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Whisper it quietly, but England might be back.
A torrid summer spent in Australia sent the Poms packing without the Ashes in tow having lost the series 4-0 to the Aussies.
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The lopsided scoreline is evident of the vast gap in quality between the two sides at the time, but the manner in which England collapsed time and time again was alarming.
Test coach Chris Silverwood was axed shortly after the Ashes was wrapped up and captain Joe Root stood down from his role as English cricket was forced to look itself in the mirror and ask serious questions.
The answers came in the form of appointing former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum and promoting firebrand Ben Stokes to Test captain.
England’s new director of cricket Rob Key acknowledged the appointment of McCullum, who had never coached Test cricket before, was a relative gamble, but implored fans at the time to “buckle up and get ready for the ride.”
After an extremely successful summer of cricket with six Test wins from seven games, the rollercoaster Key promised McCullum would bring to English cricket has earned rave reviews.
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England wrapped up the Test series against South Africa overnight in quick fashion and beat the Proteas 2-1.
But it is the relaxed, joyous manner in which they play that has former England captain Michael Vaughan believing Australia should be fearful ahead of next year’s Ashes.
“At the start of April, if you had said they had a chance to win back the Ashes next year we would have said there was no way they could do it,” Vaughan wrote in his column for the Telegraph.
“But, on the back of a remarkable summer of Test cricket, it is clear: England can regain the urn next summer.
“Australia will respect the aggressive way that England have played this summer. And they will fear it too, knowing that England can attack and are so dangerous from all positions.
“The England side who Australia meet next summer will be nothing like the side who lost 4-0 Down Under last winter. It could be an incredible summer of cricket.
“The Australians will think that England have no chance against their attack playing like this, but I think it is the way to unsettle them.”
A fellow former England captain, Nasser Hussain, believes it is the way the side has found the delicate balance of playing entertaining cricket and achieving positive results that is most refreshing.
“Often you just tick a few boxes. You play good cricket, but you don’t win every game, you play dull cricket at times but you get the result done. They’ve pretty much ticked every box,” Hussain told Sky Sports.
“The captain has been exceptional, the coach has been incredibly good and kept a consistent message throughout.
“The message is just crystal clear, and I think that’s what Stokes and McCullum have done. It’s a crystal clear message that we’ll go again.”
Although England fans and players have every right to be gleeful with the summer of cricket that was, it is worth noting the difficulty levels of the opponents they faced.
The Times’ chief cricket correspondent Mike Atherton notes England’s victories came against “a New Zealand team that looked a little past its best, an India team that was undercooked and a South Africa team with the weakest batting line-up that has come to these shores in recent times.”
But “nevertheless, to be even contemplating the Ashes with optimism would have been unthinkable in Hobart, eight months ago.”
There is some gap between now and England’s next Test series, which comes in the form of a three-match tour to Pakistan in December.
It will be McCullum and Stokes’ first Test tour in their respective positions as coach and captain.
How they will fare is anyone’s guess, but with optimism surrounding English cricket at an all-time high, the rollercoaster Key promised certainly has many more twists and turns to go.
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