England outplayed Australia in every department: Botham
By ANISunday, January 9, 2011
LONDON - Former England all-rounder Ian Botham has scoffed at Cricket Australia’s claims that there were positives to be taken from the humiliating Ashes series loss.
Botham said Australia had a mountain to climb with its cricket.
“I keep hearing from the Australian camp that they’ve done really well. God help you when you do badly then, because for me, England have outplayed them in every department,” Fox Sports quoted Botham, as saying.
“I think if you have a look at the two sides, you tell me which Australian would get into that England side. Probably none. It’s a real problem and a total role reversal from what it was, and I think, it’s going to take Australia a while to rebuild because they lost so many players in such a short period.”
“So you’re possibly paying for the success you’ve had in the last 20 years,” he added.
Botham’s comment comes after England thrashed Australia by an innings and 83 runs in the fifth and final Test in Sydney on Friday to claim a 3-1 victory.
The victory gave the visitors their first Test series win in Australia since the 1986-87 tour.
It was also the first time Australia had lost three Tests at home since 1988-89, when Viv Richards’ West Indies side had won by a 3-1 margin. (ANI)
