Ashes 2015 Combined XI: The men who got it right

Ashes 2015 Combined XI: The men who got it right: It was an eventful Ashes series as both teams had highs and lows. England succumbed to defeat by an innings and 46 runs in the fifth Test to narrow the margin of their 2015 Ashes series victory to 3-2. It was a series where once a team was ahead the other one surrendered meekly. But despite the matches being one sided, the series was an enthralling one. The series also showed that Australia have a lot of work to do if they want to be counted as side which can win everywhere round the globe. But that problem is not confined to the Aussies. Most sides seem a fish out of water when not in their territory. For either sides there were plenty of memorable performances. And that makes our task of making the combined Xi from both teams, a bit tasking. Here, we look at Ashes 2015 Combined XI: The men who got it right 1. Chris Rogers: Chris Rogers. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The 37-year-old has retired from Test cricket and Australia will be sad to watch him go. He was by a distance the most reliable of the four openers on show and chipped in with 480 runs at 60 – the highest average of anyone. Rogers was named Australia’s player of the series. He made one century but could have had two, but fell on 95 at Cardiff. 2. Alastair Cook (Captain): Alastair Cook. (Photo Source: Getty Images) A redemptive summer for Cook the captain. He outsmarted the opposite number, Michael Clarke in the decisive moments and led the side imaginatively on the field. His two substantial scores of the series, 96 and 85 came in losing causes at Lord’s and The Oval, but his game looked in good order. He is now the leading run scorer in Test cricket among active cricket players. 3. Steve Smith: Steve Smith. (© Getty Images) Smith came into the series as the world’s number one batsman but with Stuart Broad publicly questioning his ability to deal with the English conditions he had a challenge ahead of him at number three. And guess what he finished as the top run-scorer in the series, with 508 runs at an average of 56.44. Smith hit a double ton at Lord’s and another hundred in the fifth Test but also made four consecutive single-figure scores at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge. He had no real competition for the coveted spot at first drop, with England axing Gary Ballance after two Tests and his replacement, Ian Bell finishing the series with an average of 26.87. 4. Joe Root: Ian Bell made sure England take lead in the Edgbaston Test. (© Getty Images) Root scored England’s only two centuries, both to set up important victories, and added a pair of fifties too, also chipped in with four wickets and eight catches. In an Ashes series in which the middle orders from both sides largely failed to deliver, England’s Joe Root was head and shoulders above the rest. Never a chance of missing the XI, Root was named England’s player of the series and had moved to the ICC’s No.1 Test batting rank, before it was reclaimed by Smith with his Oval ton. Root finished third on the run scoring charts with 460 at an average of 57.50. 5. Adam Voges: LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 21: Adam Voges of Australia plays a shot during day two of the 5th Investec Ashes Test match between England and Australia at The Kia Oval on August 21, 2015 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mitchell Gunn/Getty Images) We might be picking him because of a lack of worthy contenders for the number 5 spot but he proved in the last two Tests that he is a much better player than the numbers show. Voges still ended up being the team’s fourth highest scorer with 201 runs at 28.71. His innings of 76 at the Oval may have secured the 35-year-old a place in the side for the upcoming Bangladesh series. 6. Ben Stokes: Ben Stokes. (© Getty Images) Stokes (201 runs and 11 wickets) fought with Mitch Marsh and Moeen Ali to earn the spot. Still an inconsistent cricketer, but brimming with talent Stokes mustered a couple of half-centuries, a career-best return of 6 for 36 at Nottingham and a catch that left the world astonished. He promises to be the all-rounder England has been missing since Flintoff, while he needs to do it more often to be on the same line. 7. Peter Nevill (wicket keeper): Peter Nevill . (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) Nevill took seven catches on debut, kept tidily and batted with concentration. Jos Buttler’s worrying lack of runs made that enough to earn the nod. No keeper had a great series with the bat, with Nevill’s numbers of 143 at 23.83 the better of the two. More importantly he completed 17 dismissals, five more than counterpart Jos Buttler. 8. Stuart Broad: Stuart Broad. (© Getty Images) Arguably Broad’s best-ever series for England. He was the top wicket taker in the series with 21 scalps at an average of 20.90 and was unlucky to miss out on being awarded player of the series. His spell at Trent Bridge, where took 8-15, will live on in Ashes folklore forever. He displayed a level of consistency that has often proved elusive for him and turned the series in that career-defining, unforgettable spell of 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge. 9. Mitchell Johnson: Mitchell Johnson. (© Getty Images) We only saw glimpses of Johnson’s best, but the left-arm quick still ended up with 15 wickets at an average of 34.93. He is picked over Starc because he was a more consistent threat over the series. Even though the pitches were not ideally suited to his style of bowling Johnson used his bouncer’s to excellent effect. 10. Steven Finn: Steve Finn. (© Getty Images) Finn justified the decision of the England management handing him a Test appearance in two years with some fantastic display of high quality pace bowling. From being deemed ‘unselectable’ in the last Ashes to now being ‘undroppable’, its been an amazing journey for Finn. Fourteen balls into his comeback at Edgbaston, he dismissed Smith and Clarke, and even better followed in the second innings when he claimed career best figures of six for 79. 11. Nathan Lyon: Nathan Lyon. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Third on Australia’s wicket taking list, Lyon was probably the best Aussie bowler. He finished the series with 16 wickets at 28.25, four more than the only other specialist spinner Moeen Ali. He bowled thoughtfully and picked up some crucial wickets with his lovely turn and drift. Both Cook and Buttler struggled to find a method against him. 12th Man: Peter Siddle: Peter Siddle. (Photo Source: © Getty Images) It seems fitting to have Siddle as the 12th man. Australia inexplicably kept him on hold until the series was dead and will lament their decision to the hilt. Starc and Johnson both had moments to remember but both could not perform as per expectations while Siddle grabbed the opportunity with both hands when he got the chance. He was the architect of Australia’s consolation win at The Oval.

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Ashes 2015 Combined XI: The men who got it right

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