I've done a little research into results in English Tests.

England Test Series

By Series Length

Six P11 W4 D1 L6
Five P91 W36 D12 L43
Four P21 W7 D6 L8
Three P67 W41 D11 L15
Two P17 W13 D4 L0
One P17 W13 D4 L5

Overall P224 W109 D37 L77
vs Australia P73 W28 D9 L36

Margins Of Defeat

L0-5 x 4 (5 x 5 Tests)
L0-4 x 4 (1 x 6 Tests, 3 x 5 Tests)
L0-3 x 6 (4 x 5 Tests, 2 x 3 Tests)

England have lost all Tests in a series six times, and lost five one-off Tests. England inflicted one 5-0 whitewash on India in 1959



My question is this - is this 5-0 defeat at the hands of Australia the worst defeat ever? It certainly equals the worst margin of victory.

1920/21 Australia 5-0 England

England - 2779 runs, 98 wkts @ 28.36
Australia - 3368 runs, 73 wkts @ 46.14

Innings defeat : x 1
Wickets defeat : x 2 (8w & 9w)
Runs defeat : x2 (377 & 119)

1984 England 0-5 West Indies

England - 2241 runs, 96 wkts @ 23.34
West Indies - 2664 runs, 63 wkts @ 42.29

Innings defeat : x 2
Wickets defeat : x 2 (8w & 9w)
Runs defeat : x1 (172)

1985/86 West Indies 5-0 England

England - 2020 runs, 100 wkts @ 20.20
West Indies - 2295 runs, 55 wkts @ 41.73

Innings defeat : x 1
Wickets defeat : x 3 (10w, 7w & 9w)
Runs defeat : x1 (240)

2006/07 Australia 5-0 England

England - 2530 runs, 96 wkts @ 26.35
Australia - 3114 runs, 59 wkts @ 52.78

Innings defeat : x 1
Wickets defeat : x 2 (6w & 10w)
Runs defeat : x2 (277 & 206)



Losing 5-0 at home stands out, albeit against a fearsome West Indies bowling attack. It's no great surprise the least runs came in those 5-0s against West Indies. I had a quick look at the England sides as well :-

1920/21 (16) - J.Hobbs, J.Douglas, E.Hendren, F.Woolley, Makepeace, W.Russell, W.Rhodes, P.Fender, C.Parkin, J.Hearne, H.Strudwick, J.Hitch, A.Waddington, H.Howell, E.Wilson, A.Dolphin

1984 (21) - G.Fowler, P.Terry, C.Broad, C.Tavare, A.Lamb, D.Gower, M.Gatting, T.Lloyd, D.Randall, P.Downton, I.Botham, D.Pringle, G.Miller, N.Cook, P.Pocock, P.Allott, N.Foster, N.Cowans, J.Agnew, R.Ellison, R.Willis

1985/86 (15) - W.Slack, D.Smith, G.Gooch, T.Robinson, A.Lamb, D.Gower, M.Gatting, P.Willey, P.Downton, I.Botham, J.Emburey, P.Edmonds, N.Foster, G.Thomas, R.Ellison

2006/07 (14) - A.Strauss, A.Cook, I.Bell, P.Collingwood, K.Pietersen, A.Flintoff, G.Jones, C.Read, A.Giles, M.Panesar, S.Mahmood, M.Hoggard, J.Anderson, S.Harmison

I'm surprised England took just four seamers and two spinners to West Indies in 1985/86 with Gooch and Willey as part-timers. England used just five seamers in the 2006/07 series which was the least number of players to be used in a 5-0 whitewash suffered by England.

Why can't I edit? Should read "L0-5 x 4 (4 x 5 Tests)" and it doesn't do the forum any favours.

quote:

1984 (21) - G.Fowler, P.Terry, C.Broad, C.Tavare, A.Lamb, D.Gower, M.Gatting, T.Lloyd, D.Randall, P.Downton, I.Botham, D.Pringle, G.Miller, N.Cook, P.Pocock, P.Allott, N.Foster, N.Cowans, J.Agnew, R.Ellison, R.Willis

1985/86 (15) - W.Slack, D.Smith, G.Gooch, T.Robinson, A.Lamb, D.Gower, M.Gatting, P.Willey, P.Downton, I.Botham, J.Emburey, P.Edmonds, N.Foster, G.Thomas, R.Ellison

Two pretty sh*thouse teams there.

England can take solace in the notion that in the mid-eighties and recently they lost 0-5 to the two greatest teams that ever played the game IMO

Losing to the Windies 5-0 is not so bad as lets face it there's some historical grievances that needed balancing there.

Losing 5-0 to this Australian team is a crime against humanity.

quote:

A.Dolphin

Did he have a Flipper?

Our worst ever defeat was losing to NZ in 1999.

quote:

Our worst ever defeat was losing to NZ in 1999.

That wasnt our worst ever individual defeat. That was just the straw that broke the Camel's back in what had been a horrible 10 years for English Cricket.

The side we put out in the last test was just about the shoddiest I can remember.

The worst was the second Blackwash. England were not it it for one moment throughout the five tests, and were blow away by big margins each time.

Would i be right in saying this england team would have been the highest rated/ranked team(pre series) to lose 5-0?

quote:

Would i be right in saying this england team would have been the highest rated/ranked team(pre series) to lose 5-0?

Possibly, as far as 1 single 5 Test series is concerned. The South African team of 2001-02 was ranked number 1 in the World, but effectively lost to Australia 5-1 at home and away.

Must be one of the worst turnarounds. Not in my wildest dreams did I think Australia would come back from defeat to post a whitewash.

The attitude of the Pom batsmen in the last two matches was terrible. So much for playing for pride.

Its certainly worse than the 1920/21 whitewash. Only 4 of those defeats were inside 5 days.

The 1984 defeat is probably the worst as it was at home.