England vs Australia 2015: Marks out of 10 for tourists in ODI series

The five-match One-Day International (ODI) series between England and Australia came to an end on Sunday, with the latter pulling off a dominant eight-wicket victory in the final game to clinch the series 3-2. The visitors thus, managed to end what had mostly been a disappointing tour to a satisfactory end. The series has had its share of ups and downs for the tourists, with the stellar forms of Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins, as well as the decline in form of opening batsman Joe Burns. Amit Banerjee looks back at the performances of the 16 members of the Australian squad, and rates them on a scale of 1 to 10. SCORECARD: England vs Australia, 5th ODI at Old Trafford

David Warner (6/10): The left-handed opening batsman struck a fluent 59 in the first game at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton as the visitors reached a score of 305 for six after 50 overs. Warner’s innings, unlike Matthew Wade‘s, was a well-calculated one, with the batsman going for the boundaries at regular intervals. His contributions in the series however, came to a premature end in the second ODI at Lord’s when he had sustained a painful blow to his left thumb while trying to defend a bouncer from Steven Finn. Who knows, Australia could have had a better chance of winning in the third and fourth games if Warner had stuck around.

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Aaron Finch (7/10): Finch has had one of the biggest impacts in the series, and his flamboyant innings of 70 not out in the finale helped his side pull off the comfortable victory after losing a couple of early wickets. Finch, who suffered from a loss of form for a month or two following the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, earned a recall following Warner’s injury. He struck a comeback fifty in the third ODI, though it ultimately went in vain. UPDATES: England vs Australia, 5th ODI at Old Trafford

Joe Burns (3/10): Burns was picked for Australia’s limited-overs engagements in their tour of England, and thus it was crucial for the Queensland batsman to make the most of the opportunity. The buzz surrounding Burns got louder following his half-century on ODI debut during the one-off match against Ireland. The right-handed batsman however, failed to make an impact in the England series, getting dismissed for low scores in all the matches barring the first one, in which he put up a 76-run opening stand with Warner with a 53-ball 41.

Steven Smith (5/10): The Australian skipper, having taken over the role from the recently retired Michael Clarke in Tests and ODIs, shone with the bat in the first two matches with knocks of 44 and 70 respectively, top-scoring Australia’s score of 304 for 7 in the Lord’s one-dayer. However, Smith failed to continue the momentum in the next three games, getting dismissed for 25, 5 and 12 respectively, due to which the pressure fell on the likes of George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell and the rest of the middle-order.

George Bailey (7/10): The ever-smiling No.4 mainstay for Australia was in excellent form for most of the series, forming important partnerships with the likes of Smith and helping wriggle his side out of trouble on many an occasion. While he was dismissed in the 20s in the first and third ODIs, his knocks of 54, 75 and 41 not out in the remaining matches helped pull Australia out of trouble after early dismissals, especially in the fourth game at Headingley.

Glenn Maxwell (7/10): The all-rounder came in handy both with bat and ball during the tournament. Not only did his 85 in the fourth game, along with Bailey’s 75, help Australia finish on 299 from a position of 30 for 3, Maxwell also took wickets during crucial stages, getting the important breakthroughs to break the host’s momentum. Not to mention, Maxwell’s sharp fielding skills has been a bonus as well.

Mitchell Marsh (8/10): Marsh has deservedly been named the Man of the Series, along with bagging the Man of the Match award in the final one-dayer. The Australian selectors have discovered a destructive middle-order batsman and a useful medium-pacer in him. Marsh scored an unbeaten 40 in the first game, before tearing the England bowling attack apart with a 31-ball 64 in the Lord’s one-dayer. His figures of 4 for 27 played a key role in demolishing England, who were bowled out for 138.

Matthew Wade (7.5/10): The Tasmanian wicketkeeper-batsman turned out to be a fine prospect with the bat for the Australians, scoring 164 runs in four innings at an impressive average of 82. His unbeaten 71 in the first game helped Australia recover to a score of 304 for 6 with the help of an unbroken 111-run stand with Marsh, who scored an unbeaten 40. While he has flopped on an occasion or two with the gloves, especially his famous goof-up of a stumping chance of Morgan, who was batting on 15, in the third one-dayer. His batting though, makes up for it and one would assume the selectors to be considering him for the Test side.

Ashton Agar (5/10): The youngster, who rose to prominence for his knock of 98 that helped form a record 10th wicket partnership of 163 during the Trent Bridge Test in Ashes 2013, made his ODI debut in the third match at the Old Trafford. Agar however, did not make much of an impact in the two games that he played, especially in the series final which was dominated by the pace department.

Shane Watson (5.5/10): The all-rounder had a torrid time in the recent past. Watson dropped from the remainder of the Ashes 2015 after the first Test at Cardiff, which incidentally turned out to be his final Test as he announced his retirement soon after. The all-rounder went on to suffer an embarrassing dismissal in the Twenty20 International (T20I) for his miseries to pile even further. He however, managed to somewhat redeem himself with an economical spell of bowling at Southampton followed by a 38-ball 39 at Lord’s, before suffering a calf-injury.

Pat Cummins (8/10): The right-arm pacer ended up being the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, recording four-wicket hauls in the second and fourth games while conceding 56 and 49 runs respectively, making him a prospect for Australia’s gruelling summer ahead, especially for the one-dayers. Cummins helped wipe the remainder of the England batting order in the Lord’s one-dayer, dismissing Morgan to end the England innings.

Mitchell Starc (4/10): The Australian pace spearhead for the recently concluded one-day series can be safely described as ‘overworked’, given the fact that he has been playing non-stop over the past year or so. It goes without saying however, that Starc was not at his best in the series, having taken only five wickets at an average of 42 and an economy of nearly 6. While Starc perhaps deserves some rest, the most out of the current Australian lineup, the ‘Player of the Series’ in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has vowed to continue till the end of the Australian summer. Talk about dedication!

James Pattinson (2/10): The right-arm medium pacer was fielded during the third and fourth matches, and was rightfully dropped for the crucial finale after a horrendous run, in which he conceded 109 runs from the two appearances at an economy of over 7. Looks like he may have fallen out of favour with the selectors for the upcoming contests, and may have to prove himself in the domestic circuit once again.

John Hastings (6.5/10): The New South Welshman was brought in along with Peter Handscomb, who did not get an opportunity to play in the series, in the wake of the injuries that caused Shane Watson and Nathan Coulter-Nile to get ruled out of the series. Hastings proved to be a destructive prospect with the new ball in the fifth ODI, and struck an unbeaten 26-ball 34 in the previous match, making him another player to watch out in the coming months, atleast in the 50-over format.

Marcus Stoinis (2/10): Stoinis made his T20I and ODI debut in the just-concluded tour. He however, failed to impress on either occasion, with his somewhat economical spell of 0/17 from four overs being his only redeemable aspect.

Nathan Coulter-Nile (5/10): The pacer was among the injured trio that exited from the series after the second ODI. While he bowled a tight spell in the first game, dismissing two batsmen while conceding 39 runs from eight overs. He was slightly expensive in the second game however, which was covered up by Cummins and Maxwell.

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)