totals throughout this series have a few more runs to them than may have been the case. Hard though this might be to believe. 6/10

Jhye Richardson

One match, one five-wicket haul. Did everything he was asked of when Josh Hazlewood’s “back stiffness” materialised into something more serious. Unlucky not to retain his spot come the Melbourne Test but Australia’s shrewd selection policy leaves no prisoners. The 25-year-old has a decent Test career ahead of him once a couple of members of Australia’s “fast-bowling cartel” retire. 7/10

Michael Neser

Received an unexpected debut in Adelaide after captain Cummins came a cropper as a Covid close contact. A wicket in his first over and Neser appeared to have slotted comfortably into the demands of Test cricket. Added just one more to his tally though, and while it was no bad showing, Australia’s seam bowling stocks are too strong to allow Neser a regular spot. 5/10