Ashes Series Tips: Don't be fooled by England sob story

• Hard-done-by England not the reality

• Bairstow fitness crucial

• Catalogue of errors by hosts

England weren't good enough

Regrets? England should have a few. Not that Bazball philosophy would abide such weakness. The Manchester rain washed away England Ashes hopes. It also revealed a harsh reality: that they weren't actually good enough when it counted.

That will be tough for them to admit. In the immediate aftermath they will feel cheated by Mother Nature, a sense of injustice which could carry them to success at The Oval from Thursday. It would be a result, though, which would separate them further from the truth.

And that truth is that in three of the four Tests England have made mistake after mistake after mistake. When those are collated it is hard not to come to the conclusion that Australia retaining the Ashes is not the great steal that it might be made out to be.

At Edgbaston, Lord's and even Old Trafford England suffered crucial malfunctions. It could even be argued that their biggest misstep was their lack of preparation for what is supposed to be the biggest event in their calendar.

Given that whenever England fail in the Ashes there is often a protracted review full of introspection and self-harm, it seemed odd, to say the least, that so few of England's players had prepared by playing red-ball cricket. Joe Root, for example, sat on the bench in the IPL. Ben Stokes didn't play a stroke in anger. Harry Brook barely picked up a bat. And, most importantly of all, Jonny Bairstow, in his eventual own words, 'hadn't kept for years'.

Mistake after mistake

Selecting Bairstow as the wicketkeeper will be the most debated error. After his 99 not out at Old Trafford on day three Bairstow, in interview with Ian Ward, gave a convincing monologue as to why he shouldn't have been keeping. He wasn't fit. That lack of fitness cost England chances at Edgbaston, of course.

There were also wickets off no-balls in Birmingham and a sense of a lack of match sharpness that meant England's competitive edge may have been blunted when the pressure was on in that extraordinary fourth-innings chase.

The missed chances kept coming (18 or 19 at the last count?). At Lord's, their batting was comically chaotic as Bazball threatened to consume them, even though they traded as skinny as 1.758/11 in fourth innings. Australia stumping Bairstow perhaps poked the bear and forced England to focus their minds. It was no coincidence that England were excellent at Headingley.

At Old Trafford, they were, of course superb. And to nitpick at a team who, essentially, needed to beat the world champions in three days is harsh. But with more smarts they could have got the job done. The loss of 26 overs to a slow over rate, the inexplicable go-slow in the last hour on the second evening and batting on too long on day three so that Bairstow could get a century, playing the man instead of the ball in some sort of Lord's redemption story.

Oval final fling

When they did get onto the field on day four, England were flat. Had we known that the forecast had been wrong enough to give them a 30-over crack at the Aussies we'd have probably piled into prices of around even money to level the series. At the key moments, they just didn't have enough.

It could be that at The Oval they do have enough. A counter narrative to the series is that England have got better as they learned and adapted to the challenge. Australia, by contrast, have begun to creak under the pressure. They were absolutely match sharp for Edgbaston having won the WTC final and it could be that is the only difference between the two.

Pat Cummins, exhausted, might not play the final Test. It will be tough for the Aussies to bring their best game when they have achieved their aim. England will be full of rage and fury. A 2-2 draw on the correct score is the favourite at 2.1411/10. England may take that comfort but the crumbs won't sustain them for long.

.